Islam at the Crossroads

Distinguished scholars in Islamic Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, and Modern Turkish Studies examine the life and thought of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi (1877-1960) using a variety of approaches -- theological, philosophical, sociological, and historical -- to shed new light on one of the most important thinkers and religious leaders in the modern Muslim world. Early in his life Nursi had hoped to save the Ottoman Empire from collapse, but after the empire gave way to the modern Turkish Republic, Nursi found himself in disagreement with the vision of a secular, Western-style state fostered by Turkey's new leadership and withdrew from public life. Deemed a potential threat to the young Republic, he was condemned to a life of exile and imprisonment. This isolation, however, allowed him to write the works that were to form the basis of a "faith movement" that would not only keep alive the Islamic religion in Turkey, but also in later decades would become one of the most important religious movements in contemporary Turkey and an inspiration to millions throughout the Muslim world.