ISLAMIC INSIGHT

HEALING FROM WITHIN: BEDIUZZAMAN SAID NURSI'S RISALE-I NUR AS A FRAMEWORK FOR ISLAMIC MENTAL AND SPIRITUAL HEALTH (ṢIḤḤAH NAFSIYYAH)

2026-07-15T04:47:24+00:00

Despite material progress, modern society faces rising mental health crises and a lack of inner peace. This qualitative study explores Bediuzzaman Said Nursi's Risale-i Nur to examine his conceptual contributions to Islamic mental and spiritual health (Ṣiḥḥah nafsiyyah). Utilizing an analytical and critical approach to selected treatises, the study evaluates Nursi's practical, Qur'an-based guidance on the heart (qalb), the inner self (nafs), and cognitive transformation (nazar). Findings indicate that Nursi identifies heedlessness (ghaflah) as the root of psychological suffering and offers structured remedies for intrusive thoughts (waswasah). The study concludes that the Risale-i Nur provides a comprehensive therapeutic framework in which spiritual disciplines such as remembrance (dhikr), repentance (tawbah), patience (Ṣabr), and trust (tawakkul) serve as vital pathways toward psychological resilience, spiritual stability, and sustainable inner peace in the modern world.

THE CHARTER OF MADINAH AS A MODEL OF INSTITUTIONAL GOVERNANCE IN A PLURAL SOCIETY

2026-07-15T05:05:17+00:00

This paper examines the Charter of Madinah as an early attempt to organise political order within a socially diverse and politically fragmented society. Madinah, before the Charter, was marked by tribal rivalry, shifting alliances, and the absence of a stable central authority. In this environment, maintaining cooperation and public order was difficult. The paper examines the Charter as a practical effort to organise governance and collective responsibility in Madinah. It examines the role of the Charter in regulating relations among different communities through shared responsibilities connected to security and cooperation. The study argues that the document represented an effort to organise political relations beyond narrow tribal arrangements. Different communities continued to retain their own identities within this broader framework. The paper approaches the Charter within the social and political conditions of seventh-century Madinah. It examines the governance features of the document within that historical setting. The paper also discusses the continuing relevance of the Charter in contemporary debates on governance in plural societies. Particular attention is given to coexistence, negotiated authority, and political stability.

INTERPRETING THE QUR'AN IN THE LIGHT OF MODERN SCIENCE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF RAMAḌĀN AL-BŪṬĪ AND ZAGHLŪL AL-NAJJĀR

2026-07-15T06:46:32+00:00

Modern scientific exegesis of the Qur’ān has e merged as a response to intellectual challenges posed by materialist worldviews and claims of incompatibility between revelation and empirical science. Among contemporary Muslim scholars, Dr. Zaghlūl al-Najjār is recognized for systematically relating Qur’ānic verses to established scientific findings. In contrast, Imam Muḥammad Saʿīd Ramaḍān al-Būṭī adopts a more cautious methodology, emphasizing clear epistemological limits to prevent the Qur’ān from being interpreted through speculative or changing scientific theories. This paper examines the methodological similarities and differences between al-Būṭī and al-Najjār regarding the role of science in Qur’ānic interpretation. Using a thematic and analytical approach, it argues that both scholars seek to defend the authority and relevance of the Qur’ān in the modern intellectual context. However, they differ in the extent to which scientific knowledge should influence tafsīr. Al-Najjār frequently employs established scientific discoveries to illuminate selected Qur’ānic verses, whereas al-Būṭī maintains that scientific findings may support reflection but should never determine the intended meaning of the text. The study concludes that scientific exegesis can serve as a valuable interpretive aid when guided by sound epistemological principles and applied with methodological restraint. Such a balanced framework preserves the Qur’ān’s textual integrity and primary function as divine guidance while encouraging meaningful engagement with contemporary scientific knowledge.

ḤADĪTH, MIGRATION, AND PATRONAGE IN THE BAHMANI DECCAN: AN INDO-EGYPTIAN INTELLECTUAL HISTORY

2026-07-15T06:55:40+00:00

This study examines the development of ḥadīth scholarship in the southern Indian subcontinent, with particular attention to the Bahmani Deccan between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. It argues that Deccani ḥadīth learning developed within broader transregional intellectual networks rather than as an isolated regional tradition, maintaining strong scholarly ties with the major centers of Islamic learning in Egypt. The study explores patterns of scholarly mobility, teacher–student affiliations, and the transmission of authority through established ḥadīth lineages linking Egypt and India. The discussion focuses on the scholarly traditions associated with Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Zakariyyā al-Anṣārī, al-Sakhāwī, and Ibn Ḥajar al-Haythamī. While no verifiable connection exists between Zakariyyā al-Anṣārī’s students and the Bahmani Deccan, significant intellectual links are evident through the traditions of al-Sakhāwī and Ibn Ḥajar al-Haythamī—scholars such as Ibn Fahd, Maḥmūd Gāwān, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz b. Maḥmūd al-Ṭūsī, Ḥusayn b. ʿAbd Allāh Awliyāʾ al-Kirmānī, and Mīr Murtaḍā Sharīf al-Shīrāzī played important roles in transmitting Egyptian ḥadīth scholarship to the Deccan. The study also highlights the role of Bahmani rulers and patrons, including Aḥmad Shāh al-Walī, ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn Aḥmad Shāh, and Maḥmūd Gāwān, whose institutional support integrated the Deccan into wider Indo-Egyptian networks of Islamic learning.

قطب الدين الشيرازي وإسهاماته في تقنين المقامات الصوتية: دراسة في ضوء تكوينه العلمي وأثر التلاوة القرآنية

2026-07-15T07:07:06+00:00

يتناول هذا البحث دراسة إسهام قطب الدين الشيرازي (ت 710هـ/1311م) في تقنين المقامات الصوتية من خلال كتابه درة التاج لغرة الديباج، مع التركيز على العلاقة بين نظامه الموسيقي وقواعد التلاوة القرآنية وعلم التجويد. ويعتمد البحث على المنهج التحليلي التاريخي من خلال دراسة نصوص الشيرازي ومقارنتها بالتراث الموسيقي السابق، ولا سيما نظام صفي الدين الأرموي، وبالمفاهيم الصوتية الواردة في كتب التجويد والقراءات. وتبيّن الدراسة أن الشيرازي لم يكتفِ بتطوير نظام التدوين الموسيقي السائد في عصره، بل أدخل مجموعة من العلامات والرموز التي تصف أحوال الأداء الصوتي، مثل المدّ والوقف والجهر والخفوت والتفخيم والاختلاس، وهي مصطلحات ذات أصول واضحة في التراث التجويدي. كما تكشف الدراسة أن مشروعه مثّل محاولة مبكرة لربط التنظير الموسيقي بالتحليل الصوتي الدقيق، وتأسيس لغة علمية مشتركة للصوت تجمع بين المجالين الديني والفني. وتخلص الدراسة إلى أن الشيرازي قدّم نموذجاً فريداً في تاريخ الفكر الموسيقي الإسلامي، أسهم في نقل المقامات من دائرة التلقي الشفهي إلى مجال التقعيد والتدوين، وأسّس رؤية يمكن وصفها بـ«علم المقامات الصوتية»، رغم أن تأثيرها العملي ظل محدوداً بسبب هيمنة المشافهة في نقل الموسيقى خلال العصور اللاحقة.

Height of Prophet Adam: At the Crossroads of Science and Scripture

2026-07-15T07:19:17+00:00

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