Knowledge

“Certain faith fitting the truth. Mental representation. Understanding something as it is. Attaining the meaning of something.”¹⁾

“Knowledge ('ilm) means information obtained through the human senses or through the Revelations or inspiration of God. It is also used to denote information that is in agreement with facts or realities, and to denote understanding something with its real, whole meaning and content. In addition, we come across usage of this term in the simple sense of thinking, understanding, comprehension, and conclusions drawn as a result of such mental processes. In fact, many times, we mean the meaning of grace with the word ‘knowledge.’”²⁾

“The Sufi leaders give knowledge precedence over the spiritual state of the Sufis, because that state depends on knowledge. Knowledge is the heritage of the Prophets, and the scholars are the heirs thereto. Knowledge is an important step toward belief, a standard to distinguish between guidance and error and between certainty and doubt, and a Divine mystery manifesting the truly human aspects of a person.”³⁾

“God-inspired knowledge is the kind of knowledge which one cannot acquire by studying or being taught by others. It is a special gift from God and a kind of illumination, from a sacred source, that one finds in one’s heart. Rather than being the kind of knowledge about the Creator acquired by studying creation and which therefore leads from the created to the Creator, it is a kind that pours from the Maker to the conscious works of His Art. It is even regarded as the emergence in the human spirit of the knowledge about some mysteries pertaining to God, the Ultimate Truth, as special gifts from Him.”⁴⁾

“Knowledge means sensing what things and events tell us, and what the creative commands prevailing over the universe reveal to us. It means to perceive the sublime purposes of the Creator.”⁵⁾

“… our purpose here is to seek perfection through knowledge and prayer. Everything is, by its nature, essentially dependent on knowledge. And the basis, source, light, and spirit of all true knowledge is knowledge of God, of which belief is the very foundation.”⁶⁾

“Knowledge is dealt with in two categories: There is a kind of knowledge that if it is known once and thought about once or twice it is sufficient. Another part is like bread or water, people always need to think about it. They cannot say, “I understood; it is enough.” The knowledge of faith is in this category.”⁷⁾

“The radiance of conscience comes from religious knowledge, The light of intellect comes from scientific knowledge. The truth is revealed in the harmonious integration of these two. Students can fly to success with these two wings. If they do not integrate, the first will cause bigotry whereas the second will generate doubts and illusions.”⁸⁾

“Whatever people see by looking at the universe on behalf of God is knowledge. If they see the things on behalf of the worldly causes with heedlessness whatever they suppose knowledge is in fact ignorance.”⁹⁾

“Our duty is to awaken a serious curiosity and excitement in people, to instill in them a noble ideal, to reward success and to prepare the necessary ground for the development of well-educated people with a broad vision. We must raise people, who continue their scientific and intellectual work with the spirit of worship, who believe that these will lead them to the consent of God, the entourage of our noble Prophet and otherworldly blessings, and who are determined to turn the world into a Paradise in order to achieve this goal.

Unless believers engage in scientific studies, science will not be able to get rid of the iron grip of naturalism, positivism, and materialism. Muslims will also have to accept the paradigm of science imposed on them in the name of being scientific. Beyond accepting, they will also teach this to the students for whom they are responsible for their education and training in their educational institutions. Laboratories and research centers will work according to this paradigm. Therefore, they will not be able to get rid of imitation, they will not be themselves.

The role of material and spiritual support is very important in order to study the creative commands correctly, to reveal correct thoughts and findings, to take the knowledge inherited from previous generations further, to open new horizons for science and research, and to prepare an environment for deeper thinking for those who follow. You cannot get anywhere with thoughts that are bound to ideologies, secularism, or egoism. The important thing is, on the one hand, to be able to give people a lofty ideal, and on the other hand, to provide them with all kinds of support. If you prepare appropriate environments in this regard and fulfill your responsibilities, qualified and well-equipped people will appear. Otherwise, we will not be able to raise truth-loving scholars and we will make no progress.”¹⁰⁾

“As for the conditions of our era when knowledge and power of discourse came to the fore, continuing to exist as ourselves will be possible by means of the power of knowledge, pen, and discourse. With the approach of Bediüzzaman, victory over the civilized can be through persuasion in our time. Therefore, the devoted souls who are the cultural envoys in our time, should take their values to different parts of the world not with weapons and brutal force but with knowledge, wisdom, love, tolerance, and goodness; because the way of peace and love opens the way that leads to hearts, whereas brutal force causes grudge and hatred to rise from the dead.”¹¹⁾

Other Languages

¹⁾

Ali ibn Muhammed es-Seyyid eş-Şerif Cürcani, Tarifat: Arapça-Türkçe Terimler Sözlüğü, tr. Arif Erkan, İstanbul: Bahar Yayınları, 1997, p. 156.

²⁾

M. Fethullah Gülen, Emerald Hills of the Heart: Key Concepts in the Practice of Sufism, vol. 2, New Jersey: Tughra Books, 2011, p. 18.

³⁾

Ibid., p. 22.

⁴⁾

Ibid., p. 25.

⁵⁾

M. Fethullah Gülen, Çağ ve Nesil (Çağ ve Nesil-1), İstanbul: Nil Yayınları, 2011, p. 127.

⁶⁾

Bediüzzaman Said Nursi, The Words, New Jersey: The Light, 2013, p. 332.

⁷⁾

Bediüzzaman Said Nursî, Barla Lâhikası, İstanbul: Şahdamar Yayınları, 2010, pp. 247–248.

⁸⁾

Bediüzzaman Said Nursî, Münâzarât , İstanbul: Ensar Neşriyat, 2007, p. 86.

⁹⁾

Bediüzzaman Said Nursî, Mesnevî-i Nûriye, İstanbul: Şahdamar Yayınları, 2007, p. 183.

¹⁰⁾

M. Fethullah Gülen, “Hakikat Aşığı İlim Adamları Yetiştirme”, Kırık Testi, 7 February 2021.

¹¹⁾

M. Fethullah Gülen, “Aksiyon İnsanları ve İlim Ehli”, Kırık Testi, 27 December 2015.