A Critical Comparative analysis of the Said Nursi and Fethullah Gülen’s Political Thought

Gulen and Nursi present different images of the combination of Islam and modernity. This article seeks to evaluate the similarities and differences of Nursi and Gulen’s political thought. According to Gulen's claim that Nursi has been his professor, it seems that there is not much difference in their thoughts, but this article show that despite the influence of Gulen's ideas from Nursi and some similarities in their theoretical approaches, there are obvious difference in their thoughts. This article by applying a historical analysis, attempt to examine a comparative study on the religious and political ideas of Gulen and Nursi. The finding if this article shows that the central point of their theories is reliance on science education, Islam minus politics, combination of tradition and modernity, emphasis on democracy, compromise with other religions and Sufi tendencies, but they have many differences in the fields of ethnicity, methodology, etc.

A Critical Comparative analysis of the Said Nursi and Fethullah Gülen’s Political Thought Keywords:

Nursi , Gulen , Tradition , modernity , Turkey , Iran , Political Thought