Nūr (Islam)

[citation needed] The first and foremost to representatively stand to the concept of nūr muḥammadī (the essence of Muhammad) being the quintessence of everything was Sayyid Abdul Qadir Gilani, who described this idea in his book Sirr ul Asrar.

One of Sayyid Abdul Qadir Gilani's disciples was the Andalusian scholar Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi, who categorized nūr into different levels of understanding from the most profound to the most mundane.

[citation needed] Shias believe nūr, in the sense of inner esoteric understanding, is inherited through the Imams, who in turn communicate it to the people.

[citation needed] The word nūr comes from the same root as the Hebrew Ohr, the primal light described in the Book of Genesis that was created at the beginning.

[9] The Persian scholar Al-Zamakhshari (c. 1074 –1144) says that the phrase "God is the light" is like saying "Zayd is generous and munificent".

Exegetes of the rationalist Mu'tazila school of theology of the eighth–10th centuries interpreted the word nūr in this passage in the sense of "the truth, the Quran and the proof" rather than the commonplace meaning of "light".

[12] Shia exegetes take it to mean "the land of the soul will shine with the Lord's light of justice and truth during the time of Imam al-Mahdi."

[13] The followers of the Nizari Isma'ili sect believe that divine guidance continues to reach Ismailis through the progeny of Muhammad.

According to Nadia Eboo Jamal, the Imams are "the inheritors of his spiritual knowledge ('ilm), the bearers of the light (nūr) of God and His living proof (hujjah) on earth.

He replied that the imams from the Prophet's family were in fact the light of God (nūr Allah) in the heavens and on earth.

The nūr Allah is the symbol of inspiration and prophecy, which the imams share with the prophets and all men chosen by God.

[20] The Andalusian scholar Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi (1076–1148) elaborated the concept that Muhammad existed before creation.

"[22] The Persian poet and Sufi theoretician Fariduddin Attar (c. 1145–1221) wrote, "The origin of the soul is the absolute light, nothing else.

[25] The Persian philosopher Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi (1155–91) wrote, "Allah's essence is the original creative Light, always illuminating existence.

The nūr, created by the lord, in turn brought the world into existence from drops of perspiration (gharma, ghām) that appeared in different parts of his body.

[28] In his Islāmī prabandha sambhār he wrote that nūr-i muḥammadī is the moving force behind all creation, and should not be seen as separate from Muhammad.

[30] Said Nursî founded the Nur movement in Turkey, stressing patience and spiritual withdrawal after the secularization program of the 1930s and 1940s had crushed revolt.

[31] The adherents of the Nur movement and the Sufi orders in general consider that societal change will be enabled if individuals are redeemed.

According to the Nurcu leader Mehmet Kırkıncı, "the sun of Islam set down in 1925 and dawned in 1950 with the writings of Said, which enlighten the darkness of Kemalism with its light [nur].