Ислам дәстүріндегі метафизикалық нұр

Metaphysical light in Islamic tradition

Nūr (النور) is a term in Islamic context referring to the "cold light of the night" or "heatless light" i. e. the light of the moon. This light is used as a symbol for "God's guidance" and "knowledge", a symbol of mercy in contrast to Nar, which refers to the diurnal solar "hot light" i. e. fire. In the Quran, God is stated to be "the light (Nūr) of the heavens and the earth" (Verse of Light). Many classical commentators on the Quran compare this to God illuminating the world with understanding, not taken literally. 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. This concept was then preached by his disciples. 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. Shias believe nūr, in the sense of inner esoteric understanding, is inherited through the Imams, who in turn communicate it to the people.

The followers of the Nizari Isma'ili sect believe that divine guidance continues to reach Ismailis through the progeny of Muhammad. The Imams have the function of conveying the inner, esoteric understanding to Ismailis. 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." According to the fifth Shiite Imam, Muhammad al Baqir, the imams are the muḥaddathūn that are mentioned in the Quran, and are the light of God (nūr Allāh). He was asked to comment on the Quranic verse Q64:8, "And believe in Allah and His Messenger and the nūr (light) that We have brought down." 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. This spiritual light, passed down from one generation to the next, symbolizes the eternal knowledge that Muhammad passed on to Ali and his descendants. There seem to be two concepts. The nūr muḥammadī, a light from the side of Adam that is passed down from Prophet to Prophet till Mohammad and then through genealogical descent, while the nūr Allah is inherited at the time the previous possessor dies. The imam has the nūr muḥammadī at birth, but is silent until he receives the nūr Allah. The nūr muḥammadī is the symbol of succession and the substance that connects Adam to Muhammad and Muhammad to the imams. The nūr Allah is the symbol of inspiration and prophecy, which the imams share with the prophets and all men chosen by God.

To the Sufis, nūr is the first creation of Allah, and all other things and beings were gradually created from it. The Andalusian scholar Abu Bakr ibn al Arabi (1076–1148) elaborated the concept that Muhammad existed before creation. This is the doctrine of An Nūr al Muḥammadī, or the Muhammadan Light. The light existed before creation, and everything was created from it. The world is a manifestation of the light, which was incarnated in Adam, the prophets and the Aqṭāb. Ibn al Arabi wrote, "The creation began with nūr Muhammad. The lord brought the nūr from his own heart." The Persian poet and Sufi theoretician Fariduddin Attar (c. 1145–1221) wrote, "The origin of the soul is the absolute light, nothing else. That means it was the light of Muhammad, nothing else." To the Sufis, light also represents what we know about our inner self, and darkness what we do not know. Ibn Arabi distinguished three types of light: Nûr al anwâr (The Light of lights), which reveals the absolute reality in its most transcendent aspect, anwâr al ma'âni (The Light of the intellect) and anwâr al tabi'â (The Light of nature). The Persian philosopher Shahab al Din Suhrawardi (1155–91) wrote, "Allah's essence is the original creative Light, always illuminating existence. It constantly manifests the universe and energizes it. Allah's Essential Light radiates the whole cosmos in abundant beauty and completeness. To be illuminated by this process means nothing less than salvation." Muḥammad ibn Muṣṭafá Khādimī (c. 1702–1763) writes that, "protecting the spiritual heart from worldly thoughts can be accomplished by the spiritual heart's benefiting (receiving "Fayd" (nūr [light]) from the spiritual heart of the perfect Sufi master. The spiritual luminance (Fayd) flows from one spiritual heart to another by way of love. Death of the perfect spiritual guide or his being in a distant country does not stop the flow of spiritual luminance (Fayd)." According to Inayat Khan (1882–1927) the soul is like a ray of the sun. The angels, who do not have physical bodies, are made of nūr, or light, that comes from the divine Sun, the Spirit of God. All souls are made of Nur, or contain some part of that essence, which is the essence of the whole manifestation.

Hans Harder writes that in medieval Bengali Sufi cosmology the nūr muḥammad is personified. 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. He says the concept is common in Maizbhandari writings, often used to describe the saints or their sensual qualities. Gholan Morshed wrote an article that identified nūr with Muhammad. 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. He wrote,

Lutfunnesa Hosaini wrote a treatise Tāohīd, part of which discusses the creation of the world from the time when nūr i muḥammadī emerged to the time when Muhammad was born. She writes that the nūr i muḥammadī was divided into four parts. From the first three emerged the pen, the book of destinies and the throne. The fourth part was divided into four. From the first three emerged the angels that held the throne, the seat of the throne, and all of the other angels. The last part gave rise to the sky, the earth, heaven and hell, and to a part that then gave the light of the eyes of the believers, the light of their hearts, the light of the tawḥīd and the kalima. Lutfunnesa Hosaini gives another account with reference to a Quranic commentary named Tafsīr i rūḥ al kitāb. In this version nūr i muḥammadī was also used to create the nūr of Adam, stored on his back. The angels gathered behind Adam to see the light. Adam asked the Lord to put the light on his forehead, and the angels came round to where he could see them. Adam wanted to see the light himself, and the Lord transferred it to his index finger. When Adam came down to earth, lights entered his back again, and the nūr was then passed from Adam through the backs of various men and the wombs of women down to the parents of Muhammad.

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. The adherents of the Nur movement and the Sufi orders in general consider that societal change will be enabled if individuals are redeemed. Negative feelings such as anger and shame should be controlled through inner mobilization. Said Nursî's textually based Nurcu movement evolved from the Sufi orders. 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]."