Interpretation of Youth from the Thinking of Badiuzzaman Said Nursi

Today’s youth are tomorrow’s leaders. As such, there is a huge responsibility on the elders of the Ummah to mould and nurture young minds in the true Islamic spirit and identity. In order to achieve that, the youth need to be inculcated in the best possible manner so that they are physically, intellectually, socially and emotionally developed into an integrated Islamic personality. It is believed that when the young Muslim minds are developed in accordance with the Islamic philosophy of education; peace, prosperity and happiness will prevail not only in the Muslim world, but the world at large. The idealism that calls for the development of the young Muslim mind is also embedded in the thoughts of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi. As one of the well-known Muslim reformers of his time, Nursi has called for the Muslims, particularly the youth, to return to the Qur’anic mode of thinking. Among the ethical values stated in the Qur’an are moderation, fairness and justice in the way of thinking and actions. In line with that, this paper highlights the importance of thinking, ethics and morality that have been stated in Nursi’s “Risal-e-Noor.” Due emphasis is given to analyze Nursi’s ideas with regard to youth and how to prepare them to be the next echelon of leaders. Relevant data to the research were collected from the print and internet sources followed by analysis using textual and content-analysis methodology.