Interreligious gathering to feature session on Said Nursi

2009-11-11 12:50:01

One of the sessions at this year’s Parliament of the World’s Religions, to be held on Dec. 3-9 in Melbourne, will be devoted to the teachings of famous Turkish religious scholar Said Nursi.

First held in Chicago in 1893, the Parliament of the World’s Religions brings together the world’s religious and spiritual communities, their leaders and their followers to a gathering where peace, diversity and sustainability are discussed and explored in the context of interreligious understanding and cooperation. This year the parliament will be held in Australia, and the organizers plan to hold simultaneous sessions in different halls on a variety of topics. One of the sessions will focus on Turkish scholar Said Nursi, who lived in Turkey from 1876 to 1960 and whose writings mainly comprise letters to his students about the faith, religious philosophy and questions and answers. Professor Faris Kaya from Turkey, Canadian Turkish scholar Bilal Kuşpınar and American scholar Thomas Michel are among the experts who will speak at the session, whose title is “Christian Muslim Engagement: Action through Understanding in the Writings of Said Nursi.”

Said Nursi’s Quranic commentary “Risale-i Nur” will be exhibited at the parliament along with writings about the life and works of Said Nursi in various languages. Since the centenary gathering in 1993, a Parliament of the World’s Religions has convened every five years in a major city (Chicago 1993, Cape Town 1999, Barcelona 2004). More than 10,000 participants from various religions are invited to attend.