DISCOURSE OF TAWHEED IN KABIR’S POETRY AND SAID NURSI’S RASÂ’IL: COMPARATIVE VERNACULAR LITERARY ANALYSIS

RAJEEV KUMAR

ABSTRACT

In an era when modernity was expected to diminish the role of religion,
the works of scholars like Said Nursi and Kabir continue to offer
compelling and persuasive vernacular approaches to understanding the
divine, even in the era of hypermodernity. Tis research paper delves into
a comparative analysis of the concept of “tawḥīd” as employed by Indian
scholar Kabir in a vernacular context and Islamic Turkish scholar Said
Nursi in an Islamic context. It explores why these scholars’ perspectives
are signifcant and how their understanding of God, developed in distinct
temporal and geographical contexts (India and Turkey), has impacted
their respective societies. Kabir, an Indian mystic poet nurtured in a
Muslim family but educated by a prominent Hindu Guru from the Bhakti
Movement, approaches “tawḥīd” with the vernacular tools of poetry.
On the other hand, Said Nursi, a Turkish Islamic scholar with a deep
knowledge of religious sciences, including Quran, Hadith, and Tafsir,
deploys vernacular literary techniques within his treatises, such as stories,
metaphors, parables, and analogical reasoning, to convey the concept of
“tawheed” derived from Islamic sources.
Tis paper aims to explore the unique ways in which both scholars employ
vernacular literary techniques to convey the meaning and signifcance of
“tawḥīd.” It highlights their departure from conventional philosophical
arguments and underscores their belief that these vernacular techniques
are a legitimate means to convey profound philosophical concepts to a
wider audience as religious revivalists.