The Muslim theology of Huzn : sorrow unravelled / Mahshid Turner ; with a foreword by Alparslan Acikgenc.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Turner, Mahshid, author.

Contributor:

Acikgenc, Alparslan, writer of foreword.

Series:

Islamic Studies Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nursi, Said, 1873-1960.

Nursi, Said.

Grief--Religious aspects--Islam.

Grief.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 245 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berlin : Gerlach Press, 2018.

Summary:

The subject of sorrow (huzn) and how it should be treated is a subject as old as mankind itself. Considered for the most part as something negative, which should be somehow avoided or remedied completely, the real meaning and purpose of its existence have never been explained satisfactorily.<br><br>The Quran, however, claims that nothing is created purposelessly, which implies that sorrow also has its uses. With the aim of unravelling the mystery of its existence, this ground-breaking study aims to tell the story of sorrow in the Quran from a Muslim scholarly perspective, with particular emphasis on the theology of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi.

Contents:

Intro

Half Title

Title

Copyright

Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgements

1 Introduction

The Objective

Said Nursi and pastoral theology

Scope and Structure

2 Quranic Narratives on ḥuzn

Part One: A typology and thematic analysis of ḥuzn

Typology of the word ḥuzn

Criteria for the obviation of ḥuzn

Thematic categorization of the word ḥuzn

Ḥuzn as a test or trial

Stress given as a lesson not to grieve

Stress given as a lesson that one should not 'own' good deeds

Satan used as a means of testing mankind

God gives ḥuzn and also takes it away

The testing of Prophetic judgment

Reminders, reassurance and comfort given to Prophets and believers so that they may avoid ḥuzn

The reassurance and comforting of Prophets

The reassuring and comforting of the faithful

ῌuzn due to separation and loss

Part Two: Izutsu's method

Semantic analysis

Quranic key terms in history

The difference between 'basic' and 'relational' meanings

Primary and secondary level ethical terms

The limitations of the Izutsian method

Application of the Izutsian method

The concept of ḥuzn ('sadness') in the Quran

The difference between the Meccan and Medinan verses

Derivatives of ḥ-z-n in the Medinan verses

Derivatives of ḥ-z-n in the Meccan verses

The lexical meaning of ḥuzn

Derivatives of ḥ-z-n in the Quran

The Izutsian analayis of the semantic field of ḥuzn

Words which appear to be synonymous with the word ḥuzn: their basic and relational meanings

The relational meaning of khawf with ḥuzn

Words which appear to be synonymous with khawf

Those who follow guidance (hudā)

The semantic structure of antonyms of ḥuzn

Conclusion

3 The Concept of ḥuzn in Quranic Exegesis

Introduction

Quranic exegesis (tafsīr)

Exegetes from the classical period.

Contemporary exegesis

Selected Quranic narratives

Characteristics of those who will not experience sadness (ḥuzn) and fear (khawf)

Those who follow God's guidance

Those who believe

Avoidance of sadness and fear through total submission and being a 'doer of good'

Avoidance of sadness and fear through spending of wealth for the sake of God

Avoidance of sadness and fear through belief, righteous deeds and charitable giving

Avoidance of sadness and fear by those who are killed 'in the cause' of God

Avoidance of sadness and fear by those who believe in God, the Last Day and carry out righteous deed

Avoidance of sadness and fear by those who believe and reform

Avoidance of sadness and fear by those who fear God and reform

Avoidance of sadness and fear by those who are 'the friends of Allah'

Avoidance of sadness and fear by those who recognise God as their Lord and remain on the straight pa

Obviation of fear and sadness by 'God's devotees'

Avoidance of sadness and fear by those who have confirmed their belief in God and remained on that p

Thematic categorization of the concept of ḥuzn

Fear and sadness given as a test

Fear and sadness stemming from loss and separation

Comforting, consoling and reassuring the prophets and the faithful in times of ḥuzn

4 Ḥuzn in the Muslim Scholarly Tradition (Muslim Thinkers)

Early Muslim scholars and the notion of human psychology

The Mu'tazīlites

The Jabrīyya

Greek ethics

The Stoics

Epictetus

Al-Kindī's life and work (800-870)

Al-Kindī on metaphysics

Al-Kindī on ethics

The Epistle of Ya'qῡb ibn Isḥāq al-Kindī on the Device for Dispelling Sorrows (Rīsāla Ya'qūb b. Īsḥā

Part One (Introduction to the Epistle)

Part Two: Important principles for dispelling sorrow

The training of the soul.

The classification of sorrow

SECTION THREE

Devices to dispel sorrow

Part Four: Al-Kindī's Conclusion

Main thoughts of other Muslim scholars on the concept of ḥuzn

Abῡ Zayd al-Balkhī (850-934)

Balkhī's methods of dealing with sadness and fear

Avicenna

Avicenna's definition of ḥuzn

Avicenna's description of the soul

Detachment from worldly possessions

Avicenna's remedy for ḥuzn

Abū 'Alī Aḥmad ibn-Muḥammad ibn-Ya'qūb Miskawayh

The concept of happiness according to Miskawayh

Miskawayh's sixth discourse

Miskawayh's sixth discourse on the health of the soul (nafs), its preservation and restoration

The preservation of the health of the soul

Discussion of the restoration of health to the soul when health is missing

Fear: its causes and remedy

Fear of death: its causes and remedy

The remedy for grief (ḥuzn)

Abῡ Bakr Muhammad ībn Zakarīyā al-Rāzī (Rhazes)

Al-Rāzī's Spiritual Physick

Al-Rāzī's 'Of Repelling Grief'

Precautions against the occurrence of grief

The manner in which grief may be repelled or lessened

5 Said Nursi's Life and Works

Historical context

Family context

Nursi's educational background

Intellectual and spiritual influences

Nursi's attempts at educational reform

The 'Old Said': Nursi's involvement in politics

The works of the 'Old Said'

The 'New Said' (1926-1948)

Nursi's inner struggles and spiritual rebirth

The New Said's Life and Works

Conditions during Mustafa Kemal's rule

Persecution of the 'New Said'

The 'Third Said' and the last years of his life

6 The Concept of Sadness (ḥuzn) in Nursi's Works

Nursi on the limitations of 'human reasoning'

The Nursian concept of sadness

The definition of ḥuzn according to Said Nursi.

Ḥuzn due to the 'literature of civilization'

Nursi on Divine Unity (tawḥīd)

Belief and unbelief

Nursi's definition of happiness

Permanence versus transience

Denial of death: sorrow due to misguidance, heedlessness and ungratefulness

The obviation of ḥuzn through belief in God's Mercy

The heart's journey of purification

The 'trust': The human 'I'

The obviation of ḥuzn through belief in revelation, prophethood, the hereafter and Divine determinin

The Jabriyya and the Mu'tazīlites on Divine determining (qadar)

Insights into Nursi's theodicy

Does Nursi's 'negative ḥuzn ' have a positive role to play?

The sadness of the Prophets

Appendix

Ibn Sina's (Avicenna) manuscript on ḥuzn in Arabic

Translation of manuscript

Ibn Sina - Above manuscript rough translation into English - with the help of Abed Al-Zuweiri 18 Mar

Notes

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Bibliography.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 29 Aug 2025).

ISBN:

3-95994-041-6

OCLC:

1051137768