Attaining inner peace in Islam: Said Nursi's perspective

Islam meaning peace becomes an important point in the discussion of inner peace; Muslims believe the religion of Islam is a source of inner peace, citing various Qur’anic verses and hadith in support of this notion. However, very little is found on the topic of inner peace from an Islamic perspective. This puts Nursi’s work in a unique position since he emphasises that Islam well and truly gives its adherents inner peace. According to Nursi, attaining inner peace is a process. The process commences with belief and knowledge of God with great emphasis on the names of God while remaining focused on the oneness of God (tawhid). This is followed by knowledge of self. The final part of the process is the tawhid-centric worldview, particularly in relation to suffering and calamities. Based on this process, inner peace is attained when the world is decoded through the names of God, so life and events can be given meaning in a way that satisfies the heart and mind. Simply put, it is giving life and events a tawhid-centric meaning.