A New Ethics of Compassion for Animals: Said Nursi on the Rights of Flies

Abstract

This paper will try to present and discuss Said Nursi’s (d. 1960) ethics of compassion and the possibility of a new ethics of compassion derived from the Qurʾānic Weltanschauung. It will start with a slight detour in the history of philosophy to keep the evolution of an ethics of compassion in perspective. Then, it will deal with Said Nursi’s perception of compassion as he discovers mercy and compassion as universal values manifested by all creatures. For him, like al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111), Ibn ʿArabī (d. 638/1240), and Rūmī (d. 672/1273), the existence and reality of divine mercy are as clear as the sun. Therefore, the compassion observed in humans, animals, and plants reflects and indicates universal compassion: it is from God. The paper’s primary focus will be on Nursi’s treatise on flies.