A psychological research on Nurettin Topçu's views on religion, ethical-spiritual values, and mystic life

It is thought that understanding important figures lived throughout history is effective in determining people's life. Nurettin Topçu, a man of spirit and heart, is one of the important figures who grew up in Anatolia and left his mark in history by creating a combination of belief, will, thought and action. So, this research aims to try to understand and interpret Topçu, who sees human salvation in the rise of religious, moral and spiritual values, from a psychological perspective, based on the works he wrote. In this context, while his views on religion, morality, values and Sufism in his works were discussed from a psychological perspective, on the other hand, his own religious conversion was examined. Although Topçu is one of the important figures in the Turkish-Islamic world of thought, it has been noticed that his philosophical and sociological aspects have been mainly researched, but his psychological aspect has not been discussed much. For this reason, the best way to understand his religious and mystical thoughts, his views of moral values, to interpret his religious and psychological concepts, and to know his ideal human model is to analyze the content of his works. His numerous works provide a suitable data source. In this study conducted with qualitative research method, research questions were created and answers were sought, and interview, document and content analysis techniques were used. A phenomenological approach was used in data analysis. When evaluated from a psychological perspective, Topçu explains in detail in his works what an ideal person who has adopted religious and moral values and matured his personality should be like. He reveals a transcendent religious experience as a model and emphasizes the experience dimension of religion. He sees moral and spiritual values as an instrument that provides people a personal awareness and facilitates their potential for change. He associates almost every psychological concept with faith and sees Sufism as a step in reaching God. His need for meaning and his search for truth, which began before he went to France, continued with his interest in mysticism during his youth in France. It can be felt in his writings that after he returned from France, he was disturbed by the inaccuracies regarding the understanding of religion in the society he lived in. His desire for a more sublime religious life, his search for answers to the questions in his mind, indicate his adoption of sufism and an increase in his internal religious intensity, that is, his religious conversion. Since Topçu has a sense of responsibility towards the society he lives in, he does not see his own religious conversion as sufficient and desires the positive change and salvation of the society he lives in and even humanity.