Persuasion Reconsidered: Islamic Epistemology, Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, and the Limits of Cialdini's Framework in Malaysian Da'wah

Abstract

Effective da'wah communication is the cornerstone of successful Islamic propagation in Malaysia's diverse society. However, weaknesses in the communication approaches of local preachers remain an ongoing concern. This study evaluates the persuasive communication practices of preachers in Malaysia based on six persuasive communication principles of Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, namely reciprocation, commitment and consistency, authority, scarcity, social proof, and liking, as framed by Robert B. Cialdini's (2009) theory of persuasive communication. This qualitative study employed semi-structured in-depth interviews with 13 informants comprising tullāb an-Nūr members and Said Nursi researchers in Malaysia. Data were analysed through deductive and inductive thematic analysis using ATLAS.ti, yielding 162 codes grouped into 40 categories. The findings reveal that these principles, when embedded within an Islamic epistemological framework, undergo a fundamental transformation that calls into question their universality and exposes the secular assumptions of mainstream persuasion theory. Specifically, the study demonstrates that Islamic da'wah reconfigures reciprocation as spiritually-disinterested giving, consistency as theological steadfastness (istiqāmah), and liking as communal-spiritual proximity (sohbah). On the basis of these findings, the study proposes an Islamic Persuasive Communication (IPC) Framework as a preliminary theoretical contribution towards an indigenised theory of Islamic communicative influence.