Contemporary Rationalist Islam in Turkey: The Religious Opposition to Sunni Revival

Description

Nineteenth-century Istanbul was an intellectual hub of rich discussions about Islam, in which leading reformists had a significant role. Turkey today appears to be an intellectual vacuum to anyone searching for ongoing critical engagement with Islam. The main purpose of this book is to adjust this view of Turkey by showcasing the modern Turkish theologians who challenge mainstream Sunni interpretations of Islam. Labelling these theologians as 'rationalist' rather than 'reformist', the author reveals that their theology is inherently anti-establishment and thus a religiously-oriented challenge to the hegemony of the state-sanctioned Islam: for the rationalists, Turkey's problems have their origins in the Sunni interpretation of Islam. Contemporary Rationalist Islam in Turkey analyses nine prominent scholars of Islam who provide a religious opposition to the Sunni revival in Turkey: Hüseyin Atay, Yasar Nuri Öztürk, M. Hayri Kirbasoglu, Ilhami Güler, R. Ihsan Eliaçik, Ömer Özsoy, Mustafa Öztürk, Israfil Balci, and Mehmet Azimli. These scholars' writings are almost exclusively published in Turkish, so this book makes their ideas available in English for the first time. It also examines the scope, methodology and argumentation of the scholars' theology, categorizing their theological interpretations from 'historicist' to 'universalist' and from 'empiricist' to 'rationalist'. In identifying a new 'rationalist' school of Turkish theology and outlining its different manifestations, the book breaks new ground. It fills a significant gap in the literature on Islamic studies and reveals an understudied dimension of Turkey and Turkish Islam beyond the well-known ideas of the AKP and the Gulenists. Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Contents Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction The Political Context: The Islamic Movement in Turkey What Is Contemporary Islamic Rationalism? Between Historicism and Universalism: Explaining and Categorizing the Rationalists From Sunnism to Rationalism The Structure of the Book Chapter 1: The Fundamentals : Quran and Hadith The Rationalists on Quran The Rationalists on Hadith Conclusion Chapter 2: Law : Demystifying Shari‘a The Nature and the Status of Shari‘a A Rationalist Interpretation of Shari‘a Who Is a Good Muslim? A Moralistic Theory of Piety The Comprehensive Sunnah A Religious Theory of Political Opposition Conclusion Chapter 3: History : De-Islamizing Islamic History The Rationalists on Causation in History Revisionism on the History of Quran Revisionism on Muhammad Revisionism on Early Islamic History Conclusion Chapter 4: Politics and Society : What Went Wrong? The Mainstream Theory of Decay Ash‘arism: The Paradigmatic Obstacle al-Shafi‘i: “The Villain” The Umayyads: The Distortion of Islam Sufism: The Popularization of Anti-Rationalism Islamic Social Movements: A False Theory of Revival Conclusion Conclusion The Rationalists as Moderns The Impact: The Crisis of Sunnism and the Rationalists The Rationalists and the Quandary of Change in Islamic Thought Notes Bibliography Index