Turkey in radical revision of Islamic texts

[NGONGE]

By Robert Piggott

Religious affairs correspondent, BBC News

 

 

Turkey is preparing to publish a document that represents a revolutionary reinterpretation of Islam - and a controversial and radical modernisation of the religion.

 

The country's powerful Department of Religious Affairs has commissioned a team of theologians at Ankara University to carry out a fundamental revision of the Hadith, the second most sacred text in Islam after the Koran.

 

The Hadith is a collection of thousands of sayings reputed to come from the Prophet Muhammad.

 

As such, it is the principal guide for Muslims in interpreting the Koran and the source of the vast majority of Islamic law, or Sharia.

 

But the Turkish state has come to see the Hadith as having an often negative influence on a society it is in a hurry to modernise, and believes it responsible for obscuring the original values of Islam.

 

It says that a significant number of the sayings were never uttered by Muhammad, and even some that were need now to be reinterpreted.

 

'Reformation'

 

Commentators say the very theology of Islam is being reinterpreted in order to effect a radical renewal of the religion.

 

Its supporters say the spirit of logic and reason inherent in Islam at its foundation 1,400 years ago are being rediscovered. Some believe it could represent the beginning of a reformation in the religion.

 

Turkish officials have been reticent about the revision of the Hadith until now, aware of the controversy it is likely to cause among traditionalist Muslims, but they have spoken to the BBC about the project, and their ambitious aims for it.

 

The forensic examination of the Hadiths has taken place in Ankara University's School of Theology.

 

An adviser to the project, Felix Koerner, says some of the sayings - also known individually as "hadiths" - can be shown to have been invented hundreds of years after the Prophet Muhammad died, to serve the purposes of contemporary society.

 

"Unfortunately you can even justify through alleged hadiths, the Muslim - or pseudo-Muslim - practice of female genital mutilation," he says.

 

"You can find messages which say 'that is what the Prophet ordered us to do'. But you can show historically how they came into being, as influences from other cultures, that were then projected onto Islamic tradition."

 

The argument is that Islamic tradition has been gradually hijacked by various - often conservative - cultures, seeking to use the religion for various forms of social control.

 

Leaders of the Hadith project say successive generations have embellished the text, attributing their political aims to the Prophet Muhammad himself.

 

Revolutionary

 

Turkey is intent on sweeping away that "cultural baggage" and returning to a form of Islam it claims accords with its original values and those of the Prophet.

 

 

But this is where the revolutionary nature of the work becomes apparent. Even some sayings accepted as being genuinely spoken by Muhammad have been altered and reinterpreted.

 

Prof Mehmet Gormez, a senior official in the Department of Religious Affairs and an expert on the Hadith, gives a telling example.

 

"There are some messages that ban women from travelling for three days or more without their husband's permission and they are genuine.

 

"But this isn't a religious ban. It came about because in the Prophet's time it simply wasn't safe for a woman to travel alone like that. But as time has passed, people have made permanent what was only supposed to be a temporary ban for safety reasons."

 

The project justifies such bold interference in the 1,400-year-old content of the Hadith by rigorous academic research.

 

Prof Gormez points out that in another speech, the Prophet said "he longed for the day when a woman might travel long distances alone".

 

So, he argues, it is clear what the Prophet's goal was.

 

Original spirit

 

Yet, until now, the ban has remained in the text, and helps to restrict the free movement of some Muslim women to this day.

 

 

As part of its aggressive programme of renewal, Turkey has given theological training to 450 women, and appointed them as senior imams called "vaizes".

 

They have been given the task of explaining the original spirit of Islam to remote communities in Turkey's vast interior.

 

One of the women, Hulya Koc, looked out over a sea of headscarves at a town meeting in central Turkey and told the women of the equality, justice and human rights guaranteed by an accurate interpretation of the Koran - one guided and confirmed by the revised Hadith.

 

She says that, at the moment, Islam is being widely used to justify the violent suppression of women.

 

"There are honour killings," she explains.

 

"We hear that some women are being killed when they marry the wrong person or run away with someone they love.

 

"There's also violence against women within families, including sexual harassment by uncles and others. This does not exist in Islam... we have to explain that to them."

 

'New Islam'

 

According to Fadi Hakura, an expert on Turkey from Chatham House in London, Turkey is doing nothing less than recreating Islam - changing it from a religion whose rules must be obeyed, to one designed to serve the needs of people in a modern secular democracy.

 

He says that to achieve it, the state is fashioning a new Islam.

 

"This is kind of akin to the Christian Reformation," he says.

 

"Not exactly the same, but if you think, it's changing the theological foundations of [the] religion. "

 

Fadi Hakura believes that until now secularist Turkey has been intent on creating a new politics for Islam.

 

Now, he says, "they are trying to fashion a new Islam."

 

Significantly, the "Ankara School" of theologians working on the new Hadith have been using Western critical techniques and philosophy.

 

They have also taken an even bolder step - rejecting a long-established rule of Muslim scholars that later (and often more conservative) texts override earlier ones.

 

"You have to see them as a whole," says Fadi Hakura.

 

"You can't say, for example, that the verses of violence override the verses of peace. This is used a lot in the Middle East, this kind of ideology.

 

"I cannot impress enough how fundamental [this change] is."

 

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/europe/7264903.stm

 

Published: 2008/02/26 14:43:58 GMT

 

© BBC MMVIII

[Centurion]

Playing with [Hell] Fire

[Malika]

Originally posted by NGONGE:

By Robert Piggott

Religious affairs correspondent, BBC News

 

 

Turkey is preparing to publish a document that represents a revolutionary reinterpretation of Islam - and a controversial and radical modernisation of the religion.

 

The country's powerful Department of Religious Affairs has commissioned a team of theologians at Ankara University to carry out a fundamental revision of the Hadith, the second most sacred text in Islam after the Koran.

 

The Hadith is a collection of thousands of sayings reputed to come from the Prophet Muhammad.

 

As such, it is the principal guide for Muslims in interpreting the Koran and the source of the vast majority of Islamic law, or Sharia.

 

But the Turkish state has come to see the Hadith as having an often negative influence on a society it is in a hurry to modernise, and believes it responsible for obscuring the original values of Islam.

 

It says that a significant number of the sayings were never uttered by Muhammad, and even some that were need now to be reinterpreted.

 

'Reformation'

 

Commentators say the very theology of Islam is being reinterpreted in order to effect a radical renewal of the religion.

 

Its supporters say the spirit of logic and reason inherent in Islam at its foundation 1,400 years ago are being rediscovered. Some believe it could represent the beginning of a reformation in the religion.

 

Turkish officials have been reticent about the revision of the Hadith until now, aware of the controversy it is likely to cause among traditionalist Muslims, but they have spoken to the BBC about the project, and their ambitious aims for it.

 

The forensic examination of the Hadiths has taken place in Ankara University's School of Theology.

 

An adviser to the project, Felix Koerner, says some of the sayings - also known individually as "hadiths" - can be shown to have been invented hundreds of years after the Prophet Muhammad died, to serve the purposes of contemporary society.

Astagfirullah!

 

Turkey is so desparate to join the EU,it will go to any lenght to try and fit in..What a load of nonsense.Surely if they had done extensive research as they claim to have done surely they could have easily separate correct Hadiths from those fabricated[culturally influenced] ones.Why not compare the Hadiths they believe to be fake,against what the Quran says.

 

This is an action of those misguided,they want to destroy the second source of Islam.Allah choose our prophet as the last prophet and messenger and made his law final and dominat law. We are required to believe in and implement his[Mohamed's]law till the Day of Resurrection. Allah will never ask people to implement a Law that is bound to be changed and corrupted..

 

What modernised society do they want to be?? :confused: :confused:

[NGONGE]

^^^ This is Turkey we're talking about here. People perceive it in many different ways and have different ideas of what modern Turkey is but, usually, they're all mostly wrong.

 

I believe this idea will amount to nothing more than an academic study that won't have much influence on the Turkish nation. Remember, the conservative Turks hardly trust the Universities (the hijab was banned in academic circles until as recent a time as last week) or the government. On the other hand, the secularists do not care for faith to start with and this new development means nothing to them.

[Nur]

Calls to reform Islam are not new, specially when they come from western influenced Muslim institutions like those in Turkey.

 

The more they attempt to rewrite Islam to fit their skewed world vision, the more Islam's simplicity and purity glitters and attracts more adherents, Islam even benefits from negative media campaigns.

 

I think that this is another thought provoking controversy that like other past controversies will attarct those on the sidelines to study Islam before coming face to face with its splendour.

 

Nur

[Naden]

"You can find messages which say 'that is what the Prophet ordered us to do'. But you can show historically how they came into being, as influences from other cultures, that were then projected onto Islamic tradition."

 

The argument is that Islamic tradition has been gradually hijacked by various - often conservative - cultures, seeking to use the religion for various forms of social control.

Several centuries late and severly overdue.

 

I do wonder about the sort of advising that someone named Felix Koerner is doing. Time to google him.

[Centurion]

^^

Yes, curious how a Catholic priest is advising the Turkish theological circle at Ankara University on how to modernise Islam. One of a multitude of things about this story that will raise eyebrows.

 

I came across this article

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Turkey: Islamic Reformers Look Back To Future

By Jeffrey Donovan

 

 

(epa)

ANKARA, November 29, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- On a dusty road atop a hill in a working-class neighborhood of Ankara, a German Catholic priest meets regularly with Muslim theologians. Together, as friends, they drink tea and debate the meaning of life. Clash of civilizations? Not here.

 

 

At first glance, Felix Koerner might appear to be an odd ambassador for Islam. Tall, blond, and German, Koerner is a Roman Catholic priest. But he also happens to be a leading authority on a burgeoning theological movement in the Turkish capital that aims to reconcile Islam with modernity.

 

"When Arabs ask, 'But can a Turk really be a good Muslim theologian, because he doesn't know Arabic?' Well, they all know Arabic very well," Koerner says. "But they shed another light on Islam -- by bringing in [reflections from] Western philosophy, sometimes Christian theology, even."

 

The result, according to Koerner and Turkish theologians and historians interviewed here, is not a distortion of Islam. Rather, it is a deeper view, based on a fuller appreciation of the religion's traditions and literature.

 

The 'Ankara School'

 

Koerner, who has lived here for several years, is a frequent guest of the Theological Faculty of Ankara University. Some of the theologians and historians there make up the so-called Ankara School, an informal group whose mission is to help forge a "modern Islam" that is also faithful Islamic tradition.

 

Felix Koerner (RFE/RL)At the heart of their work, which has the approval of Turkey's state religious authorities, is a rejection of the literalist reading of the Koran.

 

"Some verses in the Koran are [about] war," says Nahide Bozkurt, an Islamic historian who has written a Turkish textbook about the life of the Prophet Muhammad. "We can't understand the holy book in a literal way, because the name of the religion is Islam. 'Islam' means peace."

 

Bozkurt is currently working on a project to demonstrate that Islam, by its very nature, rejects violence and terrorism.

 

 

 

"Some verses in the Koran are [about] war. We can't understand the holy book in a literal way, because the name of the religion is Islam. 'Islam' means peace."

She is convinced that Islam's vast literature must be understood in its historical context. Bozkurt also thinks the narratives and biographies of Muhammad that appeared in the centuries after his death in 632 must also be carefully checked for accuracy and seen in their historical setting.

 

Tradition Of Rethinking?

 

But when many Muslims see the Koran as the literal word of God, interpretation can be a tricky business.

 

"To prove that rethinking is something traditional is a challenge they also face, which is important for themselves, for their critical friends in the non-Turkish world, but also in their own country," Koerner says.

 

To Mehmet Pacaci, however, "rethinking" is clearly more traditional than literalism. Pacaci is among the leading theologians of the Ankara School. He also has studied in Germany and read the classics of Christianity and Judaism. He calls Koerner a friend and, together with others, they often meet over tea and debate the meaning of their faiths and ways of interpreting them.

 

To Pacaci, literalism is a modern movement that began in Egypt in the 19th century. He calls it a superficial way of understanding Islam, one that rejects the centuries-old tradition of understanding not only from the Koran but also from the literature that followed Muhammad, as well as the consensus of the Islamic community.

 

Practicing 'Itjihad'

 

Some Muslims might view interpretation as betrayal. Korner notes that there is an "unwritten" dogma that says the door was slammed on "ijtihad" -- that is, the Muslim use of reason as way to achieve modern readings of Islam -- back in the 13th century.

 

Simply put, Pacaci says that is false.

 

"Some people say that the door of ijtihad is closed," he says. "But when we look at the history of Islamic law, Muslims nations, we always see that ijtihad has been practiced."

 

Mehmet Pacaci (RFE/RL)Pacaci says the core beliefs of Islam are timeless and changeless. He says that what differs from age to age is articulation -- the way the faith is lived in the light of new generations and new challenges. That includes the way that Shari'a, or Islamic law, is understood.

 

He cites an example. Some literalist Islamic societies believe that under Shari'a, a thief must be punished with the loss of his hand. But Pacaci notes that this contradicts the traditions of several Muslim societies. For example, he says that theft during the 600-year reign of Turkey's Ottoman Empire was treated in a far different way -- with incarceration or fines, but usually not dismemberment.

 

"[Literalism] appeared with Wahhabism, it appeared with reactionary Muslim movements," Pacaci says. "I mean, reducing Shari'a to a couple of punishments -- this is the reductionist approach to Islam and literalist approach."

 

In this light, Pacaci argues that literalism is not only a superficial way of understanding Islam, but it is also a modern phenomenon that ignores Islamic history and literature. In other words, interpretation is a return to the roots of Islam -- to what he calls the "classical" approach.

 

Possible Impact

 

The Ankara School is just one part of a larger reform movement in Turkey, where society has had a more Western look ever since its founding as a rigidly secular state by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923.

 

For example, the Directorate of Religious Affairs, or Diyanet, is currently overseeing a project to filter misogynist statements from the hadith, the traditional sayings and deeds of Muhammad that is the second most important source of Islamic law after the Koran.

 

Might the Turkish laboratory begin to influence the rest of the Islamic world?

 

The youthful Koerner, a Jesuit who helps minister to Ankara's only public-access church, recently published his doctoral thesis in English so that the wider Muslim world could read more about Islamic reform theology in Turkey.

 

And he believes Turkey is already making an impact.

 

"There are Arabs coming into Turkey and discovering that this is a way of rethinking Islam without losing the Muslim identity," Koerner says. "Modernity and Muslim identity must in some way go together."

[Faynuus]

Originally posted by Nur:

Calls to reform Islam are not new, specially when they come from western influenced Muslim institutions like those in Turkey.

 

The more they attempt to rewrite Islam to fit their skewed world vision, the more Islam's simplicity and purity glitters and attracts more adherents, Islam even benefits from negative media campaigns.

 

I think that this is another thought provoking controversy that like other past controversies will attarct those on the sidelines to study Islam before coming face to face with its splendour.

 

Nur

could not agree more.

 

May Allah guide the misguided.

[Fabregas]

quote:"When Arabs ask, 'But can a Turk really be a good Muslim theologian, because he doesn't know Arabic?' Well, they all know Arabic very well," Koerner says. "But they shed another light on Islam -- by bringing in [reflections from] Western philosophy, sometimes Christian theology, even."

 

 

Great, a Catholic who believes another man can forgive sins is teaching Muslims how to interpret the Quran in a "new light". Are Muslims even allowed for a Christian to explain the Quran and SUnnah to them? I can't believe the government is supporting this intiative.