The anti-thesis of radical Islam

Prof. Mümtazer Türköne
Prof. Mümtazer Türköne


Date posted: March 10, 2014

MÜMTAZER TÜRKÖNE

Saudi Arabia’s move, accompanied by Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to withdraw ambassadors from Qatar is one of the important indicators of how the Arab Spring has started to be given a different twist. Qatar is accused of lending support to radical Islamist groups. In the same vein, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) was listed as a terrorist organization. Given the fact that Saudi Arabia was one of the main sponsors of the coup d’état in Egypt, it is clear that the Arab Spring process has been reversed.

There is a paradox. This profound turbulence engulfing the Muslim world is the result of competition among petty ruling elites. The Middle East’s deeply fragmented oligarchic administrations compete with each other in a small geography, and the winner is entitled to determine the fate of Muslim societies. At the end of these personal competitions, Iran emerges as a decisive factor and the Islamist organizations that resort to violence find extra room for maneuvering.

Internal conflicts in the Muslim world are very profound and multi-layered. The conflict between modernity and tradition no longer applies. Tradition is here only to give legitimacy to monarchies or ruling cliques. As the political interpretation of Islam makes up all programs that seek to seize power, numerous groups — ranging from those that adopt democratic methods to those who stick to monarchies — become parties of the power competition. There is also a very powerful civil Islamic tradition that shies away from this harsh struggle for power. The severe competition in the political sphere is urging this civil sphere to become politicized.

This civil tradition is stronger than is generally thought. Religious communities and orders that organize easily represent this sphere, and they offer a protected zone for society. As they are well aware of the decadent nature of politics, they keep their relations with the political power and other political actors at a minimum. They try to maintain their autonomy by wielding their mass membership as a trump card against the political power. The MB is a civil/political movement that is poised in between. When the Arab Spring first started, the MB was considerably hesitant about entering elections. Even this matter led to divisions within the organization. If they hadn’t entered the election, Egypt might have avoided the problems in its transition to democracy.

In my final analysis, radical Islam starts to rise when Islam’s democratic methods fail in the face of monarchies and dictatorships. Because of this recurring mistake in the Middle East, we have seen the rise of al-Qaeda, al-Nusra, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and similar organizations.

Turkey’s ability to stay outside of this turmoil is attributed to the performance of civil Islam. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) became popular as an effective implementation of democratic political Islam. However, as it came from a tradition of political Islam, it wasn’t able to escape the trap of creating a monopoly of political power. The only force that can resist the AK Party prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and that can limit his power is civil Islam. The Hizmet movement is Turkey’s strongest civil Islamic movement, and it can employ social dynamics to resist the AK Party. The race for the local polls slated for March 30 is between the AK Party and the Hizmet movement, not between the AK Party and other political parties.

This picture alone is proof that the political Islam experience has failed in Turkey. The sphere of civil Islam, where basic democratic rights are safeguarded by laws, emerges as the only anti-thesis for the rising radical Islamic movements around the Muslim world. Turkey should be closely monitored as a good example of this experience.

Source: Todays Zaman , March 10, 2014


Related News

Call for paper for “International Family Policy Conference”

The Journalists and Writers Foundation is organizing the third international family conference, “International Family Policies”, in order to analyze different kind of legal formulations to protect family as an “institution” across different countries. Conference aims to prioritize policy-oriented articles together with academic and descriptive ones.

Erdoğan’s imaginary power struggles

When we look at international media coverage of the recent corruption scandal in Turkey, we see that the events are generally seen as a “power struggle” between the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government and the Hizmet movement.

Portrait of an Anatolian Muslim with no schooling*

It seems like this season is a season for losing fathers. Yesterday, like many friends around me, I too lost my father. All fathers are great, but mine was different, an extraordinarily good person. He had a finger in every innovation that was brought to the village. Although he never went to school, he could speak and write in Ottoman and [modern] Turkish. He would read history books for the curious in the house.

If you do not stand against injustice

The July 22 operation has shown the meaning and characteristics of the ongoing process that we are experiencing right now. The allegations that serve as the pretext for the July 22 operation will have a boomerang effect, because what we understand from the initial findings of the investigation is that the arguments of the government have been proven to be ungrounded.

Arınç calls Gülen’s extradition request a ‘political move’

Speaking to journalists following the Cabinet meeting on Monday, Arınç added that he does not know how US would react to this political request. Admitting that there is no legal base for Gülen’s extradition, the deputy prime minister said that without the necessary documents, evidence and a court order, it is not possible to get someone extradited from a country.

Is the AK Party turning into the old CHP?

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and EU Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu had attributed the EU and global media’s criticisms of the AK Party administration’s mistakes to the Hizmet movement.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Fethullah Gulen: No Return from Democracy!

New constitution must bear spirit of Abant

The Hizmet Movement: Reflections from Sri Lanka

Freedom comes with a price

Fresh political raids targets leading Turkish NGO Kimse Yok Mu

Anatolian Tigers drive Turkey’s silent revolution

Actually, the president is electing his republic

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News