The Growing Need for Secularism in Turkey Term Paper

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Introduction

Turkey is a secular state but is largely influenced by the Islamic religion. Almost 99% of the Turkish population practices the Islamic faith (Ghanim, 2009). The four major aspects that characterize Turkey include Islam, secularism, democracy, and nationality. The influence of Islam is felt via the Turkish people while the influence of the government is felt through secularism, nationalism, and democracy. Different groups of Muslims diverge on various aspects of the Islamic faith, but they coexist as a demonstration of tolerance between religion and democracy. While introducing secularism to Turkey’s governance systems, Ataturk had envisioned a country that would uphold nationalism. However, the modern-day Turkey has witnessed a clash between institutional secularism and political Islam because politics defines the people while the government forms laws. Whereas their religious values drive the people, the institutions are guided by secular rules and principles. Therefore, Islam influences the national politics while secularism influences governance.

History

The history of Islam dates back to the time of Prophet Mohamed. During his time, the prophet received instructions from God and documented those instructions into the present-day Quran. The documented instructions from God, as well as the Prophet's instructions, formed the basis of the Islamic faith. Mohamed instructions documented in the Hadith contains the instructions on the five main pillars of Islam these include recognition of God as the only God, recognition of Mohamed as his prophet, the requirement to pray five times daily, charity, and fasting particularly during the holy month of Ramadhan. Mohamed became popular and attracted a large following in Mecca, and this gave birth to Islamic.

Two Islamic perceptions of fundamentalism and reformism influence the interaction between the religion and the secular world. Fundamentalists hold Islamic laws in high esteem compared to secular laws. In their opinion, obedience to Allah is supreme followed by the obedience to Prophet Muhammad. The third in this line is the obedience to any Islamic authority. This invokes conflict between Islamic laws and secular laws because fundamentalists would obey the Islamic laws and disregard the secular laws. However, reformists believe in the integration of the Islamic laws to the existing secular laws, modern scientific technologies as well as modern philosophies.

The Sunni Muslim followed Abu Bakr as the legitimate successor of Prophet Mohamed. He ruled for two years. He was hailed for controlling tribal uprisings that were becoming prevalent in Medina. He then handed over to Umar who preserved the expanding Islamic emperor. Uthman took over in 644 AD, and his reign was characterized by nepotism in resource sharing and appointments. All the leaders contributed to the expansion of Islam beyond the Middle East.

Uthman created the Ottoman Empire in 1284 in the present-day Turkey and expanded up to Algeria. It greatly advanced the Islamic faith into North Africa. In 1453, the Turks controlled Constantinople that later came to be renamed as Istanbul in 1930 when the Republic of Turkey was formed (Ansary, 2009). Istanbul carried great Islamic significance during the time because of its trading and Islamic religion functions. The people came from other religions but were largely ruled under Islamic laws. In most cases, the rulers set the Islamic laws both as an institution that directed governance as well as a set of guidelines for personal practices. They were cognizant of the differences between the interests of the state as well as those of religion. Therefore, they established a link and relationship between politics and religion and did not allow either to take preeminence. The millet system encouraged coexistence among different religions and was the basis of religious tolerance.

After the WW2, the Ottoman Empire did not survive and was consequently partitioned into different and separate states under the French and the British. When the Republic of Turkey was formed, Ataturk embarked on a reformation process that sought to separate religious beliefs from public issues.

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In 1920, he fought and successfully repossessed Istanbul from the British control. Unlike the Ottoman Empire that focused on cultural and religious principles, Ataturk built a more secular nation with an emphasis on nationalism, reformism, secularism, populism, and republicanism. He further eliminated religious education, the predominant Islamic education, from the Turkish educational systems.

Ataturk encouraged gender equity and included women in matters of national importance. His government gave them equal rights in matters of divorce and ownership of property. However, his government did not entirely abolish the traditional Muslim laws. In areas of inheritance, child custody and divorce among other, Islamic law continued to be used particularly in rural communities. Nonetheless, his government is credited for the role of separating religion from the state

Overview of the Differing Positions and Beliefs

The differing opinion between secularism and political Islam has been very evident in Turkey. As already noted, the country has transformed from a state that largely depends on Islamic laws to one guided by secular principles. Given the country’s history as an Islamic state, there has been great conflict between principles of secularism and religious beliefs. In its transformation, the Turkish government has sidelined major Islamic beliefs once used in the Turkish governance system. However, this has served to create some conflict between secularism and Islam.

The use of turban in traditional Turkey and the subsequent ban on its use in the secular Turkey governance circles has attracted great debate. The turban is a significant part of the Islamic faith dressing as it signifies one’s commitment. Therefore, it was held in high esteem among the Turkish Muslims. Therefore, the muslin women considered the ban on turban in government institution a strong violation to their freedom of worship. A study carried out in 2004 in Turkey revealed that 61% of women maintained their use of turbans in public and governance institutions despite the ban (Jenkins, 2008). On the contrary, secularism ignored the importance of the use of turban because it enhanced the role of religion in the country’s governance system. According to secularist politics, the use of such turban by Muslim women was not voluntary but rather a practice imposed on them. Since secularism upholds gender equity, the ban was a secular perception of the sign of freedom for many Islamic women. The difference in beliefs and understanding of this fundamental religious practice led to a conflict between the two positions. The Turkish government bowed to religious pressure and lifted the ban in 2008.

The reforms in the modes of worship were also a contentious point between secularism and Islamic faith. Arabic has always been as significant language in Islamic faith because the followers believed that God instructed Prophet Mohammed in Arabic. Therefore, most of the Islamic literature were written in Arabic and used in worship. For this reason, the faithful did not want the Quran to be translated into any other language. However, the secularist belief proposed a reform in this mode of worship. Darulfunun School of Theology suggested that the Quran be translated from Arabic to Turkish (Ghanim, 2009). This move would help the public to understand the Quran and equally give the opportunity to those who could not study Arabic to be equally involved in religious activities. Similarly, the institution wanted to introduce wearing of shoes in the mosques. From a secularist perspective, there was no rational justification for the requirement to remove shoes before entering the mosque. However, the practice of removing shoes before entering the mosque was a religious tradition that the Muslim community had held for a long period. These conflicts between religious beliefs and secular opinions led the government to reconsider its….....

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