State, Law, Civil Society and Islam in Contemporary Turkey
28 Pages Posted: 5 Mar 2011 Last revised: 8 Mar 2011
Date Written: June 1, 2005
Abstract
Some scholars have asserted that the different perceptions of Islam throughout the world in various local contexts have led to different ‘Islams’ since “considerable disagreements are apparent over what the fundamentals of Islam are and how they should be interpreted.” As one writer strongly emphasizes, “there are as many Islams as there are situations that sustain it.” In the same vein, I argue in this article that there are different Islams in Turkey from a sociological perspective and put the spotlight on these different types of co-existing unofficial and official Islams in Turkey. This article looks briefly at the secularization of Turkey and argues that despite the rhetoric, there has always been an official version of Islam in Turkey that this study calls Lausannian Islam. Even though the Turkish state has always desired to have only the state version of Turkish Islam, unofficial Islam has persisted. This article will focus on two versions of the unofficial Islam: political Islam of the Milli Görüs movement and Anatolian Islam of the faith-based Fethullah Gülen movement.
Keywords: Turkey, Islam, Secularism, Lausannian Islam, Milli Gorus, Gulen Movement, Diyanet, Kemalism
JEL Classification: Z019
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation