Zulkarneyn
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I was reading an article written in 1947 by Adnan Adivar, one of the founding fathers of the modern republic. In his article he is summing up very thoroughly the errors made by both the Ottoman Empire and the modern Turkish Republic when dealing with religion and western thought. In the following i will try to give my two cents about the landscape which the article helped me understand better.
Firstly every Turkish person is according to me obligated to learn and understand his/her history if they want to process and discuss about these topics. We have seen several times in this forum (and many other internet pages/forums) what pure ignorance of fanticism of any kind leads to. Therefore i hope people will respect my thoughts and writings when i present them here.
Basically what Adivar is dealing with in his article is the core reason for the fall of Ottoman and the core problem for todays main political disagreements, as he perfectly concludes in the article
"Only when a reform of this kind (critical spirit and free information flow without any restrictions) comes about will Turkey be able to combine the streams of its cultural heritage and evolve an in-
tegrated intellectual movement"
One of the most important reasons to the fall of Ottoman Empire was its rejection of Western technology, Philosophy and science. The Ottoman simply refused to implement teachings being taught in European schools into its own lands. The reason for this was crystal clear: Why should we teach our kids European teachings which is full of kufr and may lead our younger generations into being kuffars? This was the biggest error made by the Ottoman in its time. To be unable to catch up to Europe and to stay in dark when Europe was experiencing the Age of Enlightenment and industrialization. The Ottoman was simply foolish to think that Islam defies science and philospophy which was being taught in Europe in a much more sophisticated level. We may mention the Tanzimat but that was simply too weak.
Let us fast forward to the Young Turks and modern Turkey. When Ataturk and his comrades signed the Treaty of Lausanne after the war of independence a bright new future awaited a new Turkey. Mustafa Kemal became the republic's first President and subsequently introduced many radical reforms with the aim of founding a new secular republic. But things didn't go perfect for Turkey and we never witnessed a true enlightenment and peace between the religious and secularist parties/groups in Turkey. Why did this happen?
This happened for a very good reason. After the establishment of the Republic and the introduction of secularism many people felt betrayed, let us talk straight people this is the reality. Ataturk by looking at the Ottoman empires past observed a pattern. He came to understand that by ignoring the West Ottoman was kept in the dark by foolish rulers who could not analyze the future and present of the state of their empire. Ataturk felt that by abolishing Islam from the system Turkey may lead to scientific and social revolutions. But as the Ottomans feared the West Ataturk feared Islam. The outcome was not exactly pretty for Turkish Republic as well.
Dear readers, the problem was that Ataturk feared Islam may corrupt the state once again because of its past. Yet the problem was not Islam, but it was the Ottoman rulers who tried to isloate the state completely from Western enlightenment movement. So to say they kept away science, philosphy, industry etc away from Ottoman because they thought these were not compatible with Islam. The same thing was done by the Turkish Republic but the opposite. Therefore the answer is simple. Once Islam is fully integrated into science, technology and philosphy we will truly evolve an integrated intellectual movement. I don't recommend that we should abolish the constitution, but we should be able to observe the clear faults done by our past leaders, that is both in the Turkish Republic and as well in the Ottoman Empire. One cannot embrace true enlightenment as long as certain thoughts and movements are kept in the dark. The Ottoman Empire's failure illustrates that perfectly. We should develop a sense of constructive criticism and make lessons of our past mistakes, that is both in the era of all the presidents in the Turkish Republic and in the era of Ottoman Empire. What i have learned being among Turkish youth for all my life (both intellectual University students and others) is that we lack that quality.
Some are afraid to criticize Ataturk, some are afraid to criticize the Ottoman. We should fear mindless fanaticism beyond everything else. Because the best friend is the one who tells right from wrong even though it might hurt you.
Written by Zulkarneyn
Firstly every Turkish person is according to me obligated to learn and understand his/her history if they want to process and discuss about these topics. We have seen several times in this forum (and many other internet pages/forums) what pure ignorance of fanticism of any kind leads to. Therefore i hope people will respect my thoughts and writings when i present them here.
Basically what Adivar is dealing with in his article is the core reason for the fall of Ottoman and the core problem for todays main political disagreements, as he perfectly concludes in the article
"Only when a reform of this kind (critical spirit and free information flow without any restrictions) comes about will Turkey be able to combine the streams of its cultural heritage and evolve an in-
tegrated intellectual movement"
One of the most important reasons to the fall of Ottoman Empire was its rejection of Western technology, Philosophy and science. The Ottoman simply refused to implement teachings being taught in European schools into its own lands. The reason for this was crystal clear: Why should we teach our kids European teachings which is full of kufr and may lead our younger generations into being kuffars? This was the biggest error made by the Ottoman in its time. To be unable to catch up to Europe and to stay in dark when Europe was experiencing the Age of Enlightenment and industrialization. The Ottoman was simply foolish to think that Islam defies science and philospophy which was being taught in Europe in a much more sophisticated level. We may mention the Tanzimat but that was simply too weak.
Let us fast forward to the Young Turks and modern Turkey. When Ataturk and his comrades signed the Treaty of Lausanne after the war of independence a bright new future awaited a new Turkey. Mustafa Kemal became the republic's first President and subsequently introduced many radical reforms with the aim of founding a new secular republic. But things didn't go perfect for Turkey and we never witnessed a true enlightenment and peace between the religious and secularist parties/groups in Turkey. Why did this happen?
This happened for a very good reason. After the establishment of the Republic and the introduction of secularism many people felt betrayed, let us talk straight people this is the reality. Ataturk by looking at the Ottoman empires past observed a pattern. He came to understand that by ignoring the West Ottoman was kept in the dark by foolish rulers who could not analyze the future and present of the state of their empire. Ataturk felt that by abolishing Islam from the system Turkey may lead to scientific and social revolutions. But as the Ottomans feared the West Ataturk feared Islam. The outcome was not exactly pretty for Turkish Republic as well.
Dear readers, the problem was that Ataturk feared Islam may corrupt the state once again because of its past. Yet the problem was not Islam, but it was the Ottoman rulers who tried to isloate the state completely from Western enlightenment movement. So to say they kept away science, philosphy, industry etc away from Ottoman because they thought these were not compatible with Islam. The same thing was done by the Turkish Republic but the opposite. Therefore the answer is simple. Once Islam is fully integrated into science, technology and philosphy we will truly evolve an integrated intellectual movement. I don't recommend that we should abolish the constitution, but we should be able to observe the clear faults done by our past leaders, that is both in the Turkish Republic and as well in the Ottoman Empire. One cannot embrace true enlightenment as long as certain thoughts and movements are kept in the dark. The Ottoman Empire's failure illustrates that perfectly. We should develop a sense of constructive criticism and make lessons of our past mistakes, that is both in the era of all the presidents in the Turkish Republic and in the era of Ottoman Empire. What i have learned being among Turkish youth for all my life (both intellectual University students and others) is that we lack that quality.
Some are afraid to criticize Ataturk, some are afraid to criticize the Ottoman. We should fear mindless fanaticism beyond everything else. Because the best friend is the one who tells right from wrong even though it might hurt you.
Written by Zulkarneyn
