February 16, 2010
Was Ottoman Shariah Better Than Republican Law?
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
Well, with a headline like the above, I know that I am on dangerous ground. Shariah, which roughly means Islamic law, is a toxic word for good reasons. Lots of horrific things are happening in our world by those who claim to implement this legal tradition. Shariah-imposing countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia are dictatorships that systematically violate human rights. The latter is especially hellish for its women.
Continue reading "Was Ottoman Shariah Better Than Republican Law?"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 3:14 PM | Comments (0)
February 7, 2010
Could Islam Help Us Against Honor Killings?
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
Yet another horrible honor killing took place in the southeast, the least developed part of Turkey. A 16-year-old girl was buried alive by her relatives simply for befriending boys. Forensic experts found soil in her lungs and stomach, indicating that the poor kid was conscious while being buried into the ground.
May God have mercy on her soul. And may her killers face punishment in this world and the next. What they did was cruel, monstrous and evil.
Continue reading "Could Islam Help Us Against Honor Killings?"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 11:01 PM | Comments (1)
January 19, 2010
Toward a Liberal 'Political Islam'?
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
Political Islam, as you probably have noticed before, is a dirty term. It often refers to angry men who impose veils on women and ban anything that is fun. It even reminds us of the horrific reign of the Taliban, whose heaven on Earth in Afghanistan looked rather like hell for most of us.
There is a good reason for this notoriety of political Islam. Its main proponents, such as the Pakistani thinker Abul A'ala Mawdudi (1903-1979), defined it as the effort to create an "Islamic state," whose main mission would be the imposition of shariah, or Islamic law, within its most rigid and medieval interpretation.
Continue reading "Toward a Liberal 'Political Islam'?"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 11:33 PM | Comments (0)
January 18, 2010
An Open Letter to Israelis (From a Concerned Turk)
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
Dear friends,
I hope all is well in the Holy Land. Things are not too bad here in Turkey. Yet one thing that certainly does not look great is relations between our countries, which hit an ugly low this week.
In fact, since the beginning of your government's "Operation Cast Lead" in Gaza, which happened a year ago, a continual war of words has been going on between your leaders and ours.
Continue reading "An Open Letter to Israelis (From a Concerned Turk)"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 12:32 AM | Comments (9)
January 13, 2010
The Trouble With Islamo-Tribalism
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
Nasty things are happening in Malaysia. Nine Christian churches have been vandalized or burnt just over the last weekend. Thank God, nobody has been hurt, yet, but the terror unleashed is terrifying enough for the Christian minority of this overwhelmingly Muslim nation.
Continue reading "The Trouble With Islamo-Tribalism"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 11:47 AM | Comments (4)
January 6, 2010
Should Muslims 'Slay The Mockers of Islam'?
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
Alas, it happened again. An extremist Muslim attacked a Westerner to punish him for "mocking Islam." This time, the victim was the Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, whose controversial caricature of the Prophet Mohammed had sparked a worldwide storm five years ago. A 28-year-old man of Somali origin broke into the cartoonist's home last Friday, wielding an axe and a knife. "We will get our revenge," he reportedly yelled, before being shot by the police and taken under custody.
Continue reading "Should Muslims 'Slay The Mockers of Islam'?"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 12:30 PM | Comments (4)
December 31, 2009
Why Muslim Culture Needs More Fun
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
It happens toward every year's end. The more Westernized part of Turkish society warms up for New Year's Eve. Decorations are put up, parties are organized, and restaurants advertise eat-and-dance-all-night-long programs. Santa Clauses and pine trees show up in upscale malls. The Turks who embrace these Christmas symbols often have no idea about Christ. They just like the lifestyle of the wealthy, happy and joyful people they see in Hollywood movies.
Continue reading "Why Muslim Culture Needs More Fun"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 2:32 PM | Comments (0)
December 25, 2009
From the Archives: A Governing Sharia
Yet another belated post: My book review of Islam and The Secular State by Prof. Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im. It was published in the December 2008 issue of First Things, a monthly theology magazine.
Continue reading "From the Archives: A Governing Sharia"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 9:04 PM | Comments (0)
December 9, 2009
AKP Is Not Islamist, But Somewhat Muslimist
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan visited President Obama in the White House the other day. It was, apparently, a good meeting. Obama praised Turkey's efforts at home and abroad, and even said Ankara could be an "important partner" in resolving the growing crisis with Iran's nuclear program.
Yet we all know that Turkey's stance on Iran is actually a concern for many people in Washington. Erdoğan recently irritated them by declaring Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as his "friend," and seeming to almost avocate Iran's nuclear ambitions.
Continue reading "AKP Is Not Islamist, But Somewhat Muslimist"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 11:30 AM | Comments (8)
December 8, 2009
Are Minarets 'Our Bayonets?'
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
The recent Swiss ban on minarets has the bad potential of being a watershed event in terms of Western-Muslim relations. Therefore, there is a lot to say about it.
First, the ban is clearly a violation of religious freedom. It would be a violation of religious freedom, too, if crosses were banned from church roofs or Magen Davids from those of synagogues. That's why the whole affair is simply a "disgrace," as a recent New York Times editorial aptly defined it.
Continue reading "Are Minarets 'Our Bayonets?'"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 11:58 AM | Comments (6)
December 2, 2009
Aryan Supremacy Reigns Supreme in Switzerland
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
You must have heard that the open-minded people of Switzerland took to the polls last weekend to ban minarets - in a country where there are only four of them. These days, the global news is full of stories and commentaries about this apparently democratic, yet shockingly illiberal decision. But if you really want to understand the undercurrents that led the majority of the Swiss society to this unbelievable point, I would suggest watching a 1940 film, "Der Ewige Jude."
Continue reading "Aryan Supremacy Reigns Supreme in Switzerland"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 10:30 AM | Comments (12)
May 9, 2009
Islam, Apostasy and 'Erdoğanists' In Malaysia
[Originally published in Hürriyet Daily News]
KUALA LUMPUR - It is my first time in this fascinating city, and I just hope that it won't be the last. Thanks to the invitation from Malaysian Think Tank, a pioneering organization dedicated to popularize classical liberal ideas in Malaysian society, I had the chance to come here all the way down from Istanbul. And I was impressed by not just Malaysia's common tourist attractions (gorgeous nature, great food, and diverse society) but also for the lessons it tells us about the interaction between Islam and modernity.
Continue reading "Islam, Apostasy and 'Erdoğanists' In Malaysia"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 2:11 PM | Comments (4)
April 12, 2009
Not At War With US, Either
[Originally published in Hürriyet Daily News]
The boldest headline that President Obama's visit to Turkey gave the world media was a simple reaffirmation. "The U.S is not and will never be," he said, "at war with Islam."
For many Muslims, it was good to hear this because they had really started to suspect that there was a "war on Islam" launched by the American government. In fact, no significant U.S. official had ever said anything close to that. Some of the policies of the Bush administration, from the Iraq War to Guantanamo to "rendition" created doubts and fears. Moreover, some Republican pundits and ideologues, which people perceived as the real mind of the Bush team, engaged in fear mongering about Islam. All these, at the very least, left a bad taste in the mouths of the world's 1.2 billion Muslims.
Continue reading "Not At War With US, Either"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 8:24 PM | Comments (12)
January 24, 2009
Terrorism In The Name of Judaism
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
If you don't already know him, let me introduce you to former Sephardi chief rabbi of Israel, Mordechai Eliyahu, an 80-year-old man of faith. In May 2007, he wrote a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to give him some religious advice on what to do with the Palestinians. As reported in the Jerusalem Post on May 30, 2007, the retired chief rabbi was furious about the rockets fired from Gaza into Israel and held the whole population in the Strip responsible. "An entire city holds collective responsibility for the immoral behavior of individuals," he argued.
Continue reading "Terrorism In The Name of Judaism"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 3:23 AM | Comments (15)
January 15, 2009
Time For Hamas to Consider Peace
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
I have great sympathy for the Palestinian people. They are my co-religionists with whom I share a common history and culture. Every now and then I recall with nostalgia that the Ottoman Sultans, living in my home city, Istanbul, used to rule Palestine for centuries in a way that made it possible for its people live in peace and security. And I feel deeply sad about what happened to them after we Turks were forced to leave the Holy Land during World War I.
Continue reading "Time For Hamas to Consider Peace"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 2:01 AM | Comments (10)
January 10, 2009
The Morality of 'Collateral Damage'
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
As of yesterday, the Israeli military had killed 770 people in the Gaza Strip, about 200 of them children. Millions around the world are appalled at this ruthless bloodshed. But Israeli spokespersons routinely show up on television, and pleasantly tell us that they don't have the slightest responsibility in all this carnage. They are doing everything they can do avoid this "collateral damage," they say, including warning civilians to run away from their homes before launching an onslaught of bombing. And, based on that, pro-Israeli commentators, such as Charles Krauthammer of the Washington Post, coldly tell us that Israel is absolutely the "moral side" in his conflict.
Really?
Continue reading "The Morality of 'Collateral Damage'"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 12:40 PM | Comments (3)
January 8, 2009
Can You Finish Terrorists by Killing Them--and Their Kids?
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
Sometimes an article by one man summarizes the mindset of millions. The piece titled "Bam Stirs Fear in Israel," written by Ralph Peters and published in the New York Post on January 1, was like that. Fearing that "Bam" (i.e, Obama) could "stab Israel in the back" (i.e., tell her to stop the bloodbath in Gaza), Mr. Peters was trying to persuade his readers why it was crucial that the Israeli military kept on bombing the Gaza Strip - a deadly operation which has killed more than 150 women and children up to this point.
"Fighting terrorists effectively means going in on the ground, and sooner is better than later," argued Mr. Peters. "You can't impress fanatics into surrendering. You have to kill them. Nothing else works."
Continue reading "Can You Finish Terrorists by Killing Them--and Their Kids?"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 3:38 AM | Comments (10)
December 4, 2008
Conservative Islam With a Smiling Face
[Originally published in Hürriyet Daily News]
For most people, especially westerners, the all-covering black chador is a sign of the repression of women. And it often really is. Authoritarian Islamist regimes such as Saudi Arabia force their female citizens to wear these "niqabs," which turn the latter into BMO’s, i.e., "Black Moving Objects," as tourists sometimes call them. The shapeless veil deprives women of their personality and turns them into exiles from society.
Continue reading "Conservative Islam With a Smiling Face"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 11:24 AM | Comments (2)
November 7, 2008
The Obama Nations
[Originally published in Hürriyet Daily News]
WASHINGTON - In his recent book, “The Obama Nation,” conservative pundit Jerome Robert Corsi was criticizing the growing popularity of the then Democratic presidential candidate. If he wants to keep on, he might now consider writing a sequel: “The Obama Nations.” For now not just millions of Americans, but also billions of foreigners are inspired by the hope that the African-American president-elect spreads.
Continue reading "The Obama Nations"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 2:48 PM | Comments (2)
October 12, 2008
Will Non-Muslims Go to Heaven, Too?
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
WARSAW – I was walking heedlessly in the Old Quarter of the Polish capital last Sunday until I saw a group of joyful singers on the street. Then I stopped and stared. They were about a dozen young Poles who were singing and clapping in the middle of a busy street and in the midst of a bitter cold. Soon, I realized that their art was very much related to their faith. As evangelical Catholics — a category which I just learnt that exits — they were praising God and calling on other people to do the same.
Continue reading "Will Non-Muslims Go to Heaven, Too?"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 1:04 PM | Comments (17)
September 30, 2008
A Mosque Reform On The Way?
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
Turkey's official religious institution, the Directorate of Religious Affairs, took a bold step two years ago by launching a project cleansing the Islamic tradition from misogyny. What the institution did was to employ a team of religious scholars to prepare a new collection of hadiths (the deeds and sayings attributed to Prophet Muhammad), and remove the degrading remarks against women, which represent not the original message of Islam but the male-dominated culture of the past. With that project, the Directorate, which is called Diyanet İşleri Başkanlğı" or simply Diyanet in Turkish, had shown that it was not just open-minded but also brave.
Continue reading "A Mosque Reform On The Way?"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 1:55 PM | Comments (25)
September 25, 2008
Turkey Is Getting More Secular, Not Religious
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
Mainstream Turkish media loves to be alarmist about the creeping Islamization of Turkey. Especially since the conservative AKP (Justice and Development Party) came to power in 2002, fear mongering about the shariah imposers has become the main theme of the secularist press. Some fear that we will soon become another Iran. Others worry that we will turn into another Malaysia (which doesn't sound too bad, actually). Even the non-delusional secularists, which make up a tiny minority, are deeply concerned about the rise of Islam.
Continue reading "Turkey Is Getting More Secular, Not Religious"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 10:52 AM | Comments (29)
August 7, 2008
Is Turkey's Problem 'Unreformed Islam'?
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
The judicial coup attempt that Turkey has just barely survived was due to secularism. The soft coup of 1998, through which the military overthrew an elected government, was also tied to secularism. In other words, that very foundation of the Turkish Republic, as it is often referred, continues to be a bone — actually the bone — of contention in Turkish society.
Continue reading "Is Turkey's Problem 'Unreformed Islam'?"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)
June 21, 2008
Is Islam For 'Victory?' Or For God?
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
A few weeks ago, I ran into a quote from Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the Egyptian Muslim scholar and Al-Jazeera televangelist, in Turkey’s controversial Islamist daily, Vakit. “Victory,” the 80-year-old cleric was saying, “is only possible by returning to Islam.” The “victory” he was referring to was the one Muslims would have won against Israel. “The defeat of the Jewish State is possible,” he reportedly declared in a sermon in Qatar, “only when Muslims fully return to the pure teaching of Islam.”
Continue reading "Is Islam For 'Victory?' Or For God?"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 4:04 PM | Comments (9)
May 24, 2008
From Isolationism to Peacemaking: Turkey Meets Mideast
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
One of the interesting news of the past week was the launch of indirect peace negotiations between Israel and Syria â and mediated by Turkey. The two countries, who have been technically at war since 1967 and who havenât talked to each other since 2000, have started to talk "in good faith and openly" â and in nowhere else but Istanbul. It was the Turkish government, especially Prime Minister ErdoÄan and his top foreign policy advisor Professor Ali DavutoÄlu, who made this happen thanks to a four-year-long diplomacy. Both the Israelis and the Syrians, and also the United States and EU, thanked Turkey for this initiative and praised its role as facilitator.
Continue reading "From Isolationism to Peacemaking: Turkey Meets Mideast"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 8:21 AM | Comments (1)
April 10, 2008
Who Is an Islamist? Who Is a Muslim? And What About Me?
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
Political terms can be misleading, especially when used to serve ambitious agendas. For Senator Joseph McCarthy, for example, even a slight of touch of social democracy was “communism” in sheep's clothing. During his heyday in the U.S., it was very easy to de-legitimize a political actor by simply labeling him as “red.”
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 9:07 AM | Comments (9)
March 27, 2008
The Religious Way to The Open Society
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
NEW YORK – Peter Berger, one of the world’s leading authorities on sociology of religion, put in a nutshell what all secularists, and especially Turkey’s fuming ones, should get. “Modernization does not necessarily secularize societies,” the Boston University professor noted, “it rather pluralizes them.”
Continue reading "The Religious Way to The Open Society"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 10:13 PM | Comments (2)
March 15, 2008
'Islamization' of Turkey: Not What You Would Think
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
One of the popular themes of the recent years is whether Turkey is being “Islamized.” People ask, and fear, about the change in Turkish society under the incumbency of the conservative AKP (Justice and Development Party) government. The suspicion ranges from extravagant conspiracy theories about the “hidden Taliban-like face of the AKP” to the more reasonable concerns about the rise of moral conservatism in public life. Fellow TDN Mehmet Ali Birand, with whom I agree on many matters, touched upon the latter issue in his successive pieces about “the gradual Islamization of our daily lives.” I bet many readers have found his observations compelling.
Continue reading "'Islamization' of Turkey: Not What You Would Think"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 4:56 PM | Comments (0)
March 6, 2008
Israel Should Stop Harvesting Hatred—For Its Own Sake
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
The mighty Tsahal, the Israeli military, recently carried an air attack over the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. The reason was the Qassam rockets that Hamas militants have been firing into the Jewish state for quite some time. After a week-long offensive, more than 100 Palestinians were killed by Israeli bombs. At least 25 of them were civilians, including nine children and three women.
Then the Israelis decided to end their bombings. "This operation has run its course,” said the Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon. “This is certainly deterrence.”
Continue reading "Israel Should Stop Harvesting Hatred—For Its Own Sake"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 10:14 AM | Comments (13)
March 1, 2008
Welcome to Islamic Reformation 101
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
This week Turkey made international headlines not only with its military's land operation in northern Iraq or its never-ending tug of war over the headscarf. There was also the scholarly and tedious work carried out by a group of theologians in Ankara, supported by the Diyanet (Turkey's official religious body), to revise the “hadiths” – the words and deeds of Prophet Mohammed. “Turkey in radical revision of Islamic texts,” read the BBC's headline. “Turkey strives,” the Guardian observed, “for 21st century form of Islam.” According to the Financial Times, this was “Turkey's fresh look at Prophet.”
Continue reading "Welcome to Islamic Reformation 101"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 10:13 AM | Comments (8)
December 20, 2007
The Secularization of an Islamic Feast
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
It is often said that we owe our weekends to the Israelites. Before they started to refrain from work on the Sabbath some 3500 years ago, human societies did not have the tradition of a weekly resting day. Then came the 10 Commandments of Moses. “The seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God,” it decreed. “You shall not do any work.”
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 10:06 AM | Comments (2)
December 8, 2007
Muslims Love Their Children, Too
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
Music has not saved the world, as some pot smoking flower-powerists used to believe it would in the 1960s. Yet musicians have occasionally uttered words of wisdom that might have helped us calm our hypes. Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, better known by his stage name Sting, once gave one such message of restraint. In one of his greatest songs, “The Russians,” released very timely in 1985, Sting sang the following:
“In Europe and America,
There is a growing feeling of hysteria,
Conditioned to respond to all the threats,
In the rhetorical speeches of the Soviets.
Mr. Khrushchev said we will bury you,
[But] I don't subscribe to this point of view,
It would be such an ignorant thing to do,
If the Russians love their children, too.”
Continue reading "Muslims Love Their Children, Too"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 12:32 PM | Comments (11)
December 6, 2007
Dawkins' 'Delusion' Should Be Free
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
Richard Dawkins is probably the world's most famous atheist evangelist. In his numerous books, the Oxford zoologist argues that modern science, and in particular the Darwinian theory of evolution, has disproved God. He is a gifted writer, and his recent volume, The God Delusion, has become a global bestseller. Some call him “the Harry Potter of non-fiction.”
More recently Dr. Dawkins made the news in Turkey, too, yet not by his arguments. As the Turkish Daily News reported on Nov. 29, following a complaint by a Turkish reader that some passages in the The God Delusion were an assault on "sacred values," an Istanbul prosecutor has opened an official investigation on the book's Turkish version. Its publisher, Erol Karaaslan, is said be “questioned” soon.
Continue reading "Dawkins' 'Delusion' Should Be Free"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 10:05 AM | Comments (6)
November 30, 2007
The Verse at The Gate — and a Koranic Debate
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
Is the Koran a “created” or an “uncreated” book?
This question might sound vague and even meaningless to many modern minds, but it was a crucial one among Muslims during the initial centuries of Islam. Indeed, there were bitter disputes and even clashes between those who gave different answers.
Continue reading "The Verse at The Gate — and a Koranic Debate"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 11:15 PM | Comments (2)
November 24, 2007
Turkey's Veiled Democracy [A Must-Read Article]
This article, published in the November/December issue of The American Interest magazine, is available here online (but in full only for subcribers), and here in full as a PDF file.
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 7:16 PM | Comments (2)
November 15, 2007
Turks, Jews and Arabs
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
In the year 1454, Rabbi Yitzhak Sarfati of the Ottoman city of Edirne sent a letter to his co-religionists in Europe who were suffering under the persecutions of medieval anti-Semites. "Leave the torments you endure in Christendom," the Rabbi suggested, "and seek safety and prosperity in Turkey." This Islamic land was a haven for all, he added. "Here every man dwells at peace under his own vine and fig tree."
Continue reading "Turks, Jews and Arabs"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 12:21 PM | Comments (9)
November 5, 2007
Apostasy is a Right, Not a Crime
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
NEW YORK- Western governments and the international media focused on a bizarre court case in Afghanistan in February 2006. The accused was Abdul Rahman, a 41-year-old Afghan citizen, who was on the verge of receiving a death penalty. His crime was abandoning Islam and converting to Christianity.
Soon Rahman was saved thanks to international pressure on the Afghan government, but his story was only one of the many severe violations of religious freedom in the contemporary Islamic world.
Continue reading "Apostasy is a Right, Not a Crime"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 1:26 AM | Comments (3)
November 2, 2007
Ein Volk, Ein Ummah, Ein Muhammad?
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
PRAGUE - Last Sunday evening I was strolling down the biggest avenue of the Czech capital and suddenly a blonde and blue-eyed young lady approached me. She handed me a tabloid paper and said something in Czech, which, of course, sounded to me like Chinese. "Excuse me," I asked, "could you please repeat that in English?" She kindly did. "Come join our cause," she invitingly explained. "We are standing up against Islam."
Continue reading "Ein Volk, Ein Ummah, Ein Muhammad?"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 9:18 PM | Comments (1)
October 29, 2007
God, Gold and Islam
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
LONDON — One of the things that strikes visitors to the British capital are the countless signs of its magnificence. The grandeur of the Big Ben or the Westminster Abbey, the elegance of The National Gallery or the Tate, along with all the handsome avenues and eye-catching monuments of central London seem to be testament to the majesty of the British Empire, which was, until just a half century ago, the world's preeminent superpower.
Continue reading "God, Gold and Islam"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 8:56 PM | Comments (6)
October 26, 2007
PKK is Using Al-Qaeda's Strategy
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
Fouad Hussein is a radical Jordanian journalist who met Abu Musab Zarqawi and other al-Qaeda leaders as early as 1996. Later on he spent quite sometime with these people and even shared the same prison cell. In 2005, he produced what is probably the most definitive outline of al-Qaeda's master plan: A book titled “Al-Zarqawi: The Second Generation of al-Qaeda.” According to Hussein, before Sept. 11, ideologues within al-Qaeda believed that “the Islamic nation was in a state of hibernation” and some action was needed for the “awakening.” By striking America – “the head of the serpent” – al-Qaeda would cause the United States to “lose consciousness and act chaotically against those who attacked it.” The result would be the popularization of al-Qaeda. “This will entitle the party that hit the serpent,” they wrote, “to lead the Islamic nation.”
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 9:01 PM | Comments (0)
October 8, 2007
The Islamic Case for a Secular State -III-
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
In June 1998, a very significant meeting took place at a hotel near Abant, which is a beautiful lake in the east of Istanbul. The participants included some of the most respected theologians and Islamic intellectuals in Turkey. For three days, the group of nearly 50 scholars discussed the concept of a secular state and its compatibility with Islam. At the end, they all agreed to sign a common declaration that drew some important conclusions
Continue reading "The Islamic Case for a Secular State -III-"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 9:14 AM | Comments (6)
October 4, 2007
The Islamic Case for a Secular State -II-
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
There are some myths that many well-educated Turks believe to be true. One of them is the idea that the Ottoman Empire's modernization efforts were continuously resisted and crippled by religion. Italian scholar Rossella Bottoni summarizes the falsity of this cliché well in her article titled, “The Origins of Secularism in Turkey.” “According to received wisdom,” she notes:
“In the Ottoman Empire there was a Manichaean struggle between, on one side, the reformers who were Westernizers, liberals, secularizers and modern, and, on the other side, the opponents, especially the ulema (Islamic scholars), who were obscurantist, backward-looking and hooked on the most obsolete customs dictated by religion.”
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 10:23 AM | Comments (11)
October 3, 2007
Voices from the Capital of Sufism
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
KONYA - In Turkey, there are cities that symbolize certain identities. Diyarbakır has made a global name for itself, for example, for being the capital of Kurdish politics. To its north lies Tunceli, which was bombed by the Turkish Armed Forces in 1938 in order to suppress a local rebellion, and has been the crucible of all kinds of radical left groups since then. And at the other end of the country, İzmir stands as the bastion of a secular and westernized lifestyle.
If one is looking for a city that would symbolize conservative Islam, though, none will be more definitive than the central Anatolian city of Konya.
Continue reading "Voices from the Capital of Sufism"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 10:28 AM | Comments (0)
September 29, 2007
The Islamic Case for a Secular State -I-
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
One reason why Turkey's secularist elite is so obsessed with religious practice is their concern about the secularity of the state. If a society becomes more religious, they believe, then the secular system will be less secure. If more Turks follow God's orders in daily life, they ask themselves, why shouldn't they impose them on others using state power?
There is, to be frank, some justification for this worry. There are religious tyrannies in the Muslim world which impose their narrow interpretation of Islam to their citizens. Moreover, there have been groups and individuals in Turkey who talk about doing the same thing.
Continue reading "The Islamic Case for a Secular State -I-"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 12:15 PM | Comments (3)
September 28, 2007
Cartoons of Muhammad and Clash of Civilizations
[Originally published in in Swedish in the Göteborg-Posten, and Turkish Daily News ]
As if we haven't had enough troubles with the Danish cartoon crisis of 2005, yet another one erupted recently in Sweden. Artist Lars Vilks pictured a cartoon showing Prophet Muhammad's head on the body of a dog, and the daily Nerikes Allehanda published it Aug. 19. Not too surprisingly, many Muslims found the depiction highly insulting. Demonstrators took the streets in Pakistan and burnt a Swedish flag. Egypt, Pakistan and Iran made diplomatic protests. And just recently, Al Qaeda in Iraq offered a $100,000 reward for anyone who kills Vilks.
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 12:01 PM | Comments (1)
September 15, 2007
And the Winner Is... Muezzin Isa Aydın
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
EDIRNE — The magnificent Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, in Turkey's northwestern end, has hosted millions of prayers since the late 16th century, when the great Ottoman architect Sinan built it. But last Sunday the splendid shrine hosted an usual event: an “ezan contest,” during which 10 competing muezzins (ezan-reciters) performed the Muslim call for prayer with all their artistic skills in order to win the financially modest but spiritually invaluable prize.
Continue reading "And the Winner Is... Muezzin Isa Aydın"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 11:48 AM | Comments (9)
September 13, 2007
Tidings of Comfort, Joy and Ramadan
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
Today you might have made your breakfast before taking a copy of the Turkish Daily News, and might even be sipping coffee while reading this story. For hundreds of millions of Muslims all around the world, though, that would be out of question. Today is the first day of the holy month of Ramadan, and all observant Muslims are expected to refrain from eating and drinking until sunset. It is a religious duty which has been kept unbroken since the 7th century.
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 9:03 AM | Comments (2)
September 9, 2007
Abdullah Gül, a Muslim Modernizer
[Originally published in The Washington Times]
The election of Abdullah Gul as Turkey's 11th president has attracted quite a lot of attention in the world, and there are good reasons for that. Although Turkey is a predominantly Muslim nation, its leaders, and especially presidents, once were people with secular, not Islamic, lifestyles. Yet Mr. Gul is a practicing Muslim, and his similarly devout wife, Hayrunnisa Gul, wears the Islamic headscarf. Hence some people wonder whether this God-fearing First Couple symbolizes a setback in Turkey's two-century-old quest for modernization.
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 10:10 AM | Comments (1)
September 2, 2007
The Koran and Non-Muslims—Facts Versus Myths
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
Many years ago, I came across a book, which claimed to explain “Israeli terrorism” in the light of the Hebrew Scriptures. It was full of photos showing Israeli soldiers attacking and harassing Palestinians, and presented huge captions that included verses from the Old Testament, and especially the Book of Joshua. If the Israelis were breaking the bones of a Palestinian youngster — a globally notorious scene from the ‘80s — then the caption would include a verse with something like “Thou shall break their bones.” The book's argument was blunt and simple: The Israelis were torturing a nation because that was what their religion ordered them to do.
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 9:31 AM | Comments (15)
July 7, 2007
Morocco's 'AKP' Is Moroccan, After All
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
EL ESCORIAL - The medieval monks who built the giant Monastery of El Escorial couldn't have imagined that their all-Catholic civitas dei would someday host hot debates on the future of political Islam. Yet that's exactly what happened here, in this little Spanish town located some 45 kilometers northwest of Madrid, this week. The “political Islam” in question was Turkey's incumbent AKP, the Justice and Development Party, and its namesake in Morocco, the Parti de la Justice et du Développement.
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 10:46 PM | Comments (4)
April 5, 2007
Interview by To The Source: Fixing the Blindspot
A popular American Christian website, To The Source (which challanges "hardcore secularism with principled pluralism") made interview with me on issues relating to Islam, Christianity and what to do to establish better relations between the two. I am very grateful both To The Source, and also to Dr. Benjamin Wiker, who arranged and made the interview with me. The text, titled “Fixing the Blindspot” is both available here at the TTS website, and also down below.
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 10:18 PM | Comments (2)
April 4, 2007
Thus Spoke the Zarathustrian Kurds
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
Mehdi Zana, the former mayor of Diyarbakır and a prominent figure among Turkey's Kurdish nationalists, has made the news twice in the past weeks with his claims on Kurdish history. First, he argued that Kurds simply had a brighter record before Islam. Second, as we read in the weekly news magazine Aksiyon, he claimed that the authentic religion of the Kurds is Zoroastrianism. They later converted to Islam, according to Zana, “due to the fear of the sword,” and “as a big mistake.”
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 11:11 AM | Comments (6)
March 3, 2007
Reflections on Islam & the West—at Wilton Park
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
Last week I was at a truly exceptional meeting. First of all, the spot was quite interesting: A medieval manor surrounded by grass, sheep, and, well, more grass and sheep. ... That might sound a bit dull, but the gothic mansion was interesting enough in itself. It was supplemented by a small but charming chapel, whose floor was also the place of the tombs of its 16th century owners and even the bones of an 12th century knight, whose carved image looked very much like a gallant crusader.
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 11:44 AM | Comments (3)
December 30, 2006
Rejoice in Kurban Bayramı—It's An Abrahamic Feast
[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
This Sunday is a special one for billions all over the world simply because it is the last day of good old 2006. At midnight, fireworks will glitter over cheerful crowds who will be singing, chanting and toasting for new hopes in the 2007th Gregorian year since the birth of Jesus Christ.
However, this Sunday also has a second meaning for the world's 1.2 billion Muslims, including over 70 million in Turkey. It is the first day of the four-day Feast of the Sacrifice, in which countless sheep and cattle will be slain in order to praise God and feed the poor. So if you see men with bloodied knives on the streets of Istanbul or Ankara, don't worry: They will be only observing a ritual that dates back 14 centuries, or — recalling the Judaic past — 4 millennia.
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 8:32 PM | Comments (3)
December 2, 2006
Debating "The Pope & Islam" with Islamophobes
A few weeks ago, Frontpage magazine invited me to join a symposium on "The Pope and Islam," and I accepted the offer. Only after the beginning of the discussion, I figured out that Serge Trifkovic, a die-hard Islamophobe, was among the panelists. Anyway, the discussion started with Pope Benedict's comments on Islam at his Regensburg address and extended to many other points about the history of the Islamic civilization, some of which are deliberately distorted by the proponents of the new McCarthyism, i.e. Islamophobia.
If you are interested, the full text of this symposium is available here.
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 3:01 PM | Comments (9)
October 20, 2006
Symposium on Islam & Religious Freedom
Frontpage magazine has organized a symposium addressing the issue of religious freedom according to Islam. Provocatively titled "Convert or Die," the symposium presented the views of Robert Spencer and Andrew Bostom (who argue that Islam is basically a religion of violence and tyranny), historian David Aikman, and me. I turned out to be the only one who found "Convert or Die" an un-Islamic message. The full text of the symposium is available here.
By the way, I wish a happy and blessed Eid (The Muslim feast of the Ramadan) for all.
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 7:33 PM | Comments (10)
September 28, 2006
The Mutual Distrust Between East & West
Tom Heneghan, the religion editor of Reuters, has recently written a good analysis of how the Pope's controversial remarks about Islam are perceived in the Muslim world. The Istanbul-based story titled "Both sides feel threats in Pope-Islam row" includes the following comments from me:
Both sides feel threatened and insulted," said Mustafa Akyol, an Istanbul commentator on Muslim affairs. "Muslims see this as part of a whole campaign, in the same line as the Afghan and Iraq wars and Abu Ghraib," he said, "In the West, they think they're under attack by 'jihad' and an intolerant Muslim religion"Akyol said only small minorities on either side actually wanted a clash, but the reasonable dialogue needed to understand each other requires a calm he cannot now see. "People here tell me I'm wasting my time," said Akyol, who describes himself as a moderate Muslim. "They say the Westerners have made up their mind. We're the new enemy after communism and they only want to take Muslim oil. Unless we calm down, it will only get worse."
Thanks to Tom Heneghan for this good summary of my views.
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 2:40 PM | Comments (3)
September 8, 2006
Sanity Versus The New McCarthyism
The understandable concerns Westerners have today about radical Islamism sometimes goes to awkward extremes. Some self-styled "experts" on Islam argue that radical Islamism is equivalent to the Muslim faith and that all Muslims are inherently hostile against other cultures. This new type of McCarthyism is actually the mirror image of radical Islamism, because it depicts "the other side" as a monolithic enemy, whereas it is in fact exceedingly diverse.
In a recent online symposium organized by The FrontPage Magazine, a Mr. Fjordman gives a perfect example of this narrow understanding of Islam or, in other words, Islamophobia. "I do not believe there is such thing as a moderate Islam," says Mr. Fjordman, "We are fooling ourselves with talk about peaceful coexistence with Islam."
Another participant of the symposium is Claire Berlinski , a well-established American Jewish writer who is currently living in Istanbul and who is a personal friend of mine. Her reply to Mr. Fjordman is a very basic and needed call to sanity:
Continue reading "Sanity Versus The New McCarthyism"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 4:00 PM | Comments (0)
August 26, 2006
What Went Wrong in Islam—An Excellent Analysis
For long, I have been arguing that the bigoted or violent religious interpretations we see in the Islamic world are results of not the Koran, but of the post-Koranic traditions that arose in the early centuries of the Islamic civilization. In other words, I have been claiming that the original message of the Koran, which was tolerant, humane and gracious, was overshadowed over time.
I have just came accross an excellent analysis of this devolution in a piece by David Forte, Professor of Law at Cleveland State University. The piece, titled "Islam's Trajectory," is probably the best article I have ever read by a Western scholar on this topic. After giving examples of the bigoted approach towards apostasy in contemporary Islamic world � such as the notorious case of Abdul Rahman, an Afghan who converted to Christianity and was threatened by execution by the legal authorities in that country � Dr. Forte explains that this is barbaric intolerance is completely contradictory to the Koran and the original message of Prophet Muhammad. That message, according to him, was distorted for political means and by political actors. "Three institutions have deflected the trajectory of Mohammed's original message", he says "the law, the empire, and the tribe."
Since I very much agree with Dr. Forte's view, and deem it highly crucial, I directly quote much of his article. Yes, here is a good summary of how things went wrong in Islamic jurisdiction:
Continue reading "What Went Wrong in Islam—An Excellent Analysis"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 1:38 PM | Comments (7)
August 19, 2006
Islam and the West
[Originally published in International Herald Tribune]
Three decades ago, few would have predicted that the hottest topic of the early 21st century would be Islam. Now, not a single day passes in the Western media without news or comment about Islamist terrorism or calls for Islamic reform.
What's going on, exactly? Some hawks in the West talk about a "clash of civilizations." This is a perilously shallow idea. The world's 1.2 billion Muslims, some of whom live happily in Western societies, do not constitute a single entity that sees itself engaged in a war of civilizations.
Yet many Muslims have deep suspicions and worries about the West, and the way the West deals with Muslims deeply influences their thoughts. So it is imperative that Westerners understand the nature of Islam and its current crisis.
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 12:11 AM | Comments (4)
July 19, 2006
A Feminist Islamic Reform in Turkey
[Originally published in The Washington Post]
"Women are imperfect in intellect and religion."
"The best of women are those who are like sheep."
"If a woman doesn't satisfy her husband's desires, she should choose herself a place in hell."
"If a husband's body is covered with pus and his wife licks it clean, she still wouldn't have paid her dues."
"Your prayer will be invalid if a donkey, black dog or a woman passes in front of you."
In a bold but little-noticed step toward reforming Islamic tradition, Turkey's religious authorities recently declared that they will remove these statements, and more like them, from the hadiths — the non-Koranic commentary on the words and deeds of the prophet Muhammad.
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 12:30 AM | Comments (14)
June 29, 2006
More on Islamocapitalism: Ibn Khaldun & Tax Cuts
"In the days of the caliphate," Stephen Glain reminds us in a Newsweek op-ed titled "Islam in Office", "Islam developed the most sophisticated monetary system the world had yet known." Mr. Glain also refers to the pro-market ideas of Ibn Khaldun, the renown Medieval Muslim scholar, who advocated less taxes and more individual enterprise:
Anticipating supply-side economics, Khaldun argued that cutting taxes raises production and tax revenues, and that state control should be limited to providing water, fire and free grazing land, the utilities of the ancient world. The World Bank has called Ibn Khaldun the first advocate of privatization. His founding influence is a sign of moderation.
It is notewhorty that the first advocate of privatization was a Muslim scholar. Here is yet another indication of the fact that Islam is very open to individualism but not collectivism.
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 4:38 PM | Comments (3)
June 25, 2006
A Righteous Rabbi
Just like there are "Righteous Gentiles," there are many righteous Jews. Rabbi Stephen Julius Stein of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple is apparently one of them. In his Los Angeles Times piece, Islam's Ann Coulter, Rabbi Stein makes a very considerate criticism of the anti-Islamic propaganda carried out by the Syrian-born ex-Muslim psychiatrist Wafa Sultan.
Mrs. Sultan seems to have grown a self-hatred similar to that of Ayaan Ali Hirsi, the Somali-born Dutch parliamentarian and scenarist of the controversial film, Submission. Both critiques of Islam seem to direct their bad experience with some Muslims to the religion itself. It is very heartening to see that equitable non-Muslims such as Rabbi Stein and Judea Pearl, the father of the murdered journalist Daniel Pearl, whose objection to Mrs. Sultan is mentioned in Rabbi Stein's piece don't buy into and stand against such unjust Islam-bashing.
"We need the thoughtfulness, self-awareness and subtlety that comes from progressive religious expression," says Rabbi Stein, "[and] we have that in Judaism, in Christianity and in Islam." He is right and righteous indeed.
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 9:03 PM | Comments (2)
June 19, 2006
Islamocapitalism: Islam & The Free Market
[Originally published in Tech Central Station; also available in Malay]
Is Islam compatible with modernity? This has become a hotly debated question in the past few decades. Much of the discussion focuses on issues relating to political liberalism — democracy, pluralism and freedom of thought. Another important dimension of modernity is, of course, economic liberalism. So we should also ask whether Islam is compatible with it, i.e. a free market economy, or, capitalism.
Most Islamists would reply to this question with a resounding "no!" Since they perceive Islam as an all-encompassing socio-political system, they regard capitalism as a rival and an enemy. The struggle against both communism and capitalism has been one of the standard themes in Islamist literature. Sayyid Qutb, the prominent ideologue of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, wrote a book titled Ma'arakat al-Islam wa'l-Ra's Maliyya (The Battle Between Islam and Capitalism) in 1951. At an Islamic conference held in the Spanish city of Granada on July 2003, attended by about 2,000 Muslims, a call was made to "bring about the end of the capitalist system."
However such radical rejections of the capitalist economy don't seem well-suited to the theological attitude and the historical experience of Islam towards business and profit-making. As a religion founded by a businessman — Prophet Muhammad was a successful merchant for the greater part of his life — and one that has cherished trade from its very beginning, Islam can in fact be very compatible with a capitalist economy supplemented by a set of moral values that emphasize the care for the poor and the needy.
Continue reading "Islamocapitalism: Islam & The Free Market"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 4:40 PM | Comments (1)
February 7, 2006
Clash of Civilizations over Euro-Cartoons?
[Originally published in National Review Online]
As a Muslim myself, I understand the disgust of Muslims around the globe at the Euro-cartoons ridiculing the Prophet Muhammad. A deep respect for God, His revelations, and His prophets is a hallmark of the Islamic faith. In the Muslim culture there are no jokes about God; we take Him and His religion quite seriously. And we abhor those who ridicule them.
However, this sensitivity does not justify the violent, uncivilized rampage that we are now seeing across the Islamic world. They threaten and hurt innocent non-Muslims and do more harm to Islam than any cartoon could do.
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 5:10 PM | Comments (16)
January 21, 2006
Abdulhamid II and the 'Armenian Genocide'
After my piece on The Weekly Standard on Abdulhamid II, a disagreeing letter to the editor was published along with my reply. Here is the letter:
Mustafa Akyol's "A Sultan with Swat" (Dec. 26) ends with the suggestion that we "recover the spirit of Islamic modernity personified by the piano-playing Sufi, Abdul Hamid II." That same Abdul Hamid II was responsible for murdering over 200,000 Christian Armenians between 1894 and 1896, which laid the groundwork for the 1915 Armenian genocide. He was not the gentle, melodious musician that Akyol would have you believe; rather, he was a paranoid and homicidal maniac hell-bent on exterminating the Armenian race, only stopping with the threat of European intervention. How could this man—known as the "Ottoman Butcher" for making his Sunni Muslim subjects brutally murder innocent Christians—possibly embody the "spirit of Islamic modernity"?Brian Sieben
Portsmouth, R.I.
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 4:05 PM | Comments (13)
December 3, 2005
Turkish Muslims Pray for the German Hostage in Iraq
Turkish Muslims living in Berlin prayed for the well being of Susanne Osthoff, a Bavarian archaeologist who spent decades studying and excavating sites in Iraq and was kidnapped by the insurgents about two weeks ago. As reported in the Turkish daily Hrriyet, the prayer was organized by the Turkish-Islam Association, which is linked to Turkey's official religious institution, the Diyanet. Imam Harun Bulut, in his sermon, denounced terrorism in the name of Islam and explained that violence against civilians has no justification in Islamic sources, even in the time of war.
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 12:25 PM | Comments (0)
November 14, 2005
Five Answers to Mr. Prager About Islam
Dennis Prager had recently a piece in the Los Angeles Times titled "Five questions non-Muslims would like answered". Those are justified questions, and, as a Muslim, here are my answers.
First, Mr. Pager asks, "Why are you so quiet?", relating to the lack of powerful condemnations from Muslims to atrocities committed in the name of Islam. Well, not all Muslims are quiet and some do speak out, but it is true that this is not enough. The lack of a real strong stance against terrorism among the masses in the Islamic world is a real problem.
Continue reading "Five Answers to Mr. Prager About Islam"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 1:46 PM | Comments (0)
October 27, 2004
A Case For Islamic Renewal
[Originally published in FrontPage Magazine]
My grandfather was a very devout, pious Muslim. When I was about at the age of 10, and at a summer holiday, he called me to his and my grand mom's house in order to give me some Islamic education. He taught me how to perform the regular Muslim prayers and some very basic knowledge about Arabic. I enjoyed this gracious summer school; besides all the warm family values, I was happy to learn about God, my Creator, and the religion He had revealed.
Continue reading "A Case For Islamic Renewal"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 5:37 PM | Comments (6)
August 25, 2004
Killing Noncombatants Is Not The Islamic Way
[Orginally published in National Review Online]
After my article, "An Islamic Denunciation of al Qaeda Killings," appeared on NRO, Andrew McCarthy published a response that both welcomed and criticized my argument. I welcome his commentary as well, for it helps me elaborate my case. But I have to be critical too.
Continue reading "Killing Noncombatants Is Not The Islamic Way"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 5:11 PM | Comments (3)
August 12, 2004
An Islamic Condemnation of Al Qaeda Killings
[Originally published in National Review Online]
Paul Johnson, an American engineer, was killed by al Qaeda after being kidnapped, as was Kim Sun-il, a 33-year-old South Korean. So was Nick Berg savagely slaughtered by militants. These horrible episodes are disgusting, by every human standard. What makes them even more repulsive is that they are committed in the name of Islam.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Islam presents the principles of just war, and kidnapping noncombatants, killing them, or threatening to do so are overtly against those principles.
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Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 5:07 PM | Comments (0)
