The Growing Need for Secularism in Turkey

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. 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 involvement in religious matters.
Some teachings from the Hadith also elicited controversies between secularism and the religion. They provided rules and regulations believed to have originated from Prophet Mohammed as guidelines to people’s general conduct. Therefore, these rules were held in high esteem in the religious circle. However, the secularists held the view that such the Hadith was a great obstacle to civilization and modernization (Ghanim, 2009). The Turkish Department of Religious Affairs proposed a reinterpretation of the Hadith. Senior government officials in this department argued that the rules were only relevant to the prophet’s time and could not be applied under the circumstances of the contemporary world. Such secularists cited the requirement for a wife not to travel without the permission of their husbands.
From a secularist view, this command was only relevant at the time of the prophet because of the great insecurity then. They argued that in the contemporary worlds, the state of security has increased tremendously. Therefore, there was no rationale in demanding wives to seek permission from their husbands before traveling. The secularist and the religious groups held differing opinions on the importance of the Hadith as well as its relevance to the contemporary world and its interpretation in lights of the dynamics that the contemporary world presents.
The association between Turkey and the European Union has also been contentious with secularists and political Islam taking differing viewpoints. The secularists believe that entry of Turkey to the European Union offers great advantages. First, the government will be able to conduct freely conduct business with other European countries and hence increase the country’s Gross Domestic Product. Secondly, it will open up free travel for the citizens of Turkey within the EU member countries. Consequently, the Turks will be able to seek employment and education among these European Union member countries. However, the proponents of political Islam hold the view that the union is not good for the Islamic values that formed the foundation of the country. The proponents hold that the interaction with the will compromise the religious values that have largely characterized Turkey since its formation. Therefore, they are opposed to the inclusion despite the government’s spirited efforts to ensure that Turkey is part of the European Union. It is sad that religious beliefs are curtailing the country’s prospects of growing its economy and enjoying other benefits from the EU
Interestingly, the political Islam provides leaders who run governance in Turkey. Such leaders with strong Islamic background hinder the progress of implementing a secular government. For instance, Abdullah Gul who is the current president has a strong Islamic background. Consequently, he has instituted Islamic policies and less secular ones. His party proposed the amendments at criminalizing adultery. Such rules were mainly motivated from a religious point of view. Moreover, his wife continued to use the turban despite the ban on its use. This continued use of turban was perceived as a violation of the secularist requirements of the very government in which her husband is the president. The prime minister is equally from a strong background of political Islam. He was equally behind the push to criminalize adultery. Moreover, he has often relied on Islamic scholars in making decisions in governance that out not to be the case. As such, his objectivity in secular governance has been questioned by secularists (Kuru, 2008).
The point of concurrence between secularism and Islam is important in the formation of a purely democratic country. The Muslim teachings highly support democracy in the societal structure of governance. Secularists have also agreed that political Islam provided fundamental values that support the process of democratic governance. Islam supports the transformational agenda towards democratic governance while maintaining fidelity towards the Islamic values and principles.
The Future of Turkey
Turkey seems to be on a trajectory motion towards embracing secular forms of governance while integrating fundamental Muslim values. The country has made significant steps towards this secularization process of systems of governance. The future of Turkey will largely lie in its willingness and ability to collaborate with other European Union member countries. Turkey has already demonstrated its willingness to be part of the European Union. Consequently, the country will be required to comply with the minimum requirements of that the European Union has set as the minimum requirements for membership. These requirements include a strict promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms and democratic forms of governance among other factors.
As the country progress towards globalization and formation of trade ties, it will significantly embrace human rights and formulate policies and laws that support fundamental freedoms such as the freedom of expression (Mecham & Quinn, 2012). For instance, the European Union picked up the laws that prohibit criticism of the Turkish culture and the country itself. According to the EU, this law is against the freedom of expression. As Turkey seeks partnership with the European Union as well as other countries, it will require relooking into its rules and laws to align them to the dictates of democracy and preservation of human rights as prescribed by the international community.
Secondly, the future of Turkey lies in religious diversity and tolerance. The opening up to the world will in effect bring up other religions to the country more Jews and Christians will move and contribute to the religious diversity of the country (Bardakoglu, 2008). Consequently, Islam will no longer be the single religion of reference within the country. This will water down the stronghold of political Islam both in governance and among leaders. The laws will be amended to seek to create an inclusive government for people from all religion and cultural backgrounds. Therefore, the future of Turkey lies on secularism as a means of governance.
Moreover, the future of Turkey lies in the integration of Islamic values into secular governance. The republic was formed on strong a strong Islamic background. Therefore, Islamic values are the basic guiding principle in the Turkish society. Such principles that guide the life of people cannot be wiped away overnight. They must be slowly integrated into the legal framework. The law should be a reflection of the values that the people hold in high esteem. Therefore, the future of Turkey will integrate the Islamic background of the country as it creates a more secular form of governance.
Lastly, the country’s politics will move away from the concept of Islam. It is worth noting that the AKP’s success in the 2002 elections in Turkey was premised on the distancing from fanatical Islamic connotation. Rather, it presented a strategy to uphold Islamic democracy and advocated for the improvement of socioeconomic issues in the country (Barkey & Yasemin, 2007). Therefore, political parties will alienate themselves from the concept of political Islam and seek to brand themselves as advocates of socioeconomic justice in future.
Conclusion
In summary, the history of Turkey is concurrent with the history of Islam. The greatest Islamic empire was advanced from the modern-day Turkey. The empire was referred to as the Ottoman Empire. For this reason, the country was founded on strong Islamic principles. The end of the First World War brought about the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the subsequent formation of the democratic republic. Ataturk greatly invested in transforming the governance structure of Turkey and the change from political Islam to a more secular form of governance. Consequently, there were differences in opinion between political Islam and secularism on key matters of national importance. The future lies in the complete adoption of secularism in governance and religious tolerance within the country. Moreover, the concept of political Islam is likely to fade away in the future.


References
Ansary, T. (2009) Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World through Islamic Eyes. New York: Public Affairs.
Bardakoglu, A. (2008). “Culture of Co-Existence in Islam: The Turkish Case.” Insight Turkey 10 111-26.
Barkey, H. and Yasemin C. (2007). “Deciphering Turkey's Elections: The Making of a Revolution.” World Policy Journal 24: 63-73.
Ghanim, D. (2009) “Turkish Democracy and Political Islam.” Middle East Policy 16: 75-84
Jenkins, G. (2008) “Political Islam in Turkey: Running West, Heading East?” New York: Palgrave Macmillam
Kuru, T. (2008) “Secularism in Turkey: Myths and Realities.” Insight Turkey 10 (2008): 101-10.
Mecham, R. Quinn. (2012) “From the Ashes of Virtue, a Promise of Light: The Transformation of Political Islam in Turkey.” Third World Quarterly 25(1): 339-58.