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Rasim Özdenören Ibrahim Usta Ankara Yildirim Beyazit 2019 İ BRAHİM USTA MODERNIZATION AND ISLAM IN TURKISH THOUGHT: RASİM ÖZDENÖREN İBRAHİM USTA ANKARA YILDIRIM BEYAZIT UNIVERSITY A YBU YBU JUNE 2019 MODERNIZATION AND ISLAM IN TURKISH THOUGHT: RASİM ÖZDENÖREN A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF ANKARA YILDIRIM BEYAZIT UNIVERSITY BY İBRAHİM USTA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION JUNE 2019 STATEMENT OF PLAGIARISM I hereby declare that all information contained in this thesis is presented within the framework of academic rules and ethical behaviors. I also declare that I have fully cited all external sources and results as required by such rules and ethical behaviors. I accept all legal liability in case of failure to comply with the said rules and behaviors. İbrahim Usta iii ABSTRACT MODERNIZATION AND ISLAM IN TURKISH THOUGHT: RASİM ÖZDENÖREN Usta, İbrahim Master of Sciences, Department of Political Science and Public Administration Thesis Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aytaç Yıldız June 2019, 118 pages The concept of modernization emerges as a social process that penetrates the entire life of individual from economy to politics, from culture to belief systems. The concept is based on a materialist outlook, the rejection of traditional and national, and the aim of making progress by adopting concrete and rational knowledge. There is a negative relationship between the concept of religion categorized as tradition and modernization. In Turkish modernization, it was aimed to reach the level of an advanced civilization through establishing a European style social, political and economic institutions and structures in Turkish society. It can be said that the process which started in the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 18th century, has gained speed with the establishment of the Republic, took on a different character and still maintains. Within this framework, developments such as declaration of the Tanzimat and Islahat Decrees, the transition to the Constitutional Monarchy regime and the establishment of the Republican administration are significant turning points in this way. Rasim Özdenören writing for more than half a century, continues to present a unique perspective on modernization and Islam, and to find solutions. In this study, Özdenören's perspective and ideas on Turkish modernization are examined. The evaluations to be made will be carried out through the books of Özdenören on the relationship between modernization and Islam which have an intensive and direct contact with the subject. Keywords: Rasim Özdenören, West, Islam, modernization, Tanzimat, Kemalism. iv ÖZET TÜRK DÜŞÜNCESİNDE MODERNLEŞME VE İSLÂM: RASİM ÖZDENÖREN Usta, İbrahim Yüksek Lisans, Siyaset Bilimi ve Kamu Yönetimi Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Doç. Dr. Aytaç Yıldız Haziran 2019, 118 sayfa Modernleşme kavramı, ekonomiden siyasete, kültürden inanç sistemlerine varıncaya dek bireyin hayatının tamamına nüfuz eden toplumsal bir süreç olarak karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Kavramın temelinde maddeci bir bakışı açısı, geleneksel ve ulvi olanın reddedilmesi, somut ve rasyonel bilgiyi benimseyerek ilerleme sağlamayı hedefleme gibi bileşenler mevcuttur. Gelenek sınıfı içerisinde kategorize edilen din kavramı ile modernleşme arasında menfi bir ilişki söz konusudur. Türk modernleşmesinde, Avrupa’daki toplumsal, siyasal ve ekonomik kurum ve yapıların Türk toplumuna tesis edilmesini sağlayarak muasır medeniyet seviyesine erişmek amaçlanmıştır. 18. yüzyılın sonlarında Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda başlayan, Cumhuriyetin kurulmasıyla birlikte hızlanan ve farklı bir karaktere bürünen sürecin halen devam ettiği söylenebilmektedir. Bu çerçevede Tanzimat ve Islahat Fermanları’nın ilanı, Meşrutiyet rejimine geçilmesi ve Cumhuriyet yönetiminin tesis edilmesi gibi gelişmeler bu yoldaki önemli dönemeçlerdir. Rasim Özdenören yarım asırdan fazla bir süredir kaleme aldığı eserlerinde modernleşme ve İslâm teması üzerine özgün bir bakış açısını ortaya koymaya, tespit ve çözüm yolları geliştirmeye devam etmektedir. Bu çalışmada, Özdenören’in bakış açısı ve Türk modernleşmesi hakkında ortaya koyduğu fikirler incelenmektedir. Yapılacak değerlendirmeler, Özdenören’in modernleşme ve İslâm ilişkisi üzerine ele aldığı kitaplarından konuya yoğun ve doğrudan temas edenleri üzerinden yürütülecektir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Rasim Özdenören, Batı, İslâm, modernleşme, Tanzimat, Kemalizm. v To my wife and my daughter… vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aytaç Yıldız for his support, advice and review throughout the research to me. His guidance very helped me in all the time of research and writing of this thesis. I would like to thank my President Mehmet Tuntaş to give me opportunity to do this study, and also I would like to thank my Master Bülent Korkmaz and my friend Murat Karaman for constructive review. I would also like to express my deepest thanks to my friends Emrah Berati Keskin and Merve Kahya due to important contributions and sacrifices. vii CONTENT PLAGILARISM….……………………………………………………………………….iii ABSTRACT…..………………………………………………………………….…...…...iv ÖZET…………………………………………………………………….…………………v DEDICATION……………………………………………………………………...……..vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ……………………………………………………………....vii CONTENT………………………………………………………………………...……..viii INTRODUCTION...……………………….………………………………..…….……….1 Subject.…………………………………................................................................………...1 Objective……………………………………............……………........................................2 Method……………………………………............................................................................3 Scope and Limitations.…………………………..…………………….................................3 CHAPTER I: RELIGION AND MODERNIZATION……………………………….....5 1.1 The Great Transformation In The West ……….…………………………….…...5 1.2 The Idea of Enlightment..…..………...............…………………..…….….....….17 1.3 Secularism and Laicism.……………………......…………….....….....................24 CHAPTER II: ISLAM AND MODERNIZATION IN TURKEY...……………......…33 1.1 The Starting of Modernization in Otoman Empire…...…………..…………..…36 1.2 The Period of Tanzimat………………………………………..……………...…41 1.3 The Period of Abdülhamit II..……………………………..….………................47 1.4 The Period of Constitutional Monarchy II …...…….….………...........…….…..53 1.5 The Republican Period and Kemalism..…………………...……………….…...57 viii CHAPTER III: ISLAM AND MODERNIZATION IN THOUGHT OF RASİM ÖZDENÖREN…………………………………………………………………………... 63 1.1 Kemalism…………….……………………………………..………….…...........63 1.2 Democracy and Law.…………..…………….......................................................72 1.3 Laicism...………………..….................................................................................84 1.4 Culture, Tradition and Social Transformation..................................................…97 CONCLUSION...………………………………………………………………………..108 BIBLIOGRAPHY....…………………………………………………………………....112 ix INTRODUCTION Subject: The subject of this thesis is the relationship between modernization and Islam in Turkish thought. criticizing this relationship, we adress the approach of Rasim Özdenören. The study will be carried out in Islamic societies that prefer modernization instead of discussing the basic culture of Islamic governance, to remove the decisive role in social life and to mobilize Western-style institutions and concepts. Turkey has been on the scene as a state with Islamic traditions, and Islamic principles in the presence of state and society have survived for centuries. With the Tanzimat Edict, a process of Westernization or modernization was initiated in political, administrative and intellectual fields. In this context, attempts to adapt institutions and concepts existing in Western culture to local culture were initiated. In the following stages, developments such as the declaration of the Islahat Decree and the proclamation of the Constitutional Monarchy took place in line with both the pressure of Western countries and modernization policies. But, the most important step in the way of Westernization was taken in the Kemalist period which became dominant with the proclamation of the Republic. Until this period, there were approaches such as the revival of the Ottoman Empire and utilizing positive aspects of the Western culture with domestic culture, whereas in the Republican period acted properly in the manner of establishing a complete administrative structure and society. For this purpose, methods such as pressure and imposition were applied. The idea of being a Western society was not left to the initiative of the society in a way. Rasim Özdenören approaches the facts with an Islamic focus. In this context, Islam is regarded as the only, undeviating source based on the will of revelation and is considered to be the only acceptable system. All systems except Islam are based on human beings and considered superstitious. Thus, according to Özdenören the process of Westernization, which started in the Tanzimat period and covered its most important stage in the Kemalist period, was perceived as bearing the same meaning with the abandonment of the Islamic system. On this occasion, Islamic administration is removed and replaced by a system that 1 does not reflect the people's own culture. Those who oppose this situation are forced to pay a price. Objective: The purpose of this thesis, pointing at the relationship between religion and modernization in Turkish thought with reference to the ideas of Rasim Özdenören who is an influential intellectual
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