“Are New Sufis “Grey Turks”? Urbanite National Identities and Religious Reconfigurations

by Marta Dominguez Diaz, University of St.Gallen

ecularism is a central aspect to ’s the new ideological project were soon disem- Sidentity as a nation. It has been and still is a powered, discredited for their backwardness driving force for political action and it also is a and lost as a result their social and economic central element in shaping the societal dynam- status and, ultimately, their public authority. ics of modern Turkey. In 1923, Mustafa Kemal In contrast to them, the change of system Ataturk (1881-1938) permitted the develop- was resolute to estab- ment of a new elite, sup- lish a nascent Turkish portive of the Kemalist nation as a republi- project that benefitted can secularist state, economically from these and with that view his political transforma- government instilled tions. Thus, a new privi- a series of reforms.1 leged class emerged. Through legal and They looked at Europe institutional change, for sources of cultural secular systems of law and political inspiration and education were Catching Europe in : in a conscious attempt Yunus Emre Yildirim, student in Industrial Enginee- set up, and during the ring, Kadir Has University, Turkey: of trying to disconnect transformation a series „My aim in this picture was to emphasize diversity in Istan- themselves from the Ot- bul; in this case, religious diversity. I thought it would be a of measures targeted good combination to capture an orthodox patriarchate and a toman past. For the new the hitherto position minaret together. I took the photo in Fener (very close to our class of Kemalist sup- university). It also fits with the European image in my mind of power tradition- because Christianity symbolizes Europe, and Islam symbo- porters, the ethnic diver- ally held by the ulama lizes Istanbul since 1453, but apart from my point of view, sity of the country and people can understand very different things.“ within the state admin- © Yunus Emre Yildirim the all-pervading nature istration.2 Religion was of Islam (i.e. with a ten- to be relegated to the dency to manifest itself private sphere. Those among the former elites in all aspects of social life) were perceived as who could not or were not willing to embrace important impediments to social progress.3 In contraposition to “traditional” values, they of- 1 Atatürk’s programme of reforms ten came to identify themselves with a newly (commonly known as Atatürk Devrimleri) is a subject extensively dealt with by scholars of a variegated emergent urbanite culture, a “de-ethnicized” range of disciplines. For an introductory analysis identity with cosmopolitan aspirations and see, for example, Zurcher (2004) and Landau’s scarce sympathy for the social expression of (1984) edited volume. Islamic religiosities. 2 The term ulama refers to a diversity of For many Turks who were not part of this religious scholars that exist in Muslim societies. privileged minority, not only the turning to- In Turkey some of the most prominent religious institutions (e.g. sufi tekkes and Islamic schools) were abolished by the secularizing project. For a 3 For the Kemalists’ approach to race, more nuanced approach to the changing role of religion and ethnicity in the first years of the Turkey’s ulama see Amit Bein (2011). Republic see Cagaptay (2007).

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wards westernized modes of thought and life- purported arrogance towards other social ac- styles but also their often disenfranchised atti- tors and political factions, an attitude some tude towards the rest of the nation were viewed say may threaten the pillars of democratic rule as proof of the elite’s rejection and disapproval they are supposed to endorse. of Turkey’s cultural and religious roots and of The arrival to power of the religious and the actual identity of its current population. conservative Justice and Development Party The pejorative term Beyaz Türk (White Turk)4 (AKP) of Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2002 with is since then often used to refer to the Kemalist an overwhelming support of the Black Turk supporters. However, as the Kemalist project majority vote meant a radical change in the consolidated, Beyaz Türk’s discourses were no position traditionally occupied by the secu- longer the pejorative stance of a minority but lar middle and upper classes, who began to an issue that threatened to divide the country lose the prominence they have held since the over issues of national identity. Over time, a advent of the Republic.5 In line with these substantial part of the fast growing urbanite political developments, a new social class of middle class have come to identify themselves economically influential Turks who are eager with White Turks’ political choices and views to publicly manifest ethnic and religious affili- of society. The once loosely defined as a rich, ation have contributed to further heating up educated, Westernized urbanite minority, the the debate on national identity issues centered Beyaz Türk, have more recently come to be as- around the question who better represents the sociated with a wider sector of society, who values of Turkey’s “modernity”? Among them seem to hold a negative attitude towards other there are public figures who, for example, do Turks. The political scientist Maya Arakon not hesitate to speak Turkish using specific (2011) has described White Turks as those who accents previously associated with the ru- sympathize with Kemalist ideology and who ral world or with the “periphery” and/or by often are uneasy with and religious wearing religious symbols like the headscarf people. According to her, White Turks believe in places originally reserved to the secular, de- ethnic particularism and public religious ex- spite persisting discrimination (SES Türkiye, pression should be eradicated through educa- 2012). The discursive monopoly held by Ke- tion and modernization. Arakon argues that malist supporters until recently needs to begin despite their modernizing appeal White Turks nowadays to accommodate or to learn to co- have started to be questioned on the very basis exist at least with other new identity projects. of the values they are supposed to defend, be- Hence, there is a new class of influential cause today, they are often criticized for their Muslims who currently appear more often in the media andintend to make their “Islamic 4 The term “White Turk” was first used by visibility” a symbol for the nation’s endorse- journalist Ufuk Güldemir in his 1992 book to refer ment of democratic values – in claiming re- to those who opposed to the presidency of Turgut Özal, the country’s first non-soldier president and a religious man of Kurdish origin. Turgut Özal’s 5 Erdogan himself is a Black Turk, to better background was questioned with regard to his understand how the Black/White Turks dyad appropriateness as a successor to Atatürk as the pictures into the transformation of national politics leader of the country and top commander of the in Turkey led by Erdogan and his party see Heper military. and Toktas (2003).

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spect primarily for the expression of religious choice to the White Turks’ sustained attempts identity. The case evidences that such disputes at mirroring themselves in the West. Now may not only have political implications, but the binary opposition between cosmopolitan- need to be also seen as a power struggle over secularist versus local Muslim identities is who holds the monopoly over the discursive no longer tenable. Here there is a new set of formation of meanings in relation to cultural religious ideologies that can be understood values and national identity. The dispute indi- as being partly foreign and partly imported, cates that religious issues and lifestyle choices yet not with a westernizing rather an Islamiz- are not trivial matters of mere individual con- ing agenda. They are to be viewed as modern cern, but explanatory windows into an intri- reconfigurations of religious traditions with cate network of social intersubjectivities; they innovative ways of looking at the nation-reli- are illustrative of how notions of identity re- gion dyad, the pursing of agendas that chal- late to and are intertwined with social stratifi- lenge both traditional interpretations of Islam cation, and social and political representation and of Turkishness and the identity project of and power. Kemalist modernities. In this regard, it is fair to suggest that modern Islamism is attempting * * * to develop cultural and political deconstruc- tions of fundamental identity markers, such Most of the more recent Islamist trends as the categories of “Turk” and “Muslim.” By in the Turkish religious market of public dis- renaming and re-conceptualizing central as- courses imply in the national context a pro- pects of religious ethos vis-à-vis new ways of found rethinking of Turkishness and Muslim articulating discourses of national belonging, identity. These Islamisms in their diverse Islamisms constitute a critique to traditional expressions can themselves be seen as ideo- Turkish categories of Muslim identity, includ- logical hybridizations between tradition and ing those elaborated by the tarikat (Sufi Or- modernity, between religion and secularism, ders) (Yavuz, 2003; Zubaida, 1996).7 between cosmopolitanism and locality. In Tur- believers, that is to say, to all the Muslims peoples key, they are both heirs and opponents of the from across the world. Therefore, the ummah is for Kemalist tradition. The new Islamist counter- Muslims a supra-national community of people elites epitomize this paradoxical and ambiva- with a common religion and whom they hold a lent nature: despite significantly owing their sense of a shared history. educational and professional identity to the 7 A Sufi Order is a religious organization state educational system, they are those who hierarchically organized in which devotees commit to perform a series of ritual practices regularly more fiercely oppose the attempts to threaten with the ultimate aim of attaining union with God. the visibility of Islam in the public sphere. Is- Membership in an Order can be formally sealed lamism has developed ideologies by which and the loyalty of the disciple to the master is, as Turks can connect to other Muslims in other a result, more closely monitored, but in most cases parts of the world. As a result, the cosmopoli- Sufi Orders are congregations of devotees that tanism of the ummah6 is presented as a counter- meet on a weekly basis. Commitment to the Order can be very informal and the relationship between 6 Ummah is an Arabic term generally devotee and sheikh may vary from being a close translated as “community” or “nation“. In Islam, one to being inexistent. For a good introduction to the term is used to refer to the community of religious life in Turkey, including a rich survey of

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Despite the fact that the state prohibited viation, a corrupted expression of what they the activity of Sufi Orders and closed their see as “normative” Islam. In particular, the lodges in 1925, these distinctively Islamic orga- use of music and of sung poetry in Sufi cer- nizations continued to operate in clandestine, emonies has been subjected to recurrent and and notwithstanding the governments’ initial violent condemnations (Al-Maqdisee [2003]). efforts to diminish the Sufis’ societal influence, Sufism is further criticized as being retrograde mystical orders had continued to be powerful and unable to converge with modern whilst forces for social and political articulation in genuinely Islamic views on religious authori- Modern Turkey until today. In the early 1950s ty and relationships with God (Sirriyeh, 1999). a less restrictive state attitude towards Islam Islamists seem to be competing to gain wider transformed Sufism into a subliminal influ- popular support in Turkey and elsewhere, ence within the political landscape of the coun- among audiences traditionally supportive of try. Traditional Sufi orders like the Naksibendi the tarikat. have a stronghold in some rural areas and sig- All these developments in the religious nificantly popular adherence among the urban landscape have had a direct impact on the poor. They were de facto integrated into the White Turks’ position in society. For some, the state machinery, together with Islamic groups increasing visibility of Islam in the public do- such as the Nurcus movement, and have been main has served to reinforce their adherence effective in the founding and policymaking to the secularist agenda of Kemalism even fur- of Islamic parties ever since. Although a bur- ther. Yet for some others it has opened up the geoning middle class interest in these groups possibility to elaborate a form of inner criti- has shaped the boom in religious expression cism within and towards the secularist project. in recent years, orders like the Naksibendi do Among the secular middle and upper classes still mainly appear to be associated with the a timid yet increasing interest in Islam seems unprivileged. Initially banned, they continued to be emerging. It has been suggested that this their activities by providing religious educa- results from growing disillusionment with the tion in secretive madrasahs (schools), offering secularizing agenda (Silverstein, 2007). Some support for needy people and politically mo- present the case of and how the gov- bilizing them and ultimately creating solid ernment has treated it, the headscarf issue, as networks of communal solidarity that later on well as the persistence of unofficial Islamic proved to be effective tools for political mobi- law tribunals in some rural areas as examples lization (Karasipahi, 2009). that attest the need for reviewing the State’s Likewise, the same anti-Sufi approach pursue of secularism (Koker, 2010). common in Islamist discourses in other parts Part of this discontent seems to have re- of the Muslim world has also been firmly up- cently been channeled by adherence to newly rooted since the 1990s in Turkey. A substantial emergent forms of Islamic religiosity. I would amount of Islamist forces have been critical of contend that these are religious choices that Sufism because mystical Islam is often equat- challenge both the traditional religious trends ed with popular piety (or with so-called ‘folk’ more commonly adhered to by Black Turks Islam) and in theological terms is seen as a de- and the White Turks’ quite generalized anti- religious attitude. Typically new adherents to prominent works see Hendrich (2011).

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Sufism will come to sympathize with a partic- Sufi thought, or even among the increasingly ular kind of Sufi religious movements. Despite widening of religious choices imported from the long-standing Turkish Sufi tradition as one the Arab World, they have turned to certain of the main forces in articulating popular ex- religiosities and groups that either originated pressions of Islamic piety, these “new Sufis” or suffered major doctrinal transformations are often not interested in the traditional tari- upon uprooting in western European and kat. They are instead more prone to explore North-American societies (e.g Naqshbandi- eclectic and post-modern spiritualities consist- Mujaddidis, Haqqaniyya, the Murabitun, ing of modern reformulations of Sufi doctrine Hazrat Inayat Khan’s movement among oth- (Silverstein, 2007). ers). Embracing Islam is for this new genera- To a certain extent, these new Sufis can be tion of “revert” Muslims a way of continuing seen as coverts to Islam. They have decided to their looking at the West for sources of cultur- embrace a religion they had prior little knowl- al, intellectual and now spiritual inspiration. edge of, but some would prefer to state they The new Sufi revival can be observed have “returned”8 to the practice of Islam. This in the media and in bookshops both in Tur- “return” can be understood as the result of a key and abroad, thereby contributing to the proselytizing discourse, a feature typical of worldwide diffusion of Turkish culture. To- Muslim conversion narratives in which Islam day, most television channels offer programs is portrayed as the “original and natural state on Islamic mysticism. Booksellers in Istiklal of being” and in which religious conversion is Caddesi and in other shopping areas of Istan- therefore understood to be a return to this pri- bul consider titles on Sufism to be among the mordial state. Alternatively, these new Sufis bestselling books. In those libraries, contem- may consider themselves non-practicing but porary Turkish literature and Sufi classics are “culturally” Muslims, thus moving towards offered on sale in English and other world lan- a more straight-forward Islamic identity in guages to satisfy the hunger and curiosity of which cultural and religious aspects are inte- the seven million tourists visiting Istanbul ev- grated. Among them, there is a sense of keep- ery year. Some of these works have been writ- ing with the White Turks’ intellectual tradition ten by Turks and are now bestsellers not only of looking at the West as a spring of moral mo- in Turkey but also in the West. Elif Şafak’s tivation. This then is a new turn in the phe- prolific literary output evidences such devel- nomena of cultural borrowings from Europe: opment. In recent years, she has consolidated instead of choosing among eminently Turkish a position as one of the most relevant voices in Turkish literature. The works of this resident 8 Scholars often consider this kind of religious follower a revert. The term ‘revert’ refers of Strasbourg, from 1997’s Pinhan (The Sufi) to to someone who was born Muslim and after a 2009’s Aşk (The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel period of religious disengagement comes back to of Rumi), deal with a wide range of subjects practice Islam. Revert Muslims who make sense related to Islamic mysticism and openly bor- of their identity by endorsing beliefs are often row from Sufi thought and cultural references. strongly critical of the milieu they come from. Aşk, Elif Şafak’ title which sold more than any Accordingly, Gilliat-Ray (1999) has suggested that in many aspects the experience of reversion to Islam novel in Turkey’s history, evidences the grow- bears significant similarities with the experience of ing interest in this westernized version of Su- conversion. fism.9

9 The novel explains the story of an

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* * * Twenty-first Century. Societal Peace and Ideal In conclusion, this article tried to briefly Citizenship for Turkey, 49-69. 1 January. sketch the discursive genealogies of the recent Bein A., 2011. Ottoman Ulema, Turkish Re- Sufi revival occurring in Turkey. It did so by public: Agents of Change and Guardians of Tradi- presenting these new religious trajectories as tion, Stanford University Press. reactions against the anti-religious stances that Cagaptay, S., 2004. Race, Assimilation commonly characterize White Turks’ attitudes and Kemalism: Turkish Nationalism and the towards Islam. I have argued that in feeling at- Minorities in the 1930s. Middle Eastern Stud- tracted towards Westernized modes of Sufi re- ies, 40, 3, 86-101. ligiosities, formerly secular Muslims are keep- Gilliat-Ray, S., 1999. ‘Rediscovering Is- ing with their tradition of looking westwards lam: A Muslim Journey of Faith’’. In: Lamb C. for intellectual stimulation, yet, interestingly, and Bryant M. D., eds. Religious Conversion: are incorporating a religious, and somehow, Contemporary Practices and Controversies, Lon- Islamic element to it. It is perhaps early to don: Cassell. forecast how this will fit into the White versus Guldemir, U., 1992. Texas-. Black Turk disputes over national identity, but Istanbul: Tekin Yayınevi. by integrating a religious and in particular a Hendrich, B., 2011. Introduction – Be- Muslim element into the Westernized identity yond State Islam: Religiosity and Spirituality pattern of secularism, they may run the risk of in Contemporary Turkey, European Journal of being accused by seculars of trying to come Turkish Studies. Association pour la Recherche closer to Black Turkish ways and lifestyles. But sur le Moyen-Orient. Available at: http://ejts. is it really fair and accurate to consider them revues.org/4527 (consulted 1 March 2013). a newly emergent class of “Grey Turks”? I do Heper, M., Toktas, S., 2003. Islam, Moder- not think so. nity, and Democracy in Contemporary Tur- key: The Case of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The List of references Muslim World, 93,2, 157-185. Karasipahi, S., 2009. Comparing Islam- Al-Maqdisee Abu Muhammad Ibn ic Resurgence Movements in Turkey and Qudaamah, 2003. Condemning the practices of Iran. The Middle East Journal, 63, 1, 87-107. those who claim Sufism, Al-Ibaanah Book Pub- January 01. lishing. Available at:http://www.wiziq.com/ Koker, L., 2010. A key to the “democratic tutorial/144036-Condemning opening”: Rethinking citizenship, ethnicity Arakon, M., 2011. The Making of Mod- and Turkish nation-state. Insight Turkey, 12, 2, ern Turkey and the Structuring of Kurdish 49-69. Identity: New Paradigms of Citizenship in the Landau, J. M., ed.1984. Ataturk and the modernization of Turkey, Westview Press. American Jewish woman who turns to Islam Sirriyeh, E., 1999. Sufis and anti-Sufis: The when she discovers the works of the 13th century defense, rethinking and rejection of sufism in the founder of the Mevlevi order of whirling dervishes, modern world. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon. Celaluddin Rumi. The book became so popular in Turkey that a grey-jacketed version was issued for Tokyay, M., 2012. Headscarf discrimina- male buyers seemingly too embarrassed to be seen tion spills over into private sector, SES Tür- holding the bright pink original edition!

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kiye, 14th August. Avilable at: http://turkey. About the Author: setimes.com/en_GB/articles/ses/articles/re- portage/2012/08/14/reportage-01, (consulted 1 Dr Marta Dominguez Diaz (MA & PhD School March 2013). of Oriental and African Studies, University Yavuz, M. H., 2003. Islamic political identity of London) is the Assistant Professor in in Turkey. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Islamic Studies (Anthropology) at the School Zubaida, S., 1996. Turkish Islam and Na- of Humanities and Social Sciences at the tional Identity. Merip Middle East Report, 26, 1, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. Some of 10. her recent publications include: ‘The One or Zurcher, E. J., ed. 2004. Turkey: a modern the Many? Transnational Sufism and Locality history, I. B. Tauris. in the British Būdshīshiyya.’ In: Gabriel, T.; and Geaves, R. eds. 2013. Sufism in Britain, London: Continuum/Bloomsbury Academic; and ‘The Islam of “Our” Ancestors; An “imagined” Morisco Past Evoked in Today’s Andalusians’ Conversion Narratives.’ In: Larsson, G.; and Spielhaus, R. eds. 2013. Europe with or without Muslims, narratives of Europe, Journal of Muslims in Europe, Leiden: Brill. e-mail: [email protected]

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