Turkish scholars aim to modernize Islam's Hadith
Theologians are revisiting the collections of the prophet Muhammad's sayings that Muslims use as a guideline for daily life.
from the March 11, 2008 edition
Page 2 of 3
Asked whether his project could lead to changes in the way women are perceived in the Islamic world, Mr. Gormez said nothing in Muslim texts could be used to justify such practices as "honor killings" of women or the stoning of adulterers. "Islam is misunderstood. For example, you cannot show me from the 600-year history of the Ottoman Empire a case of a person being stoned for adultery or a thief whose hand was amputated."
Launched two years ago by the Diyanet, the Hadith project is scheduled to be completed by December and translated into Arabic, English, and Russian. Some 80 theologians from across Turkey are involved.
"Today, Islamic knowledge, both in the East and the West, seems to be very confusing, especially concerning the prophet and his teachings.... We wanted to contribute towards clarifying this confusion," says Gormez. "During the last century, there hasn't been such a deep, wide-ranging study of the Hadith."
Turkey's place in the Islamic world
Although Turkey is often described as secular, the state is actually deeply involved in religious life. Second only to the military and education system in size and budget, the Diyanet is responsible for managing some 78,000 mosques – including which imams are allowed to preach and what they're allowed to say. Now, it's trying to create a more "healthy" understanding of Islam and the prophet Muhammad through the Hadith project.
But Ankara University theologians involved stress that it's not an attempt to change Islam. Rather, it's an attempt to identify and strip away cultural beliefs or practices of Muhammad's era that were grafted onto Islam but have no root in it.
In the context of Turkey, however, the Hadith project is more than a reexamination of religion: it's also seen as part of an ongoing attempt by the current Turkish government, led by the liberal Islamic Justice and Development Party (AKP), to reassert itself as a force in the Islamic world.
"Turkey is hoping to be a kind of example Muslim nation, with its politics and its theology," says Mustafa Akyol, a Turkish writer who covers Islamic affairs. "Turkey has a growing Muslim middle class that is becoming modern in many ways, but which also wants to be loyal to its faith. From this comes the demand for 'modern Islam,' for a new interpretation of Islamic sources."
The Hadith's long tradition
The Hadith started being collected after the death of Muhammad, when Islamic scholars realized the need to write down sayings and actions attributed to the prophet that had previously been passed down orally. In the first few centuries after Muhammad's death, the number of Hadith grew to such an extent that Islamic scholars decided to separate them into those deemed sahih, or trustworthy, and those that were not.
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