Islamist Thinkers In The Late Ottoman Empire And Early Turkish Republic

Islamist Thinkers in the Late Ottoman Empire and Early Turkish Republic offers an overview of the lives and ideas of thirteen influential Islamist thinkers. In the aftermath of the 1908 Revolution, Islamism became a prominent political ideology. In their writings, Islamist intellectuals analyzed and sought solutions to the social, economic and political issues of the empire. Their ideas constitute the blueprint for the Islamist-oriented political movements and parties that have been present in Turkish political life since the 1950s. This book is an important contribution to the study of late Ottoman intellectual history and the field of Islamic/Turkish political studies. It makes available in English important primary sources to scholars and students who have no access to these materials in their original languages.

The second constitutional period of the Ottoman Empire and the early decades of the Turkish republic were a hotbed of new and competing ideas which were to dramatically shape the development of the modern nation that followed. This book includes translations of and introductions to some of the key Turkish writers of the age, including Namik Kemal, Ziya Gökalp, Abdullah Cevdet and Ahmed Riza. The writings of these Turkist, Westernist and Islamist Ottoman and early republican thinkers are presented with contextualizing introductions which allow readers to access the primary texts which show the Turkish intellectual milieu out of which Mustafa Kemal's ideas were to emerge and ultimately dominate and will be of interest to students and scholars of Ottoman and Turkish History.

The volume provides the first (internationally and even in Turkey’s own case) elaboration of Global Intellectual History debates with regard to late Ottoman and Turkish Republican periods. It covers both individuals and groups as carriers of ideas (what we call in the volume ideational entrepreneurs) and simultaneously concepts and ideologies that emerge(d) in the interaction of Turkey’s intellectuals and scholars with their, mostly Western, counterparts. Additionally, it includes examples of its non-Western engagements, broadening the usual focus on Turkish-Western relationships. The contributions are of relevance both for specific studies on Turkish intellectual history and for broader audiences looking for new material in the novel Global Intellectual History framework. Also, the readings serve as helpful sources for courses on Intellectual History, European and Middle Eastern Studies, Turkish History, Global History, and related Area Studies courses. Specific chapters pertain further to broader study areas.

To better understand the diverse inheritance of Islamic movements in present-day Turkey, we must take a closer look at the religious establishment, the ulema, during the first half of the twentieth century. During the closing years of the Ottoman Empire and the early decades of the Republic of Turkey, the spread of secularist and anti-religious ideas had a major impact on the views and political leanings of the ulema. This book explores the intellectual debates and political movements of the religious establishment during this time. Bein reveals how competing visions of development influenced debates about reforms in religious education and the modernization of the medreses. He also explores the reactions and changing attitudes of Islamic intellectuals to the religious policies of the secular republic, and provides a better understanding of the changes in the relationship between religion and state. Exposing division within the religious establishment, this book illuminates the ulema's long-lasting legacies still in evidence in Turkey today.

The second constitutional period of the Ottoman Empire and the early decades of the Turkish republic were a hotbed of new and competing ideas which were to dramatically shape the development of the modern nation that followed. This book includes translations of and introductions to some of the key Turkish writers of the age, including Namik Kemal, Ziya Gökalp, Abdullah Cevdet and Ahmed Riza. The writings of these Turkist, Westernist and Islamist Ottoman and early republican thinkers are presented with contextualizing introductions which allow readers to access the primary texts which show the Turkish intellectual milieu out of which Mustafa Kemal's ideas were to emerge and ultimately dominate and will be of interest to students and scholars of Ottoman and Turkish History.

Living in the Ottoman Realm brings the Ottoman Empire to life in all of its ethnic, religious, linguistic, and geographic diversity. The contributors explore the development and transformation of identity over the long span of the empire's existence. They offer engaging accounts of individuals, groups, and communities by drawing on a rich array of primary sources, some available in English translation for the first time. These materials are examined with new methodological approaches to gain a deeper understanding of what it meant to be Ottoman. Designed for use as a course text, each chapter includes study questions and suggestions for further reading.

Cultural Transitions in the Middle East deals with the interlacing of themes constitutive of traditional cultures and world-views in the Middle East with concepts and outlooks that have originated in the modern Western World. A number of Muslim thinkers who are indigenous products of the Middle East cultural setting have now begun to use some of the forms of modern Western literature and social thought. Conversely, some intellectuals trained in modern secular schools have attempted to reevaluate their Islamic heritage. The papers cover aspects of this subtle interpenetration which has not been explored to date.