The first of the workshops organized under the title of Basic Issues and Concepts was held.
The first of the IDP workshop series, Directions in Islamism Studies, was held on June 15, 2019. In the light of this session, where the current situation and methodological problems of research in the field were discussed, the basic elements and limits of Islamic thought in the contemporary world will be discussed with the views of researchers. In the second workshop held in this regard, the concept of ISLAM was discussed under the framework of Basic Issues and Concepts.
Basic Issues and Concepts, which started with the presentations of Prof. Dr. Mehmet Ali Büyükkara, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özgür Kavak and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Kayacan: Islah workshop, which started with the presentations of Prof. Dr. Mehmet Ali Büyükkara, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özgür Kavak and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Kayacan, academics who continue their studies at the graduate level came together. The first session of the workshop started under the moderation of Lütfi Sunar. After talking about the journey of the Islamist Journals Project since 2013 and its current contributions to the academic world, Lütfi Sunar handed the floor to Süleyman Güder, Chairman of the Board of Directors of İLEM, for his opening speech. Güder stated that a significant part of the work produced at ILEM is discussed in such roundtable meetings.
The workshop started with Özgür Kavak's presentation titled “The Change of the Idea of Islah from Classical to Modern: The Case of Rashid Reza". Kavak started his speech by emphasizing that in the classical world (until the 1830s), the concept of tajdīd was present rather than the concept of reform, and in modern times, the concepts of reform and tajdīd were mentioned together. He elaborated on the origins of the concept, the contexts in which it was used in history and its relationship with the concept of reform. Stating that the concept of tajdīd is evaluated in two different aspects as scientific tajdīd and political tajdīd in the light of the hadith “At the beginning of every century, Allah sends a person(s) to this ummah who will tajdīdīdīdīdīdī the religion” (Abu Dāwūd, Melāhim, 1.), Kavak pointed out that there are very few texts that deal with this issue independently. Özgür Kavak continued his speech by opening the discussion points of both the scientific tajdīd and political tajdīd in the literature. These debates include the authenticity of the hadith of tajdīd and the narration of the hadith with different wording, why tajdīd is needed, the intervals of a mujaddid's coming in a century and how this period is determined, the identity of the mujaddid, and finally the names of the ulema and political mujaddids who are referred to as mujaddids.
Mehmet Ali Büyükkara's “Tajdid, Islah or Reform? Different Reflections of the Idea of Reform in Contemporary Islamic Thought” was chaired by Vahdettin Işık. Büyükkara started his speech by underlining that the concepts of tajdīd, islah and reform have differences in meaning that cannot be called nuance. Büyükkara said that in the classical period, the concept of tajdīd was mostly used to overcome the loosening that had occurred between Muslims and Islam, to re-strengthen the connection with religion, to clean the bid'ats and to restore the religion to its original form. Büyükkara stated that as of the 19th century, the concept was mostly used instead of “reform” efforts that should be made in the social and political field. In the continuation of the speech, after explaining the abilities of the mujaddid who will carry out tajdid, the characteristics of the pioneers of reform, which is now used instead of tajdid and is a movement-oriented concept, were mentioned. Büyükkara explained that the common meaning of the concept of reform, which has been understood in different ways in contemporary Islamic thought, is that it is a cultural and political movement that reconciles traditionalist and modernist religious understandings. In this sense, reformism is a movement that has turned its face towards modernism but has endeavored to keep its ties with the traditional.
The third and final session of the workshop continued under the chairmanship of Mahmut Hakkı Akın with Murat Kayacan's “‘Islah’ in the Qur'an and Contemporary Interpretations: The Case of Tafsīr al Menār”. Kayacan, after mentioning the usage of the concept of 'Islah' in the Qur'an, expressed the contemporary interpretation of the concept in the example of Tafsīr al-Manār. Kayacan's speech sought answers to the following questions in the context of Tafsīr al-Manār: In the context of “contemporary interpretations of the word ‘reform’” in the Qur'an, are there personalities whose knowledge of the Qur'an is at a competent level and who are also identified with reform? Which verses in the Qur'an contain direct (salah and its derivatives) and indirect words and concepts related to reform? What are the methods of reform in the Qur'an? Who are the general and specific beneficiaries of reform? Who are the real and apparent subjects of reform? Opening his speech in the light of these questions, Kayacan ended his presentation by detailing what the concept of reform encompasses in the school of Muhammad Abduh and Rashid Reza.
Following the presentations in all three sessions of the workshop, the topics were opened to the discussion of the participants. The discussions and debates held in the light of the presentations were based on the origins and contemporary interpretations of the concept.
