Does Erdogan Intend To Open The

Doors Of Ijtihad?
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s comments in a speech on March 8 about the need to “adapt” Islam are
continuing to stir debates in conservative circles in Turkey, though they did not receive the attention deserved
from more secular groups.

That religious traditions need to be adapted to changing social needs may sound obvious to many, but it is not so
obvious to many in the Muslim world. In fact, Erdogan’s call could be groundbreaking, if he maintains this position,
despite criticism from more traditional perspectives.

Why Were His Words Such A Big Deal?

First, mainstream Islam has for the past thousand years been largely dominated by traditionalists who mostly
reject the concept of reform and suggest that Islam is universal. According to this perspective, the main difference
between Islam and earlier “religions of the book” is that Islam does not need to be reformed. The original goal of
Islam was to respond to “the degenerations” of previous religions, so because Islam is in a sense the “corrected”
form of previous teachings it does not require correction.

While “reform” has been a taboo in traditional Sunni Islam, there used to be some room for change within the
traditional school, through the concept of “Ijtihad” (reasoning). This mechanism allowed the uncertainty and
confusion that emerged during the adaptation of Islamic teaching to law in the four centuries after the emergence
of Islam to be addressed. But around the 10th century the majority of Islamic scholars concluded that no issues
were left that needed further clarification and the doors of Ijtihad were essentially closed.

It is important to remember that while traditional Islam has been mainstream throughout most of Islamic history,
it has not always been so. At one time unorthodox schools, such as the Mu’tazila, held a significant place in Islamic
scholarship. The ideas of the Mu’tazila, which prevailed between the 8th and 10th centuries, largely deviated from
those of the traditionalists. The Mu’tazila highly valued human rationality and one of its most unconventional ideas
was that the Quran was a creation, rather than the unmediated voice of God, and it should be approached
accordingly. While these ideas were unorthodox for the time, as they are today, it is important to note that the
Mu’tazila was considered a legitimate school within Islam rather than an outcast. It was received particularly well
by the Abbasid caliphates, and even became the dominant school during the caliphate of Harun al-Rashid. It was
only later when the traditionalists took complete control over Islam that unorthodox ideas such as those of the
Mu’tazila’s had to disappear or go underground.

In sum, the period between 8th and 10th centuries allowed heterogeneity and change in Islam. But ever since
then, mainstream laws and traditions have been dominant through most of the Muslim world. The only possibility
for change has been through “re-reading” mainstream Islamic sources (the Quran, the Hadith and the Sunnah) to
alter certain practices. This method has been used most progressively by Islamic women’s rights advocates in
various parts of the world, who have managed to change some Sharia-based laws (such as marriage and divorce
laws) only by showing that they are incompatible with the superior principles of the “true” Islam.

Thus, in the context of the post-10th century Muslim world, President Erdogan’s recent call for “adapting” Islam is
highly unconventional. As a graduate of an Imam-Hatip religious vocational school, he should have the
theological education to know that “adapting” indicates a more direct change than “re-reading” or even
“interpretation.” Therefore it was certainly a courageous move.
Will he be able to maintain this position? It depends. His words came as a shock to some of his conservative
constituencies. Can he still maintain their support? Perhaps. If not, he could lose their votes in the 2019 elections,
which is certainly an unwanted scenario for him. But then he may be able to add a few more secularist voters to
his supporters. These tough calculations will likely be keeping his advisors busy in the coming days.

Source URL: http://newageislam.com/ijtihad,-rethinking-islam/does-erdogan-intend-to-open-the-doors-of-

ijtihad?/d/114732

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