A LESSON FROM TURKEY

The Permanency of Religion

ISMET INONU (1884-1973) was a Turkish general and statesman who supported Kemal Ataturk. He was elected President of Turkey on the latter’s death on November 10, 1938, and became permanent chairman of the Republican People’s Party.

Throughout his rule, the aggressive secularism which had characterized Ataturk’s reign continued to be enforced. Secularism was one of the famous six principles formulated by Kemal Ataturk. Secularism included the reform of law, involving the abolition of religious courts and schools (1924) and the adoption of a purely secular system of family law, substitution of the Latin alphabet for the Arabic in writing Turkish, the adoption (1925) of the Gregorian calendar, the replacement of Friday by Sunday as the weekly holiday (1935), wearing of clerical garb outside places of worship was forbidden in 1934, and the abolition of the caliphate among many others.

Yet, even with full government machinery being employed to eradicate ritual practices of Islam from Turkey, religion continued to flourish. All measures taken to root it out failed miserably, and Ismet Inonu had ultimately to lift many curbs on religious practices on the occasion of his election, as he feared that without public support he would not be elected.

When Ismet Inonu was upon his death bed, he talked briefly of his experiences. The gist of this account was later published in an Arabic journal from Kuwait. Speaking of repressive measures in Turkey, he said, “I find it hard to believe what I see around me. We made as many attempts as possible to root out Islam from the hearts of the Turks and replace it with western culture. But, astonishingly, the very reverse has happened. We sowed the seed of secularism, but the crop it yielded was Islam.”

Islam is a religion of nature and its roots are deeply embedded in human nature. Just as nature cannot be stamped out in man, so Islam cannot be stamped out in the human psyche.

Muslims all over the world have been devoting their energies to the safeguarding of Islam, but because it has its basis in human nature, this is really unnecessary effort. All those who really wish to serve Islam should expend their energy in conveying this message of God to others. So far as the safeguarding of Islam is concerned, that is a task which has already been accomplished.