ETHICAL NOT SHARI‘A ISLAM: ISLAMIC DEBATES IN TURKEY

Abstract

Shari‘a rhetoric should be contextualized within broader socio-political circumstances. Conditions that lead to shari‘a rhetoric are: incomplete national integration where tribalism and sectarianism dominate political debate; weak political institutions that fail to fulfill their functions; inadequate social and judicial justice; an absent or weak rule of law; and the unequal distribution of income. In these societies, shari‘a promises order and justice. The call for shari‘a is usually a call for a strong state and the restoration of the rule of law. In Turkey, however, the debate over Islam's relationship to the state is about the redistribution of local and national resources, power-sharing, defining a national identity, and creating a new normative order to live together.