A Turkish Martin Luther? -Dr. Elie Elhadj

The BBC reported on February 26, 2008 that Turkey's Department of Religious Affairs has commissioned a team of theologians at Ankara University's School of Theology to carry out a revision of the Hadith, the sayings of the Prophet. An adviser to the project says some of the sayings can be shown to have been invented hundreds of years after the Prophet Muhammad died, to serve the purposes of contemporary society.

Turkey, yet again takes the lead in trying to usher the Muslim world into the modern age. However, the challenge ahead is formidable. Accusations of heresy and apostasy will be flying around by those who have an interest in maintaining the status quo—Islamists, extremist ulama and their political benefactors, especially from the Arab world. The following explains the nature of the controversy and the reasons for being cautious with guarded optimism.

Is Turkey's undertaking likely to succeed? Among moderate Muslims, the answer is positive. However, among the orthodox, especially among the Arab orthodox, the answer is negative. The Quran describes the Arab peoples as the "best people evolved to mankind" (3:110). The Prophet, His companions, the Quran, and the Sanctuaries in Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem are all Arabic. Arabs feel they are the guardians of an Arabic religion.

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