Islam, March 1991

The Essence and Root of the Matter

Halil Necatioglu

Those who strove to shut out the light of Islam in the name of reform, revolution or progress have done the greatest harm to our nation. The more closely I get to know modern countries, the more clearly I realize this fact. The result of a careful comparison show that our country has been run for many years by ignorant people with diplomas who would not understand their own culture or western culture and civilization. The great mistakes in our educational and cultural policies have cut our jugular vein and dried the source of our dynamism. In our foreign policy, great blunders, mistakes, contradictions, and neglect have caused us many losses and erosion of interests. But, we can compensate for all of these by remaining calm, by means of knowledge, intelligence and reason, and by leaving aside prejudices and bigotry.

The basic matter and its essence is this: Secularism is a legend whose contents are not understood or a story-tale to hinder Muslims and put them to sleep or a shield used to prepare a foundation and opportunity for the treacherous activities of the enemies of Islam!

The practices in modern countries, in the East or West, are not at all like those here in Turkey. The people hold on to their religion. Even if they do not have any belief, the intellectuals and administrators are extremely respectful of religious institutions. The government is the greatest supporter of these institutions which are innumerable and very rich encompassing social and cultural life. Religious contributions are deducted in payrolls passing huge sums of money to religious foundations. Grand schools, great hospitals. companies and endless opportunities are provided by the religious institutions.

These are not unrelated to us. With hostility and rivalry deriving from their history, they are actively struggling against our culture, history and glory. they are assaulting us from every direction with all their might, trying to assimilate and eliminate us internally and externally. They work secretly and systematically. Our government has tied our arms, in fact, broken our arms, taken our charitable foundations from us, and taken a stance against religion and religious people. In the 20th century, it is still concerned with peoples scarves and beards. National education is at odds with religious education. Teachers have been separated into camps labeled rightists/leftists and reactionary/progressive and are trying to trip one another up. The schools are raising half-intellectuals, who are ignorant of their national culture and not fully knowledgeable about the west, with flat personalities and without character, principles or ideals not to mention that they are opportunistic and selfish. We are frantically trying to prevent them from becoming traitors, agents, degenerates, parasites, con-men, drunks, gamblers, or destructive, shameless, dishonest persons or hippies with venereal diseases and AIDS.

Do not misunderstand me. My goal is not to personally criticize but rather to elevate this nation and make it happy and by means of taking precautions in time to save our beloved nation from wrong practices and probable dangers to come. I know the weaknesses, virtues, troubles and problems of all strata of society -- the learned and the ignorant, the villager and the city dweller, the worker and the proprietor, the student and the teacher, and the soldier and the commander. I am seeking the remedy and cure for their illnesses.

In every level of society before anything else we need people of faith, sincerity, conscience and virtue. Truthfulness and seriousness in politics, justice in the courts, work without bribery in the office, goods without tricks in the market, honest earnings, fidelity and happiness in the family, good character and personality in individuals, peace in society, rapid development in the sate of peace, victory in war, success in international competition and reward in the next life are all depend on this.

Come and let us repent in these blessed months and hand-in-hand and heart-to-heart let us begin a new effort to achieve human happiness.

If not, people without foresight, conscience, virtue, mercy or responsibility are going to imprison man in war and soak our environment in blood and then set fire to it.

May your Baraat Night and Ramadhan be blessed. May Allah include us among the blessed ones and deem the coming year to be full of goodness, success and happiness for Muslims.