Head of the Religious Directorate: Moderating force in religion

His claim to fame is his position as the head of the Religious Affairs Directorate in Turkey (Diyanet).
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In his late 50s, BardakoÄŸlu started out studying law and then switched to religious studies; he holds a doctorate in law. He has taught at Erciyes University and elsewhere. He has spent two years in Britain and has visited the U.S. a number of times before being appointed five years ago in 2003 to be head of the Presidency of Religious Affairs.

You might not even recognize Bardakoğlu if you passed him on the street - medium height, graying dark hair and moustache - except when he is engaged in what could be interpreted as "official" business. Then you will see him wearing a turban wrapped in white with the top part dark red. Turkish law stipulates that only a person engaged in specific activities can wear clothes representing that profession. So someone who is preaching in a mosque may wear a head covering and long coat, he shouldn’t do so outside the mosque.

The head of the Presidency since its inception has traditionally worn a black robe but when BardakoÄŸlu took up the position, he switched to an ivory white robe. That lead the traditionalists to consider him a reformer and that tag has stuck with him ever since.

Moderate, dynamic and forward-thinking
By all accounts, BardakoÄŸlu is a moderate man, open to criticism and very busy; the Diyanet that he heads is an immense responsibility. To give some idea of just how large that responsibility is the budget in 2006 was 1.3 billion YTL while this year the budget item set aside was just shy of two billion YTL. Also the Diyanet had over 84,000 personnel in 2007 according to its own statistics.

Bardakoğlu’s dynamism and forward-thinking have really activated the Diyanet according to outside observers although some feel it is being too active and poking its nose where it shouldn’t.

The Alevi community in Turkey has a bone to pick with Bardakoğlu. Alevis stress that they are Muslim in spite of some peoples’ opinion to the contrary.

They find themselves in a something of a Catch-22 explaining that they are Muslim but different and should have either a separate department within the Diyanet or the latter should be dissolved altogether since it was set up to deal with the religious affairs of Sunni Muslims alone. [Christians and Jews are guaranteed their own leaders thanks to the 1923 Lausanne Treaty.] BardakoÄŸlu has indicated that he agrees with the Alevis about their being Muslim but seems reluctant to take any further steps for example over changing the requirements for religious education in schools.

Traditionalists have also found another weapon with which to get at BardakoÄŸlu. After he took over the presidency, he started an important initiative. Scholars are working through all of the hadith to determine which ones are correct and which are what people believe are correct.

You ask why this is important. A hadith is an oral tradition concerning the life and actions of the Prophet Mohammed but these have been confused at times with hadith based on the actions of Mohammed’s Companions and Followers. But as time went on and conditions changed, one hadith might be cited by one person only for another person to cite or perhaps even make up another one that contradicted the first one.

It has been determined that there are some 159,000 hadith but only 20,000 left if all the repetitions are weeded out. The project should be finished by the end of this year.Bardakoğlu has had to explain on more than one occasion that this project is not against Islam but rather for it. You could see this as a purification of Islam while western news reports about this have suggested that this is an attempt to reform Islam. The Diyanet President is adamant that this is not reform but is aimed at applying scholarly discipline to the study of the hadith. In fact he says that he’s not happy at being tagged a reformist.

Atatürk established the Diyanet as an effort to separate religion and state under a secular Turkish republic. This move has at times met with critical comment. Today’s Diyanet President Ali Bardakoğlu has spoken out on this subject too emphasizing that Ataturk gave importance to religion and was not opposed to it; rather it was superstition that he was opposed to. He felt that religion needed to be based on knowledge and when the Diyanet was established in 1924 a project similar to the hadith study was started.

Regarding secularism and the perennial argument over secularism and religion, BardakoÄŸlu tells us, "Secularism is not anti-religious. Secularism is an anti-religious belief but it is not ideology. On the contrary what makes religious freedom secure and provides the possibility for different faiths to live together in peace and tolerance is a principle, a management and conformity. We must keep secularism in balance with the correct knowledge of religion and religious freedom. All of these are subjects that will be solved as time goes forward through the development of religious thought in society and the level of religious thought and through people trying to understand each other."

Promoting tolerance
Bardakoğlu is strongly committed to promoting tolerance as is the leader of the Greek Orthodox Church, Patriarch Bartholomew. He frequently attends conferences where he speaks on tolerance. His attendance at the opening of a Protestant church in Alanya sends a message of tolerance because in the past the right to open a church has only existed on paper. His presence signals that such a right can be exercised in Turkey, one of the stipulations for the country’s becoming a full member of the European Union.

He does note however that for a right to be exercised it would be necessary to change people’s perceptions. Theoretically a constitution and laws may produce perfect solutions but unless public perception is changed, the provisions in the constitution and the laws, it will not be possible to affect structural changes needed to guarantee the rights of freedom of religion, etc.

The Religious Affairs President has also called for a tolerance that was urgently needed on a global scale. He believes that belonging to a religion that holds it is the only true religion is not cause for rejecting tolerance. He says, "To achieve this objective, politicians, statesmen, civilian organizations and religious leaders should do much more than issuing statements.

We, as leaders of faith communities are doing our best to promote values of toleration. Politicians and statesmen should also contribute to these efforts by paying the utmost attention to the sensitivities of people by taking social, political and economic steps for the solution of problems and crises that threaten our future."

His knowledge of his subject is very deep and he can especially be found speaking out on various topics where he feels the West has the wrong idea. Possibly many Muslims also have the wrong idea. Not the least of these subjects is the belief in the West that terrorism and violence are a part of Islam. He is quick to disabuse you of this notion because in his mind Islam represents peace and coexistence. BardakoÄŸlu continues to do everything he can to promote understanding and tolerance. We hope he succeeds.

What Is the diyanet?
From the time of the Prophet Mohammed, Islam has been intertwined with the daily life of Muslims. The caliph or person considered the leader in the religious realm was almost always the person who wielded political power. The caliph and the sultan were one and the same. However, the religious realm was ruled on a day-to-day basis by a man entitled the sheikh ul-Islam, the sheikh of Islam. He was responsible for settling religious disputes, offering advice and approving or disapproving imperial decrees vis-?-vis the Qur’an and accepted tradition. While one might expect the sheikh ul-Islam to behave in accordance with Qur’anic law, he had considerable authority to even disagree with the sultan upon occasion.

This situation lasted into the 20th century when the last Ottoman sultan was deposed and went into exile. It was agreed at the time that the religious title of caliph would be assumed by Abdul Mecit II (1922-1924). The office of sheikh ul-Islam was changed into a ministry when the Turkish Grand National Assembly was established in 1920 but four years later, this ministry was abolished and religious affairs were subsequently housed in the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), making it the most authoritative office in Turkey to pronounce on Sunni Muslim affairs.

By far the most Muslims in Turkey are Sunni, a word that comes from the Arabic word Sunnah which means the words and actions or example of the Prophet Mohammed. In the government’s hierarchy, the Diyanet is attached to the Prime Ministry.

The Diyanet office runs many programs some of which were touched on in the BardakoÄŸlu profile. In addition to being responsible for all places of worship even outside of Turkey, it answers religious questions, provides religious education, prayers, organizes the pilgrimage to Mecca, announces the times of worship, publishes books and other types of publications and maintains a library of 54,000 printed books and over 6000 handwritten manuscripts.