This study examines how secularization, both as a phenomenon and as a process, has been perceived, discussed, and problematized in Islamist journals published in Türkiye post-1990. Employing a basic qualitative analysis method, it evaluates writings on secularization featured in Altınoluk, Umran, and İktibas through reflexive thematic analysis. Findings derived from studies conducted under four thematic categories indicate that secularization is generally regarded as a Western-origin paradigm, incompatible with Islam, and one that weakens religious identity. It is associated with phenomena such as the withdrawal of religion from the public sphere, individualization, worldliness, alienation, spiritual emptiness, and moral decay. It is argued to have caused significant transformations at both the individual and societal levels. Frequently used interchangeably with the concept of laicism, secularism is perceived as an ideological project foreign to Islamic societies and is defined as a threat that undermines religion’s social function and devalues the sacred. The proposed solutions to this crisis are centered on a return to the divinely endowed nature (fıtrat), a consciousness grounded in revelation, moral revival, and the reconstruction of Islamic values. In conclusion, the journals generate a critical discourse on secularization and seek to establish an alternative intellectual and social foundation through this phenomenon.

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Secularization Debates in Islamist Journals Post-1990

  • Yunus Ergen

摘要

This study examines how secularization, both as a phenomenon and as a process, has been perceived, discussed, and problematized in Islamist journals published in Türkiye post-1990. Employing a basic qualitative analysis method, it evaluates writings on secularization featured in Altınoluk, Umran, and İktibas through reflexive thematic analysis. Findings derived from studies conducted under four thematic categories indicate that secularization is generally regarded as a Western-origin paradigm, incompatible with Islam, and one that weakens religious identity. It is associated with phenomena such as the withdrawal of religion from the public sphere, individualization, worldliness, alienation, spiritual emptiness, and moral decay. It is argued to have caused significant transformations at both the individual and societal levels. Frequently used interchangeably with the concept of laicism, secularism is perceived as an ideological project foreign to Islamic societies and is defined as a threat that undermines religion’s social function and devalues the sacred. The proposed solutions to this crisis are centered on a return to the divinely endowed nature (fıtrat), a consciousness grounded in revelation, moral revival, and the reconstruction of Islamic values. In conclusion, the journals generate a critical discourse on secularization and seek to establish an alternative intellectual and social foundation through this phenomenon.