Turan Dursun
Encyclopedia
Turan Dursun was a Turkish Islam
ic scholar and a writer. His work heavily criticizes Islam and its founders.
He first worked as a religious officer before becoming an atheist during his study of the history of monotheistic religions. Dursun wrote a number of books about religion, which included interpretations of Islamic texts. He was an open critic of religion and was frequently threatened by fundamentalists.
He was eventually assassinated on September 4, 1990, outside his home in Istanbul
. After this sensational event, his books sold tens of thousands of copies in Turkey
.
, Dursun was unable to officially become one as he did not have a primary school diploma. Dursun had to complete primary school exams without attending school and did so with understandable speed. He achieved mufti status in 1958.
Whilst the mufti of Sivas, Dursun began establishing himself as a mufti of a different kind. Using his position, he initiated a number of projects for the development of the area and its imams:
Dursun gained a lot of followers and enemies at Sivas and was threatened on numerous occasions. He was exiled to the city of Sinop
and stayed in what he called a "broken down shack". He received help from Ali Şarapçı, a teacher who was tormented and falsely labeled as communist, as Dursun was.
His mufti career ended in 1966.
In the same interview, Dursun states that he was "always questioning and rebellious towards the concept of God", but the transition to atheism was an "evolving" one. Dursun discovered what he called "Muhammed's passings on" when he began learning about the holy books that existed prior to the Koran. He states: "I did previously have knowledge of Judaism
and Christianity
, but through Islamic interpretations. I didn't know them from their own sources. I got to know their own sources in the 1960s."
Dursun began researching into Christianity when it was planned that he would be proudly introduced to the Pope as an intellectual mufti. To prepare for this meeting and to "be able to talk with him [the Pope] with more strength", Dursun studied Christianity but "instantly" realized the "con" as he compared his already vast knowledge of Islam with Christian information.
After coming to negative conclusions about religion, Dursun became "angry" that Mohammed took away valuable years of childhood and youth. He said: "So many people can't live their childhood properly because of him. So many people are sufferers of his disasters. So many people know what's right as wrong and what's wrong as right because they think the darkness that he chose exists. Human emotions and human creations haven't progressed in many ways, because of him."
Dursun was an independent theist for a short period of time before he became an atheist. First, he pronounced to himself that "if there is a God, he's not Mohammed's". He began carrying out random experiments to see if God existed or not during his mental battle with him. He began believing that humans evolved over millions of years and continued learning about anthropology. He states that his independent theist period lasted "two or three years".
and even becomes a binman. The decision to quit as a mufti was a tough one, but Dursun stated that his principle was always "never to have a contradiction between what I thought and what I did".
Due to a number of friends he made as a thinking mufti, he was able to get a foot in at the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation
, (TRT), working firstly in basic administrative positions before taking and passing an exam to become involved in programme production.
Among his productions are, "Turks in history", "Mankind from the beginning" and "Towards the evening" (unofficially translated titles). There is also a production which has never been allowed to be broadcast, titled "Before and after the first Grand National Assembly". Dursun resigned from TRT in 1982, after 16 years of service.
In 1987, Dursun was introduced to Doğu Perinçek
, a self-proclaimed socialist politician with heavy nationalist undertones, who was the editor of the magazine 2000'e Doğru (Towards 2000). Dursun contributed to the magazine with a column titled "Din Bilgisi" (Knowledge of religion). He also wrote for other publications such as Saçak, Teori and Yüzyıl. He wrote countless books in the 1980s, including a Turkish translation of Ibn Khaldun's Muqqadimah, collating his vast knowledge of Islam and languages of the Middle East, opening the religion to internal criticism through the mass media, perhaps for the first time in the religion's history.
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic scholar and a writer. His work heavily criticizes Islam and its founders.
He first worked as a religious officer before becoming an atheist during his study of the history of monotheistic religions. Dursun wrote a number of books about religion, which included interpretations of Islamic texts. He was an open critic of religion and was frequently threatened by fundamentalists.
He was eventually assassinated on September 4, 1990, outside his home in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
. After this sensational event, his books sold tens of thousands of copies in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
.
Biography
Dursun's father was a devout Muslim. From his childhood on, he was motivated by his father to be the an Islamic scholar, unprecedented in terms of knowledge, even in Basra and Kufa. With this purpose, worked very hard and mastered all major Islamic texts.Years as a mufti
After passing the necessary exams to become a muftiMufti
A mufti is a Sunni Islamic scholar who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law . In religious administrative terms, a mufti is roughly equivalent to a deacon to a Sunni population...
, Dursun was unable to officially become one as he did not have a primary school diploma. Dursun had to complete primary school exams without attending school and did so with understandable speed. He achieved mufti status in 1958.
Whilst the mufti of Sivas, Dursun began establishing himself as a mufti of a different kind. Using his position, he initiated a number of projects for the development of the area and its imams:
- Organised for 50 tree plantations in the different villages of Sivas.
- Forced plans for a mufti accommodation center to be changed for hospital to be built, with success.
- Collected wheat from villages as aid for the hospital project.
- Gave importance to the non-religious education of imams, through cinema and attendance of conferences.
- Facilitated issue of school diplomas for imams through the Ministry of Education.
- Agreed for imams to pay respects to Mustafa Kemal AtatürkMustafa Kemal AtatürkMustafa Kemal Atatürk was an Ottoman and Turkish army officer, revolutionary statesman, writer, and the first President of Turkey. He is credited with being the founder of the Republic of Turkey....
(the first time to be done so by Islamic clerics) in return for food packages to be supplied by the military during the imams' conference trips. - Put pressure on the mayor of Sivas for exhausting water supplies to be addressed.
Dursun gained a lot of followers and enemies at Sivas and was threatened on numerous occasions. He was exiled to the city of Sinop
Sinop, Turkey
Sinop is a city with a population of 36,734 on İnce Burun , by its Cape Sinop which is situated on the most northern edge of the Turkish side of Black Sea coast, in the ancient region of Paphlagonia, in modern-day northern Turkey, historically known as Sinope...
and stayed in what he called a "broken down shack". He received help from Ali Şarapçı, a teacher who was tormented and falsely labeled as communist, as Dursun was.
His mufti career ended in 1966.
First atheistic thoughts
In an interview with Şule Perinçek, Dursun recounts one of the first instances, where he began doubting the existence of God. During a time when he was in love at the age of 11, Sabo, the older sister of the girl he loved, called Safi, was disabled. Dursun felt sorry for Sabo and one night during his sleep he saw God in his dream. After making him swear that he will not get angry, Dursun asked God why he created this Earth if he also created heaven and asked why Sabo was disabled and Safi was beautiful.In the same interview, Dursun states that he was "always questioning and rebellious towards the concept of God", but the transition to atheism was an "evolving" one. Dursun discovered what he called "Muhammed's passings on" when he began learning about the holy books that existed prior to the Koran. He states: "I did previously have knowledge of Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
and Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, but through Islamic interpretations. I didn't know them from their own sources. I got to know their own sources in the 1960s."
Dursun began researching into Christianity when it was planned that he would be proudly introduced to the Pope as an intellectual mufti. To prepare for this meeting and to "be able to talk with him [the Pope] with more strength", Dursun studied Christianity but "instantly" realized the "con" as he compared his already vast knowledge of Islam with Christian information.
After coming to negative conclusions about religion, Dursun became "angry" that Mohammed took away valuable years of childhood and youth. He said: "So many people can't live their childhood properly because of him. So many people are sufferers of his disasters. So many people know what's right as wrong and what's wrong as right because they think the darkness that he chose exists. Human emotions and human creations haven't progressed in many ways, because of him."
Dursun was an independent theist for a short period of time before he became an atheist. First, he pronounced to himself that "if there is a God, he's not Mohammed's". He began carrying out random experiments to see if God existed or not during his mental battle with him. He began believing that humans evolved over millions of years and continued learning about anthropology. He states that his independent theist period lasted "two or three years".
Life as a producer and a writer
Following his resignation as a mufti, Dursun struggles to earn a living in IstanbulIstanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
and even becomes a binman. The decision to quit as a mufti was a tough one, but Dursun stated that his principle was always "never to have a contradiction between what I thought and what I did".
Due to a number of friends he made as a thinking mufti, he was able to get a foot in at the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation
Turkish Radio and Television Corporation
The Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, also known as TRT , is the national public broadcaster of Turkey and was founded in 1964. Around 70% of TRT's funding comes from a tax levied on electricity bills and a sales tax on television and radio receivers...
, (TRT), working firstly in basic administrative positions before taking and passing an exam to become involved in programme production.
Among his productions are, "Turks in history", "Mankind from the beginning" and "Towards the evening" (unofficially translated titles). There is also a production which has never been allowed to be broadcast, titled "Before and after the first Grand National Assembly". Dursun resigned from TRT in 1982, after 16 years of service.
In 1987, Dursun was introduced to Doğu Perinçek
Dogu Perinçek
Doğu Perinçek is a Turkish politician, leader of the Workers' Party , a scientific socialist organization, and former chairman of the Workers' Party . His first name Doğu means "East" in Turkish.-Personal life:...
, a self-proclaimed socialist politician with heavy nationalist undertones, who was the editor of the magazine 2000'e Doğru (Towards 2000). Dursun contributed to the magazine with a column titled "Din Bilgisi" (Knowledge of religion). He also wrote for other publications such as Saçak, Teori and Yüzyıl. He wrote countless books in the 1980s, including a Turkish translation of Ibn Khaldun's Muqqadimah, collating his vast knowledge of Islam and languages of the Middle East, opening the religion to internal criticism through the mass media, perhaps for the first time in the religion's history.
Books
- The Encyclopedia of the Koran (14 volumes) (Kur'an Ansiklopedisi)
- The Sources of the Holy Books (3 volumes) (Kutsal Kitapların Kaynakları)
- This is Religion (4 volumes) (Din Bu)
- Kulleteyn (An autobiography of his childhood)
- This is Sharia (Şeriat Böyle)
- Allah
- Koran
- Islam and the Nur Sectism (Müslumanlık ve Nurculuk)
- Letters to İlhan Arsel (İlhan Arsel'e Mektuplar)
- Letters to the Famous (Ünlülere Mektuplar)