TURKEY: HADITH PROJECT "90 PERCENT COMPLETE"

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001710 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR EUR/SE E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/25/2019 TAGS: PGOV PHUM KWMN TU SUBJECT: TURKEY: HADITH PROJECT "90 PERCENT COMPLETE" (C-DI9-00413) REF: STATE 23617 Classified By: POL Counselor Daniel O'Grady, for reasons 1.4(b,d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) reports that it has completed 90 percent of its review of hadiths (the non-Koranic documents on which Islamic law is based). The review is expected to be finished, and published, in 2010. According to Diyanet Vice President Mehmet Gormez, the head of this project, the final product will include annotated and refined versions of all the hadiths. Some Turkish Islamic scholars believe that this will provide a fundamental reference on hadiths, especially for people who use hadiths as a roadmap in their daily lives. These scholars also emphasized the importance of this project to eliminate superstitious and biased views towards women, that are often mistakenly associated with hadiths and with Islam. END SUMMARY. Would You Wear a Fur in Saudi Arabia? -------------- ¶2. (C) In 2004, the Diyanet assembled a team of 85 academics and Islamic scholars to compile, classify, and re-interpret all the hadiths. (Note: Hadiths are believed to be the Prophet Mohammed's utterances, deeds, and tacit approvals regarding Islam, as told by his companions. End Note.) Diyanet Vice President Mehmet Gormez told us the goal of the project is to classify and re-interpret all the narratives of Mohammed that had been published. He said the project is now "90 percent complete" and "we are now doing the proof-reading." It will be published in 2010. Gormez used the analogy of a big puzzle and said the committee compiled and reviewed all the dispersed hadiths in a scholarly manner. "For the first time we are putting them together to show the full picture with a reinterpretation." Gormez added that since some of the hadiths are based in religion while others are based in culture, not all the hadiths should be stressed with the same weight. He said they should be implemented in one's life by filtering them through present-day conditions and understanding. In other words, while some of the hadiths have universal meaning, others are local and not applicable to all times and places. Gormez shared with us a conversation he had had with the famous musical artist Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens),who questioned the way Gormez was dressed (a suit and a tie) as un-Islamic. Gormez said he replied by asking, rhetorically, if the Prophet had arrived in Siberia, would he have worn a fur coat? Would that mean that people in Saudi Arabia, too, should have had to wear fur? ¶3. (C) Askin Asan, a Justice and Development Party (AKP) member of the Education Committee in the parliament, said that religious authorities and scholars including imams, religious sect leaders, Koran course instructors, and Imam Hatip School teachers actively use hadiths as an important reference for their teachings in addition to Koranic verses. Some people also use them as a roadmap for their daily actions. However, depending on the way they are interpreted, the meanings of the hadiths can easily be reinterpreted for personal gain. She added that Mohammed himself said, "Don't write my words, or else you will mistake them with the Koran." Asan underlined that hadiths began to be recorded about 100 years after Prophet Muhammad's death in 632, capturing the stories and words attributed to him. Some of these hadiths have shifted from their original meanings and people believe and implement the ideas passed down to them without questioning their origins or applicability. She thinks the Diyanet's Hadith Project is essential because it will refine the hadiths and communicate their best meaning to those who don't necessarily have the Islamic background to understand and differentiate their subtleties. Hadith Project and Women in Turkey -------------- ¶4. (C) Islamic scholars in Turkey also believe the Hadith Project will touch on gender equality and women's issues as well. According to Ayse Sucu, the Head of Diyanet Foundation's Women Branch, the project aims to eliminate and put into context some of the superstitions and biases about violence against women, female education, child brides, and other women's issues. She added that, despite these revisions, it may take a while for people to change their ANKARA 00001710 002 OF 002 belief structures about women. Hidayet Tuksal, the head of a non-governmental Islamic women organization, Capital Women Platform, also stressed that there are many superstitious comments on women that are confused with hadiths. She thinks that some of these hadiths' non-canonical nature needs to be explained to people by the Diyanet. Although people in general have high hopes from this project, secular critics have less faith in it. Muharrem Ince, a Republican People's Party (CHP) MP, asserts that the Diyanet has lost its autonomous structure, since it is directly under the supervision of the Prime Ministry. Therefore, he said, many of the Islamic scholars that are working in the Diyanet have their positions because of their strong ties with the AKP, rather than because of their academic merits. This decreases the faith secularists have concerning the quality and credibility of the end product of this project. Comment -------------- ¶5. (C) Our contacts indicate that the Hadith Project may initiate both positive and negative ripples effect among Islamic and secular institutions and organizations in Turkey, especially in the Diyanet, Imam Hatip Schools, Koran Courses, Friday prayers in mosques, and various religious sects and communities. After the reverberations subside, however, many scholars and some politicians believe the new hadiths may help to open a new dialogue among Turks about how religion should be applied in people's lives. JEFFREY "Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.s gov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turkey"