politics

7 entries

Pages on the assessments made about politics and on how those assessments are reported.

The claim that "he took his place alongside the Boğaziçi protesters"

It is true that he objected to the appointment and regarded the protest as legitimate. But finding a protest justified is not the same as adopting the views of those who take part in it.

Partly true

The "if he wants to do politics, let him found a party" claim

Nowhere is there a requirement to found a party in order to express an opinion. The journalists, lawyers and academics who discuss the country's affairs on television have no party either.

Unfounded

The claim that "he criticises the government only because of his own grievance"

The conference cancellations began in 2014; yet he had objected to the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and to Syria policy in 2011 — that is, eleven years before the event the claim counts as the cause.

Unfounded

The claim that "a religious teacher should not get involved in politics"

He does not deny that he speaks on political matters. But what he speaks on is not party politics; he supports no party. The field the objection calls "politics" and the field he speaks in are not the same thing.

Partly true

The claim that "politics is not the business of a scholar of fiqh"

Islamic fiqh does not consist of prayer, fasting and zakat alone; the rulings on the state, on war and on treaties are subjects of fiqh too. The Prophet himself founded a state and governed it.

Unfounded

The claim that he is "on the side of a party or the opposition"

He says openly that he supports no party; his measure is not a party but fiqh, and by that same measure he has said he would defend the party he criticises when it is wronged.

Unfounded

The "He Says Tawhid but Divides the Muslims" Claim

The claim rests on a confusion of concepts: tawhid is to recognise no authority besides Allah, while wahdah is the unity of the Muslims. And criticism and tafriqa are not the same thing either.

Distorted

The claim that "he took his place alongside the Boğaziçi protesters"

The "if he wants to do politics, let him found a party" claim

The claim that "he criticises the government only because of his own grievance"

The claim that "a religious teacher should not get involved in politics"

The claim that "politics is not the business of a scholar of fiqh"

The claim that he is "on the side of a party or the opposition"

The "He Says Tawhid but Divides the Muslims" Claim

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