Turkey is preparing to publish a document that represents a revolutionary reinterpretation of Islam - and a controversial and radical modernisation of the religion.

The country’s powerful Department of Religious Affairs has commissioned a team of theologians at Ankara University to carry out a fundamental revision of the Hadith, the second most sacred text in Islam after the Koran.

The Hadith is a collection of thousands of sayings reputed to come from the Prophet Muhammad.

As such, it is the principal guide for Muslims in interpreting the Koran and the source of the vast majority of Islamic law, or Sharia.

But the Turkish state has come to see the Hadith as having an often negative influence on a society it is in a hurry to modernise, and believes it responsible for obscuring the original values of Islam.

It says that a significant number of the sayings were never uttered by Muhammad, and even some that were need now to be reinterpreted.

‘Reformation’

Commentators say the very theology of Islam is being reinterpreted in order to effect a radical renewal of the religion.

Its supporters say the spirit of logic and reason inherent in Islam at its foundation 1,400 years ago are being rediscovered. Some believe it could represent the beginning of a reformation in the religion.

Turkish officials have been reticent about the revision of the Hadith until now, aware of the controversy it is likely to cause among traditionalist Muslims, but they have spoken to the BBC about the project, and their ambitious aims for it.

The forensic examination of the Hadiths has taken place in Ankara University’s School of Theology.

An adviser to the project, Felix Koerner, says some of the sayings - also known individually as “hadiths” - can be shown to have been invented hundreds of years after the Prophet Muhammad died, to serve the purposes of contemporary society.

“Unfortunately you can even justify through alleged hadiths, the Muslim - or pseudo-Muslim - practice of female genital mutilation,” he says.

“You can find messages which say ‘that is what the Prophet ordered us to do’. But you can show historically how they came into being, as influences from other cultures, that were then projected onto Islamic tradition.”

The argument is that Islamic tradition has been gradually hijacked by various - often conservative - cultures, seeking to use the religion for various forms of social control.

Leaders of the Hadith project say successive generations have embellished the text, attributing their political aims to the Prophet Muhammad himself.

Revolutionary

Turkey is intent on sweeping away that “cultural baggage” and returning to a form of Islam it claims accords with its original values and those of the Prophet.

Women are re-examining their portrayal in the scriptures

But this is where the revolutionary nature of the work becomes apparent. Even some sayings accepted as being genuinely spoken by Muhammad have been altered and reinterpreted.

Prof Mehmet Gormez, a senior official in the Department of Religious Affairs and an expert on the Hadith, gives a telling example.

“There are some messages that ban women from travelling for three days or more without their husband’s permission and they are genuine.

“But this isn’t a religious ban. It came about because in the Prophet’s time it simply wasn’t safe for a woman to travel alone like that. But as time has passed, people have made permanent what was only supposed to be a temporary ban for safety reasons.”

The project justifies such bold interference in the 1,400-year-old content of the Hadith by rigorous academic research.

Prof Gormez points out that in another speech, the Prophet said “he longed for the day when a woman might travel long distances alone”.

So, he argues, it is clear what the Prophet’s goal was.

Original spirit

Yet, until now, the ban has remained in the text, and helps to restrict the free movement of some Muslim women to this day.

As part of its aggressive programme of renewal, Turkey has given theological training to 450 women, and appointed them as senior imams called “vaizes”.

They have been given the task of explaining the original spirit of Islam to remote communities in Turkey’s vast interior.

One of the women, Hulya Koc, looked out over a sea of headscarves at a town meeting in central Turkey and told the women of the equality, justice and human rights guaranteed by an accurate interpretation of the Koran - one guided and confirmed by the revised Hadith.

She says that, at the moment, Islam is being widely used to justify the violent suppression of women.

“There are honour killings,” she explains.

“We hear that some women are being killed when they marry the wrong person or run away with someone they love.

“There’s also violence against women within families, including sexual harassment by uncles and others. This does not exist in Islam… we have to explain that to them.”

‘New Islam’

According to Fadi Hakura, an expert on Turkey from Chatham House in London, Turkey is doing nothing less than recreating Islam - changing it from a religion whose rules must be obeyed, to one designed to serve the needs of people in a modern secular democracy.

He says that to achieve it, the state is fashioning a new Islam.

“This is kind of akin to the Christian Reformation,” he says.

“Not exactly the same, but if you think, it’s changing the theological foundations of [the] religion. ”

Fadi Hakura believes that until now secularist Turkey has been intent on creating a new politics for Islam.

Now, he says, “they are trying to fashion a new Islam.”

Significantly, the “Ankara School” of theologians working on the new Hadith have been using Western critical techniques and philosophy.

They have also taken an even bolder step - rejecting a long-established rule of Muslim scholars that later (and often more conservative) texts override earlier ones.

“You have to see them as a whole,” says Fadi Hakura.

“You can’t say, for example, that the verses of violence override the verses of peace. This is used a lot in the Middle East, this kind of ideology.

“I cannot impress enough how fundamental [this change] is.”

Leading politicians have distanced themselves from the Archbishop of Canterbury’s belief that some Sharia law in the UK seems “unavoidable”. Gordon Brown’s spokesman said the prime minister “believes that British laws should be based on British values”.
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said nobody should be excused from the rule of law.
Dr Rowan Williams told Radio 4’s World at One the UK had to “face up to the fact” that some of its citizens do not relate to the British legal system.
He said adopting parts of Islamic Sharia law could help social cohesion.
For example, Muslims could choose to have marital disputes or financial matters dealt with in a Sharia court.

‘Changes’

But the prime minister’s official spokesman said Sharia law could never be used as a justification for committing a breach of English law, nor could the principle of Sharia be applied in a civil case.
He added that Mr Brown had a good relationship with the archbishop, who was perfectly entitled to express his views.
The PM’s official spokesman said: “There are instances where government has made changes for example on stamp duty but the general position is that Sharia cannot be used as justification for committing breaches of English law nor can its principles be used in civil courts.”
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said: “Whilst having an enormous amount of respect for Rowan Williams, I cannot agree with his conclusions on this issue.
“Equality before the law is part of the glue that binds our society together. We cannot have a situation where there is one law for one person and different laws for another.
“There is a huge difference between respecting peoples’ right to follow their own beliefs and allowing them to excuse themselves from the rule of law.”
Dr Williams said Muslims should not have to choose between “the stark alternatives of cultural loyalty or state loyalty”.

“An approach to law which simply said - there’s one law for everybody - I think that’s a bit of a danger ” Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury

In an interview with BBC correspondent Christopher Landau, Dr Williams argues this relies on Sharia law being better understood. At the moment, he says “sensational reporting of opinion polls” clouds the issue.
He stresses that “nobody in their right mind would want to see in this country the kind of inhumanity that’s sometimes been associated with the practice of the law in some Islamic states; the extreme punishments, the attitudes to women as well”.
But Dr Williams said an approach to law which simply said “there’s one law for everybody and that’s all there is to be said, and anything else that commands your loyalty or allegiance is completely irrelevant in the processes of the courts - I think that’s a bit of a danger”.

More than 130 Muslim scholars have written to Pope Benedict and other Christian leaders urging greater understanding between the two faiths.
They say that world peace could depend on improved relations between Muslims and Christians.

The letter identifies similarities in both religions, such as the requirements to accept only one god and live in peace with one’s neighbours.

It also insists that Christians and Muslims worship the same god.

Controversial speech

The letter, the text of which will be released in Washington on Thursday, says Mohammed was told the same truths that had already been revealed to other prophets, Christian and Jewish, including Jesus.

They also cite the Koran as placing a duty on Muslims to treat Christians and Jews as followers of those prophets with particular friendship.

It comes on the anniversary of an open letter issued to the Pope last year from 38 top Muslim clerics, after he made a controversial speech on Islam. Pope Benedict sparked an uproar in September last year by quoting a mediaeval text which linked Islam to violence.

READ THE LETTER:
http://www.islamicamagazine.com/media/pdf/open/b/openletter-8238DA.pdf

Bounties of Jannah

When a person will enter into Jannah, it will be announced:-

1) You will remain healthy forever, disease will never come.
2) You will remain alive for ever, death will never come.
3) You will remain in bounties which will never be finished.

Jannah is made with bricks of gold and silver, Its cement is of perfumed musk. Its chips are pearls and Yaqoot. Its sand is Zafraan.

There are eight doors of Jannah. These eight grades of Jannat are:-

1) Jannatul Mava

2) Darul Maqaam

3) Darul Salaam

4) Darul Khuld

5) Jannat-ul-Adan

6) Jannat-ul-Naeem

7) Jannat-ul-Kasif

Jannat-ul-Firdous

Food and Gardens of Jannah

They will eat foods and fruits continuously up to 40 years. Every bowl will have a new taste. They will take eructation which will digest the food and there will be perfumed sweating for the digestion of water. There will be no urine and stool.

There will be gardens in Jannah. Every garden will have the length of about 100 years journey. The shadow of these gardens will be very dense. Their plants will be free of thorns. The size of their leaves will be equal to ears of elephants. Their fruits will be hanging in rows.Jannatul Mava is in the lowest, Jannat-ul-Adan is the middle and Jannat-ul- Firdous is on the highest. Those who-love each other for the sake of Allah, will get a pillar of Yaqoot, on which there will be seventy thousand (70,000) rooms. These will shine for the residents of Jannah as the sun shines for the residents of the Duniya (the world). There will be rooms in Jannah in such a way that every room will have seventy thousands (70,000) dining sheets. On every dinning sheet 70,000 types of foods will be served. For their service 80,000 young boys will be moving around looking like beautiful scattered pearls.

One bunch of dates will be equal to the length of 12 arms. The size of a date will be equal to the big pitcher. These will be whiter than milk, sweater than honey and softer than butter and free of seeds. The stem of these plants will be made up of gold and silver.

There will also be gardens of grapes. The bunches of grapes will be very big. The size of a
single grape will be equal to a big pitcher (pot). Someone asked the Prophet, “Ya Rasulullah Sallalahu alaihi wasallam, Will it be sufficient for me and my family.” It was answered, “It will be sufficient for you and your whole tribe.”

The Dresses of Jannat

The dress of Jannah will be very beautiful. One will wear 70 dresses at a time. These will be very fine, delicate, weightless, having different colors. These dresses will be so fine that even the heart will be visible. And the waves of love in the hearts will also be visible. These dresses will never become old, never be dirty and will never tear.

There will be four canals in every Jannah. They are of water, milk, honey and Sharabun
Tahoora. There will also be three fountains in Jannah.

1) Kafoor.
2) Zanjabeel.
3) Tasneem

Qualities of People of Jannah

In Jannah:

1) Height of every person,will be like that of Adam Alaihisalaam, 60 arms (90 feet)

2) Beauty will be like that of Yusuf Alaihissalaam

3)Age of youth will be like that of Isa Alaihissalaam (30-33 years)

4) Sweetness of voice will be like that of Dawud Alaihissalaam

5) Tolerance will be like that of Yaqub Alaihissalaam

6) Patience will be like that of Ayyub Alaihissalaam

7) Habits will be like that of Sayyidina Muhammad Sallalahualaihi wasallam.

“Alaihis-salaam” means “Peace be upon him”

“Sallalahu-alaihi-wasallam” means “May God’s peace and blessings be upon him”
If a person makes Du ‘a (Supplication) for Jannah three times, Jannah requests Allah that “O Allah, make his entry into Jannah.” And if a person makes Du’a for safety from Jahannum (Hell) three times, then Jahannnum requests Allah that “O Allah, save him from Jahannum.”

Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet (SAW) said:

“Religion is very easy and whoever overburdens himself in his religion will not be able to continue in that way. So you should not be extremists, but try to be near to perfection and receive the good tidings that you will be rewarded; and gain strength by worshipping in the mornings, the nights.”

(See Fath-ul-Bari, Page 102, Vol 1). Sahih Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 2, Number 38