Preface to the book “A Glance on the Turkish War of Independence through the Lens of the Quran”

The late Prof. Dr. Yaşar Nuri Öztürk begins his book—which I introduced in my previous article, first published in 2012, and titled “A Glance at the War of Independence Through the Lens of the Qur’an”—with the following preface.

Abdullah Erdemli

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Preface

The book in your hands is a concise summary of my three-volume work, ‘The Qur’anic Dimensions of the Turkish War of Independence’, which stands as one of the magnum opuses of my life. 

The aforementioned work will be referred to as the ‘Main Work’ throughout this text. 

We deemed the publication of such a summary essential to assist those who might find it challenging or lack the patience to read the ‘Main Work’ in its entirety.

At the outset, I must clarify certain terms that are frequently utilized herein, some of which were articulated within Turkish literature and press for the first time by our side :

- Those who deceive with Allah,

- Dynasticist religionists,

- Political religionists,

- Umayyad religionists,

- Umayyadist-Arabists,

- Collaborators with imperialism,

- Those who impose religion instead of explaining it,

- Moderate Islamists,

- Pro-Broader Middle East Project (BMP) advocates,

- Criminals of Surah Al-Ma'un,

- Deniz Feneri opportunists,

- Traitors to the Turkish War of Independence, and 

- Exploiters of religion. 

All the above expressions are synonymous; they designate the exact same factions and mindsets.

- Pseudo/fake-Atatürkists,

- Atatürk sycophants,

- Those who use Atatürk as a wildcard,

- Exploiters of Atatürk,

- Those who deceive with Atatürk, and

- Those who impose Atatürk instead of explaining him. 

And, all the above expressions are likewise synonymous; they designate the exact same insincere factions and mindsets.

Since the vast majority of these terms reside within the blood-written lexicon of the Turkish War of Independence, and others are universally employed within the Turkish literature and press, we shall utilize them wherever necessary.

The book comprises 4 chapters :

Chapter One addresses the general framework of the core subject matter of the work. 

Chapter Two evaluates the parallels observed between the Turkish Republican revolutions and the jurisprudence (fiqh) of Imam al-Azam (Abu Hanifa), as conceptualized by MUHAMMAD IQBAL, who is widely regarded as the greatest Islamic thinker of the 20th century. 

Chapter Three delves into the intricate details of oppression (zulm), which constitutes the common enemy in both the Qur’an and the philosophy of the Association for Defense of National Rights (Müdafaa-i Hukuk). 

The fourth and final chapter is dedicated to the examination of the shared objectives and actions of the Qur’an and the Defense of Rights movement.

Concluding the preface here, I offer my praises and gratitude to the Almighty Allah (Janab-al-Haqq) for granting me the strength to decipher yet another significant portion of the ‘Concealed Truths’.

Greetings to those who seek the truth and rejoice when they find it!

Prof. Dr. Yaşar Nuri ÖZTÜRK

Istanbul, (2012 First Edition)