İslamcılığın Protestan Ekolü: Ankara Okulu | Prof. Dr. İlhami Güler - Hasan Karademir

Overview

The video interview discusses “Ankara School” Islamism/theology (Ankara Üniversitesi İlahiyat ekolü) and interprets it through a “Protestant” lens—while rejecting the claim that it is simply copied from Western Protestantism.

Main Arguments and Analysis

Why “Protestantism” is used—and why the label is limited

• Origins of the Ankara School
  • Prof. İlhami Güler explains that the Ankara School emerged from scholarly work at Ankara University’s Faculty of Theology, particularly through journals and translations, beginning around the 1980s.
• “Protestant” as an analogy (partial, not literal)
  • He argues that “Protestant” functions as a partial analogy:
    • Protestantism is portrayed as critique and renewal against dogmatism (associated with Luther/Calvin versus Catholic dogmatism).
    • Similarly, the Ankara School critiques traditional Sunni theology shaped by imitation and scholastic repetition.
• Rejection of a genetic/direct influence claim
  • Güler rejects the idea that Ankara School theology is genetically copied from Western Protestantism.
  • He says renewal and ijtihad-like interpretation exist within Islam itself.
  • The better description, he argues, is renewal of ijtihad and theology, not “Protestantization” of Islam.

Institutional origins: an academic project

The Ankara School is described as connected to:

• Ankara University Faculty of Theology and its broader intellectual environment (including influences from philosophy and social sciences alongside Islamic sciences)
• Journals such as İslamiyat and the Journal of Islamic Studies
• A publishing initiative: Ankara School Publications
  • including translation work, especially Turkish translations of thinkers like Fazlur Rahman
• A German theologian, Felix Körner, mentioned as an early conceptual influence/labeling figure (“Ankara School”), connected to theses and academic work associated with Ankara University

Core thesis: revive ijtihad and read the Quran dynamically

The interview presents a critique of traditional Sunni theology as:

• overly scholastic
• repetitive
• imitation-based
• shaped by historical conditions (including a medieval agricultural/empires context)

The Ankara School’s purpose is framed as:

• Reviving the dynamism of ijtihad
• Re-examining historically formed concepts and institutions
• Reading the Quran in ways that address the problems of each age

The guest contrasts this with theology education he believes tends to produce knowledge primarily through commentary-on-commentary, rather than engaging life’s practical problems.

Fazlur Rahman’s method and “historicism”

• Approach
  • Fazlur Rahman is described as using a historical / historical-critical / hermeneutical approach:
    • identify what God’s message meant for people at the time of revelation (7th century)
    • then derive guidance relevant to present problems
• Source and theological grounding
  • While Güler acknowledges historicist methods originate in Western scholarship, he argues their ultimate theological justification is grounded in Quranic ideas such as:
    • naskh (abrogation)
  • He also points to examples like how Caliph ʿUmar suspended rulings based on changing conditions.
• Moderate vs. radical historicism
  • Moderate historicism: aims to preserve the Quran’s universality while interpreting responsibly with context.
  • Radical historicism: criticized for treating Islam as merely a product of 7th-century Arabian desert conditions.

“Historicism vs. universalism”

The interview argues that:

• Historicism and universality are not contradictory
  • The Quran and Hadith contain universal principles (faith, morality, metaphysical themes repeated across prophets).
  • They also include context-specific rules intended for 7th-century circumstances.
• Critique of rigid category-making
  • Turkish discourse is said to wrongly force people into fixed camps (“historicist” vs. “universalist”).
  • In that framing, “universalist” positions are portrayed as dogmatic absolutism of present applicability.
  • Güler’s perspective instead emphasizes contextual extraction of solutions rather than claiming direct, uncontextualized repetition.

Human maturity, conscience, and critique of “childlike” imitation

A major moral-psychological critique presented is that Sunni orthodoxy allegedly keeps believers in a “childlike” mindset:

• obedience without responsible interpretation

This is contrasted with what the Quran aims to cultivate:

• “mature” believers

The Ankara/historicist project is portrayed as reactivating Quranic goals such as:

• contemplation
• reflection
• judgment
• the use of conscience (responsibility and independent reasoning)

Youth impact and growing public appeal

• The movement initially faced accusations and hostility, including claims such as “burying the Quran in history.”
• Over 20–40 years, Güler claims there is increased academic and public interest:
  • including young scholars and overseas researchers.
• He links rising interest to perceived failures in Turkish religious life in recent decades, where confusion and doubt (including debates around deism/agnosticism/atheism) are described as partly resulting from the inadequacy of traditional frameworks.

Orientalist translations: engagement vs. servility

• Güler explains that orientalist works are translated through Ankara School Publications, but he rejects the notion that all Ankara School thinkers collectively adopt orientalist ideology.
• He argues genuine intellectual maturity requires:
  • engaging opposing claims
  • responding scientifically and rigorously
  • not relying only on internal agreement
• He defends translation as useful if it is not:
  • treated as submission to orientalist motives (Eurocentrism / colonial psychology)
  • used to dismiss Islamic scholars’ need to understand opposing literature

Accusations of “sowing discord”

When asked whether Ankara School work creates disharmony in Islam, Güler strongly rejects the accusation as malicious slander.

• He frames the project as restoring Islam’s capacity to address current problems by removing “historical baggage” weighing down Quranic aims.

What has been achieved over ~40 years

Güler claims the movement:

• has “broken a wall” by enabling people “to dare to think”
• confronts dogmatic imitation

He emphasizes:

• religion’s foundation is thought and conscience
• moral action emerges when conscience is alive

He also expresses limited hope for current conditions in Turkey, arguing that:

• blind faith and imitation remain dominant
• therefore, increased religious ceremonies and institutions alone cannot improve moral life without revival of reflective conscience.

Presenters / Contributors

• Prof. Dr. İlhami Güler (Ankara University Faculty of Theology) — main speaker/interviewee
• Interviewer / moderator (unnamed) — asks questions
• Ideas Geography forum moderators (unnamed) — thanked at the end