Comparison of Mustafa Kemal’s speech on the abolition of the Caliphate and Hassan al-Banna’s text Toward the Light
Every nation has its own unique history. There are some people called "the founders of nations" because they always leave a deep trace in the world history and in the population's hearts. Mustafa Kemal and Hassan al-Banna were those types of politicians, whose contribution to the histories of their countries is difficult to comprehend and appreciate. Both of them had to deal with religious issues during their political and social activities. Mustafa Kemal managed to divide politics and religion, Hassan al-Banna was eager to place religion on the top of all spheres of life. So we are going to compare the attitude towards the religion of these political figures, using Kemal's speech on the abolition of the Caliphate and al-Banna's text Toward the Light.
Firstly, we may start with the Mustafa Kemal.When people hear his name, they associate him with the formation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923. This person was like a salvation for Turkish population, as he raised his fatherland on the new stage of development. When Mustafa Kemal started his career, Turkey had difficult times – it was the end of the Empire plus demoralized population and economic problems. Having become the President, Mustafa Kemal began to bring new reforms into the action. One of the most crucial changes became the abolition of the Caliphate in 1924. In the Islamic religion, religious issues were always intermingled with politics.Actually, the abolition of the Caliphate was a catastrophe for the political and religious stability. It meant that the Caliphate bore only non-state and non-political status since that time.
In his speech to the Assembly in 1924, he believed that he was going to release Turkey from the hands of traditional beliefs and ideas. He mentioned that the Caliphate was ruling the country in a wrong direction. He wanted all Muslims to move into the side of more secular society and the Western way of life. Mustafa Kemal suggested that the ideas and credos of the Caliphate were false and groundless. For instance, he gave an example that Caliphate promised to defend and stand for the rights of all the Muslims around the world. The Caliphate was deceiving to the Islamic community, saying that everything is under control and he was able to set the justice among the Muslims in all the world. Kemal stressed in his speech, that the Turkish nation was misled by pseudo values and unattainable goals, which were inoculated by the Caliphate. He refused that the religion had to rule the country – he wanted to create a new country with a new name that would be guided by an ideology of nationalism (Holt, Lambton, Lewis, 562). He appealed to the people not to rely only on the religion and the Caliph. Moreover, he recollected about the loss of millions of men in Anatolia and Yemen. Mustafa Kemal also paid attention to the fact that the Caliphate, as the supporter of the Muslims had to notice what had been going not only in Anatolia but in all the Muslim agglomerations.
As we can see, Mustafa Kemal wished to decrease the role of religion in political life, because he was convinced that religion was hindering the development of Turkey.
Now, we are going to regard Hassan al-Banna's text «Toward the Light» and his understanding the role of religion in political life. As the way towards the independence of Turkey, the way of Egypt was also thorny and unsteady. In the 20th century, Egypt could not be proud of the entire situation in the country. At that time, the British cultural colonization flourished there. A lot of Egyptians thought that the colonization was a try to modernize Egypt, but without even traces of Islam. Among such people was the future founder of the Muslim Brotherhood (1928) – Hassan al-Banna. He wanted to convince the nation that there were no geographical or racial boundaries of the Islamic religion. In such way, he tried to stop the influence of the Western world that was very harmful to the Islamic communities.
In June 1947, Hassan al-Banna sent the letter to Faruq 1st, King of Egypt and Sudan. That letter contained some directives and guidelines for the Muslims. Hassan al-Banna wrote that wanted to guide the nation in the right direction, towards Allah. Besides, he proposed two objectives – the first one was the liberation of the country from political chains and the second one - the reconstruction in order to finish the social improvement.
In addition, he emphasized on the advantages of the Islamic direction. Hassan al-Banna suggested that exactly the Islamic religion has been testifying for many centuries and that is why people of their nation were the most virtuous and would support such global changes for sure. He offered the entire system of reforms, concerning the army, public health, education, social life, politics, administration. (Saleh). We cannot omit that fact that the Muslim Brotherhood explained why there was no reason to keep pace with the West, as moral values there were forgotten and overturned.
We may suggest that Hassan al-Banna had a strong desire to convert all the Islamic countries to the religion again, From his point of view, he was certain that religion might be a compulsory element in all the spheres of life and it will lead to the world peace and welfare.
So if to compare Mustafa Kemal's and Hassan al-Banna's points of views towards the role of the religion in the political life we can claim that they were totally contrary, despite the fact that both of them were Muslims. In his speech, Mustafa Kemal considered that role of religion was exaggerated and it might serve only as a spiritual tool for raising the nation's spirit. He was oriented towards the West culture. On the contrary, Hassan al-Banna's believed that role of religion was necessary in the politics. In his letter, he represented the causes and advantages of the Islam's help and contribution to the common development of the country and society.
Works Cited
Holt, P. M, Ann K. S Lambton, and Bernard Lewis. The Cambridge History Of Islam, Volume 1B. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978. Print.
Saleh, Mona. "Hassan Al-Banna: A Starting Point For Contemporary Islamic Fundamentalism". E-International Relations. N.p., 2016. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.
