Envisioning a Consultative Umma: An Introduction to Namık Kemal’s Constitutional Imaginary

Year 2024, Volume: 14 Issue: 1, 149 - 169, 27.03.2024

Abdurrahman Nur

https://doi.org/10.26650/iuitd.2024.1392399

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between the concept of umma and modern constitutional thought, as expressed in Namık Kemal’s writings during the Tanzimat period in the late Ottoman Empire. It analyzes a new type of constitutional imaginary called Islamic constitutionalism, which emerged in the late Ottoman Empire as a result of the constitutional transformations that occurred shortly before and during the Tanzimat period, and found its first mature expression in Kemal’s writings. This imaginary is significant in terms of ummatic thought because it envisaged a consultative umma, a new type of constitutional imagination that combined the old idea of collective Muslim unity with the new sociopolitical demands of modern state formation. This new vision distinguishes Islamic constitutionalism from the other constitutional imaginaries that existed during the Tanzimat period, including statist constitutionalism, classical constitutionalism, and sulṭānic constitutionalism. This paper refutes the arguments that place Kemal as a pioneer of liberal constitutionalism or (secular) nationalism in the late Ottoman Empire, based on his legal and constitutional thought. It also contends that he should be considered a pioneer of modern Islamic constitutionalism, as he was among the first to critically discuss the possibility of a constitutional order based on sharīʿa within the historical– sociological conditions and processes of modern state formation.

Keywords

Late Ottoman Empire, Tanzimat, Constitutional Thought, Constitutional Imaginary, Islamic Constitutionalism, Ottoman Constitutionalism, the Idea of Umma, Namık Kemal

İstişari Bir Ümmet Tasavvur Etmek: Namık Kemal’in Anayasal Tahayyülüne Bir Giriş

Abstract

Bu makale Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nun son döneminde, Tanzimat sürecinde ortaya çıktığı şekliyle ümmet fikri ile modern anayasal düşünce arasındaki ilişkiyi Namık Kemal’in ilgili yazılarına odaklanarak ele almaktadır. Makalenin temel konusu, 19. yüzyılın başlarından itibaren Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda yaşanan anayasal dönüşümlerin bir sonucu olarak ortaya çıkan ve “İslami anayasacılık” olarak adlandırabileceğimiz yeni bir anayasal tahayyülün Namık Kemal tarafından ilk olgun ifadesine kavuşturulduğu biçimiyle tahlil edilmesidir. Bu yeni tahayyülün ayırt edici özelliği, istişare fikrinin anayasal düzen açısından merkezî bir yere konmasıdır. Kemal’in geliştirmeye çalıştığı bu istişari ümmet tahayyülü, Müslümanların kolektif birliğine dair klasik ümmet fikrini modern devletin oluşum süreçlerinin sosyopolitik gereklilikleri içerisinde yeniden ve yaşanabilir şekilde tasavvur etmeye yönelik bir çabadır. Bu yeni vizyon “İslami anayasacılık”ı Tanzimat döneminde mevcut olan diğer anayasal tahayyül biçimlerinden -devletçi anayasacılık, klasik anayasacılık, sultani anayasacılık- ayrı bir yere koymaktadır. Makale, Namık Kemal’i liberal anayasacılığın veya (seküler) milliyetçiliğin öncüsü olarak konumlandıran yaklaşımların -en azından hukuk ve anayasa düşüncesi bağlamında- geçersizliğini ortaya koymakta ve Kemal’in modern devlet düzeninin oluşum süreçleri içerisinde şeriatı esas alan bir anayasal düzenin imkânı üzerine düşünceleriyle modern İslami anayasacılık yaklaşımlarının öncüsü olarak konumlandırılması gerektiğini ileri sürmektedir.

Keywords

Son Dönem Osmanlı İmparatorluğu, Tanzimat, Anayasal Düşünce, Anayasal Tahayyül, İslami Anayasacılık, Osmanlı Anayasacılığı, Ümmet Fikri, Namık Kemal

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