THE ISLAMIC CITY, CIVILIZATION and THE POLITICS of NOSTALGIA

Year 2013, Issue: 31, 7 - 23, 01.12.2013

Oliver Leaman

Abstract

The city in the Islamic world has held a significant place both in political life and in religious imagination. Dating the Islamic calendar from the time of the establishment of the first Muslim city is by no means arbitrary and is evidence of the crucial role of the city in the life of the religion. It has sometimes been argued that there is something very different about the Islamic city, and it is certainly true that the discourse of nostalgia for the “real” Islamic city has played an important role in modern political life. To a degree the fondness for the past as it is imagined to have been could have been formed around the countryside, and sometimes it is, yet given the formidable status of the city in Islam it is generally directed at the city. It is not by chance that the term in Turkish for civilization, medeniyet, should be linked with the notion of the city. This might be seen as a factor in the success of Islam and its self-confidence that it sees itself firmly ensconced in the environment of the city, with all its distractions and different lifestyles How does a nostalgia which points to an imagined past manage to coexist with life in the present city, where it becomes increasingly difficult to carve out a religious space? This will be explored looking at both majority Muslim cities and those in other parts of the world where Muslims also live. It will be argued that trying to restrict urban life for religious reasons is a reflection of a defensiveness illsuited to a religion such as Islam and is based on a view of the past that is misleading. In any case the city will emerge as the site for a protracted debate on how to live as a Muslim today, as it always has, and the parameters of this debate will be defined

Keywords

Islamic city, civilization, politics and nostalgia

İSLAMİ ŞEHİR, MEDENİYET VE NOSTALJİNİN SİYASETİ

Abstract

Şehir İslam dünyasında siyasi hayatta ve dini hayal gücünde önemli bir yer tutmaktadır. İslami takvimin ilk Müslüman şehrin kurulmasına dayanması boşuna değildir ve şehrin dini hayattaki yerini göstermesinin bir delilidir. İslami şehirde oldukça farklı bir durum olduğu tartışılır ve “gerçek” islami şehrin siyasi hayatında önemli bir rol oynadığı doğrudur. Eskilere ait özlem kırlara ait olduğu düşünülebilir, yine de İslam’da şehre dair özlem genellikle şehrin kendine aittir. Türkçede medeniyetle ilgili kavram şehirle bağlantılıdır. Bu İslam’ın başarısında önemli bir etken ve şehir etrafında oluşan bütün engel ve farklı hayat tarzlarıyla oluşan sağlam yapının meydana getirdiği özgüveni beraberinde getirmektedirNostalji, nasıl hayal edilen geçmişle günümüzde birlikte yaşamı gerçekleştirmeye işaret edebilir ki dini bir alan ortaya çıkarmak giderek güçleşmektedir. Bu çoğunluğu müslüman ve müslümanların yaşadığı diğer şehirlere bakılarak incelenebilir. Şehir hayatını dini sebeblerle sınırlama uygun olmayan savunmacı bir durum İslam gibi bir dine uygun değildir ki, bu geçmişe dayalı kalma yanlış yönlendirebilir. Her halükarda her zaman olduğu gibi, şehir Müslümanın bugün nasıl yaşayacağıyla ilgili bir tartışma oluşturacak ve bu tartışmanın ölçüleri belirlenecekti

Keywords

İslami şehir, siyaset ve nostalji

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