Being Pursued
– A newspaper columnist instigated action against me. It was one of my last sermons in Bornova. I talked about the Shari'a al-Fitriya. God has two collections of laws: one, issuing from His Attribute of Speech, is the principles of religion, also called the Shari'a. However, in the narrow sense they mean the political laws of Islam. The other, issuing from His Attributes of Will and Power, is the principles to govern the universe and life, "the natures of law" that are the subject-matter of sciences. In Islamic terminology, this is called Shari'a al-Fitriya. Respecting these two collections of laws will make us prosperous in this world and the next, while opposing them will lead us to ruin. The Muslim world remained behind the West because it opposed Shari'a al-Fitriya.
I explained this matter to the congregation. I encouraged them to undertake scientific research and advancement. However, the next day a columnist wrote about this and claimed I had made propaganda for the Shari'a, meaning the political laws of Islam.
This matter was investigated officially by the public prosecutor's office. Later, this office understood its mistake and referred the case to the head office of the religious affairs department. This office said that no action was needed. But I guess, just as today some people are allergic to the word shari'a, the martial law commander in Izmir was bothered by that word. He put me under surveillance. That situation was very difficult. Of course some people supported me, but it was very hard to make the military regime listen. [Nuriye Akman, Sabah daily, 1/23-30/95]
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