:::True islam:::

Four Muslim Americans discuss the issues facing Muslims in today's post-9/11 landscape, and see a positive future ahead.

BY: Omar Sacirbey


It’s been five years since 19 Muslim hijackers changed the world, not least of all for Muslims in America. Though Muslims as a whole weren’t castigated immediately after 9/11, five years later tells a different story: A recent Associated Press poll finds 40 percent of Americans harboring prejudice against Muslims, who often are seen as enemies. Media stereotypes and inattention to Muslim efforts to condemn and fight terrorism have only fueled those negative views.

Yet many Muslim Americans, rather than retreating from public life, turned a tragedy into motivation to educate non-Muslims and unify Muslims against a shadowy, internal enemy. Others, facing hostility at home and watching Muslims suffer abroad, grew frustrated and angry. Many wonder if that anger can lead to violence. Beliefnet gathered four unique Muslim Americans to address these complex

Saleemah Abdul-Ghafur lives in Atlanta and is active in the Muslim women’s movement and editor of the recently released book about Muslim women, “Living Islam Out Loud.”


Dr. Muzammil SiddiqiDr. Muzammil Siddiqi has watched the Muslim-American community evolve since coming to the United States in 1968, and is chairman of the North American Fiqh Council and director of the Islamic Society of Orange County in Garden Grove, California.

Shahed AmanullahShahed Amanullah, who resides in Austin, Texas, is the editor of altmuslim.com, a popular website featuring news, analysis, and discussion about Muslim issues.

Five years after 9/11, are Muslim Americans still “taking back Islam,” or is the job done?

Amanullah: The general lay population within the Muslim community has reacted admirably. I know many personal examples of people who were completely apolitical, who isolated themselves, but after 9/11, they really took it upon themselves to reach out.

But notwithstanding these efforts, as long as people define our Islam by what people do overseas, it’s unfortunately going to be a losing battle. I think the hatred and the distrust of Muslims now is even worse than post-9/11. I think the polls will even bear that out. I still am hopeful but I’m starting to worry a little bit.

Siddiqi: Nine-Eleven shocked the Muslim community. We were not prepared. We were living quite comfortably--building our community and our mosques, raising our children, developing our schools. But now we realize that many of our neighbors don’t know us, and they are suspicious of us. So people have opened their homes, their mosques. I feel our community has done good work. The Muslim community in America is a very useful community, and they realize their responsibility.

Abdul-Ghafur: What I’ve found, particularly in interfaith circles, is that there’s this seeking of knowledge that was not there before September 11th. All of a sudden people understood that Islam and Muslims exist, and neighborhoods are meeting about these interfaith issues and really wanting to learn about Islam and Muslims.

I resist the whole defensive mentality of saying ‘do I need to take back Islam,’ because I think that’s a very reactionary and flawed perspective.

Siddiqi: I have to give a lot of credit to a large number of our fellow Americans who have been quite understanding and wanted to learn more about Islam. But [there are others] who are working very hard to spread hate against Islam and Muslims. They are using every opportunity to create misunderstanding. They have accused our Prophet, our Qur’an, our religious practices, our prayer, our fasting, our religious leaders, our organizations [of being evil]. They have not left anybody out. We have to see that. There is a lot of hateful propaganda against Islam and Muslims.
How do Muslims turn this hostility and suspicion around?

Magid: I think by engaging the American public in an open dialogue about Islam and who Muslims really are. Reaching out to people of other faiths is always of help. And we need to engage our youth in activities to make them understand that being an American Muslim means learning how to engage in civic and educational responsibility.

From my experience I know that when a person who is not Muslim meets practicing Muslims, how they look at them changes tremendously. And Muslims have to be open to receive tough questions about who they are.

Amanullah: I’ve always thought that if every American just had a Muslim friend, not just knew a Muslim at work or whatever, but had a friend who they would invite to dinner and vice versa, we would not have these problems.
I just had my 20th high school reunion, and I believe that because they knew a Muslim, over the course of 20 years it has completely shaped how they think about Muslims in general. And if every Muslim kid in this country was encouraged to make friends with their non-Muslim neighbors, more Americans can say, “Well, I know a Muslim, and they’re not like that.” That’s the only thing that’s really going to eradicate this. So really, the challenge goes out to all American Muslims.

Siddiqi: Islam teaches us that where we live we should help the people and area. We should not just expect others to do something for us, but we should do what we can. We should participate in society.

Is homegrown terrorism a legitimate threat here in America? If so, what can Muslim Americans do beyond simply condemning terrorism?

Magid: Muslims do need to address this kind of fear because it really became a legitimate concern for Americans after they read about the incidents in France and Madrid and London. The way to respond is by engaging our youth in a true dialogue, and to make sure that our youth are not targeted by extremists.

But we have to have in mind that the American experience is different from the European experience. The Muslim youth in America are very much integrated into society. Nevertheless, it’s still Muslims who have to be alert and vigilant to make sure their mosques and organizations are not being used as platforms to promote hatred or intolerance.


Do these radical Muslims exist in America? How do we identify them and weed them out of our communities?

Siddiqi: The North American Fiqh Council, after London, immediately issued a strong fatwa that said very clearly--from Islamic teachings from the Qur’an and the hadith--that it is haram (forbidden) to be involved in any act of violence. It is a duty of every Muslim to cooperate with law enforcement, and to protect people in the society in which we live. In California, we established a Muslim Homeland Security Congress involving many Islamic organizations, ethnic organizations, youth groups, Muslim Student Associations, and the Sheriff’s Department in Los Angeles and other law enforcement bodies.

So, you have to work on different levels--on the level of what Islam teaches and also be vigilant and be aware that this infection may not come to our community.

Amanullah: First, I think we have to admit that there are people with extremist thoughts within the community. They do exist. Traditionally, before 9/11, whenever mainstream Muslims found somebody with extremist thoughts, we would never confront them, and unfortunately that would allow them to keep talking.

I think we’ve done better after 9/11, but we have to keep in mind that people are susceptible to extremist thoughts when they are isolated from the mainstream community. And these days, you don’t even need a ring leader, you just need an internet connection.

Once again it comes down to the grassroots level. If we notice people in our communities that are kind of falling through the cracks, I think we need to make more of a community effort to bring these people back in, to find out what’s isolating them. If we let the extremist side grow more, then it might actually metastasize into something actual.

Are Muslims a persecuted minority in America, or are they citizens as free as any other minority group?

Magid: I do worry that people of other faiths, or the government, might look at Muslims who criticize their government as not being loyal to this country. But it’s very important for us to have that opportunity to be able to raise our voice and to object foreign policies and so forth and not feel intimidated.

Siddiqi: Muslims are not a persecuted minority. Muslims have some difficulties and problems, but they are much better off than Muslims in many other places, including the Muslim world itself. We should be really thankful to God and thankful to our fellow Americans with whom we are living, because this is a good society.

But at the same time, we must acknowledge that our government’s actions in some parts of the Muslim world have been terrible. And since 9/11, people are asking, “How much revenge is America going to take? How many Muslims have to lose their lives? How many thousands have to be killed in order to satisfy this anger of America?”

Muslim women enjoy a lot more freedom in this country than elsewhere. What are the most important things happening in the Muslima-American community?

Abdul-Ghafur: Most important, there is a dialogue. A couple of years ago there was no public discourse on women and gender relations within our communities. Most people I spoke to said, “I don’t want to create a problem in my community about it. But I am concerned about the way women are treated.” I heard that so often.

Now I see Muslim communities wrestling with gender. Beyond what you think about a Muslim woman being a prayer leader or being the president of a mosque, what is healthiest is that there now is a debate. I completely support a Muslim woman’s right to lead prayer and to be a full and equal partner in communities. But I am an even bigger supporter of communities making holistic and transparent decisions around this.

Siddiqi: A lot of things have to be done. Muslim women in America are highly qualified and very educated. They’re professionals. Their talent must be properly utlilized in our communities.

But some people are still struggling with their old ideas and prejudices and don’t give women their proper place. There are many mosques where women are not participating on the board. There are many places where they do not have proper facilities for their prayer and for their meeting. So a lot of improvements have to be done.

Amanullah: You have to acknowledge that in the last ten years there has been quite an improvement in the way that our society has treated women. Ten years ago I helped start an organization called Muslims Against Family Violence, and we were universally shunned from every mosque we tried to do business with. But now, those same communities, you have Muslim women’s shelters that have the full support of the community.

Unfortunately, I think this is one of those areas where I think the leadership is more enlightened than in a lot of mosques. There are so many mosques where the treatment is just abhorrent. We still have a long way to go. After 9/11, on a very practical level, men said, “We need your help.” I think we need to take that kind of practical acceptance of a woman’s place in our society and turn it into a really heartfelt one.

Do Muslim Americans accept dissent and criticism from within their own community? How room space is there for tolerance?

Abdul-Ghafur: Terrorism can still be within our communities. It was so surprising to me when we hosted the woman-led prayer [in New York in 2005] and we got death threats. People actually called my house and my parents. And they were Muslims--people who knew me, who threatened my physical safety and threatened the physical safety of my friends and family. Somebody traced one of the emails and it was a 16-year-old Muslim kid who lived in the same state. We need to rigorously not be allowing that type of stuff.


Magid: We need to accept pluralism and disagreements. Islam has debated so many issues. Even the Qur’an has reported the debate. Therefore we need to have open minds on both sides.

Amanullah: It’s good that there’s internal debate and good that America sees it because one of the fears Americans have about American Muslims is that we’re automatons that do what people tell us to do. When Americans see our internal debates, I think that reassures them that we’re human, and we’re trying to resolve our issues.

But it has to happen in a very civil manner, and there’ve been instances where people really cross the line. We have to remember people are watching us, and we have to be very careful about the way we resolve our internal issues. We cannot call for people to respect our opinions and beliefs while at the same time we’re internally threatening or belittling each other. We have to be consistent.

Siddiqi: Freedom of expression is fine, but sometimes people in the name of freedom of expression abuse the community, saying that a majority of the people are terrorists and extremists, and that truly hurts people.

You will find that if somebody is contributing to the community and has served the community, if that person makes some criticisms, people listen because he’s a part of the community. But if such a person uses his status to abuse the community, that’s an entirely different issue.

Abdul-Ghafur: There was a lot of discussion about how terrible Irshad Manji was for the community and how she was just doing it for book sales. But consider her story: What we know is that she was abused at the hands of Muslims, and the Muslim community did not come to her aid and in fact condoned that abuse. So that is what happens when we don’t do the internal work that we need to do. That’s the lesson I take from her.

Mid-term elections are coming up in November, and there isn’t a single Muslim congressperson currently in office. Why aren’t Muslims winning in politics?

Amanullah: I think most people are aware of Keith Ellison’s campaign in Minnesota. His is a very good example of a Muslim who put in his dues and gained the trust of the community. We can’t just toss our hat in the ring and expect people to vote for us. We’ve got to gain trust.

Magid: As long as Muslims think that our important issues are the concerns of what happens overseas, they will not become successful politicians. It’s not only about what’s happening in the Middle East, but also what’s happening in our local community:taxes, education, and environmental issues.

Does the gap between African-American Muslims and other Muslim Americans still exist?

Abdul-Ghafur: I think immigrant Muslims come to this country and just adopt the stereotype that nescient Americans have about African-Americans, and it creates major bumps.

But there are more inroads with second generation Muslims than our parents, particularly when I look at African-Americans marrying people of Indo-Pakistani or Arab descent, which was a huge no-no one generation back, and still continues to be a huge no-no among [many of] my peers. But they’re willing to fight that battle.

And as Muslims are being profiled and are struggling with illegal detention and things like that, I see more immigrant Muslims reaching out and saying we need to draw on the experience of our African-American brothers and sisters.

Magid: It seems today that Muslims are doing more to integrate. American Muslims are reaching to their African-American brothers and sisters; and I see a lot of leadership among African-American Muslims. Times have changed, and I believe the immigration of African-Americans to the suburbs and some immigrants to the city have created that mix in the mosques.

One year from now, how do you think the Muslim-American community will be different than it is today?

Amanullah: Muslims are going to continue to reach out to their neighbors. I think we’re going to continue to make progress in this internal dialogue that we’re having about what our American-Muslim values are.
And I’m hoping that we’ve seen the worst of the mistrust of Muslims. I’m really hoping that a year from now that we will have changed that a little bit.

Siddiqi: There will be more programs and activities, more mosques and schools, and more interaction with non-Muslims and involvement within the community. I think what we are seeing is a trend. I hope there is no other 9/11. May God forbid that. We have to be very careful, very cautious, that nobody does anything that will destroy everything we have created--because we’re living in a very vulnerable time.

Abdul-Ghafur: It’s all good, as we say. I think you’re going to see more Muslims who were previously alienated from their communities coming back because we have our mosques that are open and inviting. And we’re in the process of purging the things that don’t work for Muslims and that, quite frankly, don’t work in Islam either.

http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Islam/2006/09/The-Challenge-Goes-Out-To-All-American-Muslims.aspx

The U.S. began as a haven for Christian outcasts. But what religion fits our current zeitgeist? The answer may be Islam.

by Michael Wolfe

Americans tend to think of their country as, at the very least, a nominally Christian nation. Didn't the Pilgrims come here for freedom to practice their Christian religion? Don't Christian values of righteousness under God, and freedom, reinforce America's democratic, capitalist ideals?

True enough. But there's a new religion on the block now, one that fits the current zeitgeist nicely. It's Islam.

Islam is the third-largest and fastest growing religious community in the United States. This is not just because of immigration. More than 50% of America's six million Muslims were born here. Statistics like these imply some basic agreement between core American values and the beliefs that Muslims hold. Americans who make the effort to look beyond popular stereotypes to learn the truth of Islam are surprised to find themselves on familiar ground.

Is America a Muslim nation? Here are seven reasons the answer may be yes.

Islam is monotheistic.

Muslims worship the same God as Jews and Christians. They also revere the same prophets as Judaism and Christianity, from Abraham, the first monotheist, to Moses, the law giver and messenger of God, to Jesus – not leaving out Noah, Job, or Isaiah along the way. The concept of a Judeo-Christian tradition only came to the fore in the 1940s in America. Now, as a nation, we may be transcending it, turning to a more inclusive "Abrahamic" view.

In January, President Bush grouped mosques with churches and synagogues in his inaugural address. A few days later, when he posed for photographers at a meeting of several dozen religious figures, the Shi'ite imam Muhammad Qazwini, of Orange County, Calif., stood directly behind Bush's chair like a presiding angel, dressed in the robes and turban of his south Iraqi youth.
Islam is democratic in spirit.

Islam advocates the right to vote and educate yourself and pursue a profession. The Qur'an, on which Islamic law is based, enjoins Muslims to govern themselves by discussion and consensus. In mosques, there is no particular priestly hierarchy. With Islam, each individual is responsible for the condition of her or his own soul. Everyone stands equal before God.

Americans, who mostly associate Islamic government with a handful of tyrants, may find this independent spirit surprising, supposing that Muslims are somehow predisposed to passive submission. Nothing could be further from the truth. The dictators reigning today in the Middle East are not the result of Islamic principles. They are more a result of global economics and the aftermath of European colonialism. Meanwhile, like everyone else, average Muslims the world over want a larger say in what goes on in the countries where they live. Those in America may actually succeed in it. In this way, America is closer in spirit to Islam than many Arab countries.
Islam contains an attractive mystical tradition.

Mysticism is grounded in the individual search for God. Where better to do that than in America, land of individualists and spiritual seekers? And who might better benefit than Americans from the centuries-long tradition of teachers and students that characterize Islam. Surprising as it may seem, America's best-selling poet du jour is a Muslim mystic named Rumi, the 800-year-old Persian bard and founder of the Mevlevi Path, known in the West as the Whirling Dervishes. Even book packagers are now rushing him into print to meet and profit from mainstream demand for this visionary. Translators as various as Robert Bly, Coleman Barks, and Kabir and Camille Helminski have produced dozens of books of Rumi's verse and have only begun to bring his enormous output before the English-speaking world. This is a concrete poetry of ecstasy, where physical reality and the longing for God are joined by flashes of metaphor and insight that continue to speak across the centuries.
Islam is egalitarian.

From New York to California, the only houses of worship that are routinely integrated today are the approximately 4,000 Muslim mosques. That is because Islam is predicated on a level playing field, especially when it comes to standing before God. The Pledge of Allegiance (one nation, "under God") and Lincoln's Gettysburg Address (all people are "created equal") express themes that are also basic to Islam.

Islam is often viewed as an aggressive faith because of the concept of jihad, but this is actually a misunderstood term. Because Muslims believe that God wants a just world, they tend to be activists, and they emphasize that people are equal before God. These are two reasons why African Americans have been drawn in such large numbers to Islam. They now comprise about one-third of all Muslims in America.

Meanwhile, this egalitarian streak also plays itself out in relations between the sexes. Muhammad (P.B.U.H), Islam's prophet, actually was a reformer in his day. Following the Qur'an, he limited the number of wives a man could have and strongly recommended against polygamy. The Qur'an laid out a set of marriage laws that guarantees married women their family names, their own possessions and capital, the right to agree upon whom they will marry, and the right to initiate divorce. In Islam's early period, women were professionals and property owners, as increasingly they are today. None of this may seem obvious to most Americans because of cultural overlays that at times make Islam appear to be a repressive faith toward women – but if you look more closely, you can see the egalitarian streak preserved in the Qur'an finding expression in contemporary terms. In today's Iran, for example, more women than men attend university, and in recent local elections there, 5,000 women ran for public office.
Islam shares America's new interest in food purity and diet.

Muslims conduct a monthlong fast during the holy month of Ramadan, a practice that many Americans admire and even seek to emulate. I happened to spend quite a bit of time with a non-Muslim friend during Ramadan this year. After a month of being exposed to a practice that brings some annual control to human consumption, my friend let me know, in January, that he was "doing a little Ramadan" of his own. I asked what he meant. "Well, I'm not drinking anything or smoking anything for at least a month, and I'm going off coffee." Given this friend's normal intake of coffee, I could not believe my ears.

Muslims also observe dietary laws that restrict the kind of meat they can eat. These laws require that the permitted, or halal, meat is prepared in a manner that emphasizes cleanliness and a humane treatment of animals. These laws ride on the same trends that have made organic foods so popular.
Islam is tolerant of other faiths.

Like America, Islam has a history of respecting other religions. In Muhammad's (P.B.U.H) day, Christians, Sabeans, and Jews in Muslim lands retained their own courts and enjoyed considerable autonomy. As Islam spread east toward India and China, it came to view Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, and Buddhism as valid paths to salvation. As Islam spread north and west, Judaism especially benefited. The return of the Jews to Jerusalem, after centuries as outcasts, only came about after Muslims took the city in 638. The first thing the Muslims did there was to rescue the Temple Mount, which by then had been turned into a garbage heap.

Today, of course, the long discord between Israel and Palestine has acquired harsh religious overtones. Yet the fact remains that this is a battle for real estate, not a war between two faiths. Islam and Judaism revere the same prophetic lineage, back to Abraham, and no amount of bullets or barbed wire can change that. As The New York Times recently reported, while Muslim/Jewish tensions sometimes flare on university campuses, lately these same students have found ways to forge common links. For one thing, the two religions share similar dietary laws, including ritual slaughter and a prohibition on pork. Joining forces at Dartmouth this fall, the first kosher/halal dining hall is scheduled to open its doors this autumn. That isn't all: They're already planning a joint Thanksgiving dinner, with birds dressed at a nearby farm by a rabbi and an imam. If the American Pilgrims were watching now, they'd be rubbing their eyes with amazement. And, because they came here fleeing religious persecution, they might also understand.
Islam encourages the pursuit of religious freedom.

The Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock is not the world's first story of religious emigration. Muhammad and his little band of 100 followers fled religious persecution, too, from Mecca in the year 622. They only survived by going to Madinah, an oasis a few hundred miles north, where they established a new community based on a religion they could only practice secretly back home. No wonder then that, in our own day, many Muslims have come here as pilgrims from oppression, leaving places like Kashmir, Bosnia, and Kosovo, where being a Muslim may radically shorten your life span. When the 20th century's list of emigrant exiles is added up, it will prove to be heavy with Muslims, that's for sure.

All in all, there seems to be a deep resonance between Islam and the United States. Although one is a world religion and the other is a sovereign nation, both are traditionally very strong on individual responsibility. Like New Hampshire's motto, "Live Free or Die," America is wedded to individual liberty and an ethic based on right action. For a Muslim, spiritual salvation depends on these. This is best expressed in a popular saying: Even when you think God isn't watching you, act as if he is.

Who knows? Perhaps it won't be long now before words like salat (Muslim prayer) and Ramadan join karma and Nirvana in Webster's Dictionary, and Muslims take their place in America's mainstream.

Michael Abdul Majeed Wolfe is the author of books of poetry, fiction, travel, and history. His most recent works are a pair of books from Grove Press on the pilgrimage to Mecca: "The Hajj" (1993), a first-person travel account, and "One Thousand Roads to Mecca" (1997), an anthology of 10 centuries of travelers writing about the Muslim pilgrimage. In April 1997, he hosted a televised account of the Hajj from Mecca for Ted Koppel's "Nightline" on ABC. He is currently at work on a four-hour television documentary on the life and times of the Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.).

Extracted 12/09/2005 from http://www.beliefnet.com/story/69/story_6982.html

His latest publication, The Atlas of Creation, was published by Global Publishing, Istanbul, Turkey in October 2006.[42] The book contains over 800 glossy pages and weighs 12 pounds (5.4 kg). Tens of thousands of copies of the book have been delivered, on an unsolicited basis, to schools, prominent researchers and research institutes throughout Europe and the United States.[3][43] Some of the schools that received copies were in France as well as prominent researchers at Utrecht University, University of Tilburg, University of California, Brown University, University of Colorado, University of Chicago, Brigham Young University, the University of Connecticut, the University of Georgia, Imperial College London, Abertay University and several others.[3][44] When the book was sent to French schools and universities, controversy resulted and the book sparked further concern about Islamic radicalism in France.[3] In 2007, Harper's Magazine contributor Scott Horton reported that 35th U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez had Oktar's Atlas of Creation on a stand at the entrance to his US government office.[45]

The arguments used by the book to undermine evolution have been criticized as not logical while evolutionary biologist Kevin Padian has stated that Oktar has no understanding of the basic evidence for evolution.[2][3] Biologist PZ Myers wrote: "The general pattern of the book is repetitious and predictable: the book shows a picture of a fossil and a photo of a living animal, and declares that they haven't changed a bit, therefore evolution is false. Over and over. It gets old fast, and it's usually wrong (they have changed!) and the photography, while lovely, is entirely stolen."[46]

Richard Dawkins reviewed the book (later translated into Turkish) noting that it contains a number of factual errors, such as the misidentification of a sea snake as an eel (two unrelated species) and in two places uses images of fishing-lures copied from the internet instead of actual species. A number of other modern species are mislabelled. However, Oktar himself claims that Nicolas Sarkozy, Jacques Chirac and Tony Blair were influenced by his book.[47] [48][49]

Oktar has had written for him, by ghostwriters, numerous books under the name Harun Yahya (Harun (Aaron) and Yahya (John)), arguing against evolution. He also asserts that evolution is directly related to the claimed evils of materialism, Nazism, communism, and Buddhism[38]. Most of his anti-evolution resources are identical to Christian creationist arguments.[39]

He also has produced various works on Zionism and Freemasonry, accusing Zionists of racism and arguing that Zionism and Freemasonry have had significant negative effects on world history and politics.

Oktar's books on faith-related topics attempt to communicate the existence and oneness of God according to the Islamic faith, and are written with the main purpose of introducing Islam to those who are strangers to religion. Each of his books on science-related topics stresses his views on the might, sublimity, and majesty of God. These books attempt to display for non-Muslims what Oktar claims to be signs of the existence of God, and the excellence of his creation. A sub-group within this series are the series of "Books Demolishing the Lie of Evolution", a critique of the ideas of Materialism, Evolution, Darwinism, and atheism.

Many of Oktar's books have been made into high-resolution videos which are freely downloadable on the Internet[40].

Oktar asserts that Buddhism as being a false religion built upon idolatry and falsehood.[38] He calls Buddhist rituals "meaningless" and "empty". He has also charged that intelligent design is a tool of Satan.[41]

Adnan Oktar (born Ankara, February 2, 1956)--also known by his pen name, Harun Yahya--is a prominent advocate of Islamic creationism in the creation-evolution debate[1] and, more particularly, supports Old Earth creationism[2][3]. He is against Zionism and Freemasonry and sees them as very interrelated movements, though he denounces anti-Semitism[4] and terrorism[5], which he says are products of Darwinism[6]. Oktar had defended his views by litigation; he is responsible for the blocking of numerous, high-profile Web sites in Turkey.

Oktar runs two organizations: The Milli Değerleri Koruma Vakfı (Foundation to Protect National Values), which focuses on "moral issues", and the Science Research Foundation (Bilim Araştırma Vakfı, or BAV), which promotes creationism[7]. Oktar founded the Science Research Foundation "to [establish]...peace, tranquility and love"[8], though some media describe the BAV as "a secretive Islamic sect"[9] and a "cult-like organization, that jealously guards the secrets of its considerable wealth"[10]. In 2008, Oktar was sentenced by a Turkish court to three years in prison for "creating an illegal organization for personal gain"."[11]




Biography

Born in Ankara in 1956, Adnan Oktar lived there through his high school years. Oktar started his activities in 1979, while he was trying to finish his Interior Design-education at Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts.[12] Three years later, he decided to go on with the philosophy department in Istanbul.[13]

In the early 1980s, he gathered young students around him to share his views of Islam. According to his former mentor, Edip Yüksel, Oktar was attempting to "[mix] mysticism with scientific rhetoric".[14] These students belonged to socially-active and prosperous families of Istanbul.[15] From 1982 to 1984, a group of 20 to 30 was formed.

In 1986, Adnan Oktar published the book, Judaism and Freemasonry. The book suggests that the principal mission of Jews and Freemasons in Turkey was to erode the spiritual, religious, and moral values of the Turkish people and, thus, make them like animals, as stated in what Oktar refers to as the "Distorted Torah."[15][16] Oktar asserts that "the materialist standpoint, evolution theory, anti-religious and immoral lifestyles were indoctrinated to the society as a whole" by Jews and Freemasons.[15]

Following the publication of Judaism and Freemasonry, Adnan Oktar was arrested and imprisoned.[14] According to his official biography he was released after 19 months.[17] In a 2007 interview on Al Jazeera, he blamed Freemasons saying it was a "message" for him not to write about them anymore.[18] According to the New Humanist, Oktar was arrested, charged with promoting a theocratic revolution for which he served 19 months, though he was never formally charged.[19]

In 1990, he founded the Scientific Research Foundation (SRF, or, in Turkish, Bilim Araştırma Vakfı, or BAV), through which he still effectively functions. Members of the SRF are sometimes referred to as Adnan Hocacılar ("Adherents of Adnan the Hodja") by the public[20]. Then in 1995, he founded Millî Değerleri Koruma Vakfı (Foundation for Protection of National Values), through which he networks with other traditional Islamist and nationalist organizations and individuals. Adnan built his organizations and by the mid-1990s his "Followers were especially active in the swanky summer resorts along the shore of the Sea of Marmara.[19]