Mehmet Görmez

Mehmet Görmez

Mehmet Görmez (born January 1, 1959 in Nizip , Gaziantep Province , Turkey ) is an Islamic theologian . From November 11, 2011 until his resignation on August 1, 2017, he was the 17th President of the Turkish Presidium for Religious Affairs (Diyanet) . In this role, he represented the highest Islamic authority in the country from a state perspective .

Life

Görmez attended elementary school in his hometown and middle school in Gaziantep . From 1983 to 1987 he studied Islamic theology at the Theological Faculty of Ankara University . He then took up a master's degree in " Hadith Studies". Meanwhile he worked in various functions for the Diyanet praesidium in Kırıkkale and Ankara. 1988–1989 he had a one-year study visit to Cairo as a scholarship holder of the Ministry of Education . In 1990 he completed his studies. In 1995 he obtained his doctorate from Ankara University, lived in Great Britain for a year and was a lecturer at Hacettepe University in Ankara from 2001 to 2003 . He became a docent in 1999 and professor in 2006.

From 2003 he was deputy head of Diyanet. In November 2010, he took over the presidium of the Diyanet after his predecessor Ali Bardakoğlu suddenly resigned because Bardakoğlu had resisted the attempts by then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to make the religious authority subordinate to his AKP policy.

Görmez himself declared his wish to retire in July 2017 and resigned from the office of President of Diyanet on August 1, 2017. He was succeeded by Ali Erbaş .

In addition to Turkish, Mehmet Görmez speaks three other languages: Arabic , English and Kurdish . He is married and has three children.

Social and religious positions

Inviolability of man

When asked how “ Islam ” stands on the use of violence committed in the name of Allah , Görmez replied as follows: The way of Islam teaches that man's life , dignity , faith and intellect are inviolable, because Imam Abu Hanifa had already said: "The inviolability of human beings arises from being human itself." This means that human dignity must always be respected and no harm in the form of violence, whether physical or psychological, should be inflicted on him insofar as this is not necessary for defense or defense.

Arranged marriages

According to Görmez, the question of marriage is “one of the most important in life”. In Islam, marriage is not just a bond between a man and a woman. It is the making of a promise, an acceptance of a promise and an consent to mutual responsibility. With the making of a promise came moral obligations, with the acceptance of a promise legal obligations and with the consent to mutual accountability also a responsibility to God. A marriage should therefore not be perceived as “something simple”.

If you bring all of this to mind, it is not possible for the father or mother to marry off a girl (boy) who does not reach the necessary age and “maturity to be a mother” and the decision to want to be a spouse did not like independently. To maturity belongs not only the physical, but above all “the spiritual aspect”, a girl (boy) who has not understood the meaning of being a spouse or the construct of the family, has no idea what it means to be a mother and the responsibility that goes with it can by no means be married off. Mehmet Görmez made this clear during his speech to the General Assembly of the Turkish Muftis .

Dealing with minorities

When asked how Muslims have to deal with minorities - that is, different cultures and ethnic groups - Görmez made it clear that “the religion of Islam” had “always treated diversity benevolently” since it was first revealed. Islam "in contrast to other worldviews and religions" has always accepted the diversity of people, in the form of ethnicity, language and skin color, since in the eyes of Muslims it represents a form of God's revelation on earth. In no way is it possible to exclude people because of the differences or even to evaluate them.

Islam is a universal religion that has to proclaim the message of the mercy of all humanity, so according to Görmez it can logically be ruled out that Muslims are ever allowed to advocate discrimination or disadvantage of others.

View on extremism and radicalization

Görmez criticizes that both the “ Muslim world” and the “ Western world ” shy away from a confrontation with the main causes that contribute to the radicalization of young people and thus ultimately to the fall into extremism , and deliberately do not lead them. The Islamic world makes it too easy for itself when it always asserts that the originators of radicalization are the western states. The Western world, on the other hand, makes it too easy for itself if it always asserts that the cause of radicalization is Islam itself. Rather, both sides - especially the Muslim one - have to consider the various aspects that pave the way to radicalization. These are " theological , sociological , psychological and cultural influences".

According to Görmez, three types of adolescents in particular are prone to radicalization according to internal research by Diyanet: On the one hand, those who have been exposed to traumatic experiences or violence or who have even experienced it themselves, so it is ultimately not surprising that adolescents who are in war zones such as in Iraq or Syria would experience traumatic atrocities, murder and contempt, radicalize them and drive them into the arms of the terrorist Islamic State . Furthermore, those young people who would experience an identity crisis , and ultimately young people who are “ addicted to nihilism ” and are desperately looking for a sense of existence, i.e. young people who understand the “meaning of life, the love of the merciful Creator and their own worth as People ”do not like and cannot recognize.

In view of this, Görmez appealed several times in public appearances and on trips abroad that the Islamic world must develop uniform preventive measures - pursuing the same goal - that counteract precisely those causes, as the Diyanet is already doing in Turkey and some other countries.

Dissent between Sunnis and Shiites

During a trip to Iran , Görmez gave a speech to Shiite dignitaries and clergy , in which he discussed the differences of opinion between Sunnis and Shiites and the resulting spiral of violence. He asked whether “not enough blood had flowed”, whether “the previous calamities in the Islamic world had not been sufficient” and whether the “humiliation of Muslims” during the colonial period had not been enough, and urged both Sunni and Shiite scholars and clergy to leave dissent behind and face differences of opinion with “heart, soul and conscience” instead of anger and aggression.

"The Muslim community (Ummah) is bleeding at its core, and fire is rising from our countries," Görmez clarified and appealed to eliminate the " intrigues and incitements" ( Fitna ) that had "brought harm to Muslims" and to put an end to the bloodshed, because “there is no Sunni or Shiite blood, but blood - the blood of our siblings”.

Positioning towards the Alevis

Görmez rejected demands from the Alevis . Görmez commented on her demands for recognition of her religious sites as follows: “We have two concerns from our brothers and sisters. On the one hand, the demand for the inclusion of its own curriculum in Islamic religious education and on the other, the state's recognition of their sites ( CEMEVI ) as places of worship . "

The former is not the problem, because both Sunnis and Alevis have one the religion of Islam , one the common Holy Scriptures ( Koran ), one the common Prophet ( Mohammed ), one the common love for the Prophet's family ( Ahl al-bait ). These and some other teaching contents do not contradict the contents that are being taught and are already part of religious instruction, Görmez stated.

The second concern, according to Görmez, raises the question of whether an essential commonality among Muslims would not be given up if other places besides the mosques were named as Islamic places of worship and this would not be contrary to the centuries-long traditions and values ​​that Muslims have so far in their own common places of prayer. Furthermore, he emphasized that despite all this, the places of the Alevis are to be respected and that they are entitled to any support in building and maintaining their places on the part of the Diyanet, since God, the Prophet and the Holy Scriptures are also remembered in them and it is not due to anyone to say otherwise.

criticism

Görmez made headlines when in 2015 he intended to purchase a Mercedes-Benz S 500 in the equivalent of 380,000 euros as a service limousine, and included this amount in the Diyanet budget. When the daily Hürriyet made this public, a storm of protest arose.

Web links

• CV with the Diyanet (Engl.)
• Short biography on the website of the Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi (TDVİA) with a list of the TDVİA articles he wrote (Turkish)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Prof. Dr. Mehmet GOERMEZ. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on September 18, 2017 ; accessed on September 17, 2017 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ Gerçek Müslümanlık neden anlatılamıyor? In: CNN Turk. Retrieved January 4, 2017 . 
3. ↑ 33. İl Müftüleri İstişare Toplantısı Adana'da Başladı. In: www.diyanet.tv. Accessed December 31, 2016 . 
4. ↑ Diyanet İşleri Başkanı özel röportajı. In: NTV. Accessed December 31, 2016 . 
5. ↑ Gündem Özel - Prof. Dr. Mehmet Görmez. In: www.diyanet.tv. Retrieved January 3, 2017 . 
6. ↑ Haber7: Görmez: Bu fitne bizi 100 yıl etkiler. In: Haber7. Accessed December 31, 2016 . 
7. ↑ İSKELE SANCAK - 9 OCAK 2015. In: izle7.Com. Retrieved January 6, 2017 . 
8. ↑ Daniel Steinvorth: With a Mercedes to paradise . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung of May 29, 2015.