The objective of Chapter Two is to illustrate the fundamental pillars of civil movements in the Islamic world from an Islamic perspective. The concept of
“charity”, itself, is examined and the related moral values in Islam as reflected in the Quran and Hadith (Prophet Sayings). It is crucial to highlight the principles of Islam’s call for charity that urges Muslims to practice charity work as well as the inherent characteristics of this. Thus the chapter explains Islamic concepts, such as waqf, zakat and Sadaqa, which are various forms of charity and essential religious values in self-empowering, self-funding and sustainable resources for the long term.
This chapter also discusses some of the literature regarding the Islamic concept of morality and its impact on charity work and civil movements in Muslim society. In doing so, the author draws on the main sources of Islam, namely, the Quran and Hadith in his explanation of the concepts involved. Moreover, the study explores how the term “charity work” is widely used as an implication of “civil work”
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in Arabic literature. Finally, this chapter demonstrates that the use of the terms, “civil society” or “civil movement” has become the centrepiece of his ideas about charity work. This part of the study ultimately aims to explore how Islamic moral values essentially shape the core values of civil society movements and/or charity work.
Chapter Three follows on from this by examining how Muslim civil society in Turkey has developed and evolved since the second half of the twentieth century to the present. It discusses how the phenomenal spread of Muslim civil society is evident in the influence of the various and numerous civil society organizations manifest in the social, cultural and political public sphere within Turkey. Using varying approaches, the most dynamic social movements in contemporary Turkey adopted the Islamic discourse of nurturing the values of the individual in terms of responsibility, spirituality, social justice and mutual assistance. It is beyond the scope of this chapter to discuss all issues related to democratic changes such as secularism, constitutionalism, and human rights and so on, however, it is necessary to distinguish the various approaches of prominent Islamic civil organizations in mobilizing grassroots activism and hence introducing change to society. Thus Muslim values and the role of society are being seriously examined across the Muslim world and the Turkish experience is providing lessons and reflections for civil society activists and political leadership elsewhere. The “civil” phenomenon is transforming the social landscape across the region and globally.
In order to understand the true role and impact of Islamic civil movements, it is important to shed a light first on the background of the Turkish secularist state.
Thus the chapter first provides an overview of the background of the Turkish state and the adopted ideology of its unique brand of secularism. The Kemalist ideology and its centralist state formed a formidable background that Islamic reforms and leaders attempted to challenge the excessive tendencies of the state. It then describes the various Islamic civil organisations that have a significant influence in shaping the polity of present day Turkey. Lastly it introduces IHH, the NGO that initiated the Mavi Marmara expedition. Such NGOs have started to exert an impact the changes that are taking place within Turkey at the present time.
Chapter Four demonstrates how IHH responds to humanitarian and development needs across national borders by mobilizing local communities through campaigns of awareness and funding. A crucial aspect is realized with funding by local community, empowered by networking and volunteers. Moreover, it is equally crucial to understand how IHH extends humanitarian and development services and program to Gaza, Palestine. In the absence of official donor community in Gaza, civil society organisations from the Muslim world appear to fill in the void left behind by donor governments in undertaking the goals of humanitarian and development.
Muslim civil society is poised to emerge as a new form of empowerment, enhanced by people-to-people approach for the pursuit of ownership of development.
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Chapter Five examines why IHH decided to sail to Gaza, looking specifically at the causes of the situation in Gaza. Firstly, it discusses the implications and failings of the Oslo Accords and then the role of the Palestinian Authority leadership and of ODA. It continues by discussing the causes and effects of the election of Hamas, the impact of the siege and the war and ends by considering the implications of the Goldstone Report in 2009.
Chapter Six discusses the regional and global effects, implications and reactions to the attack on the Mavi Marmara. Firstly, it considers the reaction within Turkey, which, along with the former Prime Minister Erdogan, gained a new standing in the region among the Arab people. The prestige of Erdogan and the image of Turkey appeared as pro-Arab and Palestine. However, despite widespread support, reactions in Turkey were tense mainly from two sides: the secularists and the Gulen Movement. The secularists held the opinion that IHH jeopardized Turkey’s international standing and compromised the country's prestige; whilst Fethullah Gulen criticized the "confrontational" style of IHH claiming that the incident could have been avoided. The chapter then considers how, for the Palestinians, after the Mavi Marmara the siege was eased but not lifted; however, the dramatic events of the Mavi Marmara highlighted the humanitarian situation of the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Israel accused IHH of provoking the attack and went as far as linking IHH to international terror groups. Finally, the chapter discusses how and why the US was not pleased to see two of its most important allies in such a volatile region becoming hostile to each other.
Chapter Seven presents the overall conclusion with a new analysis. Muslim civil society has been working to create a culture of social cohesion while Turkish politics is still evolving and gradually re-defining itself. It is progressing towards accommodating Islamic values in the polity system but without becoming an Islamic state. This chapter discusses the significance of the shades of definitions used to address political differences such as those between Islamist and Islamic and between secular and secularist; a distinction that is crucial in order to characterize the ongoing democratization of Turkish society.
More specifically, the chapter reviews the significance of the Mavi Marmara expedition, exploring the role of Muslim civil society in a rapidly globalising world.
Considering this in terms of the optimism and the reality of the “possible”, and the increasing obsolescence of the nation-state, it argues that a progressive understanding of Islam’s ability to transcend national borders provides a grounding for a more cohesive global community that empowers non-state actors. The chapter completes the thesis with a discussion of the limitations of the research and suggestions for future work in the area.
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