Protestantization of Islam

Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn said that in his book Liberty or Equality, there was something decidedly Islamic in original Protestantism.

Now there is something decidedly Protestant (and Puritan) in “original” Islam, at least in Turkey.

In Turkey, there is an Islamic celebration called the Holy Birth Week (Kutlu Doğum Haftası in Turkish language.) since 1989. Every year, in the end of April, many Muslims are celebrating the birth of Prophet Muhammad (peace bu upon him). In 1989, a group of Islamists had created this week to celebrate the birth of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), also to create a new celebration for Islamists, due to the fact that 23rd of April is one of the most important days , of Kemalists, which is the Opening of National Assembly.

These fools wanted to counter the National Sovereignty and Children’s Day with an Islamic celebration day. Just like an Islamic version of Kwanzaa , an unnecessary effort.

I have many objections about that futile effort.

First of all, the exact date of our prophet’s (peace be upon him) birthday is a complicated and controversial thing. Some scholars said that he was born on 20th April 571 AD, but many others refuted this claim and they stated that our prophet Muhammad was born on 17th of June.

Second of all, there are no birthday things in Islam, neither our Prophet’s nor any other Muslims’ birthdays had not celebrated in Islam. The birthdays started to celebrate at the middle of the 19th century by reformist Ottoman Padishah. Christians are celebrating Prophet Jesus’ birthdays, had you became Christians? This is a Bid’ah , an innovation in Islam. Islam does not need any innovations in itself, does not need any reforms, any birthdays. If you want to celebrate a birthday so much, celebrate your birthdays.

Third of all, in Islam, any Islamic days are decided by the Islamic calendar, a lunar calendar. In modern Turkey, however, we use the Gregorian Calendar, a solar calendar. Gentlemen, are you idiots? How can you figure the exact date of an Islamic date, with an un-Islamic calendar?!

Fourth of all, it had been innovated. Ottomans had not celebrated this celebration, Umayyad Caliphate had not celebrated, Abbasid Caliphate had not celebrated too, the Rashidun Caliphate had not celebrated either. Can you show me any Islamic state, other than Modern Turkey (and I am not sure that Modern Turkey can be considered as an Islamic state) What are you trying to do? You are trying to change Islam!

You are trying to inject Protestantism and Puritanism into the Islam itself? When you realize that you are actually harming Islam and Muslims instead of helping that? You Islamic conservatives and Islamists of Turkey, you are no different from the Turkish Progressives themselves. You are no different from the Quranists themselves. Perfect!

Don’t forget that, once you inject something “harmless” to Islam, others would try to inject more dangerous things. You are walking in a sinful road. You had not created that road. But you just cleared a sinful path from its hedges and bushes. Not long after, someone would say that prayers are not mandatory in Islam, uh forgot that, it had been said already. You had become the servants of the Cathedral, and you are dragging the innocent religious masses. You are been poisoning by the poison of Puritanization and Modernization. You have been brainwashed by the Cathedral’s means. You have to try to runaway from this poisoning.