Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Al-Azva, cilt.36, sa.55, ss.49-74, 2021 (Hakemli Dergi)
The Republic of Turkey has a formidable and
well-financed establishment for the management of Islam, which offers a
vigorous and active state-society relation at both the state and at the
grassroots levels. What is perhaps most notable concerning this type of governance
of Islam is Turkey’s national history. It is most remarkable that Turkey with
its majority Muslim population and its designation as a secular republic has
established such a massive and effective bureaucracy for the administration of
Islam, which is far larger and more extensive than that of Pakistan, a state
that describes itself as an Islamic republic, and officially acknowledges the
Islamic law in its constitution. The main institutions for the administration
of Islam in Turkey, the Directorate of Religious Affairs [Diyanet İşleri
Başkanlığı, commonly abbreviated as Diyanet) not only has a substantial
administrative bureaucracy across the country for religious services related to
Islam but also oversees a vast staff of religious personnel such as imams, hatips, vaiz,
muftis, Qur’an teachers, counsellors, and administrators. It is well
known that the budget of Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı has been rising since
its inception, especially in the last two decades, making it a substantial
budget currently. It must be acknowledged that the current high level of
expenditure on religious affairs reflects the AK party of President Erdogan,
yet it is also true that the origins and expansion of this religious
bureaucracy took place by an authoritarian secularist Turkish government during
the early 1920s. Whereas in Pakistan, a nation-state built for the Muslims in
the Indian sub-continent, the Ministry of Religious Authority (MRA) was not
even built during its inception in 1947. Instead, its establishment took place
27 years after the Islamic Republic of Pakistan’s birth. Moreover, during the
next half a century MRA did not develop much in becoming a successful
bureaucratic institution for administrating Islam at both state and grassroots
levels. It is important to try to explore the reasons behind this stagnation
and attempt to pinpoint the various impediments and obstacles lying in the path
of MRA in Pakistan becoming as successful as the Diyanet in Turkey.
Keywords: Pakistan, Turkey, Ministry of Religious Authority (MRA), Directorate of
Religious Affairs (Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı), governance of religion, nation-state.