Disguising Anti-Islamic Discourse in Science Package: The Case of Hans G. Kippenberg

Year 2020, Volume: 17 Issue: 2, 281 - 297, 31.12.2020

Ramazan Adıbelli

https://doi.org/10.17131/milel.822298

Abstract

One of the most important effects of the events of September 11, 2001 was the formation of an extremely negative image in the Western world, which has been prejudiced against Islam for centuries. Islam was according to some a "religion of sword". These events were presented by those people as an incontestable proof that Islam is a "religion of violence". Although not included in the report of the commission, which examined the Septem-ber 11 attacks to the finest detail, handwritten five-page Arabic letters from the attackers' luggage were put on the market. German historian of religions Hans G. Kippenberg, based on the assumption that these docu-ments are authentic, compared the deeds of the attackers with the cam-paigns carried out in the time of the Prophet. In this article, by decon-structing Kippenberg's fiction one tried to put forth how it is incompatible with a scientific approach. As a result, it appears that Kippenberg has wanted to gain credibility by putting an ideological and reductionist dis-course on a scientific disguise. The Kippenberg example reminds people who serve the discipline such as the History of Religions, which ultimately adopt scientific honesty as a motto, that there should be no myths in a place where historical realities are manifest.

Keywords

History of Religions, Hans G. Kippenberg, Islamophobia, Reductionism, September 11, 2001

İslam Karşıtı Söylemi Bilimsellik Kisvesine Büründürmek: Hans G. Kippenberg Örneği

Abstract

11 Eylül 2001 olayların en önemli etkilerinden biri İslam’a karşı yüzyıllar boyunca önyargıyla bakan Batı dünyasında son derece olumsuz bir imajın oluşması olmuştur. Bu olaylar bazılarına göre bir “kılıç dini” olan İslam’ın bir “şiddet dini” olduğunu tescillemiş oluyordu. 11 Eylül saldırılarını en ince ayrıntısına kadar inceleyen komisyonun raporunda yer almasa da sal-dırganların valizlerinden elle yazılmış beş sayfalık Arapça mektuplar pi-yasa sunulmuştur. Alman dinler tarihçisi Hans G. Kippenberg, bu dokü-manların otantik olduğu varsayımından hareketle saldırganların bu eylem-lerinin Hz. Peygamber zamanında gerçekleştirilen gazvelere benzediğini savunmaktadır. Bu makalede Kippenberg’in kurgusunun yapı bozumu ya-pılarak bilimsel bir yaklaşımla bağdaşmadığı ortaya konulmaya çalışıl-maktadır. Sonuç olarak Kippenberg’in ideolojik ve indirgemeci bir söylemi bilimsellik kisvesine büründürerek güvenirlik kazandırmak istediği ortaya çıkmaktadır. Kippenberg örneği en nihayetinde bilimselliği şiar edinen Din-ler Tarihi gibi disipline hizmet eden insanlara tarihsel gerçekliklerin teba-rüz ettiği bir yerde mitlere mahal kalmaması gerektiğini hatırlatmaktadır.

Keywords

Dinler Tarih, Hans G. Kippenberg, İslamofobi, İndirgemecilik, 11 Eylül 2001

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