Sacralizing the Secular: Islamization Process in Turkey

When, why, and how does Islamization of secular institutions take place? How do Islamist political elites justify the Islamization of the existing formal secular institutions? To answer these questions, this study examines Islamization process in Turkey, a Muslim-majority country in the global south with a secular political system. The study utilizes data derived from parliamentary discussions, official statements, and several interviews to advance the following arguments: Turkish Islamization constitutes an intriguing case of incremental, gradual Islamization, which involves multiple stages, levels, forms, issue areas and mechanisms and processes. 1) In the first stage of incremental Islamization in a secular political system, an Islamist movement needs to control political power through electoral victory, which requires establishing a broad coalition. However, controlling electoral majority is necessary but not sufficient for the Islamization of the extant secular legal-institutional structures because several endogenous and exogenous factors might still constrain the incumbent coalition. Hence, in the second stage, two conditions should coalesce for Islamization to occur: a) pro-Islamization faction should gain the control of the ruling coalition (endogenous facilitator), b) the existing secular power centers should be eliminated or weakened to facilitate Islamization initiatives endorsed by the dominant pro-Islamic faction within the ruling party (exogenous facilitator). Even under these circumstances, instead of sacralizing the state and society in a top-down fashion using its incumbent advantage, the ruling Islamists might still prefer to build coalitions behind legal and institutional changes through both ideational (Islamic legitimacy) and material (i.e., expected utility) arguments and reasonings. The article also addresses the broader implications of the Turkish Islamization for sacralization processes in other national settings (e.g., Israel, India, Poland, and Hungary).