Abstract
The Quaker Movement, which was in its formative stage in the early 17th century during the Civil War period, also known as the English Revolution, spread rapidly following 1653 across a vast geography such as Europe, America, and the Caribbean. This movement, also known as the Society of Friends/Friends Church, was initially described with various titles such as "Puritans", "Millenarians", "Bohemian mystics" or "a holy movement." The fundamental teaching of the movement was that "every individual can directly experience the presence of God without intermediaries." The only condition was to heed the "light of Christ" within oneself and let oneself be guided by it. With an approach that revised the classical Christological formulation and an apocalyptic belief that God's spirit was sent to all men and women, the Quakers defended that every individual was able to be in direct communication with divine guidance and rejected all worldly representatives, institutions, and intermediaries of religious authority. They refused doctrinal Christianity and turned to experiential mysticism. In other words, they argued that Christianity is an "experience" to be lived and experienced, not a religion of doctrines requiring absolute faith. The Quakers, who believed that each individual carried a "light" of truth and wisdom, exhibited a more pronounced inclusivist approach towards other religions and people of faith compared to other religious movements in Europe, such as the Puritans and Unitarians.On the other hand, the missionary character of this sect has always been prominent. George Fox (d. 1691), the founding leader of the movement, read the translation of the Qur'an to preach the sect's doctrine to Muslims and became familiar enough with it to be able to make skillful use of Qur'anic verses in his various writings. However, this interest was the result of a missionary motivation. According to Fox, Muslims were on the wrong path and would only be guided if they were led to "the Christian truth". Other prominent figures of the sect, such as George Robinson and Lady Mary Fisher, traveled to Palestine and the Ottoman territories to spread Quaker doctrine and evangelical guidance. The members of the Quaker sect, who faced severe resistance and execution in Europe and America where they originated, encountered a moderate reception in the Muslim lands where they carried out their missionary activities. As a result, the Quakers were open to communication with Muslims -"Turks" in their words. The Quakers' moderate approach stood instark contrast to the prevalent "anti-Muslim" sentiment in Europe at the time. Despite the considerable encounters and contacts between the Quakers and Muslims, no research has yet been conducted in Turkish academia on this significant interaction. Apart from a few small-scale studies, there is a lack of comprehensive research in Turkish that presents the history, doctrine, and influence of the Quakers as a religious sect in Christian Europe with a holistic approach. To address this gap in the literature, this study deals with the Muslim-Quaker interaction in general. Specifically, it examines how the early Quakers perceived the religion of Islam, its Prophet, and Muslims of their time. The writings of early Quakers and the historical records detailing their encounters with Muslims through diverse experiences and for various purposes are the main sources of this research.,This paper aims to explore the factors that shaped the early Quakers' perception of Islam and the extent to which this perception aligned with and diverged from the mainstream Christian understanding of Islam. Being the first study in Turkish on Muslim-Quaker interactions, it is hoped to establish a foundation for future studies in this field
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Kapsamı
Uluslararası
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Type
Hakemli
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Index info
WOS.ESCI
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Language
Turkish
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Article Type
None
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Keywords
History of Religions Quakers Perception of Islam History of Religions Quakers Society of Friends Muslim-Christian Interaction Perception of Islam