Writer (b. 10 March 1951, Mardin).
After attending primary and secondary schools in Mardin, he graduated from
İstanbul Institute of Islâm (1975) and İstanbul University, Faculty of
Literature, Department of Sociology (1980). After working in Fikir ve Sanatta Hareket Review for a
while, he began to publish monthly Düşünce
Review (1976-80). He worked as an
editor-in-chief in the İnsan Publications (1984). He was one of the
founders of the Zaman Newspaper and
at the same time, became İstanbul representative of this newspaper (1986-87)
and finally he worked as a chief editor in Kitap
review (after 1988).
He
became famous with his researches and studies on topics such as Contemporary
Islamic World, Thought Problems, Social Change and Development. His essays,
critiques, researches and studies were published in Hareket (1973), İslâm
Medeniyeti (1974), Tohum (1973), Sur (1973), Düşünce (1976, 80), Tevhid
(1979), Hicret (1979), Mavera (1986), Yeni Zemin, Nehir, Bilgi ve Hikmet Reviews and Millî Gazete (1976), Yeni
Şafak ve Zaman Newspapers. He
took the Prize of Thought of Writers’ Unions of Turkey with his work called İnsanın Özgürlük Arayışı (A Freedom
Search of a Man, 1988).
WORKS:
STUDY-RESEARCH:
Çağdaş Kavramlar ve Düzenler (Modern
Concepts and Orders, 1976), Kur'an ve
Sünnet Üzerine (On Koran and Muslim Practices and Rules, 1983), İslâm Dünyasında Toplumsal Değişme
(Social Change in the Islamic World, 1987), İnsanın
Özgürlük Arayışı (The Man’s Search for Freedom, 1988), Orta Doğu Gerçeği (The Facts in the Middle East, 1988), Gündemdeki Konular (Topics on Agenda,
1988), Bir Aydın Sapması (An
Intellectual Distortion, 1989), Din ve
Modernizm, İrtica ve Sivilleşme (Religion and Modernism, Islamic Reaction
and Civilianization, 1995), İslâm ve
Fanatizm (Islam and Fanatism, 1995), Kutsala,
Tarihe ve Hayata Dönüş (The Return to the Divine, History and Life, 1995), İslâm Felsefesinde Din-Felsefe, Akıl-Vahiy
İlişkisi (The Relations between Religion-Philosophy and Reason-Divine
Inspirations in the Islamic Philosophy, 1995), Nuh'un Gemisine Binmek (Going on the Noah’s Ship, 1995), Modern Ulus Devlet (Modern Nation State,
1996), İslâm ve Demokrasi (Islam and
Democracy), İslâm ve Fundamentalizm (Islam
and Fundamentalism), İslâm Dünyasında
Düşünce Sorunları (The Problems of Ideas in the Islamic World) ; Tarih, Toplum ve Gelenek (History,Society
and Tradition).
MEAL: Kur'an-ı Kerim'in Türkçe Meali (Turkish Translation of Koran, 1983).
ALİ BULAÇ WORKS:
DİN
VE MODERNİZM (RELIGION AND MODERNISM)
Man is to make a choice at the
breakpoint of the century: either he will perish together with the planet, or to
attain salvation by resorting to what is real.
The conflict basically is
between Religion and Modernism. All economical and military issues and crises,
both social and individual, both spiritual and intellectual, both national and
international, such as environmental pollution and other crises marking our
times are all derivations of this basic contradiction.
What gives us hope is the deep
tremor of the domination of this modernity, which seems absolute, and the man's
doubt about the myth of rationalism, positivism and progress to head towards
the real, possible and redemptive paradigm of religion.
Our conclusion is this study
is that religion in general and Islam in particular has a well-established
answer to modernism. Religion has always existed, but its realization in life
at the current level had to wait for a process that required massive efforts.
·
İSLAM
DÜNYASINDA DÜŞÜNCE SORUNLARI (QUESTIONS OF THOUGHT IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD)
The Islamic society has come
to our times through a rich and complex history, in which political and
philosophical movements, and social and economical processes have interacted
through rapid change to give rise to the great social reality that we call
Islamic society today.
However, this society has
numerous problems, such as political instability, rapid social and economical
changes, urbanization, presentation of new ideologies and the shift from the
agricultural society to an industrial one.
It is beyond doubt that the
present problems had their roots in the past. Particularly the last two
centuries have been crucial to this.
Ali Bulaç pursues the general
process of changes in the history of Islam and regards the fundamental problems
of our day through a wide perspective to bring an explanation. The keywords to
his study are history, tradition, humanism, culture, change, religion,
intellectual, ulema, atheism,
modernism, colonialism and imperialism.
·
İSLAM
DÜNYASINDA TOPLUMSAL DEĞİŞME (SOCIAL CHANGE IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD)
Considering the relations of
Islam with the West from its birth until today, the confrontations of the two
worlds in cultural, social and economical fields have determined the content
and limits of the crucial phenomenon known as “change”. A series of events that
seem to have ended in the past still continue to have its effects on the
present. We have to resort to the testimony of history to comprehend the
phenomenon that we now experience. As “change” is a continuous process where
nothing interrupts itself, the Islamic society continues to change as much as
it did in the past and maintains its vitality. What we have to understand is to
determine the right direction for the movement, and this will be demonstrated
to us by the efforts to study the concept of “change” on all social fields.
This work should be regarded
as a modest contribution to give rise to such efforts.
·
İSLAM
VE FANATİZM (ISLAM AND FANATISM)
This work deals with the relationship
between the religions in general and between Islam and fanatism in particular.
The study asks: Is fanatism a predicate in the origin of religions? Can the
ideas and tendencies, such as fanatism and integrism, which constrict their
message and aim to exert pressure on others be related to Islam? Such questions
require a vast field of research to find the answers.
The writer therefore
illustrates a theoretical and legal framework of the Islamic doctrine and
applies to the historical experience. Besides, he deals with the legal
violations in the Islamic world, while presenting an overview of the
relationship of religion and the state and the situation in human rights.
We believe that the study is
interesting and explanatory with its specific conclusions that reach beyond the
common notions.
