Adnan Oktar

 

Adnan Oktar, nom de plume Harun Yahya (a.k.a Adnan Hoca) (born Ankara, 1956), is a prominent figure in Turkish creationism and a fervent advocate of creationism in the creation vs. evolution debate. He is considered by some to be the leading Muslim advocate of creationism^[1]. He subscribes to Old Earth creationism.^[2][3] He is against Zionism and Freemasonry and sees them as very interrelated movements, though he denounces anti-Semitism^[4] and terrorism^[5].

Adnan founded the Science Research Foundation (SRF, or BAV in Turkish), whose stated objective is "to [establish]...peace, tranquility and love"^[6]. , though the BAV is described in the media as "a secretive Islamic sect"^[7] or a “cult-like organization, that jealously guards the secrets of its considerable wealth”^[8] The SRF has been accused of criminal activity^[8] , though these charges were dropped.  Its accusers have, since then, appealed to a higher court.

Biography

Born in Ankara in 1956, Adnan Oktar lived there through his high-school years. In 1979, he moved to Istanbul to attend an interior-design study at Mimar Sinan University but left before graduation.

In the early 1980s, he gathered young students around him to share his views of Islam. According to his former mentor, Edip Yüksel, Adnan was attempting to “[mix] mysticism with scientific rhetoric”^[9]. These students belonged to socially active and prominent families of Istanbul which had a high economic status^[10]. From 1982 to 1984, a group of 20 to 30 was formed.

Since he believed that in this modern age^{[citation needed]}, faith (in general) and the beliefs of Islam (in particular) were being attacked by those claiming to use science and logic^{[citation needed]}, Adnan sought to prove the tenets of his faith through the modern sciences, through rational evidence^{[citation needed]}, and by attempting to relate parts of the Qu'ran to modern history^{[citation needed]}.

In 1986, Adnan Oktar published the book, Judaism and Freemasonry. The book suggests that the principal mission of Jews and Freemasons in Turkey was to erode the spiritual, religious, and moral values of the Turkish people and, thus, make them like animals, as stated in what Oktar refers to as the "Distorted Torah." ^{[10] [11]} Oktar asserts that "the materialist standpoint, evolution theory, anti-religious and immoral lifestyles were indoctrinated to the society as a whole" by Jews and Freemasons.^[10]

Shortly after the publication of Judaism and Freemasonry, Adnan Oktar was arrested and imprisoned. He was transferred to Bakırköy Mental Hospital and placed under observation. After 19 months, Oktar was released.^[12] In spite of this difficulty, he continued with his writings, comprising the Harun Yahya Works, and continued to gain followers, who worked to preserve the influence of Islamic beliefs in the country^{[citation needed]}.

In 1990, he founded the Scientific Research Foundation (SRF, or, in Turkish, Bilim Araştırma Vakfı, or BAV), through which he still effectively functions. Members of the SRF are sometimes referred to as Adnan Hocacılar ("Adherents of Adnan the Hodja") by the public^[13]. Adnan Oktar was declared the Honorary President of the SRF. Members of The Foundation participate in several activities: The publishing of books, the conducting of cultural studies, the holding of discussion panels and conferences. The stated purpose of these activities is to protect and revive moral values^{[citation needed]}.

In 1995, he also founded Millî Değerleri Koruma Vakfı (Foundation for Protection of National Values), through which he networks with other traditional Islamist and nationalist organizations and individuals.

Antisemitism

In 1996, the SRF distributed a book which was originally published the previous year, entitled Soykırım Yalanı ("Holocaust Lie").^[14] The publication of Soykırım Yalanı sparked much public debate.^[15] This book claims that “what is presented as Holocaust is the death of some Jews due to the typhus plague during the war and the famine towards the end of the war caused by the defeat of the Germans”^[16]. In March 1996, a Turkish painter and intellectual, Bedri Baykam, published a strongly worded critique of the book in the Ankara daily newspaper Siyah-Beyaz ("Black and White"). A legal suit for slander was brought against him. During the trial in September, Baykam exposed the real author of the book as Adnan Oktar ^[15]. The suit was withdrawn in March 1997.^{[17] [18]}

In 2004, the Stephen Roth Institute, of Tel-Aviv University, expressed the opinion that Adnan Oktar had increased his tolerance toward others, asserting that "he now works towards promoting inter-religious dialogue"[1].

Oktar nowadays states that anti-Semitism has pagan and Darwinist roots^[4]. Although he believes that the Old Testament “has been altered by individuals for the sake of all kinds of gain”^[19], he publicly calls upon all Muslims to have "a tolerant and friendly attitude toward other religions"^[20].

Campaign against Evolution

In early 1998, Adnan Oktar and the SRF launched a campaign against Darwinism. Thousands of free copies of Adnan Oktar's book, The Evolution Deceit, and the booklets based on this book were distributed within Turkey.

The SRF also spearheaded an effort to attack Turkish academics who taught evolutionary theory. A number of faculty members were harassed, threatened and slandered in fliers that labeled them "Maoists" for teaching evolution.^[21] .  In 1999, six of the professors won a civil court case against the SRF for defamation and were awarded each with a large amount of money.^[21]

In 2005, Professor Ümit Sayın summed up the effect of the SRF's campaign when he said to The Pitch: In 1998, I was able to motivate six members of the Turkish Academy of Sciences to speak out against the creationist movement. Today, it's impossible to motivate anyone. They're afraid they'll be attacked by the radical Islamists and the BAV.^[21]. .

Writings

Oktar has written numerous books under the name Harun Yahya (Harun (Aaron) and Yahya (John)), arguing against evolution. He also asserts that evolution is directly related to the claimed evils of materialism, Nazism, communism, and Buddhism^[22]. Most of his anti-evolution resources are identical to Christian creationist arguments (see: Creation science).^[23]

He also has produced various works on Zionism and Freemasonry, accusing Zionists of racism and arguing that Zionism and Freemasonry have had significant negative effects on world history and politics. Finally, he has written more than a hundred books describing the morals of the Qur'an and faith related issues ^{[citation needed]}.

Oktar's books on faith-related topics attempt to communicate the existence and oneness of God according to the Islamic faith, and are written with the main purpose of introducing Islam to those who are strangers to religion. Each of his books on science-related topics stresses his views on the might, sublimity, and majesty of God. These books attempt to display for non-Muslims what Oktar claims to be signs of the existence of God, and the excellence of his creation. A sub-group within this series are the series of "Books Demolishing the Lie of Evolution", a critique of the ideas of Materialism, Evolution, Darwinism, and atheism.

Many of Oktar's books have been made into high-resolution videos which are freely downloadable on the Internet^[24].

Oktar asserts that Buddhism as being a false religion built upon idolatry and falsehood.^[22] He calls Buddhist rituals "meaningless" and "empty". He has also charged that intelligent design is a tool of Satan.^[25]

It should be stated here that Adnan Oktar (Harun Yahya) is not anti-Western as such^{[citation needed]}. Indeed, he differentiates between harmful and beneficial philosophy^{[citation needed]}, and hopes for the salvation of all mankind... But is uncomprimising against the unbelief and Atheism which is opposed to religion^{[citation needed]}; in recent times the weapon of this has mostly been materialist philosophies such as Positivism^{[citation needed]} and Naturalism^{[citation needed]}, which use so called^{[citation needed]} science and logic to justify their ideas^{[citation needed]}.

The Atlas of Creation

His latest (October 2006) publication is The Atlas of Creation, published by Global Publishing, Istanbul, Turkey.^[26]. The book is edited by Timothy Mossman^{[citation needed]}, with no direct indication to his affiliation^{[citation needed]}. This volume with near 800 glossy pages contains high quality animal and fossil image prints. Many of the photographs were obtained without the permission of copyright holders, a violation that will likely prevent the release of this book on the mainstream market.^{[citation needed]} Tens of thousands of copies of the book have been delivered, on an unsolicited basis, to schools, prominent researchers and research institutes throughout Europe and the United States^[27][3]. E.g. several schools in France have received a copy as well as prominent researchers at Utrecht University and the University of Tilburg in the Netherlands, and the Imperial College London, where the arguments used by the book to undermine evolution have been criticized as not logical while evolutionary biologist Kevin Padian has stated that Oktar has no understanding of the basic evidence for evolution.^[28][3]. When the book was sent to French schools and universities, controversy resulted and the book sparked further concern about Islamic radicalism in France.^[3]

Controversy

In April 2007, Oktar complained to the court that the online news source ek$i sözlük (http://www.sourtimes.org), where members can add and edit comments on anything, contained defamatory remarks about him. The court reviewed the complaint and ordered the service provider to close the site to public access. Access to another news website, (http://www.Superpoligon.com), was also restricted following Oktar's complaint. ^[29]

In August of the same year, Oktar was able to get a Turkish court to block internet access to WordPress.com to all of Turkey. His lawyers argued that blogs on WordPress.com contained libelous material on Oktar and his colleague which WordPress.com staff was unwilling to remove.^[30][31]

References

External links

Sites based on the works of Harun Yahya

• Official Harun Yahya site

Critical articles

• Harun Yahya and Islamic Creationism
• Harun Yahya or Adnan Oktar: the Promised Mahdi? by Edip Yuksel

Other Articles

• Evolution and religion: In the beginning, The Economist, Apr 19th 2007 (Istanbul, Moscow and Rome)

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