Özet:

This paper examines the relationship between the concept of umma and modern constitutional thought, as expressed in Namık Kemal’s writings during the Tanzimat period in the late Ottoman Empire. It analyzes a new type of constitutional imaginary called Islamic constitutionalism, which emerged in the late Ottoman Empire as a result of the constitutional transformations that occurred shortly before and during the Tanzimat period, and found its first mature expression in Kemal’s writings. This imaginary is significant in terms of ummatic thought because it envisaged a consultative umma, a new type of constitutional imagination that combined the old idea of collective Muslim unity with the new sociopolitical demands of modern state formation. This new vision distinguishes Islamic constitutionalism from the other constitutional imaginaries that existed during the Tanzimat period, including statist constitutionalism, classical constitutionalism, and sulṭānic constitutionalism. This paper refutes the arguments that place Kemal as a pioneer of liberal constitutionalism or (secular) nationalism in the late Ottoman Empire, based on his legal and constitutional thought. It also contends that he should be considered a pioneer of modern Islamic constitutionalism, as he was among the first to critically discuss the possibility of a constitutional order based on sharīʿa within the historical– sociological conditions and processes of modern state formation.

Anahtar Kelimeler: