Islamist Informal Laws on Corruption

Abstract

This chapter focuses on understanding the informal legal support system Erdoğanists have created, using Islamist informal law, to overcome and deflect allegations of corruption, and to retain their prime political position in parliament. This chapter, first, discusses how the party has systematically but informally financed Islamization and Islamist organizations and built an ecosystem in which its financial support is reflected in informal Islamist laws supportive of this practice. The chapter discusses the seismic events of year 2013, which saw the AKP and Erdoğan himself tarnished by allegations of widespread corruption. The chapter describes how, when confronted by strong evidence of wrongdoing, the AKP sought the help of Islamist informal laws produced and propagated by the Diyanet and other pro-AKP religious authorities and Islamic legal scholars to defend the AKP’s corrupt practices and deflect blame onto the party’s critics. The chapter refers to the religious opinions of prominent pro-AKP Islamic legal scholars such as Hayrettin Karaman to understand how theologians have been twisting Islam to provide favourable Islamic legal opinions for the AKP during scandals. The changing definition of corruption, nepotism and favouritism with the help of the Islamist informal law is discussed in detail, along with theological grounds they invoke to defend and explain why AKP corruption ought to be tolerated.