An Influential Salafi Person in Türkiye: Ziyaaddin al-Qudsi and The Community of Invitation to Haq

Salaf; the Prophet's companions refer to the first generation of Islam, which was formed by the tabi'un and the tabe-i tabi'un. Salafism, on the other hand, expresses the understanding of religion that is far from the discussions that emerged in this period. And it is a usage that expresses the Muslims who relate themselves to this generation. It was started to be used by Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 505/1111). It is found as Salafiyya in the works of Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328). It emerged as a religious and political movement based in Arabia under the leadership of Muhammed bin Abdul Wahhab (d. 1206/1792). It has passed through various phases in the historical process. It has become the official sect of Saudi Arabia. Religion is divine, Sect is human. In structures that cannot evaluate this situation properly, religion and sect are intertwined. Attempts to convey Salafist ideas emerged from here. Salafism began to be exported out of Arabia as a result of developing relations with different countries for some reasons such as learning science. As a result of these activities, Salafism was also seen in Turkiye in the 1980s. Various Salafist structures have emerged in Turkiye. While their numbers were few in the beginning, there were different divisions over time. It has created new formations thanks to some individuals coming from abroad. One of these is the Invitation to Hakka Community led by Cemil Awwad, using the pseudonym Ziyaeddin al-Kudsi. The leader of the community, Cemil Awwad, who is of Palestinian origin and was born and raised in Jordan, came to Turkiye for medical education in the 1980s. It started to be structured around Salafi ideas, first in Istanbul and the Marmara region. It has also spread to other cities. At the end of the 1990s, the conjuncture in Turkiye changed. Awwad went abroad after nearly twenty years of activity. His followers continue to walk the path he opened. Today, there is a publishing house under the name of Hak Publishing. He continues to broadcast to disseminate the thoughts of Awwad. Invitation work continues with a website. Awwad, in his definition of faith based on Ibn Taymiyya's description of tawhid, considers rejecting taghut as the first condition of faith. It also explains ideas on political issues. In our study, we tried to clarify Awwad's thoughts within the framework of the works published by Hak Publishing, by complying with the principles of publication ethics.