Complaint about Book that Says "No to Islamic Banking"

Islam is author Eren Erdem's field of interest. In his opinion, the economic-political stance of the Koran is close to socialism. Erdem has already published six books. His latest work "Nurjuvazi" ('The ones who wear their religious robes the other way around') was introduced to the market with 10,000 copies in June 2011 and depicts the concept of "nurjuvazi". Eren is commenting the bourgeois class and their role of religious identity by referring to the verses of the Koran and the deeds and sayings of Prophet Muhammad.

The trouble started with Erdem's statement that the Koran was against capitalism and that Islamic banking was actually not possible. The Bank of Asia filed a criminal complaint two weeks ago. Now, Erdem is facing several allegations on the grounds of his book like "inciting the people to hatred and hostility", "opposing the Anti-Terror Law", "opposing the Banking Law", "opposing laws on the protection of freedom of religion and conscience", "insulting god, religious beliefs and the moral values of the people" and "insulting the Bank of Asia by mentioning concepts like a semi-secret treasure trove of alms and polytheism".

The book would be seized instantly as a precautionary measure in case the related indictment should be accepted. The decision for the seizure of the copies could only be lifted if Erdem won his trial after an indefinite duration of legal procedures. If the Bank of Asia would be deemed right, the book would remain locked up forever.

Nurjuvazi - Bourgeoisie

bianet tried to obtain information on the issue from the Bank of Asia. However, the bank announced through a legal counsel that they were not going to give any opinion on the matter because the investigation was still going on.

Writer Erdem on the other hand declared in a statement made to bianet that he did not offend anybody and that the bank opened the trial by other reasons.

Erdem said, "There is no ritually clean capitalism in Islam. It creates discomfort to indicate this. In Nurjuvazi, I explained that the Bank of Asia represented capitalism with ablution and that they tried to legitimize their activities as religious work. I said that this is contrary to the Koran", Erdem commented.

"It is mentioned in the book that 'the Bank of Asia is an establishment like a secret treasure trove of alms'. This means that 'the Bank of Asia is an establishment of capital'. Besides, the bank does not demand to remove the passages in which they are mentioned but they open a lawsuit on the grounds of topics that do not pertain to the bank itself", Erdem stated.

"Nurjuvazi does not target any community or political ideology. The work "nur" is not anybody's monopoly. It is said in the book that 'the term nurjuva class was derived from the term bourgeois class. I am not talking about the dominance of any community". (EG/HK/VK)