Abdurrauf Fitrat in Istanbul

This book explores how to locate the sources which influenced the political, social, and ideological stance of a famous Turkestani Jadid thinker, writer, journalist and scholar, `Abdurra´uf Fitrat (1886-1938), thus also putting in perspective some overall intellectual trends in Turkestan, especially in Bukhara in the early 1910s. Based on Fitrat´s early publications the book discusses what intellectual milieu it was that shaped his worldview in the early 1910s, a worldview that could be designated as a first attempt at freedom and sovereignty through Islam . A thorough review of these publicat ions also brings greater clarity to the issue of Fitrat`s ethnical identity, which sheds light on how he related to the worldwide community of Muslims and how he positioned himself towards political unity of the Muslim World.Furthermore, by scrutinizing Fitrat´s intellectual legacy of 1910-1915, this book highlights some of the origins of Jadidism in Turkestan and places Turkestani Jadidism in...