Interesting comment on Turkish economy from Cübbeli Ahmet Hoca.

He says, the economy was never so broken as it is today and that there is also a spiritual dimension to it. That the more we sin as a population, the more sickness, poverty and problems afflict us.

And he adds that things are going downhill in Turkish society, worse than they have been in over 100 years, since the end of the Ottoman Empire. He says that the sins of this people have reached a peak in the last 150-200 years, and their worship has reached a low point. That's why inflation and devaluation have also reached a peak.

And he believes that it's not the fault of the state leaders. Because a people get the leaders they deserve. If you mess up as a society, you get a messed up leadership, so to speak.

He says that the average rate of Muslims who regularly perform all five daily prayers is currently around 5% in Turkey. Those who pray in congregation are even less, 0.0xx% among men.

Even those who fast during Ramadan, who were way over 50% in his early years, even if they didn't pray otherwise, are now just over 30%.

For those who know Turkish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3orsoZaI7I

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There is no doubt that the spiritual dimension of a faith based economy is an integral variable to its development. I think just as consumption, govt spending, investment and net exports are GDP variables maybe we can add Waqf as a measure of societal spiritual connectedness...GDSP

GDSP! I like this categorization idea 🔥

New paradigms and narratives need to be crafted, 20th century Islamism nearing its end and the younger generations of Turks, especially in the metropolitan regions like Istanbul and Ankara, have been captivated by the wests ways and as usual they don’t adopt the positive traits instead opting for the negative ones.

Which in itself is an interesting phenomenon, we see it all over the Islamicate. Charles Taylor’s “A secular age” maybe offers one angle from which to analyze this, to keep it short, the western populace over the centuries has been socially engineered to exemplify discipline even in the absence of religion, Cartesian civitas “the virtue of self discipline”, Lockean mutual benefit “the notion of an interdependent society where each individual contributes and benefits from societies wider works”, synthetic identities popping up after the formation of nation states which instilled a higher purpose in the individual, transcending mere everyday concerns, this and many more influences may have led to westerners being disciplined, forming high-trust societies, being productive etc.

In contrast non-western societies never underwent these changes in this specific manner, they see only the sweet fruits not the hard work behind it.

PS. I am not saying that we need those changes in the Islamic world enacted in the same exact way, we have our own and superior ways of solving problems, which ofc doesn’t mean that we can’t appropriate some things for our purposes.

PPS. Actually this is where we can gain momentum, modern civilization has exhausted its potential, increasingly finding itself in a cul de sac, one of the biggest indications being the drying up of creativity and genius.

Great points made brother. But why you no Lightning?

Sorry was lagging behind 😅, got it now.