page_title: Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's personal life
section_title: Religion and the individual
hierarchical_section_title: Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's personal life / Religious beliefs / Religion and the individual
caption_attribution_description: Türkçe: Selimiye Camii, Edirne, 25 Aralık 1930
context_page_description: Mustafa Kemal Atatürk founded the Republic of Turkey, and served as its president from 1923 until his death in 1938. His personal life has been the subject of numerous studies. According to Turkish historian Kemal H. Karpat, Atatürk's recent bibliography included 7,010 different sources. Atatürk's personal life has its controversies, ranging from where he was born to his correct full name. The details of his marriage have always been a subject of debate. His religious beliefs were discussed in Turkish political life as recently as the Republic protests during the 2007 presidential election.
  Mustafa Kemal's personality has been an important subject both for scholars and the general public. Much of substantial personal information about him comes from memoirs by his associates, who were at times his rivals, and friends. Some credible information originates from Ali Fuat Cebesoy, Kâzım Karabekir, Halide Edib Adıvar, Kılıç Ali, Falih Rıfkı Atay, Afet İnan, there is also secondary analysis by Patrick Balfour, the 3rd Baron Kinross, and, most recently, Vamık D. Volkan and Norman Itzkowitz.
context_section_description: Religion, particularly Islam, was between an individual and God in Atatürk's eyes. When compared to Ottoman practice (political Islam integrated to government life through Millets), Atatürk believed in a form of reformed Islam (Islam between an individual and God). He believed it was possible to blend native tradition (based on Islam) and Western modernism harmoniously. In this equation, he gave more emphasis towards the modernization. His modernization aimed to transform social and mental structures (native traditions of Islam) to eradicate the irrational ideas, magical superstitions and so on.
  
  Atatürk was not against religion but what he perceived as all Ottoman religious and cultural elements that brought limits to people's self being. He concentrated his reforms (regarding popular sovereignty) against obstacles for the individual choices being reflected in the social life. He viewed civil law and abolition of the caliphate as required for reflection of individual choices. He perceived religion as a matter of conscience or worship, but not politics. The best response on this issue comes from himself:
  Religion is a matter of conscience. One is always free to act according to the will of one's conscience. We (as a nation) are respectful of religion. It is not our intention to curtail freedom of worship, but rather to ensure that matters of religion and those of the state do not become intertwined.
  Atatürk believed in freedom of religion, but he was a secular thinker and his concept of freedom of religion was not limitless. He differentiated between social and personal practice of religion. He applied social considerations (secular requirements) when the public practice of religion was considered. He said that no one can force another to accept any religion or a sect (freedom of belief). Also, everyone has the right to perform or neglect, if he so wishes, obligations of any religion he chooses (freedom of worship), such as the right to not fast during Ramadan.
caption: Atatürk visits Selimiye Mosque, Edirne on 25 December 1930
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