@article{2013,title={THE USE OF RELIGION TO LEGITIMATE THE GOVERNMENT DURING THE SECOND CONSTITUTIONAL ERA: THE CASE OF SIRATI-I MUSTAKIM},abstractNode={The end of 19th century is a period when remedies were sought to rescue the Ottoman Empire which lost power against the modern world. During this period, a group of intellectuals that were called New Ottomans advocated that the decline and collapse of the empire was not due to religion. Hence, religion was not an obstacle to progress but rather Islam had the potential to respond to the challenges of the modern world. The movement which regarded Islam as an ideology was called Islamism and the New Ottomans were the followers of this movement. The proclamation of the Constitutional Regime on July 24th, 1908 was the beginning of a new era for the Islamists and the various groups. During this period, the Islamists supported the second constitution and the new government since they thought the constitution and the parliament were in line with the spirit of religion. In this era, we see religion as more of a structure utilized to legitimize and strengthen the political system whereas it was used as an opposition instrument in the political life by the New Ottomans and by Young Turks during the reign of Sultan Abdulhamid II. During this era, the journal of Sirat-i Mustakim similar to other journals published by Islamists, particularly emphasised religious words and concepts such as “counsel”, “council”, “brotherhood”, “the union”, “force preparation”, “obedience to the rulers”, “sedition”, “goodness to order and keep people from evil” in accordance with the needs of their time. Some of these words and concepts were detached from their contexts of Quranic verses and Hadiths and their meanings were shifted from their original use. Thus, religion which had been the most effective legitimizing tool throughout the history was used to legitimize the power once again in a society the majority of which was Muslim. This attitude of the Islamists was the result of the fact that they saw the new era and the new administration as a savior that would prevent the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.},author={İbrahim ÇETİN},year={2013},journal={The Journal of Academic Social Science Studies}}