Ali Ünal (born 19 January 1955) is a Turkish author and former chief writer at
Zaman newspaper, which was shut down following the failed
2016 Turkish Coup D'état.
Biography
Ünal was born on 19 January 1955 in
Uşak,
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
. He is often associated with the
Gülen movement
The Gülen movement () or Hizmet movement () is an Islamist fraternal movement. It is a sub-sect of Sunni Islam based on a Nursian theological perspective as reflected in Fethullah Gülen's religious teachings. It is referred to by its membe ...
, an Islamic group in Turkey. In addition to being an author, Ali Ünal is a prolific translator of works with an Islamic theme into English, and has translated into English many works by
Fethullah Gülen
Muhammed Fethullah Gülen (27 April 1941 – 20 October 2024) was a Turkish Ulama, Muslim scholar, preacher, and leader of the Gülen movement who as of 2016 had millions of followers. Gülen was an influential Neo-Ottomanism, neo-Ottomanist, A ...
, the spiritual leader and founder of the Gülen Movement. In 2006, Ali Ünal's English translation of the
Quran
The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
was released. Ali Ünal's translation has been noted for its use of contemporary English, which makes it more readable than some classical
Quran translations. Entitled ''
The Qur'an with Annotated Interpretation in Modern English'', the work also included extensive annotations by the translator.
Ali Ünal's published books as author and editor include ''Islam Addresses Contemporary Issues'', ''Islamic Perspectives on Science: Knowledge and Responsibility'', ''The Resurrection and the Afterlife'', ''The Prophet Promised in World Scriptures, An Introduction to Islamic Faith and Thought'', ''Living in the Shade of Islam'', ''Living the Ethics and Morality of Islam'', ''Fethullah Gülen: An Advocate of Dialogue'', and ''General Principles in the Risale-i Nur Collection for a True Understanding of Islam''.
Ali Ünal has about twenty translations from Turkish to English and more than ten from English to Turkish. He has more than twenty books in Turkish.
Detention
Ali Ünal was the daily head columnist for ''
Zaman'', a Turkish newspaper described as a media outlet for Fethullah Gulen.
Ünal denied being a leader for Gulen or the attempted coup.
In 2016, he was acquitted of a charge related to the coup attempt.
He was detained on 14 August 2016 by the Uşak Provincial Security in
Eşme District during an operation against the Fethullah Gülen Community. He was accused of "attempting to overthrow the constitutional order", "establishing and managing an armed terrorist organization" and "membership in a terrorist organization". According to Stockholm Center for Freedom, the court presented 17 of his articles published in Zaman as evidence. On 14 November 2018 he was sentenced to 19 years and 6 months in prison. Six other journalists from Zaman were previously convicted of similar charges.
In 2023, the
United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention published an opinion stating that Ünal's detention was arbitrary.
See also
*
Ahmed Hulusi
*
Nurettin Uzunoğlu
References
External links
The Miraculous Quranby Ali Ünal.
Ali Ünal's trial— Expression Interrupted
Profile at Committee to Protect Journalists
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unal, Ali
1955 births
Living people
People from Uşak
Turkish writers
Translators of the Quran into English
Turkish Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam
Turkish newspaper editors
Turkish columnists
Atatürk University alumni