Edip Yüksel (born December 20, 1957) is an American-

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

activist and prominent figure in the

Quranism Quranism () is an Islamic schools and branches, Islamic movement that holds the belief that the Quran is the only valid source of religious belief, guidance, and law in Islam. Quranists believe that the Quran is clear, complete, and that it ca ...

movement. Born in Güroymak, Yuksel is the author of more than twenty books on religion, politics, philosophy and law in Turkish. After settling in the United States, where he began his career as a lawyer, he became a colleague and friend of

Rashad Khalifa Rashad Khalifa (; November 19, 1935 – January 31, 1990) was an Egyptian-American biochemist, closely associated with the United Submitters International (USI), an organization that promotes the practice and study of Quranism. Khalifa saw his ...

. However, his interpretation of the

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

has differed with Khalifa on a number of issues, and his work has represented a new trend within the Quranist movement.

Biography

Yüksel comes from a

family who lived in Turkey, and is brother of Metin Yüksel. He is the author of more than twenty books on religion, politics, philosophy and law in Turkish. He has also written various articles and essays in English. He was a Turkish Islamist and a popular Islamic commentator until the mid-1980s when he rejected his previous religious beliefs and only used the Quran as the source of divine laws. He became a Quran-only Muslim, or known as Quranist. However, this movement is very controversial in the main Muslim circles, and thus Yüksel gained the rejection and hostility of many religious Islamic authorities in his home country. In 1989 Yüksel was forced to emigrate. He then settled in the United States of America, where he began his career as a lawyer. In the US, he worked with Rashad Khalifa, who claimed to have discovered a Quran code, also known as Code 19, in the Quran and called on Muslims to return to the Quran alone and to abandon all hadiths. Yüksel is critical of Islamic creationists, such as Harun Yahya. Professor Aisha Musa, from Florida International University, says in her book ''Hadith as Scripture'' about Yüksel:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yuksel, Edip 1957 births Living people People from Güroymak American people of Kurdish descent Turkish emigrants to the United States Turkish Kurdish people Turkish Quranist Muslims American Quranist Muslims Kurdish scholars Theistic evolutionists Muslim evolutionists