The Turkish nation used their bodies as human shields against tanks on the July 15 coup attempt four years ago and thwarted the betrayal and invasion attack. They became legends, discovered themselves, and realized that they are one-of-a-kind. They whipped up a storm like no other.

Now, this storm needs to be transformed into a permanent spirit.

I feel a particular need to publish the article I wrote on the July 15 invasion and coup attempt once more.

Turkey has been fighting against deadly waves on a stormy sea for a century. The storm emanating from the West sometimes blew hard enough to sink the “ship.” However, the West was unable to make the people surrender from abroad. Instead, they are made to surrender both mentally and physically by Western satellites, the pro-West.

Islam, which constitutes this nation’s reason for being, its will to make history for a thousand years, its historical depth and civilization spirit, is first being distanced from the top, from the state, and then, over time, from the society.

The country is rapidly being secularized and thus dragged to the verge of losing its core, its spiritual roots. Sometimes the storm blows so rough that the people are faced with the danger of completely losing Islam.

However, this nation is resisting against storms like a breakwater. It is carrying out breaking operations. It is sowing the seeds of a resurrection with the Great East ideology led by poet Necip Fazıl Kısakürek since the 1960s, and Sezai Karakoç’s resilient efforts.

This country has great success in raising men of truth who pave the way for leading generations such as Cemil Meriç, Nurettin Topçu, İsmet Özel. In fact, this is the case despite all the pressures of secularism, which has been used by the West, the pro-West for decades as a collar around our necks.

Late Turkish Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan’s efforts to raise an Islamically-conscious generation must also be noted.

It seems like society is recovering. I say, it “seems” to be recovering because there is a mass/superficial Islamization outbreak, the price of which has not been paid, which has not been deserved, and which is going to have heavy consequences.

In brief: the storm is being mitigated, a direction is being determined, but the destination is lost.

At the end of this ideological and political process, for exactly four decades, Islamic factions were introduced to power and money (politics and capitalism). They adapted to conformism, were secularized, and gradually lost their Islamic sensitivities.

Politics and capitalism are corrupting Muslims. Religious movements are becoming non-governmental organizations (NGO), while NGOs engage in politics and capitalism and start becoming soulless.

The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government made major financial development moves, yet during this process, immaterial moves in the areas of education, idea, culture, art, youth, and media were neglected.

Just as we start questioning, “Where are we going?” July 15 happened, but it suddenly turned into a storm. This “lone,” long-suffering, noble nation wrote a legend like no other: They placed themselves in front of tanks, revived history, and rediscovered themselves.

This wind, which blew on July 15, needs to be turned into a permanent spirit. Unless we develop a permanent spirit based on this this, the winds will die down over time and we will lose everything.

In Arabic, wind means “rîh”. “Rîh” is a very important word that comes from the same root as the word “ruh” (spirit) and thus directs us to the same “origin/sky.”

The wind also blows at times we think it has completely faded away. The wind brings a resurrection from the spiritual world to the material world. Those who develop their spiritual world succeed in turning the revival brought by the wind into a life-giving spirit.

The primary way to turn the July 15 wind into a permanent movement is for all the Islamic factions in the country, religious movements in particular, to set off on a sojourn that follows the truth and adheres to what is prohibited and permissible, not politics and capitalism.

This does not mean we have to abandon politics, political struggles and conscience. Not at all!

On the contrary, it means that we have to determine our priorities from scratch and according to the measures set by the truth. In other words, it means that we must not confuse means with aims; it means we need to make effort to use means/tools in accordance with aims.

If a permanent spirit is going to be “developed” in Turkey, this spirit is going to be “developed” not by the top of the food chain but by the bottom.

Religious movements need to first concentrate on cultivating people, strengthening the society spirit and dynamics, re-Islamizing the society from scratch without severing its ties with politics.

Religious movements are not going to have expectations from the government, they are not going to chase after tenders; the state is going to expect radical moves from them that will build an Islamic future.

Based on principals and historical experience, it must be known well that if Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror did not have his teacher Akşemseddin and Molla Gurani, he would have been incomplete, his burden would have been great.