The Directorate of Religious Affairs in Turkey has deemed it necessary to issue the following statement in response to articles published by the BBC and other media outlets in the past few days concerning the Hadith Project, which is sponsored by the Directorate of Religious Affairs and the Religious Charitable Foundation of Turkey.

It has been underlined on different occasions and by different agents that provide religious education and services in our country that it is necessary to present the message of the Prophet of Islam in a language that is uncomplicated and understandable. In this context, the Publication Board of the Directorate of Religious Affairs, in cooperation with the Religious Charitable Foundation of Turkey, has taken a concrete and comprehensive step to initiate an original study under the name of "Hadith Project".

7 Scientific Committee members, 10 verification and data preparation officials and 85 scholars from different theology faculties, all experts in the field of hadith (sayings of Prophet Muhammad), have been working on this project.

The aim of the study is to offer the message of the Prophet of Islam to a contemporary audience in a language that is easy to understand, while taking into account the interpretations concerning hadith narrations, making corrections were necessary and omitting those issues and interpretations that do not have current value.

Within the scope of the project the hadiths are explained with reference to the unity of the hadith and Quranic verses; while examining the hadiths, attention is given to the reciprocal connection that exists with the basic religious texts and the existing internal coherence between them. Above all, the similarity between the Quran and the hadiths is continually reflected in the texts. In interpreting the sayings of the Prophet, the classical hadith sources are utilized alongside the interpretations that are part of the Islamic tradition and early Quranic commentaries, jurisprudence, theology and the life of the Prophet of Islam.

As a starting point the current work takes the methodology of Islamic understanding and interpretation which has emerged from the Islamic intellectual tradition. While the Hadith Project seeks to establish a connection between hadith narrations and current thinking and scientific data, it avoids making judgments of the past based on today's thinking, and refrains from extreme interpretations.

To describe the Hadith Project with such words as "reform", "revision", or "revolution" is absolutely wrong. This mistake appears to have arisen from the attempt to define Islam and the scholarly dynamism of the Islamic world via the historical and cultural heritage of Christianity. Consequently, the Directorate is surprised and deeply saddened that this project has been associated with politics and unfortunately described with such terms as "sorting out the hadith", "interpreting the hadith within the framework of moderate Islam", in addition to the claims that "foreign advisors have been hired", "reforms have been carried out in the field of hadith", " the hadith has been made consistent with the 21^st century", and "the theological basis of Islam has been changed". Such attributes are not only opposed to the stated intent and goals of the Hadith Project, but they may also lead to misconceptions in Turkey as well as in the rest of the Islamic world.

The main aim of the Directorate of Religious Affairs is to revitalize the message of the Prophet, as has been done in the past, and to offer these blessed tenets to humanity in the most accurate and comprehensible way.

The Hadith Project was initiated and has made significant progress towards this aim; it continues under the auspices of numerous scholars in different theology faculties throughout Turkey. We are certain that the Hadith Project, which has no connection with internal or external politics, is entirely original, academic and scientific in quality. We sincerely believe that it will constitute an important step to carry the universal message of the Prophet of Islam to the 21st century.