Monthly Archives: July 2013

Ottoman Cultures: A Remarkable NEH Summer Institute

26 Friday Jul 2013

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As I fly out from Istanbul, I cannot overstate the benefits the Ottoman Cultures institute run by Primary Source will have on my teaching. The lectures on Ottoman history combined with the visits to the actual sites brought home the realities of the empire far more than either alone. Our visits to Safranbolu and Edirne especially, as well as the major mosque complexes of the capital, helped me understand the mechanisms of religion in the Empire.

In my teaching of History of the Middle East, and I have always struggled to get the right “debatable question” for the Ottoman Empire. “Why it declined” always seemed too formulaic. Now my new approach will be centered around pluralism, nationalism and multi-culturalism. I have many specific readings I will use. I also am working with Professor Sajdi to visit my school and speak about these questions. In my Introduction to Abrahamic Religious Traditions class I will include my new understandings of Sufism, saints, and the use of tombs in Islam. I can ask many new effective questions about comparing Judaism, Christianity and Islam in terms of use of mysticism.

We were divided into study groups by theme (religion, military, gender, etc.) and I learned a great amount from the presentations of the other groups. Many of the best presentations focused on bridging from what we were learning to how we can apply them to our curricula.

I perhaps learned the most from several sites we visited: Yoruk Koyu, a small village outside of Safranbolu, a waqf complex outside of Edirne, the Ulu Camii (the oldest mosque in Bursa), and living in and among the grand mosques in Istanbul during Ramazan. The most helpful lectures were with our own teachers, especially Barbara Petzen and Dana Sajdi. Also, I learned an immense amount from casual conversations with Prof. Sajdi.

I learned a tremendous amount from my colleagues on this trip. Everyone was willing to mix and match and have conversations about curriculum, our travels, school politics, and more. Teachers came from all over the country, were of different ages, experiences, and disciplines, and shared those differences in a professional and friendly way. The opportunities and encouragement for such interactions were many.

I am deeply grateful to Deborah Cunningham and Susan Zeiger for the immense amount of time they put in, over years in fact, organizing this summer institute. They should feel enormously proud of the outcome of these efforts. Their efforts have greatly enriched my teaching, and I am confident this enrichment is multiplied by all 34 participants.

The Short and Long Possibilities of Occupy Gezi, and a surprising perspective on Syria

26 Friday Jul 2013

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20130725-183418.jpgPhoto: Observant women getting holy water from the mosque of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari

I had the opportunity to hear Didem Danish, a professor of urban sociology, speak about the current events in Turkey. Like my friend I spoke to at the beginning of my trip, she is extremely excited about the recent activity. This is despite the fact that she does not think it will change the electoral balance. “It is very difficult to disrupt the right wing – 50%-60% of Turks are right wing. The only thing that would do it, and I don’t think this will happen, is the rise of another right wing party to split the vote.” She thinks long term, however, that the engagement of youth in the political process and the higher profile of issues of freedom of the press, protection of urban public spaces, freedom of assembly, etc., will be good for Turkey.

Professor Danish also made an interesting distinction. She argued, “I don’t see the Occupy Gezi movement as related to the Arab uprisings. Turkey is not Egypt. Tayyip Erdogan has authoritarian tendencies, but he is not Mubarak.”

Speaking of the Arab uprisings, I had an unexpected conversation with an acquaintance who goes to Syria quite a bit. A friend who goes to Syria quite a bit. “At first I was very sympathetic to the Syrian rebellion. But now, and I am embarrassed to admit this, I am almost privately in favor of the regime. The rebellion is so divided and is made of so many different people. 50% of the Syrians favor the regime. At least under the regime there was order. Also, whenever external groups get involved I get suspicious. Especially the American Republicans. They ruined Iraq, absolutely ruined it. So when John McCain wants to come in, I figure I likely should be opposed to it.”

Plural neighborhoods in Ottoman Istanbul, and a sour note at the Military Museum

22 Monday Jul 2013

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20130722-183301.jpgDetail from an old house in a Jewish area of Ottoman Istanbul

20130722-183512.jpgA lintel of a building in a Greek area of Ottoman Istanbul

The neighborhoods of Ottoman Istanbul sound like they were similar to parts of Queens, New York, if on a smaller scale. As one traveled through the city one would move from Jewish to Greek to Armenian to Turkish concentrations. These were not ghettos – people lived amongst one another – but religio-ethnicities tended to gather around their mosques, churches and synagogues, as well as their work. As described by Professor Sajdi as we walked through them, relations were not a model of post-modern post-nationalism, but there was certainly the co-existence frequently missing from the current Middle East. Benjamin Braude and Bernard Lewis make a similar point in the introduction to their Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire, speaking about “two opposing myths on the question of Muslim tolerance and intolerance.” They argue, “One depicts Islam and the Muslims as bigoted, intolerant, and oppressive; its best-known image is Gibbon’s legendary figure of a fanatical warrior riding out of the desert, with the Quran in one hand and the sword in the other, offering his victims a choice between the two. The other myth is of an interfaith, interracial utopia in which Muslims, Christians and Jews worked together in equality and harmony in a golden age of free intellectual endeavor. Both myths are sadly distorted, relatively recent, and products of European, not Islamic, history.” Still, they conclude, “Remarkably, this polyethnic and multi-religious society worked.”

In contrast, turn into one room in the Istanbul Military Museum, and one goes back in time – but not far enough, and not in a good way. The room’s title, “The Armenian Issue,” gives some false hope. “Issue” sounds like one might be presented differing viewpoints. Instead, one reads and views pictures only of horrors the Armenians perpetrated on the Turks. A sign speaks of the “so-called genocide.” There is no gesture towards modern museum standards, much less true scholarly efforts to bring the most accurate information into the displays. It reminded me of Eastern European museums under the communists.

I wonder who today makes the decision to leave this display in place. Who is the head of the Turkish museum authority, for example? Does he come under pressure in international conferences? Are there other Turkish museums that handle the “Armenian issue” with a greater range of evidence, and is this a result of this being a military museum? The museum does not look recently updated – do they have changes in the works? Of course, Turkish resistance to the international consensus on the “Armenian issue” is well known, but I was surprised at the lack of subtlety and rhetorical care taken in this museum’s display.

Another angle on religion in Turkish schools

21 Sunday Jul 2013

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20130721-172412.jpgSufi and other graves at the Sulemaniye Mosque complex

To complicate the narrative of religion in Turkish schools even further, I heard today about the Gülen schools. Founded by mystical leader (though he claims not to be a Sufi) Fetullah Gülen, these schools are advertised as a fascinating mix of cutting edge education in science, technology, engineering and math, as well as spiritually-inspired service education. Its critics, primarily the secularists, are worried it is a Trojan horse to introduce religion into the schools. More broadly, they claim the Gülen movement, which goes far beyond school, has many attributes of a cult. They argue it is strictly hierarchical, secretive, requires large “donations,” demands obedience, and expects members to favor each other in business and government.

A visitor to Gülen schools told me that though they claim to be ecumenical and modern, there is pressure for women to wear hijab, and that men and women do not sit together in the faculty lounge.

The movement is too complicated for me to explore in depth, but if you are interested check out the Wikipedia article. They have been founding schools around the world, including in the United States.

Pictures of an idealized past (future?)

20 Saturday Jul 2013

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In the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, one encounters beautiful art shops. There one can find many idealized visions of a Jewish Jerusalem. One that especially struck me was a painting of the Western Wall, from a perspective that in real life would have to include prominently the Dome of the Rock. Yet there is no Dome – only a small copse of trees. There are also paintings of the Second Temple, which could be interpreted as historical paintings and not references to a hoped-for future – or both.

20130720-150341.jpgSomething’s missing…

I was fascinated yesterday to come across a painting of Hagia Sophia in an art shop near the church/mosque/museum. The painting showed the church without the minarets. Superimposed in the sky to one side was the image of Jesus from one of the mosaics inside. Who is the market for this image, I wonder? Greek Orthodox visitors, or simply any Christian?

Professor Kafadar on religion and the Ottoman state

19 Friday Jul 2013

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20130719-194851.jpgReligion and state at the center of the Empire: the Sultanahmet Mosque

Today I had the privilege of hearing a lecture from Professor Cemal Kafadar, one of the leading scholars of Turkish Studies. His talk ranged far and wide, but I focused on his discussion on religion in the Ottoman Empire. His primary theme: the Empire was more deeply involved in the organization of religious practice than any prior Islamic regime.

The basic roles of the professional religious were the same as in much of the Islamic world. The graduates from the madrases, the ulama, were, as they still are, religio-legal scholars. They followed three career paths: professor, mufti or qadi. Professors in the madrases, like today, would teach and write commentaries on books. Muftis were jurisconsults, very similar to rabbis giving responsa. Individual muftis’ rulings, or fatwas, would be followed to the extent these scholars were respected by their community. Thus they were not court rulings. Qadis were judges who offered binding court rulings, registered business relationships, marriages and divorces, and regulated the weights and measures in the marketplaces.

The Ottoman state revealed its influence in how it ranked the madrases in three ranks of competitiveness and quality. They also created a pyramidal hierarchy of muftis and qadis, all the way from the local level to the Sheik al-Islam. They frequently used the phrase “religion and state.” Professor Kafadar gave the example, “We must do such-and-so, for the good of religion and state.” Thus the two were explicitly tied both in practice and in rhetoric.

Professor Kafadar’s did not have time to discuss Sufism much, but I have seen much about Sufism in the Empire in my time in Turkey. I suspect that the Ottoman government’s heavy intervention in the official religion pushed those who wanted more religious flexibility into the alternative path of the mystical masters.

Speaking with Turkish teachers about religion

19 Friday Jul 2013

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Recently we had the chance to speak with a group of Turkish high school teachers and professors of education. We discussed the common concerns of teachers – serving students of differing backgrounds and abilities, preparing students for standardized tests, responding effectively to parental concerns, etc. I also had the opportunity to ask a little bit about teaching religion in the schools. Unfortunately I was not able to get into the detail I would have liked, but one point struck me.

I was speaking with a very secular teacher who expressed dismay at a recent change in the schools. Prior to two years ago, the state funded a relatively small number of religious high schools, intended to train students for the ministry or for Qur’anic teaching. They have now begun these religious schools with middle school, and expanded the number of students. The teacher commented, “They want to get the girls to cover [wear the hijab] as soon as they are adults” (meaning the traditional religious definition, c. 12 years old). The teacher also claimed that there would not be enough jobs for the people who gradate from these schools. When I asked another, passionately secular Turk, about this change he said “the Islamic radicals [note – those were his words – I think “religious conservatives” might be more accurate] want the student to go to these schools before he can think for himself and say no to his parents.”

On the other hand, a friend asked another secular teacher, “Are students allowed time off during school to pray?” and she reports that the teacher seemed horrified. “No – they can pray on their own time.” And the veil is still disallowed in the state schools. If I am understanding the situation correctly, then, the schools appear to be a battleground for enforced secularism vs. enforced religiosity.

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Establishing legitimacy in newly occupied areas

17 Wednesday Jul 2013

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Professor Sajdi spoke to us about the early Ottoman presence in three ancient cities: Aleppo, Damascus and Cairo. How did the Empire “Ottomanize” areas more historically rich than they were? After all, Damascus was the first capital of the first Islamic Empire, the Umayyads, from 661-750. It was also the historical center of Islamic learning, as Professor Sajdi said, of both jurisprudence and Sufism. She explain, “If you were a scholar from Sarajevo and you wanted to get a job in Istanbul, you needed to spend a few years in Damascus and prove yourself there.”

So how does an “upstart” empire gain legitimacy in cities and regions that have more traditional authority that it does? In each city the regional governor would endow a complex – mosque, soup kitchen, school, fountain and caravansary. They would not put it in the middle of the city, but rather on the edge. They would use the local architectural vernacular – in the Arab lands, that would be Mamluk design). As people began to use the services, they identified more and more as part of the Empire. It is an interesting and effective approach.

We visited a such a kind of complex on the edge of Edirne, constructed by Sultan Beyazid II in the 1400s. Parenthetically, it is one of the most beautifully designed museums I have been to, and has won many awards. Arranged around a series of courtyards are the mosque, the hospital, the medical school and the soup kitchen.

20130717-143023.jpgRecreation of the pharmacy in the Ottoman hospital in Edirne

In a different area were the caravanserai and the bathhouse, now lost. The medicine practiced looked painful and frequently ineffective if not actively harmful, but I had to remember that compared to Western Europe in the 15th Century it was quite advanced!

Competing and interacting civilizations in Edirne

17 Wednesday Jul 2013

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Visiting the three great mosques of Edirne gives one a history of Ottoman architecture in the 15th and 16th centuries. As time passes the expanse of the central dome grows, and simultaneously the simplicity of the wall decorations increases. Thus in the Old mosque in Edirne, like in the Ulu mosque in Bursa, there are the huge names of God and his followers on the walls.

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There is less of that in the Three Balconies mosque. When we get to the Suleyman Mosque, there is a grand central dome, resting on massive pillars far on the circumference, while allowing a great deal of light from the sides. Sinan, the famous architect of many 16th century Ottoman buildings, thought this was his greatest building.

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Edirne has much to love beyond its remarkable mosques. Beautiful Ottoman bridges, an elegant caravansary, and a lovely walking area downtown. Edirne is now right on the border – signs point to Bulgaria and Greece, each just a few kilometers away. Even in historical times, however, Edirne faced Christian Europe – it was the jumping off point for any offensive (and later defensive) actions in the Balkans.

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Indeed, considering both Edirne’s military and architectural legacy shows just how involved with Christendom the Ottoman Empire was in these centuries. Sinan was quite consciously seeking to create a monument as grand as the Aya Sofia. Several sultans were crowned in the mosque when they were ruling from Edirne. This is unusual in Islam they probably got the idea from Byzantine crowning rites in churches.Once the Empire conquered the Balkans and before it expanded to take the Arab lands, the Ottoman Empire was a Christian-majority empire!

20130717-132728.jpgSuleyman Mosque in Edirne at night

History well remembered

16 Tuesday Jul 2013

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In contrast to my observations of erasing the past at the Nicaean cathedral, the sites at Gallipoli are fully remembered. If I were an Australian or New Zealand visitor, I would feel highly respected by the Turkish peoples’ commemoration of my losses in World War I. There are 35 ANZAC graveyards across the Galibolu Penninsula, and 20 Turkish ones. There is a statement by Ataturk assuring the mothers of those lost that Turkey will care for their sons as if they were her own sons. Each site is clearly marked, with signs an maps in both English and Turkish. It is not that the Turks have deemphasized their victory – there are practically cult of personality narratives about Ataturk’s heroic role. But that can exist side-by-side with the commemoration of the Anzac forces.

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Another place where historical memory is being honored is at the 19th Century synagogue in Edirne. It was a ruin for a long time after a fire, and the city has been restoring it. The synagogue is in much better shape than the last time our guide saw it.

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