Tag Archives: Istanbul

So much for modernity

08 Saturday Nov 2014

Posted by in Islam in Global Affairs class

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Once again I find myself deeply thankful to Dr. Muqtedar Khan. I was his guest at the Jerrahi tekke, or Sufi Lodge, in Istanbul.ilminfazileti_1337523976184

The spaces are small but rich in history. The complex has about six rooms that I saw, with the main room having some attributes of a mosque. The focus is a beautifully tiled mihrab pointing the direction of Mecca. A balcony for women surrounds several sides, and the walls are completely covered in framed calligraphy – names of Allah, the Prophet, the Companions, and the founder and leading Shaykhs of the tekke. They did not allow photography, but after some searching I found this photo on a website featuring a list of tekkes in Istanbul.

We entered at about 7pm to find men sitting around in small groups, most wearing white caps. Women and kids were passing back and forth through to the balcony. There was quiet talking, and as Dr. Khan described it, fellowship. Some of the men are just members of the lodge, and some are darwishes – those who seek to follow this particular shaykh’s path to awareness of God. Over the next hour the rooms filled, and at about 8:30pm all aligned to say the Isha, or night prayer. After the prayer, people shifted a bit and the prayer leaders started to sing and chant. Occasionally there were full responses from all – mostly Amen, sometimes praises to God. Slowly the congregation took over from the prayer leaders with repetitive chanting. They began to bow slightly to one side and another. The chant was very simple – often just “Allah”.
Sometimes what is being chanted changed, and the volumes and speed rose or fell. Occasionally the prayer leaders sang a melody over the chant.

As the chants and swaying continued, I ceased registering time. At some point those less experienced shifted into the outer rooms, which had archway views into the main room. The men into main room circled and started a different chant, this with a strong breath component. The sound was “Hu” meaning, I believe, “Him” – God. The whole room breathed as one.

The circle started to rotate, with several men in the center moving counter to the main rotation. One wearing a tall light brown cap began to spin slowly, one hand up and one down. Again time was not registering. At some point the circle and the spinner slowed and stopped. The chant continued for some time, and it too came to an end. The sheik proceeded to a seat where he would deliver a sermon. We slipped out – 11:30pm.

The title of this entry, “so much for modernity”, is something Dr. Khan said to me. Consider so many people, spending a whole evening together, voluntarily, “unproductively” and with no technology. I am, generally, a big fan of modernity – especially the expanding circle of empathy, the chance for improved health, and the dissemination of knowledge. It is true, however, that we must continue to strive for genuine contact with one another and with enduring truths.

 

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Must sovereignty over holy cities be a core value for those with a strong religious identity?

03 Wednesday Sep 2014

Posted by in Islam in Global Affairs class

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Should Episcopalians be willing to go to war to protect this congregation's right to visit the Holy Sepulcher, 8 miles south?

Should Episcopalians be willing to go to war to protect this congregation’s right to visit the Holy Sepulcher, 8 miles south?

Most Christians are not upset about Istanbul being in Muslim hands, or Jerusalem being in Jewish hands. Are they therefore no longer as committed to their faith? These Christians would say no, that they have transcended the need to possess a place to consider it holy and to participate in that holiness. Professor Khan, however, challenged me on this position. He argued that non-Christian sovereignty of these places is hurting their status as sacred spaces for Christians. Examples:

-Permits for Palestinian Christians to worship in Jerusalem are difficult to get. The scope of operations of existing Christian churches and schools are tightly circumscribed by the state, and the government pressures churches to sell their land. Meanwhile, synagogues and yeshivas are being built with state support, even in traditionally Christian and Muslim neighborhoods.

-The current Turkish government is undermining an 80 year-long agreement between Muslims and Christians to classify contested religious sites as museums. Most famously, Hagia Sophia in Istanbul had been the Patriarchal Cathedral of Constantinople for 900 years, then a mosque until being designated a museum in 1931. But there is more and more discussion and demonstrating to turn it back into a mosque, as the government has done to the ancient church-mosque-museum in Iznik, the town in which the early Christian church met to formulate the Nicene Creed.

Similarly, Professor Khan questioned the religious identity of Muslims who are not pushing hard enough to liberate al-Quds. He told a story of polling a large number of Muslims at a conference about the four cities they most valued. They all answered Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem, (the “good Muslim” answer) and then most answered their home city. He asked them if they would take up arms if a foreign, non-Muslim country occupied their home city. Many said yes, and he responded that these must be lying about something. Jerusalem was occupied, from their perspectives as Muslims, by a foreign, non-Muslim state and they had not gone to fight. Either they valued their hometown more than Jerusalem, or they would not really go to fight for their hometown.

Despite the above example, Professor Khan argued that on average Muslims (and Jews) are more committed to sovereignty of their holy cities than are Christians. He and my classmate Bushra emphasized, for example, how it would be inconceivable for Muslims to give up Mecca to non-believers.

So, to use the language of Professor Khan in his book Jihad for Jerusalem, are holy places an incontestable core value for most Christians anymore? If so, why the lack of concern about some of those places? If not, does that show a weakening of Christian religious identity, an evolution, or something else? Does the relatively stronger passion more Jews and Muslims currently hold to control their holy cities show a stronger religious identity overall?

Hearing firsthand about the Turkish protests

07 Sunday Jul 2013

Posted by in NEH Seminar

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Arriving in Taksim Square, my first reaction was the mix of normalcy and police presence. A few blocks off the square there are busses and busses of police, hanging out in the shade, checking their cell phones, having coffee. In Gezi Park, which is cordoned off with police tape, there are police and muscular young gentlemen in civilian clothes (hmmm…who could they be?) sitting at the tables enjoying the afternoon breeze. I think if you are higher ranking you get to sit in the park, while the lower ranks have to stick near the bus.

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In and around the square there is the occasional semi-automatic rifle armed cop, but not very many. This afternoon the mission is not “make your presence felt.” Perhaps the biggest giveaway is the line of water-hose armored trucks parked on one side of the square. When a man volunteered to give me directions, he ended with “You know we are having a war here. Be careful.” (I think he was enjoying trying to frighten the tourist.) But there are many, many people out strolling and shopping.

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I had the chance to talk at length with one young woman who has been very involved in the protests. Hanging just inside her apartment door were her hard hat, goggles and filtration mask.

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She seemed extremely optimistic, and when I asked her, she agreed and explained why. “When friends used to come, they saw the economy doing well and the nightlife in this neighborhood – you know, the ‘modern Islamic democracy.’ I had to tell them that this was not the whole story. For example, in this neighborhood I can live alone as a woman, but just one neighborhood over a wife can be beaten for talking to a man. Now the whole world knows [that the government does not always protect human rights].”

I mentioned to her how odd I found Prime Minister Erdogan’s use of the word terrorist, when the protesters were plainly young secularists using non-violent tactics almost exclusively. “Yes! But actually I hope they [the government] continue to talk like this. It shows people who they really are. The AKP is not backing down at all. They just keep pushing. For example, Ramadan begins soon. Their plan for Gezi Park is to give AKP [Erdogan’s party] people tickets and let them into the park for Iftar [the breaking of the fast on Ramadan evenings]! I mean, if you are not wearing a scarf you do not count for this government.”

I asked her what was next. “I think we should go to parliament – form our own political party.” I asked her about the current opposition party. “They are arrogant…I mean, they want what is best for the people, not like Erdogan. But the CHP – you know, this is Ataturk’s party, and they treat him like a god. I mean, I have no problem with Ataturk, but this is too much. We should bring together our own political party.”