Islam
Islam is one of the three great monotheistic religions. Like Christians, Muslims believe that the world was created by God/Allah. They consider Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus as prophets. But Muslims do not attribute a divine character to Jesus. For Islam, Moses and Jesus were prophets and Muhammad remains the most important and the last of them. And it is to him that Allah is said to have transmitted the ultimate revelation.
Islam has experienced several schisms over the centuries, but the entire Muslim community respects the five fundamental obligations.
The 5 pillars of Islam
The profession of faith. "There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his Prophet."
The prayer. It takes place 5 times a day after ablutions, at dawn, at noon, in the afternoon, at sunset and at nightfall. The believer turns to Mecca, wherever he is. Friday is the day of the great common prayer, led by the imam, in the mosque.
Fasting. It takes place in the 9th month of the Muslim calendar (Ramadan).
The alms. Believers purify themselves by giving a donation to the poorest.
The pilgrimage to Mecca. Every Muslim must, if he can afford it, make this pilgrimage at least once in his life, which corresponds to the great feast of sacrifice, the last month of the Muslim year.
The Islam practiced in Turkey is mainly Sunnism of the Hanafi school. During the Ottoman Empire, the sultan also held the religious title of caliph. He was thus the guarantor of orthodoxy and the commander of all believers. Heterodox Muslim communities, on the other hand, had no representatives of their own and did not benefit from the "millet" system granted to Christians and Jews, which allowed a religious group to be legally protected. In the Ottoman Empire, it was better to be a non-Muslim than a Shiite.
Ramadan
This month-long fast aims to purify body and soul. Fasting, between sunrise and sunset, is the most visible manifestation of this, but deprivations also affect tobacco, perfumes and social and sexual life. These sacrifices are intended to strengthen the will of the faithful and make them aware of human suffering. Ramadan implies more mutual aid and charity towards the poorest. This makes it a sacred month for Muslims, during which they purify themselves and draw closer to God. It is an integral part of the country's cultural life, and even non-Muslims gather at dusk for iftar (breaking the fast).
Although Ramadan is observed by only 35% to 40% of the population, this proportion is not the same everywhere. In Istanbul's Fatih district, the figure rises to 90%, while in the Pangaltı or Bomonti districts, only 15% follow the tradition.
Economic life is slightly disrupted in big cities like Istanbul; the whole city takes part in the festivities. Some stores and restaurants close earlier, and late-night drinking is rarer, but still present in festive districts such as Kadıköy and Beşiktaş. During Ramadan, the most popular venues are cafés and restaurants with upstairs or basement seating. Generally speaking, eating in the street is no longer as frowned upon as it was just a few years ago, even in neighborhoods considered conservative such as Üsküdar. Turks are very tolerant about this, especially towards foreigners. Some restaurants are closed during the day during Ramadan, and only open in the evening. Shortly before sunset, the dining rooms fill up and believers wait faithfully for the ezan, the call to evening prayer announcing the breaking of the fast. They then drink a little water and devour their meal. It's also common for shopkeepers to set up large tables in front of their stalls so that everyone can eat together. The evening continues with many a cigarette and glass of tea.
Ramadan is also accompanied by little traditions, such as starting meals with an olive or a date (Mohammed's custom). Certain foods are made and eaten only during the holy month, such as the round, flat bread known as pide (a must-try delicacy). Intercity bus schedules may be modified to allow passengers and staff to stop for ezan. If not, there's always someone on the bus to take out a loaf and share it with the others. The non-Muslim tourist can have breakfast at any time in his hotel, or easily find a kebab for lunch. Ramadan is followed by a festival that can last several days (Seker Bayramı, or Sugar Festival). During Ramadan, it is forbidden to eat after sunrise. People who want to have breakfast before a long day's work therefore wake up at dawn. Traditionally, a drummer passes through every street to wake the pious sleepers. For forty days, he criss-crosses the city, trying to make as much noise as possible. Generally, he then passes through each building to claim compensation for his trouble.
Wearing the veil in Turkey
Since the establishment of the Republic, the wearing of the veil, a headscarf tied loosely in the hair, has been forbidden in the administration and at university. However, since the AKP came to power in the early 2000s, the question of whether the headscarf should be allowed on university campuses has been the subject of heated debate, between hard-line secularists in the Kemalist tradition on the one hand, and conservative Muslims and feminists on the other, for whom the headscarf is an expression of free, individual choice.
At the start of the 2010 academic year, the headscarf was authorized on campus, then at university in 2014, closely followed by the lifting of the ban in the civil service, with the exception of certain professions such as the army, the police and the judiciary. The cohabitation of religion and secularism has given rise to numerous tensions and ambiguities. For example, while a law student may cover her head during her studies, she will not be able to work as a magistrate if she wears a headscarf. However, the ruling party, with its Islamo-conservative leanings, moderates the ban, indicating that female jurists or members of the police force could benefit from the right to wear the headscarf if their hierarchy authorizes them to do so. Wearing the full veil, however, remains prohibited.
The Alevis
There is also a large non-Sunni Muslim minority whose members are known as Alevis. They have developed religious beliefs and practices inspired by animism, shamanism, shiism and popular Sufism. This heterodox minority, whose numbers are estimated to be between 20 and 25 per cent of the total Turkish population, has a reputation for being particularly supportive of the inauguration of the republican regime. They are still an innovative and open-minded community. As early as the 1920s, they were seen as strong advocates of secularism. They are often referred to as the "Protestants of Islam" because they are related to Shi'ism through their recognition of Ali and the Imams who succeeded him. Alevis differ from Turkish Muslim orthodoxy in a number of ways. They do not follow daily prayers, pilgrimage or the Ramadan fast. They do not have mosques, but they have collective and mixed ceremonies during which they dance and sing. They do not respect the prohibition of alcohol, defend the free interpretation of the Koran and celebrate the cult of saints to whom they attribute supernatural powers.
In times of identity crisis, these practices have given rise to demonstrations of mistrust and hostility. In 1993, in Sivas, a group of Alevi artists and intellectuals gathered for a cultural festival was blocked in a hotel by radical Islamists. After several hours of siege, they set fire to the hotel. The fire caused the death of 37 people.
Spread mainly in the countryside in the 1950s, today, with the rural exodus, Alevism has spread to the cities.
The whirling dervishes - Sufism
The name "whirling dervishes" originates from the Persian word darwich, which means "poor". These Muslim clerics belong to the Sufi order of Mevlevi, founded in the 13th century by the mystic poet Jalal al-Din al-Rumi, designed to Islamize the steppes of Christian Anatolia through song, dance, trance and poetry. The whirling dervishes are a Muslim brotherhood that enters into communion with God through mystical dances. This brotherhood is divided into several branches, the best known being undoubtedly that of the mevlevi. There are also the bektachis and a branch called howling dervishes, whose members enter into a trance after a long period of singing resembling howling.
Considered a sect by orthodox Islam (Sunni), the dervish brotherhood was banned in 1925 by the laws of Atatürk. The convents were closed, but the followers continued to practice in secret until the 1950s, when a certain tolerance allowed them to reintegrate their former places of worship. Today, this order is only present in two cities, Istanbul and Konya, where several convents (tekke) are still active and where you can attend ceremonies. These have become tourist attractions and should be avoided.
The Christians
It is difficult to estimate precisely the number of Christians living in Turkey, especially since they are divided into different rites, dogmas and groups. The Armenians are the largest group, numbering about 400,000 throughout Turkey, with a high concentration in the cities, especially Istanbul. The Greek Orthodox, on the other hand, are few in number. They number some 30,000 and the community is aging. They are settled in the major cities and on the islands of Gokçeada and Bozcaada, for the most part. There are also Arabs and Orthodox Turks, Moluccans, Russians, Bulgarians, Serbs, Arnautes (Albanians), Orthodox Georgians...
Roman Catholics live in the cities of Istanbul, Akara, Izmir and Antakya. The Eastern Catholics are found throughout the country, especially in Istanbul and Izmir.
In the southeast, the Christian community of Jacobite Syrians, or Assyrians, is important. Tur Abdin is the center of their culture. The Syrian conflict has considerably increased their numbers in the country.
The Jews
It is a small community concentrated mostly in Istanbul, but also in Edirne, Bursa, Çanakkale, Izmir, Antakya and Kuşadası. Jews represent just under 20,000 people in the country. 90% of this community are Sephardic Jews driven out of Spain in the 14th century. The rest are Ashkenazi, Marranos, Karaites.
