Some observations on the practice of Islam around Istanbul

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Through my travels to date the best experiences have been provided through exposure to cultures quite different then those I ordinarily encounter. One example is the opportunities I have had to converse with people of the Muslim faith and to observe some of the religious traditions that are part of everyday life around Istanbul. What follows are some observations I have had while trying to come to understand a group of beliefs that I am broadly labeling the Muslim religion and the practice of Islam. I am quite aware of how ignorant I am of the history and traditions of the Muslim religion. So instead of using this as a chance to sort out my comprehension of the religion's core principles, I will focus more on what I have been able to personally observe which is the way the religion affects people's everyday lives. I apologize for any way I mistakenly present facets of the Muslim religion, and I ask that anyone who is aware of such things bring them to attention.
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Arriving in Istanbul, the most striking detail I think that makes people aware of the presence of the Muslim religion is the prayer calls that are broadcast on loudspeakers from many of the operational mosques around town. These prayer calls are sung in Arabic, and I was told by someone who studies the religion that the general gist of the message is the following:

God is great, God is great.
Muhammad is his messenger, Muhammad is his messenger.
Come here for peace, come here for peace.
Come here to pray, come here to pray.

It is quite extraordinary to be going about your business and to hear one by one, a preacher in each mosque burst out into the slightly songlike/slightly chantey prayer call. I was very happy to hear that there is actually a preacher in each mosque performing the call live five times a day as opposed to a recording being broadcast over the speakers. Unfortunately though, the megaphone type speakers which are banded around the minarets on most mosques usually sound as if the volume is too high and so the prayer call which can be really quite beautiful comes across in a crackly form. Also detracting a little from the listening experience in my eyes is the fact that each mosque begins its prayer call approximately at the same time. Since there are an unbelievable number of mosques, often several within a couple blocks, the listener is treated to a number of different renditions of the prayer call, but it is hard to concentrate on any one of them since they are playing simultaneously.

Although I heard the beckoning of the prayer calls countless times while I was in Istanbul, it never actually crossed my mind to walk over to a mosque and attend a prayer. That being said, I am only relying on hearsay for what occurs at the actually prayer ceremony. One thing I found quite interesting concerning the prayer ceremony is that before the actual prayer takes place the preacher reads a short message that advises people on proper ways to incorporate the Muslim religion into their lives, and other such things. This message is actually composed by the Turkish government and is provided to each mosque with the mandatory requirement that they read it. I’m sure this message serves many purposes, but two of its functions stand out to me in particular. First, it provides a language bridge to the practice of Islam for the Turkish people. Since the prayer calls and the prayer itself are in Arabic, which few Turkish people understand, the pre-prayer message brings the religion closer to home.

Secondly, the government’s composition of this daily message is an opportunity for them to influence the way people feel about their religion and its relation to other religions and the world at large. On the good side, by composing the pre-prayer message the government can help to prevent fundamentalist ideals that honor the adoption of violence from taking hold. Another way of looking at it though is that the government, a political organization, is interfering with spirituality. This tinkering with the way the spiritual world is presented to the people is a job that I think should best be left to purely religious organizations--the kind that people can be satisfied are concerned only with spiritual enlightenment.

Considering the level of involvement the Government seems to have with the Muslim religion in Turkey, I was surprised to learn some of the ways that the government resists religious expression. An example of this is that head scarves are not allowed to be worn in schools or government buildings in Turkey. I was told by one Turkish man that this scarf regulation was one of a number of laws put into place in the early 1980’s by the government in an attempt to “modernize” Turkey. It seems, at least according to this gentleman I was speaking too, that there was a big backlash by the Turkish women in response to these policies. While forty years ago very few women wore the head veils (and even fewer wore the full facial covering that only leaves the eyes visable and is best likened to ninja garb), now the head veils are relatively common.

Those are some of the things that have fascinated me during my time spent around a greater magnitude of people practicing Islam than I am used too. I know that I still actually know very little about the Islamic religion, but I feel very lucky for getting the opportunity to learn what little bit I have.