One
of our prominent ulema in North America once recommended that Muslims
throughout the world make it a habit to patronize Islamic countries during
their vacations (as opposed to other places people tend to visit, such as
Europe and the States). The idea behind
this sentiment, I suppose, is to help other Islamic countries economically, but
also to allow us to explore various Muslim cultures throughout the world in a
spirit of cooperation and understanding.
With these thoughts in mind, in choosing a suitable vacation
destination, my wife and I very easily decided that we would like to spend a
week exploring Turkey.
I
left for Turkey without knowing or expecting much – I had a childhood friend
whose family was from Turkey, but I really knew little about Turkish history,
language or culture (in hindsight, this is a good thing, because when you
expect little/nothing, you always end up being pleasantly surprised). What follows are some brief observations
from the trip that I would like to share.
Religion
and Culture
The
Turkish people’s understanding and expression of their religious identity is
interesting, to say the least!
First,
despite being founded by a staunchly secular and in some ways anti-Muslim
leader (Ataturk), Turkey is a Muslim country through and through, and visible
signs of religion are present throughout the country. Wherever we went in Turkey (even the
touristy Westernized areas), we saw loads of women in hijab – and often,
conservative hijab (in addition to the headscarf, loose body-length
coats). Similarly, there are mosques
EVERYWHERE, on every street corner. Many
of the mosques are actually quite old (built during the Ottoman period) and
have been renovated over time, but are still used by worshippers. For us, it was beautiful to be able to hear
the azaan five-times a day, and to hop into a nearby mosque for prayer instead
of having to find a private area to pray.
Muslim mannerisms are also present, as people regularly greet each other
with salaam and maintain a respectable distance between genders. Of course, halaal food is available
everywhere, and it is quite delicious!
Despite
this, Turkey’s religious identity has some interesting contradictions. For one, alcohol seemed to be very prevalent
(at least in the areas we visited). Many
of the restaurants we saw served alcohol and often had their own bars,
etc. Further, despite the plethora of beautiful
and historic mosques, overall, I got the impression that regular prayer was
something most people took lightly.
Other than the jumuah prayer, the mosques were often empty around prayer
time.
The
latter point led me to thinking about Turkey’s Islamic culture, and our own
relationship with religious identity in the US.
In Turkey, Islam seemed to be something very embedded and deeply rooted
in the cultural norms of the country.
That is, religious etiquettes were in the people’s blood – their
kindness, their generosity, their hospitality, the respectable distance between
men and women, etc. This was true even
despite the general lack of importance given to prayer (though the
inattentiveness to prayer is not something to condone). For me, however, this illustrated an
important lesson for us in our efforts to establish Islamic identity in the
US. In our efforts, we sometimes focus
almost incessantly on minor fiqhi disputes and other times engage in partisan
political bickering that has very little relevance to our day to day experience
as Muslims. What I think we need to realize,
however, is that our disproportionate attention to these issues often hinders
us in our efforts to establish an Islamic community that upholds, values, and
sustains religious ethics and etiquettes.
This clicked when I was in Turkey – in Turkey, Islam is not a foreign entity
imposed from above using harsh fiqhi rulings.
Rather, Islam is a culture and a way of life that has been slowly
inculcated in the norms and etiquettes of people, to the extent that it is now
completely embedded in the society and respected by largely everyone (even
those who aren’t ostensibly religious). Thus,
for us in the US, I think it behooves us to focus on maintaining Islamic
etiquettes and seeking to create an indigenous Islamic culture just as much as
we do on following all minute details of fiqh.
Of course, fiqh is also important, because people do need to learn the
rules (and the rules often go hand in hand with culture), but I believe the
aforementioned approach is more balanced and will create a more sustainable Muslim-American
community long term.
Tourism
Turkey
has been the home to numerous diverse civilizations over time, including various
ancient civilizations, and more recently, the Romans, the Byzantines
(Christian), and the Ottomans (Muslim).
As a result, its image is one of a melting pot of civilizations and
cultures (and remarkably, it’s able to market this image despite being 99%
Muslim). Thus, many of the common
tourist attractions are not only historical mosques and Ottoman buildings, but
very old churches, Roman ruins, etc. It
was nice to see a Muslim country recognize its non-Islamic heritage and how
that heritage has influenced its current outlook.
The
tourism industry is absolutely booming in Turkey. In the areas that we visited, Istanbul and
Cappadocia, there was just throngs and throngs of tourists from every nook and
corner of the world. For example, we passed
by several large groups of hundreds of tourists from China, and we saw loads of
visitors from Arab countries. Likewise,
during our own tours, we met couples from Italy, Australia, Dubai, Peru and
India.
I
was so impressed by the number and diversity of visitors to Turkey that I did
some quick research on this when I returned home. I found that Turkey currently ranks 6th worldwide in
terms of international tourist arrivals, trailing countries like France, Italy
and the US but ahead of countries
like Germany, the UK and Russia. This
really got me thinking about how much other Muslim countries could benefit from
international tourism if their governments emphasized it. Countries such as Iran, Afghanistan, etc.
have no shortage of natural beauty and their own unique cultures, and I fully
believe that they have the resources to accomplish what Turkey has accomplished
in terms of tourism.
The
People
Turkish
people are some of the kindest people I’ve met.
Despite having most of the amenities of modernity (paved roads, access
to clean water/electricity, a stable government infrastructure, widespread
internet access), it seems that the Turkish people have (thus far) have not
dived head-first in a race to adopt Western cultural norms and etiquettes. Instead, the people have maintained several
distinct aspects of their own culture.
One small example of this is hospitality – whenever you go out shopping
in Turkey, be prepared to be offered a cup of hot Turkish tea and sit and chat
with the shop owners for some time.
Likewise, if you ever need assistance, people are always willing to go
the extra mile to help you with what you need.
Additionally,
I noticed a certain level of contentment in the people that is often lacking in
the people here in the States. Here,
we’re always told to aim higher, to “be someone,” to achieve something, which
can be a damaging mentality in some ways.
Yet, many of the people I met in Turkey seemed genuinely pleased with
their lot in life, whether that was as a hotel clerk, a maid, a driver or a
shop owner in a bazaar. Sure, economic
pressures still exist and people worry about supporting their families, but
this constant state of discontent and an urge to do/achieve more and more just
isn’t present.
Likewise,
and relatedly, Turkish people seem very cooperative with one another,
particularly in the workplace. In the
various shops and businesses we visited, staff members always seemed willing to
help one another to do what needed to be done (e.g. make a sale, etc.). There didn’t seem to be any bickering about
job duties. Despite not making very much
in terms of wages, people seemed to be happy to be at work. In fact, the entire concept of “work” is
different there – “work” doesn’t seem to be something very distinct from
“home,” as people spend the vast majority of their days at “work,” but not in
the sense that we think of it here.
Shops open early (around 9am) and close late (around 9-10pm), often
manned by only one or two shopkeepers.
Yet, those shopkeepers work very leisurely throughout the day, having
tea regularly, sometimes leaving their shops to chat with friends at nearby
shops, even opening and closing their stores at their own whim throughout the
day if needed.
In
sum, my wife and I loved our visit to the country and took home many fond
memories of our time there. If you or
your loved ones have the opportunity to travel abroad in the near future, we
definitely recommend that you consider a visit to Turkey.
