|
The Blue Mosque in Istanbul
|
|
The Blue Mosque in Istanbul
|
| Two boys happily dressed for a big event in their life |
In Turkey, there are beautiful examples of houses of worship of both Byzantine Christians (around 200AD to 800AD), the iconoclast period(800AD-1000AD) where all images of people/saints etc. were destroyed, and the Seljuk and Ottoman Turks (1100-1922AD) who brought the Muslim faith here. As discussed earlier about Aya Sofia, some Christian churches were converted to mosques and vestiges of both are now visible -- these are now museums rather than active houses of worship today.
The cultural aspect of Islam in Turkey is particularly noticeable regarding the role of women. In a cosmopolitan city like Istanbul, women wear what they want and you see the full spectrum of attire from the headscarf-covered woman wearing a long dress with a full length coat buttoned up over it (even in 80-90 degree weather) to most of the young wearing standard fashions (with the exception of bare midriffs or extremely short skirts).
But in the conservative city of Konya, it is unusual and basically unacceptable for women to show their shoulders, even the upper chest is covered (no scoop neck shirts). When I had to go out alone one afternoon in search of an internet cafe (Bill was under the weather) I was VERY uncomfortable wearing my sleeveless dress, even though it was ankle-length. I am normally squeamish alone in a big city, but here, the men stopped chatting over their tea along the sidewalk cafes (women do not go to sidewalk cafes here) and openly gawked. Later, I went out wearing a shawl covering all exposed skin below the neck and asked Gary, a fellow traveler to accompany me. Upon walking the same street, the gawking did not subside and he said "Wow, I thought you were exaggerating!" I was never sure what caused the staring -- another fellow traveler suggested it was the fact that my long skirt was brightly colored and with my dark hair, perhaps they thought I was a gypsy (most clothing in Konya is also conservatively colored: browns, dark blue, black, gray).
Women do pray in the mosque at the same time as men, but segregated in a balcony or different side of the mosque. The reason is the posture for praying: kneeling on the ground with one's forehead to the floor -- from behind it is too seductive a pose.
Our final cultural experience relating to religion in Turkey was a very enlightening one since we knew almost nothing about the subject going in. We visited the memorial to the man known as Mevlana in Turkey, but known as Rami in America -- he was the inspiration for the beginning of Sufiism, also known as the Whirling Dervishes. The teachings are founded in beliefs regarding respect for all of the earth and all living things, and peace and harmony are generated from within oneself. His beliefs and the timeframe of his life closely parallels that of St.Francis of Assisi, but the followers often reach a state of meditation and spirituality through whirling (hence the name). A very interesting and educational experience and I plan to find and read a book of his poetry when we return.