Uruç

You heard it here first. Bu sene ben Ramazan uruçu tutuyorum.  Get ready for grumpy Hugh.

Photos

Everyone,

Here is the public link to all my photos!  Enjoy!

Bursa 2012 Photos HERE!!!

The link is also underneath the blog title

Iznik, Christianity, and Islam

Yesterday, my class went to Iznik (better known to Christians as Nicaea).  It is famous in Turkey for its tile works, but was notable for me for the Council of Nicaea, the Nicene Creed, and the 7^th Ecumenical Council on iconography.  Today, Iznik is a pretty rundown backwater and many of its pre Islamic historical architecture is destroyed by fire, earthquake, or repeated conquest. 

The Council of Nicaea, convened by Emperor Constantine to discuss the divinity of Christ, took place in the wooden imperial palace that has long ago disappeared.  But the Seventh Ecumenical Council is possibly more interesting.  It was a meeting in the 700’s between the four Patriarchies of Christendom: Rome; Constantinople; Alexandria; and Antioch, to discuss the role that icons should play in the Church.  At this point, Icons had not been used in churches for decades from a fear that the images themselves had become objects of worship.  The decision of the council was that Icons could be revered but not adored.  But according to an inaccurate translation, the Roman Patriarchy was offended enough to leave the other three, founding what is today the Roman Catholic Church.   In short, this meeting led to the split between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. 

This Council took place in Aya Sofia church, which is still standing.  But the building deserves its own explanation.  The church was built in the 600’s, but was converted to a mosque when the Ottomans arrived in Iznik.  It was terribly damaged by earthquakes, and was restored (they put a roof on it, and rebuilt the minaret which had fallen) and made a museum within the last decade and a half.  But two years ago, it was reconverted to a functioning mosque. 

It is a fascinating building.  There are Byzantine mosaics by the entrance. And while the alter of the church faces east, the mosque is orientated to the south-east to face Mecca.  The center of the building is carpeted in the manner of an Islamic prayer room, but surrounded by the gravel that is used in the church museum as a floor.  It is strikingly different from any mosque I’ve seen.  But perhaps the most surprising thing there are the frescoes.  In the church’s front tower, there are fragments of wall paintings depicting St. Andrew (who evangelized the region), angels, and crosses.  But these are separate from the prayer room.  But in the prayer room, protected by Plexiglas is a fragment of a frescoe depicting Jesus, Mary, and John the Baptist. 

We often get the impression that Islam is a religion of violence, repression, and intolerance.  But I have seen nothing but the opposite in my stay here.  I have been invited to join kandil prayers (I declined, though I washed and observed), I listen daily to the music of the calls to prayer, I am consistently amazed by the design and simplistic beauty of mosques, and I am surprised by the willingness of Muslims to talk with me about my faith and the role of Jesus in relation to Christianity’s and Islam’s shared heritage through Abraham.  And now, in one of the most important buildings in Christian history, there is a working mosque, that has proactively protected the Christian history in its worship space. 

This is not the Islam of intolerance that often springs to mind and jumps from television and the pages of newspapers.   This is the Islam of knowledge, peace, and compassion that at one point made the Islamic world the center of science, technology, and literature.  And this is an Islam that has made a permanent impression on me.  

Musings on Atatürk

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.  Fact: Born Mustafa in Thessalonica, Greece. Second Fact: Name literally translates to Mustafa Kemal perfection Atatürk Father of the Türks (ironic as he had no biological children).

Atatürk is Turkey’s version of George Washington, but if Washington had invented the English Language, and after chopping down the cherry tree, had invented cherry pie and used the ax handle as the first baseball bat. 

In Türkiye, Atatürk is a constant presence.  Statues of him are in every city in the country.  His picture is in every public building, almost all private businesses, and a good percentage of private residences as well.  Every car has either a decal of either the Turkish flag or Atatürk‘s signature in the window, and every house where he spent more than 12 hours is invariably a museum.  There are streets in every city named for him, stadiums, bridges, and parks.  Everything is named for Atatürk. 

So why is he so omnipresent in Turkish life Culture?  To begin with, he really was an extraordinary individual.  He was a war hero in the Turkish-Balkan War, the Turkish-Greek War, and World War I (including the battle of Gallipoli where it could be argued that the modern Australian state has its impetus, and where Atatürk gave an incredible speech). 

After WWI, the Ottoman Empire as an ally of Germany and Austria-Hungary, was dismantled and divided between Greek and Italian interests in the west and French and British interests in the east, leaving Turkey a sliver of coast.  Turkish politics was controlled by the last Ottoman Sultan who also served as the last Caliph, blending Ottoman politics and pan-Islamic politics.  Atatürk led the nationalist revolt against the occupying forces, citing Wilson’s 14 Points for legitimacy. 

After the War of Independence, Atatürk remade a backwards looking Islamist state into the Western looking, but still Muslim, state.  The difference was that religion played no role in the new government.  The Fez was outlawed in 1925 with possibly the greatest law ever, Law 671 – Law on the Wearing of Hats – which required public sector workers to adopt western style hats, leading the general public to follow suit. 

He also recreated the Turkish language.  Turkish is a member of the central Asian Turkik linguistic family, and the spoken language goes back thousands of years.  However, during the Islamic rule of the Ottoman Empire, this spoken language was represented by written Arabic.  Arabic is consonant rich and vowel poor.  Turkish is the complete opposite, making Arabic script an imperfect representation of the language.  It is also difficult to learn, leading to a poorly educated population.  Atatürk convened a council of linguists, educators, and policy experts to create a specific written Turkish language.  Modern written Turkish uses a modified Roman alphabet that almost perfectly represents the phonetics of the spoken language.  The Council recommended that country-wide implementation would take 3-5 years.  Atatürk gave them 3-5 months.  And it worked.  Literacy classes were mandated for all Turkish citizens under the age of 40, and literacy rates went from around 15% to 75% within 3 years. 

But again, why is he everywhere?  There are several answers.  One is that he really was an extraordinary individual with a vision for modern Turkey and a drive to realize that goal.  But there are also issues of proximity.  Atatürk only died in the 1930’s, and there are people who can still remember him personally.  This is not unlike American reverence of George Washington well into the 1800’s.  In fact, I would be interested to know how many towns, schools and bridges are named after G. Washington.  But this historical proximity is key to his role in Turkish society today.

The second factor in his role today is his role as Father of the Türks.  Going back to my blog entry about the flag, Atatürk created modern Turkey’s self-identity.  It is no longer a state ruled by a puppet caliph controlled by the British.  It is a modern state engaged in the world, and Atatürk really is the reason why. 

I’ll leave on this last note.  Atatürk’s signature is K. Atatürk.  6 letters.  In the Turkish language edition of Microsoft Word, there is an Atatürk typeface where the 29 letters in the Turkish language have been created from the 6 in his signature.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Turkish Republic, Father of the Turks,
and  man with the best eyebrows, with his iconic and omnipresent signature.

Hamams and barbers

As some of you may know, I am a big fan of going to the Chicago Sweat Lodge – a Russian and Turkish sauna.  My city in Turkey, Bursa, has been famous since the early 600’s for its hot springs.  This being the case, I headed to Eski Kaplıcı or Old Hot Spring for a day of bathing after class.  To contextualize this, it was 95 out and I walked about a half mile up hill, so when I arrived I was sweaty and hot.  But that only made the experience more typical since Turkey is a dusty and hot place.

The main difference between the Chicago baths and a Turkish bath is that the Chicago Turkish Sauna is a wet sauna, whereas a Turkish Bath really is a bath.  In Bursa, there is a hot spring that enters a small pool at around 80C and filters into a larger pool that is still hot.  Around this there are ledges to sit on where you can rinse with warm or cold water.  And in a cold room, there are ledges to cool off.  I got a vigorous scrub with a mitt that felt like steel wool, and then hopped in and out of the pools for the next three hours.  It really is a different kind of clean than the Russian style I’m used to.  Islamic culture stresses cleanliness – I’ve learned the proper way to ritually wash before entering a mosque – and the importance of cleaning dirt and grime from the skin is important in Turkey. Russian style saunas stress the importance of flushing impurity from the body.  The Turkish bath lays the importance on what’s on the body.

But differences aside, the experience was very good.  I saw a part of the city I hadn’t before.  And the bath itself dates to the 600’s and Emperor Justinius.  The current building is a 14^th century building that is just amazing.  I plan on going to another Hamam next week to compare the experiences.

But after the Hamam, I decided to make my version of a spa day and get a shave.  I could see my own mustache which isn’t good for me haha! But I went to the berber in my town and got a very good shave.  There is something exhilarating about sitting while another person holds a razor to your throat.  There is a human bonding experience as he doesn’t pull a Sweeney Todd on you. 

But the shave is not just a shave.  You get a straight razor shave plus a head massage.  I kid you not, I got a head massage.  It was delightful.  And in the city if I pony up an extra 3 Liras, I could get any stubble burned off with a kerosene torch.  Look it up on youtube.  And after warnings from my host family that the berber would be prohibitively expensive, I paid the equivalent of $2US.  This came after the warning that the Hamams were all seething cesspools of filth (they weren’t by the way.  Perfectly clean).  Though I did heed the warning that this particular berber was very bad at haircuts after seeing his bowl cut of the man in front of me.

ü  Go to hamam and have Turkish Bath experience

ü  Get a Turkish shave

Good me-day.

The Parable of the 24 coins

I will preface this post by saying that my host father is a religious man.  This last week I dropped the bombshell of Ben ile aile uruç yapmak istiyorum or: I want to keep the fast (for Ramazan coming up in a little under 2 weeks) with the family.  He was speechless, and since then, he has talked with me more and more about a broad range of topics.  Two nights ago I was outside doing homework when the call to prayer went out.  One of my favorite things about Turkey is hearing the call, and I always stop to listen.  My host father came and told me a story (several times and with the help of props haha!)

Every day, a rich man gave a poor man gave a poor man 24 gold coins, asking one thing in return for his generosity.  He asked only that at the end of the day, the poor man give one gold coin back, which he gladly did. 

This parable, for lack of a better word, is how my host-father described Muslims’ relationship to God through prayer.  God has given us 24 hours in each day, and he asks that we give one of those hours back in prayer.  I really enjoyed the analogy.