Islam in Turkey

Islam in Turkey is moderate and adapted to modern life. Many Turks value the moral and spiritual bases of Islam, and revere it as a guide to right living and ethical conduct.

Turkey's mosques are open to all. Here are guidelines for visiting Turkish mosques. Here are Islamic Holidays.

I've written books on a half-dozen Muslim countries, and I've found Turkish Muslims to be the most moderate and tolerant of all. Non-Muslims are welcome as visitors in all Turkish mosques. The vast majority of Turkish Muslims were horrified at the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and condemned the perpetrators as un-Islamic fanatics.

ISLAM IN TURKEY
Most Turks are Sunni Muslims; that is, they are among the majority of Islamic believers. There are Shiite and Alevi minorities as well. About 20% of Turkish Muslims look upon themselves as Muslims first and citizens of the Turkish Republic second; the other 80% see themselves as citizens first, and count religion as second, third or fourth; some are secular, and pay little attention to religion at all.

SULTAN-CALIPH
During the Ottoman centuries, Istanbul was the center of the Islamic world, and its ruler, the Ottoman sultan, was also widely acknowledged as the Caliph, or spiritual leader of Islam.

The Ottomans, and their precursors, the Seljuk Turks, made significant contributions to Islamic life and theology. Many sufi (mystical) orders were born in Turkish lands, including the Mevlevi ("whirling dervish") order inspired by Mevlana Jelaleddin Rumi and founded in Konya during the 1200s. (Visit Konya with me and see the dervishes whirl.)

RULE OF RELIGIOUS LAW
The Ottoman Empire was a theocracy. The law of the land for Muslims was shari'a, the holy law of the Kur'an-i Kerim (Holy Koran). Christian and Jewish minorities were governed by their own laws, based on their own Scriptures, subject to the ultimate rule of the sultan.

Religious law had governed, or at least significantly influenced government, in most countries until the 18th century. (When the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620, for example, their governing law was based on their religious beliefs.)

SECULAR REPUBLIC
By the early 20th century, it was clear to Kemal Atatürk, father of the Turkish Republic, that religious government was hampering Turkey's social, commercial and diplomatic progress. The republic he founded was staunchly secular, with the separation of government and religion as one of its fundamental tenets. According to the constitution, the Turkish armed forces are charged with preserving democracy and secularism.

ISLAMIST PARTIES
In elections held in December, 1995, the Islamist Welfare Party won 21% of the vote, a larger proportion than any other party, and earned the right to form a coalition government. (Many people believe that the Welfare Party's success was the result of many "protest votes" being cast not so much for Welfare's Islamist platform but against other political parties, which were seen as corrupt and ineffective.)

By 1997, Welfare politicians had stepped over the line in mixing religion and politics. The armed forces told Welfare to step down, and the courts later disbanded the party. The secular parties took over, with disappointing results.

In November 2002 a new, more moderate neo-Islamist party was given a majority of seats in Turkey's Grand National Assembly, and formed the first one-party, non-coalition government in decades. Again, a large proportion of the vote for the new Justice and Development Party was seen as a protest against the old, ineffective, corrupt political parties rather than as a vote for Islamism.

The new Justice and Development Party government vowed to govern in a strictly secular manner (though guided by the moral and ethical precepts of Islam), and to maintain Turkey's close and friendly relations with its neighbors as well as with Europe, Israel and the USA.

Islamic Holidays

Rumi Tours

Mosque Etiquette & Dress

Religion in Turkey

Women Travelers in Turkey

Travel Details

Turkey Travel Planner Homepage

Mosque of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, Istanbul, Turkey

Above, the Mosque of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent (1557) in Istanbul.

Below, ogee-arch window in the Green Mosque (Yesil Cami, 1424), Bursa.