Ibn Battuta (1305 – 136?) Ibn Battuta started on his travels when he was 20 years old in 1325. His main reason to travel was to go on a Hajj, or a Pilgrimage to Mecca, as all good Muslims want to do. But his traveling went on for about 29 years and he covered about […]
TURKISH FLAG & THE NATIONAL ANTHEM
As the Turkish Republic was founded on the heritage of the Ottoman Empire, many things from that time such as the Turkish Flag continued with slight changes. The Ottomans used various flags of different colors at different times. In the 14th century, it was white, in the 15th century, it was changed to red. Once […]
ISLAM AND TURKEY
The secular nature of the Turkish state is enshrined in its constitution and discrimination on religious grounds is not acceptable. Nevertheless, the majority of the population is Moslem and a government department exists to administer Islamic religious affairs. The Islamic religion derives from the Prophet Mohammed who was born in Mecca in 571 AD into […]
WHIRLING DERVISHES CEREMONY & CULTURE IN TURKEY
Islamic mysticism seeks awareness of god in manner being, and hence the various mystic sects of tarikats of whirling dervishes or Sufis in Turkey and other countries have generally been characterized by open-mindedness, vision, exuberance, and lot of the arts, particularly music and poetry. Their tendency to relegate doctrine and the outer forms of worship […]