Archive for 'A Modern Islam'
Erdogan
Posted on 03. Oct, 2002 by admin.
9/20/2002 The elections are coming in two months. The leftists include two Jews whose-families converted to Islam in the 1920′s, Al Gore types, western-oriented and American-bred. They’ve split off from Prime Minister Ecevit, and then from each other, and there are now something like 27 secular parties (at last count) who will all be running [...]
Continue Reading
Yom Kippur in Istanbul
Posted on 16. Sep, 2002 by admin.
Last night, we went to temple Neve Shalom on the European side of Istanbul so our Israeli friends could check out the Yom Kippur evening services. As much as I hate being among a group of people who believe in the absurd, it’s a historic and hidden building, Istanbul’s oldest and supposedly nicest synagogue. We [...]
Continue Reading
Fighting at the Sultan’s grave
Posted on 13. Sep, 2002 by admin.
Elif met me one day near Mesut’s bread factory in Fatih, and we went to the Sultan’s grave at the Suleymanie Mosquegot, where we got into a lovely fight with the ticket-taker. He told her to wear head-covering, which not only against the law for the municipality to demand (ominously, the heads of the government [...]
Continue Reading
A unique brand of Islam
Posted on 24. Jul, 2002 by admin.
Today, Elif cut tinsel for our friend Jeff at Telli Baba’s grave. The “Telli Baba” tomb is set on the very edge of the water, and the shrine is very popular: visiting it is thought to be especially helpful to women who wish for a husband. The supplicant leaves a strand of tinsel on the [...]
Continue Reading
Teaching Mesut Pektas
Posted on 11. Mar, 2002 by admin.
I am teaching English to the esteemed Mesut Pektas, the head of the Istanbul People’s Bread Factory. He’s also under indictment for taking bribes and awarding contracts to his friends and religious compatriots. (I found this out from Google last night.) I started teaching on a whim – when I moved here, I stopped by [...]
Continue Reading
Facing an Ottoman heritage
Posted on 29. Jan, 2002 by admin.
9/12/98 I cannot get over how kind the Turkish people are. At first, when they encounter an American in their presence, they’re surprised I’m not Christian, Aryan-looking, cold and condescending; when I try and talk in Turkish, no matter how badly it comes out, they’re thrilled I’m making the effort. Actually, sometimes it’s the surprising [...]
Continue Reading
Eid ul-Adha
Posted on 17. Dec, 2001 by admin.
It’s the end of Ramazan. Cos didn’t fast this year because his kidney was removed, and since fasting wouldn’t be good for him, he gets a pass. Now it’s the holiday of Eid-al-Fitr, here called Seker Bayrami, meaning “sugar holiday” – a sweet excuse to eat baklava while visitng family. And by visiting family, I [...]
Continue Reading
