Turkish Friday Sermons in German Mosques: Advice for Muslims in a Society Shaped by a Different Faith (original) (raw)
Related papers
The German Government's Policy on Islam and Its Reflections on Turks in Germany
Research Article, 2021
Turkish-origin people living in Germany have always been a subject of discussion, since there is a significant Turkish population that mostly immigrated in 1960’s with labor agreements. There are also other Muslim populations in Germany, such as African, Iranian, and Palestinian, however, Turkish Muslims living in Germany are the most populous migrant group in Germany and a popular target for anti-Muslim racism. This study focuses on German policies towards Islam and Muslims living in Germany. Before deeply analyzing the German Federal Government’s policy on Islam, there is a discussion about the kind of Islam that would be appreciated by Germany. Accordingly, an evaluation of the perception of Islam in Germany using the example Muslim Turks in Germany follows. Meanwhile, in the subsequent section, there is a discussion about the German Islam Conference and its outputs. The German Islam Conference is one of German politicians’ important projects for the integration of Muslims into Germany. In order to understand what Germany really wants to attain, either the empowerment or the assimilation of Muslims, the study focuses on discourse and aims to shed light on the current situation of the perception of Islam in Germany, as well as how Turks are affected by this discourse.
Religions
Civil religion encompasses the implicit religious values of a nation manifested through public rituals, symbols, and ceremonies at significant locations and on special occasions. The emergence of new religious symbolisms reflects the evolving structure of religious authority. The Islamic Foundation Netherlands (Islamitische Stichting Nederland (ISN)), the largest mosque umbrella organization in the Netherlands, holds significant influence in shaping the religious beliefs and ethical standards of the Turkish–Dutch Muslim community. Furthermore, the ISN possesses the ability to construct and authenticate discourses that redefine the conceptualization of the ‘self’ and the ‘other.’ In early 2017, following increased criticism of sermons written by the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs (PRA/Diyanet) in the Netherlands, the ISN, as the Dutch branch of Diyanet, started composing its own Friday sermons in both Turkish and Dutch. This article aims to examine the discursive features of...
Friday sermons are announced in mosques that are places that have great significance in the daily life of Muslims. Indeed, sermons are fundamentally religious necessities touching normally requirements of religion, behaviors that are considered unlawful and lawful by God, ways of worship and the principles of faith. These short and periodical texts with the aim of reinforcing Islamic teachings are inspiring to constitute the agenda of Muslims as well as topics as worship and morality. Periodically, every Fridays; sermons bring together a large part of Muslim society from different social strata, ideologies; is an important tool for building a common infrastructure at a very same, very national point. Friday sermons are also used as a metaphor for political phenomenas which are typically a strategy to build a national consensus about various issues. This study will try to analyze political structures of Friday Sermons' on the basis of Turkey
The cleavage between the secular Kemalists and the political Islamists has been salient throughout the history of Republican Turkey. On the one hand, an identity based on Turkish nationalism and laicisim put forward by the Kemalist elite during the inception of the Republic has been prevalent in state institutions. On the other hand, a movement which aims to revive Islam as an identity both socially and politically has risen in response to this Kemalist project. An important institution established during the early years of the Republic, which aimed at disseminating official Islam, is the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı, DİB). Within the context of the Kemalist-Islamist cleavage, this thesis aims to show how the official Islam adopted by the DİB has changed. Specifically, the DİB has moved from representing the Kemalist idea of Islam to representing the version of Islam adopted by the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP), successors to the political Islam movement. The thesis argues that AKP has achieved this change through a process of “desecularization”, once it reached “commanding heights” after the 2010 Constitutional Referendum. To show this change, 696 Friday sermons published by the Istanbul Müftü’s Office (İstanbul İl Müftülüğü) are analyzed using a mixed methods approach. The analysis finds that there is a clear distinction between the two periods analyzed across various themes, such as the idea of the nation, ethnicity, terrorism and science.
Reflections of 'European Islam' Discourse to Germany and Recognition of Turkish-Islam
Turkish-Islam has become a part of Europe today more than ever. Turkish immigrants and their religious institutions are the leading cause of this new situation, and they have been trying to legalize their belonging with their claims for recognition, especially in Germany. This article mainly elaborates on the recognition process with a focus on the reflections of European Islam discourse on the German scene and attempts to understand the reasons behind the current crisis around the recognition of Turkish-Islam. Even though the current perception of Islam in the host countries is the primary reason for many, this article approaches the issue from a historical institutionalist (HI) point of view and develops further arguments. Analysis of the empirical data shows that the lack of a unified voice in the Muslim society, structural inefficiencies of Islamic organizations, and politicizing of Islam-related issues could be counted as obstacles in the frame of recognition. However, the path dependency concept of HI allows this work to go beyond these visible problems and highlights the transnational linkages created in the foundation processes of these institutions as the main reason behind the failure.