Turkey's
glorious past, uncertain future
Sun, 06 May 2007 15:58:32
By Zafar Bangash
If a country's architecture can be taken as indicating its status in the world,
that of Istanbul reflects fairly accurately both Turkey's past and its present.
While the grandeur of its historic buildings are vivid reminders of past
glories, the blandness of its contemporary buildings-concrete and glass
boxes-reflects the disrupting influence and ultimate vacuousness of its
Westernization.
Less than a century ago Istanbul was the capital of a world power that had ruled
a vast empire for nearly four centuries, since the capture of the Byzantine
capital Constantinople by Sultan Mehmet II (1432-1481CE), better known as Sultan
Fatih, in 1453. Renamed Istanbul, and symbolically bridging the gap between
Europe and Asia, the city became the capital of a new empire that carried Islam
deep into Europe, and ruled Muslim societies in three continents. Today, the
city boasts some of the greatest monuments of Islamic architecture. The Blue
Mosque, commissioned by Sultan Ahmet I and designed by Sedefkar Ahmet Agha, one
of the most brilliant students of the great architect Mirmar Sinan, and built
between 1609-1616, stands majestically opposite the Aya Sofia and Topkapi
museums, flanked by the Marmara Sea to the south and the Golden Horn to the
east.
Topkapi-meaning the cannon gate-was built by Sultan Mehmet II in 1467 and served
as the official residence and court of the sultans until 1839, when Sultan
Abdulmecit I moved to the new palace of Dolmabahace on the Bosphorus Sea. It was
later converted into a museum, which now houses several relics of the noble
Prophet, upon whom be peace, including the original letter he sent to the Roman
governor of Egypt, Muqaiqoos, one of his swords, and a sword that he gave to
Khalid ibn Walid (ra), the companion famed as a brilliant general who led the
early Muslims to many victories.
Istanbul's other great monument is the Eyup Sultan Mosque, named after the
companion Ayub Ansari (ra), in whose house the noble Prophet (saw) initially
resided in Madinah after his migration from Makkah, until a modest house was
built for him. Ayub Ansari (ra) is buried in a compound alongside the mosque.
His grave is carefully preserved and visitors can view it through an outer
railing.
Worshippers and visitors throng the mosque at all times of the day and night,
but the most moving scenes are witnessed during fajr (morning) and Isha (night)
salats. One cannot help but contrast the respect shown by the Turks to the
memory of Ayub Ansari (ra) with the vandalism of historic sites in the Hijaz by
the Saudis. Jannatul Maula in Makkah, Jannatul Baqi in Madinah and the cemetery
of the shuhada' at Uhud are all in a sorry state. The Prophet's first wife
Khadijah (ra) is buried in Jannatul Maula, but it suffers from neglect; it is
virtually impossible to locate the grave of this illustrious mother of the
believers, the first person to accept Islam. Jannatul Baqi, where numerous
companions of the Prophet (saw) and members of his family are buried, has
suffered even more. On the spurious pretext of the risk of shirk, the Saudis
have destroyed almost all the Islamic historical sites of Makkah and Madinah,
while carefully preserving relics of their own sorry history, such as the tip of
the spear that was lodged in the door of the Mismak fortress when Abdul Aziz ibn
Saud, founder of the Saudi dynasty struck it. After their conquest of the Hijaz
in 1924, the Saudis embarked upon wholesale destruction of historic buildings
and monuments. In the name of development, concrete monstrosities now tower
above even the Ka'aba, and the Masjid al-Haram is surrounded by hotels and
shopping malls apparently modeled on New York or Los Angeles. McDonalds and
Pizza Hut stores, and other symbols of Western consumerism, stand in stark
contrast to the spirituality of the Haram. Traffic congestion and noise add to
the distractions from the spiritual journey that pilgrims aspire to while
circumambulating the Ka'aba or running between the hills of Safa' and Marwa.
By contrast, the Turks should be proud that the Ottomans went to extraordinary
lengths to preserve Islamic monuments, especially those relating to the time of
the Prophet (saw) and his companions (ra), when they ruled the Haramain.
However, like the Saudis, Turkey's secular rulers are today determined to
destroy their own Islamic heritage in the name of modernization and progress.
The establishment in Turkey suffers from a severe crisis of identity: it wants
to abandon its glorious past in order to adopt the West's lifestyle and habits.
It is one of the few countries in the world where hijab is officially banned in
government offices and universities. Even the Islam-hating West does not go to
such extremes. Bizarrely, the wife of the Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
is barred from attending state functions at the presidential palace because she
chooses to wear hijab, while Turkish law prohibits hijab at official events.
What Turkey's generals fail to understand is that when Turkey held the banner of
Islam, it was the leader of the Muslim world; by adopting secularism and
imitating the West, it has become the sick man of Europe, facing an uncertain
future. But the fact that the vast majority of Turkish women continue to wear
hijab reflects a commitment to Islam among ordinary Turks that decades of
aggressive secularism have failed to obliterate. This commitment holds out the
hope that Istanbul might yet again emerge as a centre of Islamic civilization
and power, and a source of inspiration for all Muslims, Insha'Allah.
Source: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=8906§ionid=3510303