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2:00
p.m., clear, very bright and 89 degrees.
One would think the sultans would have self-centered interests. To the
contrary, the sultans and their families gave the best civilian service
during the time of the Seljukians. The wives and daughters of the
sultans were interested in the health and education of the society and
the trading systems. The schools, hospitals and trading systems were
often built on the orders of the wives and daughters of the sultans.
There was a mosque next door to the medrese that was used for a stable
for approximately 100 years during the Mongolian invasion. The Mongols
did not discriminate for Christians or Moslems, the destroyed almost
everything. This is the largest remaining older mosque in the region.
One does not have to be an imam to perform the call to prayer. Anyone
with a good voice can do it. We were treated to a short prayer call
(inside the mosque) by one of the mosque’s imams. “God is great God
is great. Come to prayer. Prayer is your salvation. There is no God but
God Mohamed.” The Morning Prayer adds that, “it is better to pray
than to sleep.” In Turkey the call to prayer is more melodic that in
other countries and the “tune” called from every mosque at morning
and mid-day is the same. There are different accents in the west and
east and the eastern callers seem to put more of themselves into their
task. There are notes to each of the five prayer calls. The prayers are
called in Arabic, not Turkish. The times of the prayer calls vary with
the changing position of the sun. The first is when the sun rises, the
second when the shadow is shortest, the third when the sun is half way
down, the fourth at sunset, and 70 minutes after sunset is the last
prayer call. This mosque is 822 years old and the imam says it has
excellent acoustics, something lacking in many of the newer mosques.
Mosque styles and aesthetic vary over time, but the features inside do
not change.
Imams are given sermon subjects from the central office depending on
what is important that week. Last week it was about educating children
and the responsibilities of parents toward their children including that
they should give them “goodness”. There is one sermon each week, at
noon on Friday, all the other sessions are for prayer only. Imams are
civil servants paid a salary by the state. This is a very large combined
payroll, but does not result in particular influence by the state. There
is no more or less influence between the imams and the state than
between the state and other civil servants. By receiving a regular
salary and eventually receiving a regular retirement pension from the
state the imams are less likely to be bought by other influences. The
state administers an exam to qualify imams and can remove them if they
are not doing their job. Thus the state has control over who is and is
not an imam.
A
basis principle of Islam is that Allah will save/help you, but you must
first take responsibility and do all that you can toward your own
salvation.
The
city has some wide boulevard streets; a number of large roundabouts and
at the end of the street from our hotel is the university.
Hotel
laundry for two shirts, two underwear, two handkerchiefs cost 4,800,000
TL and was back at 6:30 p.m. on the same day as turned in. I spent
500,000 TL for a 350ml Diet Coke from a local shop and then enjoyed some
free time by taking my book and my soda to the park next door to the
hotel. The children’s play equipment in the park had similar elements
to those at home, but did not follow our minimum safety standards. The
fall surface was well-compacted gravel, there was no guardrail on the
spiral slide and the swing seats were all of hard materials. All of it
looked less than 5 years old. The park was very nice with long turf
areas and lots of shade. Many people were out in the late afternoon
enjoying time as singles, in couples or family groups.
Some
personal observations and reflections:
- Children
are cute everywhere.
- Men
everywhere like to gather to talk over the world’s problems. In
Turkey they are skilled at doing this over a glass of tea. The old
men look more tired, but wiser than their younger brethren. The
older men are more likely to gather in two’s or three’s as
opposed to five or more for those younger.
- I
suspect the older men understand better that any simple solution, to
whatever the problem, points to a lack of understanding of the
complexities found in life.
- The
call to prayer is song, which all alone appeals to this
non-believer.
- I
don’t believe I saw the resting lace of the Ark, but I’m not
bothered that others are fervent about it.
- A
dog on a bus is not always a bad idea. Behavior counts.
- I
am saddened by the racial and cultural hatred that I observed in
some locals on this trip. The same thing at home saddens me. In
Turkey there have been centuries of revolving cultural ups and
downs. I wonder what the current cycle is and what will be said
about this human crossroads after another 1,000 years.
- I
was energized and uplifted by the smiles and peaceful faces of Turks
of all ages.
- I
really like lamb kabobs, onions and green peppers as found in
Erzurum. What spices and/or herbs were used? The flavor couldn’t
be from the meat alone could it?
- According
to Dr.
Phillip M. Harter, Stanford University School of Medicine, if we
could shrink the Earth’s population to a village of precisely 100
people, with all existing human ratios remaining the same, it would
look something like this:
- There would be 57 Asians, 21 Europeans,
14 from the Western Hemisphere (North and South) and 8 Africans.
- 51 would be female; 49 would be male.
- 70 would be non-white; 30 would be
white.
- 70 would be non-Christian; 30 would be
Christian.
- 50% of the entire world‘s wealth would
be in the hands of only 6 people and all 6 would be from the
United States.
- 80 would live in substandard housing.
- 70 would be unable to read.
- 50 would suffer from malnutrition.
- One would be near death; one would be
near birth.
- Only one would have a college education.
- One would own a computer.
- You
have to look to see. Be a traveler, not a tourist. I can’t wait
for my next journey
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Yakutiye Medrese 12th C.School of theology