Pulpit, Mosque and Nation: Turkish Friday Sermons as Text and Ritual

Description

Since the formation of the Republic in 1923, Friday sermons (hutbe) have been an important platform that allows the state to engage and communicate with the Turkish people. Sermon topics vary from religious and ethical issues to matters concerning family, women, health, education, business and the environment. Even if politics, in the name of secularism, has been banned from mosques and sermons, questions of how to be a good citizen and honour the Turkish nation have been of utmost importance. With an all-pervading sermon theme of social, national and political unity, Elisabeth Özdalga explores how long-standing religious rituals are utilised and mobilised in the formation of modern political loyalties and national identities. Acknowledgements Note on Transliteration, Pronunciation and Translations Introduction: Pulpit under Red Banner 1 The Hutbe in Historical Perspective 2 Early Authorised Hutbe Collections: A Homiletic Tradition under Secular State Control 3 The Significance of Ritual: Liturgical Turkifi cation Contested 4 Preaching Brotherhood to an Unruly Nation 5 Diyanet in Search of Autonomy 6 Writing and Listening: Voices from Inside 7 Pulpit under Islamist Banner Conclusions: The Secular Order Unhinged? Appendix I Excerpts in the Original Turkish from Ahmet Hamdi Akseki’s 1927–8 Hutbe Collection Appendix II Hutbe Topics in Turkish and English from Ahmet Hamdi Akseki’s 1936–7 Hutbe Collection Appendix III Turkish Originals of Hutbes Selected from Diyanet Gazetesi 1971–9 Appendix IV Economic Indicators and Diyanet Statistics in Tables Bibliography Index