Religion

Space does not allow us to give on this page a full treatment of the various religions found in Muðla; we just want to inform you briefly about what is known to us.

The main religion is of course, as in the whole of Turkey, Islam, to which 99% of the population belongs. This is divided into Sunnis (about 80%) and Alevis (about 19%) The remaining 1% consists of Jews, Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant and Assyrian Christians as well as members of other religions.

The majority of orthodox Sunnis belong to the hanefi law school, which has a moderate stance. If you encounter someone from the more radical schafii law school you may find that you are not offered a hand shake, because strict notions of ritual cleanliness make them avoid all contact with unbelievers. Sunni Islam is a legalistic religion with a strong emphasis on compliance with rules and laws.

The five pillars of Islam are thus obligatory for every believing Sunni:

1. The daily confession of belief in the one God (Allah): “There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is the messenger of Allah.”
2. The five daily prayers to be observed (namaz).
3. The tax for the poor (zeka). This is a kind of compulsory charity for the well-to-do, and was set by theologians at 2.5% of the net annual income.
4. Fasting (oruç) during the month of Ramadan.
5. Pilgrimage to Mecca (hac, pronounced haaj.)

The Alevis are a splinter group of the Shiites, whose homeland is Iran (a country considered as a traditional enemy of Ottoman Turkey.) The Alevis do not observe the regulations of Sunni Islam, so they do not fast in the fasting month, don’t go to mosque nor carry out the five daily prayers; also they are not obliged to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. Because of this they are often not regarded as Muslims by the Sunnis. They have in the past experienced considerable persecution as a result.

We also need to mention Folk Islam, which penetrates all strata of society. Many of the practices that the people believe in probably came into Islamic folk piety from the Greeks, Jews and others who at one time lived here. The belief in God or Allah alone does not seem to be enough, so that for example the “blue eye” (nazar) is used as a protection against the evil eye. Many such and similar practices are found everywhere and among all sorts of people. Another example: a man strokes the first banknote he earns each day over his cheeks, lets it fall to the ground, picks it up and strokes his cheeks with it again, so that this first bit of money earned will bring luck and good business.

The few Christians in the province of Muðla are predominantly from Christian countries and have emigrated here. They are counted as Christians even if they do not really practise their faith. However, there are also those among the indigenous population who regard themselves as Christians. Some of them have Assyrian or Armenian roots, but there are others who have turned to Christ from a  Muslim background. These mostly gather in so called house churches, or in small rented rooms. We do not know of any Greek Christians, though formerly they were very plentiful in this region.