Another Layer

Pictured: An attempt to get a good picture of women in burqas. Fail.

Well I’ve been here for about a week now, and I feel I’ve pretty much blended in with the locals. They absolutely cannot spot the difference between me and a native Turk. Don’t worry that I’ve got pale skin, am obnoxiously loud, have an American flag plastered across my chest (I don’t really, those shirts are tacky), and have the Turkish language level of a two year old.

But seriously, it feels as though I have been here much longer than only a week. It may have to do with the large amount of activities we squeeze into every day, or it may be that I’m sitting on a balcony at a five star hotel watching rich people lounge around a magnificent pool by the Aegean Sea.

But being in such a different place and being exposed to a whole host of new people and places has got me noticing just what I never realized about Turkey, and what I realized I didn’t realize but I thought I realized before I really realized it.

Before coming to Turkey, I have never been in a mosque or synagogue. I’ve been raised a Catholic my whole life, and I thought I knew all I needed to know about other religions, and I’ve been completely comfortable sitting in my own nest of ignorance. Now that I’ve actually taken a good look at Islam and disregarded the American Mainstream Media version of it, I now know that it isn’t a requirement to shout hold a burning American flag and shout “ALLAAAAH.” Of course, I never really thought they were THAT extreme, but I never thought that Islam was a very intellectual, calm, and progressive religion. At the time that it was founded, women had next to no rights, probably even less than no rights. A woman’s opinion wasn't worth anything in disputes, and men could take up as many wives as they wanted, disposing whichever ones he didn’t want anymore. After Islam, two women’s opinions would be the same as one man’s, and a man could only take four wives. Considering the circumstances beforehand, that’s a pretty good deal. We might think that’s ridiculous today, but back at that time even Christianity didn’t care that much about women’s status. Or any society for that matter!

Another significant topic in Islam is how women should dress. I’ll be the first to admit that I could never convert to Islam because I can’t understand how women can be in full sleeves and pants with a headscarf (or even go further by wearing all black) in 80 degree weather. That being said, even if I did convert to Islam, headscarves don’t seem to be the absolute requirement. Just like Christians and Jews can be pretty lenient with the rules written in the Bible, Muslim women don’t have to be as plain and covered as possible. I’ve seen women with very decorative headscarves and wearing full make up. There’s a whole range of “devoutness” that Muslim people can fall into, just like other religions. What makes me sad is that Christians (at least Americans) are quick to point out the flaws and restrictions of Islam, while they don’t seem to follow the verse about taking out the log of their own eye. Of course Islamic people have committed atrocities, but so has every other religion, including Christianity. Both Christianity and Islam teach peace, even if they do have verses about war or defeating others.

One of the most surprising phenomena I’ve come across is that Muslim people find churches perfectly suitable to pray in besides mosques. In their eyes, they follow the same God as Christianity and Judaism, and hold a certain respect for their religions. This totally knocked me off my mental feet. But as I entered a mosque for the first time, I felt the same awe I feel when entering a church. I wanted to pay my respects and pray in a space dedicated to a religion that has so many similarities with our own.

So if you’re thinking “too long, didn’t read,” the moral of my rant is that Islam is not what American culture makes it out to be, and everyone should take some time to learn about REAL Islam. Simple as that.