Sunday 8 February 2015

The Battle for the Hijab in Turkey


By 1926 the caliphate, Sharia law courts, Sufi brotherhoods, even the Arabic call to prayer, had all been abolished. Students in the new Turkish Republic attended universities where headscarves were taboo or banned outright, and the countries elites allowed no place for religion in public (for many, even private) life.

..since the late 1990s Turkey's Islamist parties have lobbied only for reforms granting practicing Muslims parity in Turkish society. Under the rule of popularly elected, and re-elected, AK party, since 2009 the lecture halls of Turkish universities bob with stylishly veiled heads often more eager to learn than their male classmates. The largest Islamic movement in the country, following the preacher Fethullah Gulen, boasts tightly organized branches not only throughout Turkey but also around the world devoted to interfaith dialogue, schooling and cultivating non-threatening Islamic piety.  'Misquoting Muhammad', Jonathan A.C Brown, Kindle p158
 

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