If I were a foreigner living in Turkey or an observer of Turkish affairs following events from a safe distance, I would have had the worst nightmare of an experience last week. A new term, "sakal-i sharif" which previously had never been in everyday usage, came to occupy center stage. These are the questions I should very much have asked: What is "sakal-i sharif"? Why all this fuss about it? Why has everybody become so worked up?

At the core of this latest heated debate is once again Atilla Koc, minister of culture and tourism. When he and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan were on their way to Siirt, the constituency of the prime minister, they spent some time at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport. While they waited for the plane, Koc received the local head of his ministry who was carrying an ostentatious bundle in his hand. When the reporters found out that package contained "sakal-i sharif," they flew into a frenzy.

Now it's time for a little vocabulary. The liberal translation of "sakal-i sharif" is the facial hair of the Prophet Muhammed. When Ottoman Sultan Selim I conquered Egypt in 1517 and acquired the khalifah (caliphate), he appropriated all the items belonging to the previous khalifah's household and brought them to Istanbul. They are still in Topkapi Palace and open to the public. They contain many private items which were used in his time by the prophet of Islam. We call those items "sacred relics," much like some Christians hold relics of the saints as precious. Some strands of the prophet's hair were also possessed by Topkapi Palace as part of these "sacred relics."

The "sakal-i sharif," which was delivered to Minister Koc at Istanbul Airport, was not from the "Sacred Relics Department" of Topkapi Palace, but from a mosque. Although in Topkapi there are 10 strands of hair belonging to the prophet preserved in 10 different bundles, many mosques in Istanbul and all over Turkey have had their own "sakal-i sharifs" whose origins are unknown. In the latest account they numbered more than 1,800, to be precise, 1,830. So, we're not talking about the Shroud of Turin-type unique artifact, but multiple "sacred hairs" in various mosques.

Religious Turks revere the Prophet of Islam very highly and try to show their respect whenever his name is mentioned by reciting some reverent words ("peace be upon him"). Another show of respect to the Prophet is visitations to sakal-i sharif which take place in many mosques towards the end of the holy month of Ramadan. The believers, after they finish praying, stand in line and when their turn comes kiss the bundle with 40 layers of material and in its core a sheath containing a strand of facial hair of the Prophet. The "sacred hairs" have been rotated from one mosque to the other during Ramadan for the occasion. In one instance, a relative of mine even attended a religious ceremony in an apartment building, at the end of which she had the opportunity to kiss the bundle containing a "sacred hair."

I don't think the editors who covered the airport incident with a lot of fanfare know and appreciate the real value of the "sacred hair." Our top editors are not known for their piety or deep knowledge of religion. At newspapers, religious issues are handled with very little respect for the ordinary people's beliefs. The editors always look suspiciously whenever a religious topic comes up to occupy center stage. Nonetheless, a state minister receiving "sacred hair" at the airport without due "respect" has become a focus of utmost attention for every newspaper in the country.

I have to correct myself: No, not every newspaper. The columnists in newspapers whose readerships are more religiously inclined did not reprimand the minister, they either remained silent, or raised a mild criticism. In my case, I came to defend the minister on the grounds that he was only expecting an empty sheath, not the whole bundle. My source in the ministry revealed to me the very first day this issue came to surface that a friendly country asked unofficially to borrow a "sacred hair" for this Ramadan. The minister, who wanted to accommodate the wish by borrowing it from a mosque, was notified that the sheaths at mosques were not good enough to send to a foreign dignitary. He was there at the airport not to kiss the sacred hair brought for the purpose, but to give his authorization for a new sheath done on his request by artisans at the Covered Bazaar.

There was no grounds for the fuss created by media over the "sacred hair" issue, but a weeklong tumult over a non-issue bewildered me, let alone a foreigner living among us, or an observer of Turkish affairs in faraway places. At one point during the debate, I had to ask myself what kind of a country I was living in, a "Sharia state"? Although this time the roles were reversed: Those who are strong supporters of "secularism" shamed the minister for disrespect to religion. They asked him to resign due to his negligence. They accused him of "violation of the sacred."

It's the kind of issue deserving a place in Ripley's “Believe It or Not!" column.

The sacred relics at Topkapi Palace are there to stay. Sending even a single item abroad needs a governmental decree. On the other hand, "sacred hairs" in different mosques' possession are at the discretion of the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet). The sacred hair in question wasn't from Topkapi, but the Eyup Mosque. Prime Minister Erdogan has nothing whatsoever to do with the issue, he wasn't even aware what was going on when the bundle was brought to the airport. So this is the end of the story.

With one little warning: Stories with religious connotations don't die easily in Turkey.

From The New Anatolian, 18 October 2005

 

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