Performing Irşad: Female Preachers’ (Vaizeler’s) Religious Assistance Within the Framework of the Turkish State

Abstract

This article examines religious assistance provided by female preachers (vaizeler) enrolled in a Turkish state institution, the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet). Employed all over the country and abroad, these preachers perform many activities that transcend the sacred places of mosques. This study investigates how concretely the Turkish state has promoted increased religious assistance for women and families. Resulting from one year of ethnographic observations of vaizelers’ daily activities in Istanbul, this work enriches the debate concerning religion and the state in Turkey with an unconventional perspective: female moral support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Note on Contributor

Chiara Maritato is a PhD candidate in Political Science at the University of Turin. This work is part of her dissertation on the evolution of the Turkish state monopoly over female religious officers and how the activities of the latter are contributing to redefining the limits of Turkish state. For this purpose, she conducted one year of ethnographic fieldwork in Istanbul's different neighborhoods, attending the female preachers’ sessions in mosques and in municipality cultural centers.

Notes

1. Deriving from the Arabic term wāʿiẓ (pl. wuʿʿāẓ) indicating the preacher who gives sermons and conveys admonishment (waʿẓ mawʿiẓa), the Turkish vaiz (pl. vaizler) currently indicates male or female (kadin vaiz or vaize; pl. vaizeler) preachers. v. “Wāʿiẓ.” Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Brill Online, 2014. Reference. University of Torino. July 10, 2014; cfr. “Vaaz.” TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi, yıl: 2012, cilt: 42, pp.: 404–7 Hasan Cirit.

2. In 2012, approximately 4000 telephone calls were documented in Istanbul alone, of which approximately 1500 occurred during the month of Ramadan. That same year, for all of Turkey, the number of calls reached 100,000. Data were provided by Nevin Meriç, Istanbul Müftülüğü Fetva Odasi, Nurosmaniye Cami, January 15, 2014.

3. Added to the Turkish Constitution's principles in 1937, the laiklik, or secularism, does not consider religion and the state separate-but-equal entities; rather, it institutionalizes instruments of state control over religion. Berkes, The Development of Secularism in Turkey, 483–90; Kuru, Secularism and State Policies Toward Religion, 161–235; Navaro-Yashin, Faces of the State, 479–500; Yavuz, Secularism and Muslim Democracy in Turkey, 22–4; Ulutas, “Religion and Secularism in Turkey,” 389–99.

4. According to the Diyanet's Annual statistics publications, in 1990, 29 female preachers were employed for all of Turkey, whereas in 2009, the number was 224. In 2014, the number reached 727.

5. Gözaydın, “Diyanet and Politics,” 216–24.

6. Hassan, “Women Preaching for the Secular State,” 451–73.

7. Jawad and Yakut-Cakar, “Religion and Social Policy,” 658–72.

8. Buğra and Keyder, “The Turkish Welfare Regime in Transformation,” 224–6. 

9. Art.1 of the Law 633/1965 on the Organization and Duties of the Presidency of Religious Affairs.

10. This is also the case for projects affecting imams, such as the project “moving imams out of the mosques”, to make them more engaged in providing religious guidance to the communities; Arslan, “State and Turkish Secularism,” 207–23.

11. Tütüncü, “The Women Preachers of the Secular State,” 595–616.

12. On 15/4/2002, the Aile İrşat ve Rehberlik Büroları were established for counseling activities concerning family problems and religious education; in 2013, these offices were located in 49 local Mufti offices.

13. Ybema et al., Organizational Ethnography, 1–17.

14. Ibid., 4.

15. Ibid., 13.

16. Ask and Tjomsland, “Women and Islamization,” 8–13.; Esposito and Burgat, Modernizing Islam, 145–65; White, The Islamist Paradox, 191–215; Arat, Rethinking Islam and Liberal Democracy, 89–117; Arat, “Political Islam in Turkey and Women's Organizations,” 55–63.

17. Mahmood, Politics of Piety, 1–39; Rinaldo, “Women and Piety Movements,” 584–99; Doorn-Harder, Women Shaping Islam, 1–49; White, Islamist Mobilization in Turkey, Chapter 2.

18. Hassan, “Women Preaching,” 451–73; Hassan, “Women at the Intersection,” 111–30; Hassan, “Reshaping Religious Authority,” 85–103.

19. Ayata and Tütüncü, “Party Politics,” 363–84 ; Tütüncü, “The Women Preachers,” 595–614.

20. Haitami, “Restructuring Female Religious Authority,” 227–40 ; Bano and Kalmbach, Women, Leadership and Mosques, Introduction; Raudvere, “Female Dervishes,” 125–45.

21. Conversation with Necdet Subaşı, Head of the Diyanet's Strategy Department (Strateji Geliştirme Baskanı), Ankara, October 7, 2013.

22. In 1962, Prof. Beyza Bilgin was the first honorary vaize in modern Turkey employed by the Ankara Mufti Office. Concerning Prof. Beyza Bilgin, please consider: Durmuş, “Türk Din Eğitiminde Öncü Bir Isim: Beyza Bilgin,” 145–46.

23. With the 4374/1976 Council of State decision (December 14, 1976), female students were admitted to religious vocational high schools.

24. In 1990, the Turkish Entrepreneurs Association published a report denouncing the increasing number of women in religious vocational schools who were supposed to train imams.

25. Bilici, “Islam Officiel,” 109.

26. On February 28, 1997, the National Security Council declared in 18 directives the rehabilitation of the principle of secularism. The military intervention banned the Refah party in 1998 and ushered in a period of control over religious associations.

27. Kingdon, Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies, Chapter 8.

28. Many of my interlocutors described this Presidency as open minded and that it resolved to place women's issues in the foreground.

29. Diyanet Işleri Başkanlığı, Görev ve çalisma Yönergesi, No. 80, December 10, 2002.

30. Conversation with Kadriye Avcı Erdemli, vice-mufti of Istanbul at that time, May 2, 2013.

31. I consider the term professionalization in the sense employed by Weber, Sociologia Del Potere, 61–114; Hibou, La Bureaucratisation Néolibérale, Chapter 5.

32. Hassan, “Reshaping Religious Authority,” 93–5.

33. To be a Diaynet's vaize, candidates must have a degree in theology, and then, they are trained at the Diyanet's education center (HASEKI) for approximately two to three years. For candidates who attempt the national competition, the examination involves preaching and expertise in religious knowledge, including the Koran, Sunnah and the performance of religious practices and rhetoric.

34. Bano and Kalmbach, Women, Leadership and Mosques, 3–20.

35. Conversation with Fatma Bayraktar, Division of Religious Services [Din Hizmetleri Genel Mudurluğu], Department of Family and Religious Guidance [Aile ve Dini Rehberlik Daire Baskanlığı], DIB, Ankara, November 11–12, 2013.

36. The article, “AKP seeking to create own women's movement”, was published on the website of Hurriyet Daily News: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/akp-seeking-to-create-own-womens-movement-lawyer.aspx?pageID=238&nID=42245&NewsCatID=339, last consulted on July 8, 2014.

37. Regarding the centers, Şiddet Önleme ve İzleme Merkezleri (ŞÖNİM), and the inclusion of women's shelters in the Turkish state bureaucracy, see Ekal, “Women's Shelters and Municipalities in Turkey,” 2–4.

38. The Sosyal Hizmetler ve Çocuk Esirgeme Kurumu (SÇHEK) is a state institution specializing in the management of social services.

39. The expression “female imams” reported in the newspaper is misleading. Female imamate is neither allowed in Islam nor is the term these women employ to define their profession. These women are the Diyanet's preachers, or vaizeler (kadin vaizler).

40. In addition to agreement and cooperation on special issues, such as the project for the prevention of violence against women (started in 2010), the Diyanet signs protocols every year with the Ministry of Family and Welfare, Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Health on women, children and family issues (available on the Diyanet's official website: http://www.diyanet.gov.tr/turkish/dinhizmetleriweb/giris.htm).

41. In 2013, the Diyanet's International Office had diplomatic relations with 29 states through its 50 delegations all over the world. The Diyanet's International Office signs agreements concerning the number of imams and vaizeler sent to Europe and the USA. In the case of France, see Bruce, “Les Imams ‘Exportés' de La Diyanet En France,” 15–20.

42. Clark, Islam, Charity, and Activism, 1–40; Jawad, Religion and Social Welfare, 25–65.

43. Göçmen, “Religion, Politics and Social Assistance in Turkey,” 92–103.

44. Eligür, The Mobilization of Political Islam in Turkey, 93–118; Tuğal, Passive Revolution, 59–102; Delibas, “Conceptualizing Islamic Movements,” 89–93; Heyneman, Islam and Social Policy, Introduction; White, Islamist Mobilization in Turkey, Chapter 3.

45. Conversation with Necdet Subaşı, Strategic Department (Strateji Geliştirme Başkanlığı) Diyanet, Ankara, October 7, 2013.

46. Gözaydın, “Diyanet and Politics”, 8.

47. Cady and Fessenden, Religion, the Secular, and the Politics of Sexual Difference, 8–13.

48. Hassan, “Reshaping Religious Authority in Contemporary Turkey: State-Sponsored Female Preachers,” 85–7; Bano and Kalmbach, Women, Leadership and Mosques, Introduction.

49. In the early years of the Republic, many reforms were directed at women to articulate an ideal secular and modern womanhood participating in the public realm. Regarding the practices of social engineering intended to shape an ideal Turkish “Republican woman” please consider: Eslen-Ziya and Korkut, “Political Religion and Politicized Women in Turkey: Hegemonic Republicanism Revisited,” 311–26; White, “State Feminism, Modernization, and the Turkish Republican Woman,” 145–50; Kandiyoti, Women, Islam, and the State, 23–48; Durakbasa, “Kemalism As Identity Politics in Turkey,” 139–55.

50. I considered the term professionalization in the sense employed by Weber in Economy and Society concerning domination and bureaucrats. Weber, Economy and Society, Vol. II, 941–56.

51. The literature on this aspect is huge and includes: Göle, “The Quest for the Islamic Self,” 81–6; Arat, Rethinking Islam and Liberal Democracy, Chapter 1; Arat, “The Project of Modernity and Women in Turkey,” 95–112; Kandiyoti, “Bargaining with Patriarchy,” 274–90; Kandiyoti, “Gendering the Modern,” 113–32; Bozdoğan and Kasaba, Rethinking Modernity and National Identity in Turkey, Introduction.

52. Arslan, “State and Turkish Secularism,” 220.

53. The form is available on the website for the Diyanet's High Council for Religious Affairs (Din Işleri Yuksek Kurulu Başkanlığı): https://kurul.diyanet.gov.tr/SoruSor/AnaSayfa.aspx#.VDmjg0scBrM.

54. As in the past, it is also possible to submit a request of fatwa by writing it in a book at the Mufti Offices. However, compared with the online form and the telephone service, this method is employed less often: from April 2012 to the end of July 2013 at the Istanbul Mufti office, 150 questions were submitted this way.

55. Conversation with Nevin Meriç, Istanbul Müftülüğü Fetva Odasi, Istanbul, Nurosmaniye Cami, January 15, 2014.

56. From 2002 to 2013, the number of questions were 801,513. See http://www.dinihaber.org/vatandas-diyanete-en-cok-hangi-sorulari-sordu-67279h.htm, last consulted on December 22, 2014.

57. Conversation with Nevin Meriç, cit.

58. Kamerman and Kahn, Privatization and the Welfare State; Harris, “States at the Limit”; Delibas, “Conceptualizing Islamic Movements,” 89–103; Göçmen, “Religion, Politics and Social Assistance in Turkey,” February 1, 2014, 92–100.

59. Arslan, “State and Turkish Secularism,” 223.

60. Conversation with Zehra Tuncel, coordinator of the Family Offices (Aile İrşat ve Rehberkik Burolari), Ankara, Kocatepe Cami Complex, November 14, 2013

61. Conversation with Hatice Güler, Anadolu Ilahiyat Akademisi, Ankara, November 13, 2013.

62. The Diyanet Işleri Başkanlığı's Directive, Aile İrşat ve Rehberkik Bürolari Çalişma Yönergesi, No. 633, March 19, 2010.

63. Conversation with Huriye Martı, Head of the Department of Family and Religious Guidance (Aile ve Dini Rehberlik Daire Baskanliği), DIB, Ankara, November 13, 2013.

64. Ibid.

65. Conversation with Zehra Tuncel, cit.

66. The first version of the project was realized in 2006 by Hidayet Seftali Tuksal and Hatice Guler, who, at the time, worked for the Diyanet in collaboration with the UNFPA. Conversation with Meltem Ağduk, Gender Programme Coordinator, UNFPA Ankara, January 21, 2014

67. See http://www.radikal.com.tr/turkiye/diyanet_kadina_siddete_son-984114. The name of the project “Kadina şiddete son” (stop violence against women) changed in 2012 to “Aile içi şiddete son” (stop violence in the family).

68. The report “Camilerde Kadınlara Ayrılan Mekanların Güzelleştirilmesi Çalışmaları 2012 Genel Raporu” considered all the approximately 91,000 mosques in Turkey and found that only 7750 mosques provided places and services for women. Report cited by Çamur, “Camilerdeki Fiziksel Mekanların Ihtiyaçlara Göre Düzenlenmesi,” 95.

69. On occasion of this week (October 1–7, 2013), many publications involved women in mosques, female religious education and the opening of mosques to the entire community. See http://camilerhaftasi.diyanet.gov.tr/index.html for more information.

70. “Let's invite everyone, Let's all go together to mosque!” was the title of the Friday noon prayer inviting both males and females to the mosque.

71. Conversation with Kadriye Avcı Erdemli, cit.

72. Aymes, Gourisse, and Massicard, L'art de l'Etat en Turquie, Chapter 1.

73. Hassan, “Women Preaching for the Secular State,” 452.

74. Kandiyoti, Women, Islam, and the State, 3.

75. About women's access to Turkish public sphere please consider: Durakbasa and Ilyasoglu, “Formation of Gender,” 514–30; Sundal, “Invisible Women Visible Islam,” 109–30; Acar, “Women and Islam in Turkey,” 46–60.

76. Lascoumes and Le Galès, Gouverner Par Les Instruments, 12–5.

77. Ibid., 17.

78. Interview with Prof. Ali Bardakoğlu, Kuran'i Kerime Arastirmalari Merkesi, 29 Mayis Universitesi, Istanbul,February 4, 2014.

79. Conversation with Prof. Serpil Sancar, Ankara University, Faculty of Political Science, January 22, 2014.