The Pele of Muslim Preachers

I had a good hour-long interview today with Harun Bulut, imam of Sehitlik Mosque, the mosque I wrote about earlier.  We met in his office next to the mosque, and the first thing I noticed was a huge coffee table book on his desk called America 24/7.  He explained that it was a gift of the American ambassador to Germany who had visited the mosque the previous day.  I just missed his visit when I stopped by the mosque yesterday, but I read about it in a Turkish paper today and there’s also a write-up with pictures on the embassy’s website.  Harun told me he was quite pleased with the visit and that he looks forward to these opportunities.  Indeed, a lot of what we talked about during the interview had to do with integration and interfaith dialogue.

There’s no mistaking that Harun is a skilled imam.  When I watched him preach last Friday I was impressed by the emotion he put into his sermon, and today he told me about the importance of getting in shape, both mentally and physically, before Friday prayers…he said it was just like a soccer player training before a game. 

That was not the last soccer analogy he would use during the interview, and when we talked about the integration of Turks into German society, he cited Turks supporting Germany in the World Cup as the best example of how they have, in fact, become a part of this society.  “Turks,” he said, “have two teams.  Although Turkey came in third place in the last World Cup, they unfortunately didn’t qualify this time.  So we want Turks to support Germany, just like we want Americans to support the U.S.”  And if Turkey had qualified?  I have a hunch about that…

As for DITIB sermons, I was surprised to learn that up until 3-4 months ago, all sermons came to Germany directly from Turkey.  In fact, Harun says they were the same sermons as the ones delivered in Turkey; if changes were made they were made by imams in Germany to reflect minor differences in local circumstances.  According to a new policy valid in both Turkey and Germany, local districts will have their own sermons.  For example, the 12 DITIB mosques in Berlin will all preach the same sermon while mosques in Frankfurt or Cologne might do something else.

I really need to follow up on this because (1) it doesn’t quite match other information I’ve received, and (2) the comparative aspect of my project hinges on there being a body of texts produced specifically for Turks in Germany.  My suspicion is that there have been changes in policy over time, which is why Fatih could deliver a sermon back in 1995 written especially for Turkish migrants.  Perhaps sermons started coming directly from Ankara around 1997, when their production and preaching in Turkey became centralized.  If this is the case, then of course I’d like to figure out how individual imams modified the texts.  My only worry is that the data simply don’t exist.

To be continued…