Religious Markets & 31 Flavors

After spending a few hours at the Center for Islamic Studies yesterday I trekked back to the European side of Istanbul to meet with Ahmet Yukleyen, a recent PhD grad in anthropology from Boston University.  His dissertation was on Turkish religious communities and their understanding of Islamic activism in the Netherlands and Germany, so I was eager to hear his perspective on Turkish migrants in Europe.

Ahmet interviewed a few DITIB officials during his fieldwork, but he didn’t focus on DITIB because he was studying actors without state connections.  Still, he said DITIB is so big that he couldn’t ignore it.

Besides the state connection, another thing that sets DITIB apart is its lack of what he called a “missionary commitment” to Islamic service.  He wasn’t talking about proselytizing, but rather a fervent devotion to the organization’s goals that characterizes the other groups he studied.  Followers of Fethullah Gülen are passionate about education and interfaith dialogue, Süleymancilar are committed to running Koran courses, and Milli Görüs wants to see religion integrated into public life as much as possible.  These commitments serve as rallying points and in some cases have earned groups the label of fundamentalist.

At the end of the day, DITIB looks like plain ol’ vanilla sitting next to some mint chocolate chip, rocky road, and Cherry Garcia.  It’s just…dull.

I don’t have firm data showing that commitment to DITIB is weaker than commitment to the other groups, but several of my interviewees, including DITIB staff, have suggested it.  This seems to support the religious market theory that says a state-imposed monopoly on religion will result in widespread religious indifference.  The quirk here is that the state “brand” of religion is being exported to another country where no such monopoly exists.  It should fare even worse there, right?

What’s interesting is that DITIB seems to be the most popular Turkish religious organization in Germany.  Is that because it asks so little of those who attend its mosques and various activities?  That seems contrary to the religious market theory of Stark, but perhaps in line with what Ammerman has written about some Christian churches.

Maybe it’s worth remembering that the best-selling ice cream flavor is still vanilla.