When I interviewed the imam from my neighborhood mosque on Thursday I asked him about the sermon he delivered two weeks ago. If you recall, it was a sermon partially about gossiping, and the preacher’s point was that gossiping about an honorable woman was a Big Sin because it could ruin her life. I wondered [...]
Entries Tagged 'DITIB' ↓
Honor Killing On My Mind
July 8th, 2006 — DITIB, Muslims and Islam
The Pele of Muslim Preachers
July 4th, 2006 — DITIB, Research in Germany
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 [...]
Sermon of the Day: An Oldie but a Goodie
July 2nd, 2006 — DITIB, Islamic sermons
Fatih is in the US by now, but before he left we met at the WZB on Thursday to discuss sermons in depth. He brought with him a copy of the first sermon he ever preached back when he was just 15 years old. The sermon was written by an imam from Turkey with a [...]
“I thought you were a Turk…”
June 24th, 2006 — DITIB, Research in Germany
My name sounds a lot like the Turkish name Cem, pronounced “Gem” as in stone or “Jem” as in truly outrageous. Several times in the US and Turkey people have mistaken me for a Turk because of my name and my ability to speak Turkish (certainly not because of my freckles and pasty white skin). [...]
Sermon of the Day: Suicide and Gossip
June 23rd, 2006 — DITIB, Islamic sermons
Today I went to the DITIB mosque around the corner from my apartment to attend Friday prayers and listen to the sermon. This was the first time I’ve ever gone in with everyone else on a Friday and sat down to listen to one. I’ve heard sermons broadcast on loudspeakers outside of mosques in Istanbul [...]
Excellent meeting with Turkish Muslim, visit to DITIB mosque
June 20th, 2006 — DITIB, Research in Germany
Last night I hit the jackpot. I met up with a young Turkish man (I’ll call him Fatih) born and raised in Berlin, who not only worked for DITIB for 2.5 years, but actually wrote some sermons and delivered them at DITIB mosques (back when he was only 18 years old). He knows DITIB from [...]
Mosque and a Haircut: Two Birds, One Stone
June 7th, 2006 — DITIB, Research in Germany
This morning I stopped by the DITIB-run mosque that’s just down the street from my apartment and found the solution to two of my problems. The first is that I wasn’t sure if I should visit DITIB’s director in Cologne before trying to contact staff at this mosque; I suspected I might need a formal [...]