Mosque in Turkey

Kevin!

Hi,

Basically, I want to visit a mosque in kusadasi turkey as I've gone over there a couple of years now and the whole religion of Islam intrigues me.

I was just wondering, is it okay for me to just visit a mosque? I don't want to be disrespectful in anyway and want to adhere to all customs

a woman will also be travelling with me, so what will she need to do?

thank you,

Kevin

irishconvert

Kevin! wrote: »

Hi,

Basically, I want to visit a mosque in kusadasi turkey as I've gone over there a couple of years now and the whole religion of Islam intrigues me.

I was just wondering, is it okay for me to just visit a mosque? I don't want to be disrespectful in anyway and want to adhere to all customs

a woman will also be travelling with me, so what will she need to do?

thank you,

Kevin

Hi Kevin,

You just need to remove your shoes before you go in and make sure you are dressed appropiately. For a man if you wear shorts they shoud be below your knee and you should also wear a t-shirt. The woman should wear a head scarf. It doesn't need to be tight, it can be loosly wrapped around her head. She should also wear a long loose skirt or trousers and a long sleeve top which doesn't show any cleavage. Depending on the Mosque she might not be allowed into the main prayer hall but if this is the case she can go into the womens prayer area which is usually upstairs on the balcony. You can ask one of the brothers inside if she is allowed to come into the prayer hall. Most mosques will have no problem with a non-Muslim women coming into the main prayer hall if she is interested in Islam.

Once inside be careful not to walk directly on front of anyone who is praying. The best thing to do it just find a nice spot, sit down and take it all in.

Enjoy!

Als76

Hi Kevin i wasin kusadasi a few years ago and seven of us went to mosque. We were made very welcome. We did have t take are shoes off and were long shorts as the previous post said. They wouldnt let the women in the mens hall.

Kevin!

Thank you above for the replies, what are the set times for prayer? as I'd rather visit the mosque when theres only a couple inside as to not get into anyones way

cheers,

Kevin.

irishconvert

Kevin! wrote: »

Thank you above for the replies, what are the set times for prayer? as I'd rather visit the mosque when theres only a couple inside as to not get into anyones way

cheers,

Kevin.

It depends on the time of year and the location of the mosque. The times for prayer are determined by the position of the sun in the sky. If it is prayer time then just wait at the back of the mosque as it only lasts around 20 - 30 minutes. Your hotel should be able to tell you prayer times.

hivizman

Here's a webpage that gives the Turkish names for the various prayers:

http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/Religion/prayer_times.html

Kuşadası is on a latitude to the west of Istanbul, so the prayer times are likely to be a few minutes later than in Istanbul. When I visited Istanbul last summer, I found that the mornings were the best time for visiting mosques, when most people were at work. You couldn't miss hearing the calls to prayer, though, so you could keep away during the set prayer times.

irishconvert

hivizman wrote: »

You couldn't miss hearing the calls to prayer, though, so you could keep away during the set prayer times.

Actually I would recommend paying a visit at prayer time. I visited the Blue Mosque in Istanbul before I was a Muslim and was there at prayer time. It is an amazing site to see so many people praying in unison. Just make sure you sit quietly at the back.

hivizman

irishconvert wrote: »

Actually I would recommend paying a visit at prayer time. I visited the Blue Mosque in Istanbul before I was a Muslim and was there at prayer time. It is an amazing site to see so many people praying in unison. Just make sure you sit quietly at the back.

This would, with hindsight, have been a good idea - the Blue Mosque is certainly a stunning building but when I went there were a lot of other tourists and I didn't get a sense of the mosque as a "place of prayer". On the other hand, I liked the Yeni Cami (New Mosque - near the Spice Bazaar), which was less crowded and had more of a "prayerful" atmosphere (also a very friendly curator who gave me a set of tasbeeh beads as a souvenir when he identified me as Irish), and also the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque by the ferry terminal in Üsküdar. Unfortunately, the Süleymaniye Mosque, which is regarded by many as second only to the Blue Mosque in terms of architectural spendour, was under restoration and only a small area was open, but again it was less frenetic than the Blue Mosque.

During my trip last year to Turkey, I experienced the night of 15 Sha'ban, referred to in Turkish as Berat Kandili (the night of forgiveness). During the night, all the mosques in the town I was visiting were lit up, and in the evening the mosque in the town centre was packed and overflowing into the town square with people praying and listening to a sermon relayed through loudspeakers. This year, the equivalent night is, I think, 26/27 July.