Turkey Religion

Religion Islam is a monotheistic religion practiced by Muslims. They believe

that Allah gave revelations to the Prophet Muhammed through the Angel Gabriel

around A.D. 600. Jesus Christ and the prophets of the New Testament are accepted

as Islamic precepts. During their rule of the Ottoman Empire, Islamic laws

dictated the way of life for the Turks. In 1924 with the new republic

government, Islamic Law was abolished as a state religion. The government

removed religion from public policy and restricted it exclusively to personal

faith. This led to the abolishment of the religion?s hierarchy and the closing

and confiscation of the lodges, meeting places and monasteries as well as

outlawing their rituals and meetings. The government restricted religious public

attire for men and women as well as trying to substitute Turkish words for

Arabic words of Islamic origin. This was a swift and harsh attempt at change.

During the 1940?s there was a relaxation of some political controls and by the

1950?s people wanted to return to traditional religious practice. In fact

starting in the 1950?s religious education was made compulsory in secondary

schools and in 1982 it was extended to primary schools as well. A lot of the

controversy that followed was found in the universities. Female students

committed to Islam began to cover their heads and necks with scarves and long

overcoats. This lead to the regulations in 1987, forbid female students to cover

their heads in class. Protests by other religious students and professors

overturned the dress code in the 1990?s. Today, a Turkish woman?s dress has

become the center of much debate. (Bollag,B., January 8, 1999). The Muslim

religion accounts for 99% of the population in Turkey. Non-Muslim?s religions

include: Christians, Protestants and Jews. The members of these religions

usually reside in a single area and are very small in number.