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By Root 949 0

considered set apart, inviolate, and so described as haram. The word came to be applied, in its secular sense, to the women’s quarters of a Moslem household—it was their haram, or sanctuary, territory apart, inviolate to all but the master of the household. The Selamlık, or men’s quarters, derived from the word selam, a greeting, the Selamlık being the one part of the house where it is permitted to receive visitors.” Selamlık also refers to the sultan’s Friday procession to the mosque.

Hoş geldiniz!

Welcome!

Hürriyet

Hürriyet is the Turkish word for “freedom,” and it appears often. A similar word, also seen everywhere, is cumhuriyet, the Turkish word for “republic.” Hürriyet is also the name of a daily Turkish newspaper.

Hüzün

Hüzün is a Turkish word for “melancholy.” In his book Istanbul: Memories and the City, Orhan Pamuk relates that when the word “appears in the Koran (as huzn in two verses and hazen in three others), it means much the same thing as the contemporary Turkish word. The Prophet Muhammad referred to the year in which he lost both his wife Hatice and his uncle, Ebu Talip, as Senettul huzn, the year of melancholy; this confirms that the word is meant to convey a feeling of deep spiritual loss. But if hüzün begins its life as a word for loss and the spiritual agony and grief attending it, my own readings indicate a small philosophical fault line developing over the next few centuries of Islamic history. With time, we see the emergence of two very different hüzüns, each evoking a distinct philosophical tradition.” According to the first tradition, the word refers to moments when we may have come too comfortably close to worldly pleasures and material gain. The second meaning refers to hüzün “not as the melancholy of a solitary person but the black mood shared by millions of people together.” Hüzün is an utterly Turkish word and state of being, and as Pamuk says, “It is one of Istanbul’s great gifts to the human race.”

I

Imaret

Imaret is a Turkish word that describes a building where meals are distributed free to the poor—a sort of soup kitchen—and usually part of a mosque complex (külliye).

International Istanbul Jazz Festival

The International Istanbul Jazz Festival, begun in 1994, is now one of the best-organized festivals in Europe. From the beginning, the festival was meant to go beyond jazz and include rock, pop, blues, reggae, New Age, etc. Among the artists who’ve performed over the years are Eric Clapton, Patti Smith, Wynton Marsalis, The Manhattan Transfer, Bryan Ferry, Sting, Lou Reed, and Suzanne Vega. The concerts are performed in different venues throughout the city, some taking place outdoors in parks and squares, and some at Nardis, one of the best jazz clubs in Istanbul. The festival is held in the summer, usually July, and tickets go on sale a few months in advance. Tickets may be purchased at the festival’s main box office or from Biletix retail outlets or online (biletix.com). More details are found on the Web site of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (iksv.org).

Islam

A basic understanding of Islam is essential for visiting Turkey. Though I am not an Islamic scholar, I have traveled to three Muslim countries and I have made a serious attempt to read a fair number of very good sources that were recommended to me by Muslim friends and a few others who actually are scholars. I remain grateful to them all, and I think you will be happy to have their recommendations, too.

The word “Islam” means “surrender” to the will of God, and the five pillars of Islam are shahada (professing that “there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet”); sala (praying five times daily); zakah (giving alms to the needy; welfare contribution); sawm (observing Ramadan, or Ramazan in Turkish); and hadj (making a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in one’s lifetime). It is helpful to know that Turkey is a Sunni Muslim nation and what that means (there are also some Shiite and Alevi Muslims in Turkey). The two great religious divisions of Islam are Sunnism and Shiism. Sunnis (or Sunnites)