Istanbul is in many ways the capital of human civilizations. It has inherited the best of the Roman, the Byzantine, the Islamic, and modern civilizations. Istanbul has preserved so much of so many human traditions that every step you take in this city, you are stepping on the remnants of some civilization. Everywhere you look you can soak in the beauty of what was beautiful and grand about a previous culture.

Assoc.Dr. MUQTEDAR KHAN
University of Delaware and Institute for Social Policy and Understanding

In the past three years I have come to Istanbul more than a dozen times. Some parts of this sprawling global city, feel like home. The beautiful by-lanes of Sultanahmet; every lane eventually leading to the Blue Mosque is a delight to get lost in. Every turn springs a charming surprise, a spectacular mosque or a quant and beautiful boutique hotel, a delightful pastry shop or an enticing ‘kofta’ place. I now know the area quite well, but I still try to get lost, so that I can discover more of old Istanbul’s charms. With every visit, the city shares a new dimension of its charm and signals that there is more to discover. Come again beloved, it smiles, come again.

I also like the area in Uskudar near ISAM (Center for Islamic Studies), where I have stayed several times. The area is so intellectually rich with many Universities in a very small area. Walk into any restaurant or café and you will run into experts on Ottoman history, Sufis, Islamic law, Western politics or even an expert on African American Islam. Most Muslim intellectuals have nostalgia in their hearts for a glorious city where Islam is the dominant culture and philosophy, mysticism, and poetry its handmaidens. Between Sultanahmet and Uskudar, in Europe and in Asia, I have found palpable traces of this nostalgic dream.

More and more Muslims, especially from the West are looking to Istanbul and Turkey for pride restoration. On a daily basis, we are hammered by bad news from Muslim lands – suicide bomber blows up a bus, Israel bombs Gaza, American drones devastate a wedding party, journalists jailed by a government, journalists beheaded by a Muslim gang, hopes for democracy crushed, Muslim mob lynches someone accused of blasphemy – headlines such as these are now routine. One of the few places from where one gets frequent good news is Turkey. So Muslims are zooming in on Turkey.

Those who can admire only from far, relish the aggressive posture of Turkey’s President Erdogan who stands tall among his peers. The rest of the Muslim world seems to specialize in picking losers as leaders. The fortunate ones, who can actually visit Turkey, are beginning to see it as the global hub of Islamic identity. Tourism, spirituality, investment opportunities or political networking, Istanbul has something to offer to everyone. Any visit to Istanbul, real or even virtual, invigorates Muslims with pride and reassures them that there is still hope for the Muslim World.

For Muslims growing up in the West, in an age of Islamophobia, Istanbul has become a magnet. Islam as one finds in Istanbul belies the false claims of Islamophobes who malign a great human tradition. In 2012, I travelled to Istanbul with my entire family. We planned to spend a week in Turkey, visit the great city, Konya and Cappadocia and then head to Greece and Bulgaria. Two days in Istanbul and my children, who fell instantly in love with Istanbul, wanted the itinerary revised, they wanted to stay and soak in the city and go nowhere else. I was outvoted; my son would not support me and three generations of women, my wife, my mother and daughter rejected my East and West plan. As I watched my children learning from this great city; its museums, its palaces, its gorgeous mosques and its culture, I realized that for young children two weeks in Istanbul teaches them more about Islamic faith and inculcates more Islamic pride, than probably two years in an Islamic school.

Now scores of American and European Professors are taking tours to Turkey to introduce their students to an Islam that contrasts so spectacularly from that which is portrayed in Western media. Muslim preachers and Sufi leaders are organizing Rihlahs – study tours – that take young upper middle class professionals to sacred places in Istanbul and in Konya to immerse in the culture of mystical and imperial Islam that was the hallmark of the Ottoman age.

Whenever I am in Istanbul, whether for an academic conference or for an international symposium, on a Thursday night there is only one place to beat the Jerrahi Tekke, a Sufi lodge of the Jerrahi order. Hidden in the by-lanes, past little beklava shops in the religious neighborhood of Karagumruk in Fatih; this beautiful, sacred place is a spiritual haven. Every week hundreds of dervishes gather for the night prayer and then spend hours in loud zikr, remembrance of God. It is an amazing spiritual experience; beautifully choreographed and executed with such deep devotion that is hard not to get a taste of mystical bliss. It is also remarkable that in this materialist age so many young people take so many hours out of their life, every week, to remember God. It speaks volumes about the culture and spirit of this city and the enduring appeal of Islam. For hours the place echoes with the chants of Al Hayy — The Living; one of the 99 names of Allah — and for months it resonates in my heart until the next visit, God willing.

Istanbul’s majestic and beautiful mosques and their minarets share the city skyline with ugly modern high-rises. Its Sufi traditions thrive along with a vibrant film industry. Social science conferences and academic symposiums compete for attention with diplomatic and political conclaves. Traditional life thrives, side-by-side, with the explosive growth of the modern economy. Above all democracy thrives reassuring Muslims that Islam and modernity, tradition and commerce and politics and piety can coexist. Progress, Istanbul screams, is possible without the loss of faith.

I have visited many great Muslim cities: New Delhi, Cairo, Casa Blanca, Marrakech, Mecca, Medina, Dubai, Doha, Amman, Tunis, to name but a few. None is like Istanbul. Those cities remind me of the past and lost glory of Islam, Istanbul alone promises a bright future. Dubai and Doha are rich and thriving, but neither is what Ibn Khaldun might call as khalb al-Hadharah – the heart of civilization.

For Muslims today, Istanbul has indeed emerged as the city of joy and hope, pride in a glorious past and a promise of a future with faith and progress.

Source: Turkey Agenda