Job Discussion Forums

[Shaytess]

I was astounded today when some of my students swore to me that some mosques and religious organizations pay Turkish girls to wear headscarves. I asked them if they were sure it wasn't something they had read about on the Internet and they told me they are sure it's true and that it is a way for religious groups to spread influence and offer `proof` that Turkey wants to become a more religious society.

I am still a little shocked. Is this true? Has anybody else heard this story? The students who told me aren't psychos, they are pretty normal- and intelligent-seeming people.

[tararu]

Yep, I have heard that quite often. A headscarf in the past would be in the style of the region that a woman came from. They had special patterns and embroidery on them. They weren't wrapped tightly around the head. The woman's hair and face were both seen. To cut a long story short, they were more a part of regional costume than a religious statement. The word turban is not even the correct word in Turkish for headscarf. It was adopted to describe a headscarf that is worn for religious significance.

[Shaytess]

Wow. I wish the Catholic Church would have paid me to not have sex before marriage. The money might have made me feel better about not having a boyfriend in high school.

[misterkodak]

One of my friends from a country in the former Yugoslavia was telling me how some of the "religious organizations" (namely the ones who brought the lightbulb people to power) who migrated there and other less economıcally fortunate Eastern European countries are paying people to go to namaz at the mosque 5 times a day. This reminds me of my university days and the poor souls who would donate plasma for the money for money to get drunk on. I'd imagine this would work quite well if your mosque or Jamaat were located in the vicinity of a pub or a university

[Shaytess]

Do any Istanbul old-timers remember when those really tight skullcap-headscarves started getting popular? I haven't been here long enough to know... I do find it amazing how not even a wisp of hair is allowed to escape.

[dmb]

It wasn't an issue before. If you wanted to wear one, fine. It has only been a problem since it has been politicised.

[Sheikh Inal Ovar]

They also come round at election times trying to buy votes ... a small gold coin per voter ...

How much for the headscarf ... hourly? daily? ... is it negotiable depending on the size of the head ...

[misterkodak]

Are the headscarves these girls are being paid to wear normal headscarves, or do they carry advertising? Maybe they're yellow "Do You Speak English?" headscarves... as certain firms are funded by green money.
I still like the idea of "converting to get drunk". I could pray to "the only god" before I pray to the god of porcelain. It beats the heck out of donating plasma or other bodily fluids! "Alhamdulillah gonna get me a six pack!"

[Golightly]

Hmm there's an idea - dershanes giving out free headscarves with their logos on...

[Alexius]

Here goes - first post.

The caveat applying here is that I lack omniscience - naturally, I can only speak from experience, which happens to be a decade moving in Turkish Islamic circles of various kinds, and six years resident in Fatih. Personal contact with women who have chosen to adopt the headscarf also counts, I guess - actually, I have many friends who are such, one of whom is my wife, who was caught up in the furore of '98.

Women/girls being paid to adopt hijab? There is absolutely no evidence. It belongs on Snopes. It is a very good example of an Istanbul urban legend.

Urban legends often have a basis in fact, but they also often have a basis in anxiety. In this case, it probably reflects the anxiety felt by some portions of Turkish society since Erbakan's administration in the late nineties; the fear, felt by some, that the nation may be about to slide towards an Iranian-style revolution.

The notion that the adoption of hijab is a political statement is also unfounded; of the many, many people I have met in various Muslim groups and associations around the city and elsewhere, I have met nobody who professed such a thing, and nobody who knew of someone, anyone, who professed such a thing. I am aware of nobody who has ever produced actual evidence of such a movement.

That it is widely believed is certainly interesting, but in no way constitutes evidence of anything other than a sense of insecurity, and often a willingness to accept such rumours at face value as they flatter common preconception and prejudice.

As I said, I lack omniscience and so am open to error; however, I await the production of something tangible before I'll give any of it any credence.

[dmb]

[Golightly]

Alexius, are you the same Alexius who occasionally contributes interesting stuff to the Fortean Times message boards? Either way, welcome to the board

[FGT]

Speaking from liberal Izmir:

The nub of this thread struck me as Kemalist propaganda/myth/scare mongering. All of which are important and play their part in the big game. As dmb said, it wasn't an issue until it became an issue.

I recommend you read "Snow" by Orhan Pamuk: ordinary girls fight (to the death - self-inflicted) for the right to choose to wear the head scarf, the enemy is not the Islamisist.
This can be seen as a form of women's lib.

Discuss. (Calmly)!

[Golightly]

I'm glad to hear that Izmir is still (relatively) liberal. I'd heard that its complexion had changed in recent years with the influx of people from the East.
Do girls still sashay down the Kordon while the boys look on, groaning with desire and carrying their bits in wheelbarrows?

[Sheikh Inal Ovar]

Unless my mother-in-law was hallucinating when she saw two modestly dressed women from the AK party at her door trying to buy her vote ... the paying for votes is no myth ...

She sent them packing with an earful of koranic verse ...