Around the World in 80 Prayers
In this special blog series, TravelMole’s US and Faith Newswire Editor, Gretchen Kelly will be visiting and joining in worship in sacred places all around the world.
The Blue Mosque, Istanbul
Autumn, 2013
The Blue Mosque, in Turkish called Sultanahmet Camii, or the Sultan Ahmed Mosque is on most tourists itineraries to Istanbul. Cruise passengers pass through her massive doorways all day long, slipping in and out of their shoes for a required visit, a tick-off on the bucket list.
I’ve been to the Mosque several times while in Istanbul and I must admit I have been one of those travelers moving in herds in and out without stopping to mingle with her faithful—the people who actually come here to pray.
Unlike Hagia Sofia nearby, although tourists are permitted in the Blue Mosque, it is not deconsecrated. It is still very much a working mosque where millions of Muslims come daily to worship.
While some mosques, such as those in Morocco, do not allow non-Muslims to enter and join in prayers, the Blue Mosque is open to anyone who respects their rules of deportment (no short skirts, women should cover their heads, no shoes) and respect for its purpose.
With my shoes safely stored away and my head covered with a caramel-colored Turkish shawl, I moved away from my cruise companions to the area reserved for women—a latticed area behind the main mosque interior where boys and men prayed out in the open. I walked in as silently as I could, the soft pile carpet brushing the soles of my tired feet. Two or three scarved Turkish women looked up and smiled shyly as I sat down and composed myself to join in a minute of two of silence and meditation with them.
Outside, the muezzin was calling the faithful to prayer—a sound I’ve always loved when I’m traveling in Islamic countries. It made me think of other mosques I’d been to, in Syria, which were now out of bounds and out of limits—in the tumult of war and conflict. Here in Istanbul the mix of faiths and nationalities still carried on in the grand domed interior of the Mosque, an unphased witness to centuries of history.
I got up and turned briefly to catch another nod of friendly complicity from the group of women settled behind me and padded out into the main hall where that tide of travelers continued to flow around me. As I put my shoes on in the bright Istanbul sunlight, it felt as if something soft and comforting lingered on the soles of my feet.
Gretchen Kelly
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