The Muftı of Kesan (a small town in NW Turkey) is the order of the day in Turkey with his statements on Santa Claus.
Süleyman Yeniçeri (the last name means Janissary in Turkish) is hot topic in Turkey, after the mufti stressed his opinion about Santa Claus and the adoptation of Christian Christmas and new year habits into Turkish and Muslim Life. The brilliant statement of Yeniçeri was : ”New year celebrations are not part of our (Turkish) culture. There is no person as Santa Claus. There is one Saint Nick, yes, but he is merely a fabrication. It is yet not clear if santa or Saint nick has ever lived or not. Santa Claus uses chimneys or windows to enter homes. If he was a decent person, he would use the front door.”
The brilliant mufti continued :” Why are we trying to impersonate the Christian lifestyle. Do they [Christians] try to copy our ways of living ? Christmas and New Year Celebrations are imports from Christian World. Christmas is not our rejoicing or holiday. Koran says do enter using the front door.”
A Turkish Mufti (roughly equivalent to a deacon in Islam) stressed his dislike of adaptation of Christian culture into Islam by saying if Santa was a decent person, he would use front door instead of chimneys to enter homes.
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Though most Turks are Muslim and do not celebrate the Christmas Holiday, they nevertheless are well aware of the famous gift-bearing Saint and know him fondly as “Noel Baba” (Father Christmas). The ritual of gift-giving around the Christmas season has caught on as a tradition in many Turkish households and among friends and usually occurs on New Year’s Eve rather than on the eve of December 24th. Christmas trees too abound in cosmopolitain cities like Istanbul with small replicas for sale at major department stores.
ReplyDeleteMost Turks can tell you that Saint Nicholas was born in Patara, Antalya SW Turkey and will proudly point out his final resting place. Saint Nick was also elected bishop during Diocletian’s persecutions, and died in Myra around the year 350.
Religious affairs administration in Turkey has opened an investigation on Mufti Süleyman Yeniçeri for his Santa Claus remarks.
Turkey has just gave full-page advertisments at New York and Los Angeles Times, where the country wishes the USA a merry Christmas and an invitation to Saint Nicholas ‘s birthplace.