Turkey
Islam
Islam is a monotheistic religion. A believer is a Muslim, literally, "one who
submits to God." Muslims believe that Allah (Arabic for God) gave revelations
through the angel Gabriel to the Prophet Muhammad (A.D. 570-632 ), a native of the
Arabian Peninsula city of Mecca. Muhammad's efforts to convert people to monotheism
disturbed the merchant elite, who feared that his preaching would adversely affect the
pilgrims who regularly visited Mecca, which in the early seventh century had shrines
to several gods and goddesses. Mecca's principal destination for pilgrims was the
Kaaba, a shrine housing a venerated black rock which over the years had been
surrounded by various idols. The lack of acceptance by Meccans of Muhammad's preaching
caused him and his followers in A.D. 622 to migrate to Medina in response to an
invitation by that city's leaders. Muhammad's migration to Medina enabled him to
organize the politico-religious community - the umma - that marked the
beginning of Islam as a political movement as well as a religious faith. Thus, the
date of the migration, or hicret (from the Arabic hijra), was
adopted by the Muslim community as the beginning of the Islamic era. The Islamic
calendar is based on a lunar year, which averages eleven days less than a solar year.
The Islamic calendar is used in Turkey for religious purposes.
By the time of the Prophet's death ten years after his migration to Medina, most of
the Arabian Peninsula, including the city of Mecca, had converted to Islam. During the
last two years of his life, Muhammad led fellow Muslims on pilgrimages to Mecca, where
the Kaaba was relieved of its idols and dedicated to the worship of Allah. Since then,
praying at the Kaaba has been the ultimate goal of the pilgrimage, or hajj, which
every able-bodied adult Muslim is expected to make at least once in his or her
lifetime.
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