Daily Life In The Ottoman Empire (23 page)

Outside the palace, before the arrival of the new month,
the faithful who had fasted for 30 days made their customary fast offering.
Such an offering required them to distribute among the poor and the needy a
certain amount of wheat, barley, dates, and fruit. This purified their fast for
it was believed that until a Muslim had distributed these gifts, or their
equivalent in money, god kept his fasting suspended between heaven and earth.
Among the wealthy and powerful families, every member of the household,
including servants and slaves, received a valuable present according to their
status, “the length and difficulty of their services,” or “the degree of favor
in which” they “were held.”

In the Arab provinces of the empire, where this practice
was called
sadaqat ul-Fitr
or
zakat ul-Fitr,
the alms were
distributed one or even two nights before the end of
Ramazan.
The head
of household was responsible to pay the alms on behalf of every member of his
family. Approximately two kilograms of grains was distributed on behalf of each
family member. Some among the rich and powerful chose to distribute money
instead of grains or dates.

On the first day of the new month, men bathed, perfumed,
and dressed in their finest clothing to attend congregational prayer. Having
distributed their required alms, worshippers assembled outside their town or
village in a large space especially set aside for the large congregation who
attended the
bayram
prayer. There, led by an imam, they performed
prayers. After the end of the prayer, the imam ascended the pulpit and
delivered a sermon. The prayer marking the new month had no call to prayer and
no
iqama,
which was called to make all in attendance aware that the
prayer was getting underway. Once prayers had ended, all worshippers embraced
and wished one another a happy and healthy
bayram.
They then returned to
their homes, taking a different road from the one they had taken coming to the
prayer.

On the occasion of the arrival of the
bayram,
parents
bought new clothes for their children, who proudly displayed them as they
walked through the streets. Women wore their best jewelry and most splendid
dress. The rich and powerful distributed presents among their servants,
dependents, and the poor. During congratulatory visits, the young kissed the
right hands of the older members of the family, who gave them sweets.

An important part of the
bayram
was the restoration
of friendship between those who had quarreled or hurt each other’s feelings.
After the mid-day service at the mosque and exchange of visits, some people set
off for cemeteries, where temporary markets were set up to sell flowers, prayer
books, and water for watering the plants around the grave. The rest of the day
was spent in relaxation and amusement, such as listening to performances by the
janissary marching band (
mehtaran)
or watching the popular
Karagöz
and
Hacivat
shadow theater.

Hajj

The fifth pillar of Islam is
hac
(Arabic:
hajj)
,
or pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in western Arabia. The journey is
required of every Muslim who is physically and financially able. Islam allows
those who can not tolerate the hardship of the journey to Mecca to perform it
by proxy, requesting another Muslim, typically a friend or a relative, to act
as a substitute.
Hac
serves as a unifying force by bringing Muslims of
diverse racial, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds together in a common set of
religious rites. Once a believer has performed the pilgrimage, he adds the
title of
haci
(
hajji)
to his name. The pilgrimage rite follows
the pattern established by the prophet Muhammad during his life.

In the Ottoman era, before the pilgrim entered Mecca, he
wore the
ihram
garments, consisting of two white seamless sheets without
any ornamentation with one piece wrapped round the loins and the other covering
the left shoulder and passed under the right armpit. He also took vows to avoid
“quarrels, immorality, bad language, and light conversation,” while
demonstrating his respect for the holy sanctuary “by sparing the trees” and not
plucking “a single blade of grass.” The pilgrim was also obligated to abstain
from using “all oils, perfumes, and unguents; from washing the head with mallow
or with lote leaves;” and from “dyeing, shaving, cutting” his hair. For “each
infraction of these ordinances,” he had to sacrifice a sheep. After a complete
ablution and assuming the
ihram,
the pilgrims performed prayers, and
recited the meritorious sentences beginning with the words, “Here I am, O God,
here I am . . .”

Once he had arrived in Mecca, the pilgrim walked around the
Ka’ba
seven times, kissed the Black Stone (
Hajar al-Aswad
),
prayed twice, and walked seven times between Mount Safa and Mount Marwa. On the
seventh of
Zilhice,
the last month in the Islamic calendar, the pilgrim
was reminded of his duties. During the second stage of the
hac,
which
took place between the eighth and the twelfth days of the month, the pilgrim
visited the holy places outside Mecca and sacrificed an animal in commemoration
of Abraham’s sacrifice. Men shaved their heads, and after throwing seven stones
at each of the three pillars at
Mina
that represented the devil, the
pilgrims returned to Mecca to perform the farewell
tawaf,
or circling of
the
Ka’ba,
before leaving the city.

The number of those who performed the
hac
every year
is unknown, but at least one European writer who lived in Istanbul in the 1660s
estimated the total number of the pilgrims to be “about fifty thousand souls.” The
sultan did not perform the pilgrimage in person, but he appointed a commander
of the pilgrims, who carried a letter of compliments and greetings from the
sultan to the Sharif of Mecca, who acted as the governor of the city. The
commander of the pilgrims was accompanied by a large military escort, which was
responsible for transporting the royal gifts that were sent to Mecca and Medina
for the relief of the poor and for the bribe paid to the Bedouin tribesmen who
raided and looted pilgrim caravans. The royal caravan and its military escort
also carried a new
kiswah,
or the cloth covering for the
Ka’ba.
As the old hanging was pulled down, the pilgrims tore it into pieces and
carried it home as a relic and token of their pilgrimage. Two royal camels,
decorated with flowers and other ornaments, were the most attractive features
of the procession. The first camel carried “a high pinnacled litter” called the
mahmil,
which represented the sultan’s authority. The second camel’s
green velvet and silver saddle was intended to resemble the prophet Muhammad’s
own saddle. On the appearance of the two camels, a great stir moved through the
crowd who shouted: “Allah” in welcome. The camels were followed by an army of
grooms and attendants carrying supplies, including the tents that provided
protection and covering for the sultan’s
mahmil.
After the end of the
procession, the camels, which had performed the journey, were declared exempt
from all labor and service.

KURBAN BAYRAMI

Muslims across the empire celebrated the
Kurban Bayrami
(the
Feast of Sacrifice) or
Büyük Bayrami
(Greater Festival) (Arabic:
Eid
ul-Adha)
on the tenth of
Zilhice
(Arabic:
Dhu-l Hijjah)
, the
last month in the Islamic calendar. The four-day festivities commemorated
Abraham’s unflinching devotion to God by his willingness to sacrifice his son
Ishmael (substituted for Isaac in the Muslim version of the story). In
Istanbul, for several days prior to the feast, shepherds from all over Anatolia
brought thousands of sheep into the open space in front of the Bayezid Mosque,
where heads of households gathered. A sheep, with its fleece colored with henna
or cochineal and its horns covered with gold leaf, was taken home with help
from the children of the family, who were responsible for its food and water.

In the morning of the festival, Muslims gathered in a place
outside the city, town, or village, to perform their prayers. Once everyone had
assembled, the imam took his place in front of the congregation and led them in
prayer. After the prayer had ended, the imam ascended the pulpit and delivered
a sermon on the meaning and significance of the festival. When he had finished
his sermon, the attendants returned home, where the head of the family took the
sheep and, at times, the goat, camel, or cow, he had bought and turned its head
toward Mecca, said a prayer, uttered the
takbir
(“Allahu Akbar” or “God
is great “) three times and requested “the gracious acceptance of the
sacrifice,” by uttering
bismillah
(in the name of Allah/God). He then
slaughtered the animal. Every head of a family sacrificed “an animal with his
own hands and every male member of his household” was “at liberty to indulge
his piety in a similar manner,” but the head of the family was “bound to
observe” the ceremony.

No animal was lawful food unless it was slaughtered
according to the Islamic law. The Muslim had to draw the knife across the
throat and cut the windpipe, the carotid arteries, and the gullet repeating at
the same time
bismillah,
and
Allahu akbar.
The meat was divided
into three portions, of which one was shared with the poor, another was given
to relatives, and the third was kept for home consumption. The animal had to be
“of a fixed age and be free” from “certain blemishes” (lack of an eye,
lameness, etc.).

The sultan celebrated the opening of the Feast of Sacrifice
surrounded by government officials and court dignitaries, who attended the
ceremonies with him at an imperial mosque, while the crowds cheered. Upon
returning to his palace, the sultan put on “a sacrificial dress,” and
slaughtered an animal with his own hands. The first sheep he slaughtered was
for himself, but he afterwards offered one for each member of the royal family.
At the conclusion of this ceremony, the sultan hosted a grand reception for
state officials and grandees, as well as foreign ambassadors and dignitaries,
who offered him their congratulations.

All Muslims, rich and poor, young and old, were expected to
celebrate the holiday by wearing their best clothes and participating in
congregational prayer at a mosque. The rich bestowed gifts and alms, while
children were offered sweets, fruits, and toys, which were sold by Christian and
Jewish vendors. A European visitor, who was in Istanbul in 1836, described the
splendor and rejoicing with which the festival of sacrifice was celebrated by “all
the population of the capital.” She wrote that the harbor of Istanbul was
beautifully “decked out with flags,” all business was suspended, men grasped
each other by the hand in the streets and uttered “a fraternal greeting,” and
the poor were seen “hastening from house to house to secure the flesh of the
sacrifices.” Another Western resident of Istanbul who watched the festivities
at the dawn of the First World War observed that as “evening faded into night,”
the whole of Istanbul began “to glitter with the lights of myriads of tiny oil
lamps hung around the windows of houses, festooned from minaret to minaret, or
encircling, in double or triple coronals, their surrounding balconies and
pinnacles.”

The people of Istanbul celebrated both
Ramazan Bayrami
and
Kurban Bayrami
with “extraordinary public entertainments,” “eating in
the streets,” and “prayers and illuminations in the mosques.” One of the most
popular amusements throughout the city, day and night, was playing on swings,
although “there were occasional directives prohibiting” them “on the grounds of
public morality.” According to an Italian traveler who visited the capital in
1614–1615, the swings were suspended from “very high beams, put up under canvas
for this purpose, and all decorated with leaves, flowers, tinsel, festoons, and
other colored adornments.” Young and old; men and women; Muslim, Christian, and
Jew sat on the swing and were pushed by the ropes high into the air as they
listened to music playing nearby. Young men used the opportunity to take off
their “outside garment” and, at times, long shirts, to show off their skills,
agility, and physique — especially if a lady were present and watching. At
times the swings were set in pairs at a short distance from each other, one
individual took one and another the other; and if they were men, they tried “to
kick each other” as they passed, while if they were women, they tried “to
embrace each other in mid-air and hook the other by legs, or capture in their
hands some of the fruit attached on high.” Another form of popular
entertainment was spinning on large wooden wheels that revolved, “some
crosswise like millstones, and others from on high down like the wheel of
fortune,” with people enjoying the sensation of “being swept up high and down
again” very fast, and then “going up again.” When a person shouted, panicked,
or felt dizzy from the movement and the speed of the wheel, he was immediately
sprinkled with jugs of rose water.

HOLY NIGHTS

The Ottoman Empire used the Islamic calendar, a lunar
calendar based on 12 months in a year of 354 or 355 days. With the
Hijra,
or
the flight of the prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in A.D. 622, designated
as its first year, the calendar was used by Muslims to determine the proper day
on which to celebrate important religious holidays and festivals. The months
began when the first crescent of a new moon was sighted. Since the lunar
calendar year was 11 to 12 days shorter, the months migrated and moved
throughout seasons.