Turks, Greeks and my journey to Islam

By Tina Stylianidou

My journey to Islam is a sensitive one since my Greek Orthodox family lived in Turkey for most of their lives. Although I was born in Athens, Greece, my father, who was born and raised in Istanbul to a wealthy and well educated family, was like others living in a Muslim country – he held on to his religious identity tightly.

A time came when the Turkish government decided to kick the majority of Greek citizens out of Turkey and confiscate their wealth, houses and businesses. So my father’s family had to return back to Greece, empty handed and basically poor. This is what they, the Turks –’Muslims’ – did to them and this validated (according to them) their hatred towards Islam.

My mother’s family lived on a Greek island just on the border between Greece and Turkey and during a Turkish attack the Turks occupied the island and burnt their houses. So they escaped to the Greek mainland  in order to survive. Even more reason to hate the Turks –’Muslims’!

Greece was occupied by the Turks for over 400 years and we were taught to believe that for every crime committed towards the Greeks, Islam was responsible. That the Turks were Muslims and their crimes were reflecting their religious beliefs. So for hundreds of years we were taught in our history and religious books to hate and make fun of Islam.  In our books, Islam was actually not a religion and Muhammad (pbuh) was not a prophet! He was just a very intelligent leader and politician who gathered rules and laws from the Jews and the Christians, added some of his own ideas and conquered the world.

We were taught at school how to make fun of him and of his wives or his companions. All the ‘caricatures’ and slander against him which is published in today’s media was actually part of our curriculum.

But God protected me so hatred against Islam had not entered my heart. Other Greeks have also succeeded to rid themselves of the burden of the Orthodox religious inheritance placed on their shoulders and they have opened their eyes, ears and hearts to see that Islam is a true religion sent by God and Muhammad (pbuh) is a true prophet, the last of all prophets after a long chain of messengers starting from Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ismael, Isaac, Moses and Jesus (peace be upon them all), all sent to mankind to guide the people to the same message.

It was a great help to me that both of my parents were not very religious themselves, they rarely practised their religion and they used to take me to church only during weddings or funerals. What drove my father away from his religion was the corruption he was seeing daily among the priests and this led him to become an atheist.

As a teenager, I loved to read a lot and I wasn’t really satisfied or convinced with Christianity. I had belief in God, fear and love for Him, but everything else confused me. I started searching around but I never searched towards Islam (maybe due to the background I had against it). But in the end, God had mercy on my soul and guided me from darkness to light of the truth – Islam – submission only to One God.

He brought into my life my husband, a born Muslim, and we got married without us really paying attention to the religious differences. My husband was willing to answer any questions I had concerning his religion without humiliating my beliefs (no matter how wrong they were) and without ever putting any pressure on me or even asking me to change my religion. After three years of being married and having the chance to know more about Islam, to read the Holy Quran, as well as other religious books, I was convinced that there is no such thing as a trinity, nor was Jesus God.

I became a Muslim keeping it secret from my family and friends for many years. We lived with my husband in Greece trying to practise Islam but it was extremely difficult – almost impossible. In my home town there are no mosques, no access to Islamic studies, no people praying, fasting or women wearing hijab (the Islamic head cover).There are only some Muslim immigrants who came to Greece for a better financial future and who let the Western lifestyle attract them and eventually corrupted them. As a result, many do not follow their religious practices and are completely lost.

It was incredibly difficult to perform our Islamic duties, especially for me, as I wasn’t born Muslim and didn’t have an Islamic education. My husband and I had to pray and fast with the use of calendars instead of a Muslim call to prayer in our ears and no Muslim community to support us. We felt that with each passing day we were stepping backwards and our faith was decreasing as the wave was taking us in.

So when my daughter was born, we decided to migrate to a Muslim country. We didn’t want to raise her in a environment where she would struggle to maintain her identity where she could end up lost.

Now, after four years of our migration, I feel so homesick, so nostalgic and I wonder if it is time to return back to Greece, the beautiful country that I was born to and try to find a way to combine the wonderful identity and culture of my Greek ancestors as well as my Islamic identity and beliefs. I feel proud and thankful to God that I can be both Greek and Muslim.

My fast track formula to understanding Quran like it’s your first language

Some Greeks have given me that uncomfortable look when I tell them I’m learning Arabic.  You know, the one that says ‘Ugh, you traitor, why don’t you just convert to Arabism* while you’re at it.’ 

Learning Arabic is in no way a threat to my Greek culture or any culture for that matter.  It’s actually quite the opposite – it’s enriching.  If we use that logic, is learning French, German or Spanish a threat? 

Just like some people enrol in classical Greek language courses to study the Bible, many Muslims love to learn the classical Arabic language to study the Quran.  The Arabic Quran vs. the translated English version is the difference between the sea and a glass of water.  The Arabic Quran and the translated Greek version is the difference between the sea and a glass of dirty water. 

So, after years of searching, studying, stopping, getting frustrated, studying again, I discovered the best formula for new Muslims to save them years!  I call it the ‘Fast track formula to understanding Quran like it’s your first language’.

1. Learn the Arabic alphabet and how to read simple words.
2. Take a modern Arabic 101 class (ditch modern Arabic after this).
3. Take a Quranic Arabic beginner’s course (10 min. a day for one month).
4. Enrol in a Quranic Arabic program like Al-Huda Institute or similar.

This formula is guaranteed to save you years of struggling and frustration.  You can finish steps #1-3 in about a year and you’ll know around 50% of the words in the Quran!  Step #4 involves more work for 2-3 years but afterwards you will understand 100% of the Quran!  How amazing is that?

 

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* We actually laugh at people who make up ridiculous words like Arabism. 

Photo credit: Samir Malik

Note: For serious Arabic students, you may want to read this as well:  Now is the time to learn Arabic.

 

Hotdogs, souvlakia and shawarmas: my life, my culture

A few days ago I was invited to a New Muslims dinner with Canadian converts to Islam.  It was refreshing to see a culture opposite to your typical Arabic culture.

(That means we were eating pasta, deviled eggs, taco dip and banana bread instead of your usual shawarma, rice and hommus mix.  )

It was funny because at one point one of the Canadian-born sisters was sitting next to me and because we were relaxing so much she crossed her leg and the back of her foot happened to be facing me.  We both laughed because she said she was sorry so I won’t take offense.

Right away, I knew what she was referring to.  In the Arabic culture, if your foot is facing another person, that is one of the most demeaning insults you can make to a person.  (Remember the whole Iraqi journalist-slash-Bush-slash-shoe-throwing incident?) I told her not to worry because I’m not Arabic to begin with.

But it was interesting because the other Canadian sister beside me saw us and said, “Oh, that’s why my father-in-law was so angry when I did that to him?!”.  She was a brand new convert and got her first shockwave of Arabic culture.

When people first convert, some think that they have to become “more Arabic” to become more pious.  Instead of sister, they call you “ukhti”.  Instead of hotdogs, it’s kebabs.  Instead of a baseball cap, it’s the traditional headdress Saudis wear.

I thought like that too at first but with proper knowledge of Islam, I started to realize that I don’t have to be an Arab.  There is nothing wrong with being an Arab, but I can just be myself - a Canadian Greek Muslim- as long as I take the good from each culture.

For example, in the Canadian (and sometimes even Greek) society these days, it’s very normal to see some kids violently swearing at their parents and yelling at them or treating them with no respect whatsoever.  Obviously, this is totally against Islamic principles.

But then there are other cultural things in Canada that I like, like saying please and thank you.  (I was told not to say thank you in Athens, otherwise they will consider me to be a foreigner!)

And then it gets really confusing for non-Muslims (and sometimes Muslims too) to try to figure out what is culture and what is Islam.

For example, my Canadian friend was telling me one of those “horror stories” of a Muslim friend in the Indo-Pak region that is being completely denied of her financial maintenance rights from her husband.  Obviously this is completely unIslamic but without proper knowledge, someone can easily look at that and so, oh, see what Islam does to Muslim women?!

So, in the end, culture and religion is not a black-and-white issue, choose-one-or-the-other idea.  Muslims come from cultures in every country and every continent and they are as different as fingers of my hand. No one is better than the other, but we are one hand and one nation united by one belief,

There is no object worthy of worship

except the one true God (who created everything).

The next time you see one of the 30 million Chinese Muslims, what will you think?

Festival of Iranian Art & Culture

I was informed that the Iranian Embassy in Athens will be hosting this festival on December 4, 2008. I don’t know much about the event myself but here are the details in case you want to attend.

ΚΑΛΕΣΜΕΝΟΙ ΤΟΥ ΦΕΣΤΙΒΑΛ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ ΙΡΑΝ:

 

ΚΥΒΕΡΝΗΤΙΚΟΙ ΕΚΠΡΟΣΩΠΟΙ:

 

κ. Ραχίμ Μασσάι,  Δ/ντής του Οργανισμού Πολιτιστικής Κληρονομιάς

Δρ. Μπαρουτί,  Υφυπουργός Παιδείας

Δρ. Μομπασερί, Πρύτανης του Πανεπιστημίου Αζαχρά

Δρ. Μοσίρ  Γενική Γραμματέας του Δήμου Τεχεράνης

κ. Ράχμπαρ, Βουλευτής

κ. Αχμαντινεζάντ, Δημοτική Σύμβουλος της Τεχεράνης

κ. Σασανί, Γενική Γραμματέας του Υπουργείου Εσωτετικών

κ. Σοβεϊζί,  Γενική Γραμματέας του Υπουργείου Παιδείας

κ. Χετζαζί,  Γεν. Γραμματέας του Υπουργείου Πολιτισμού

κ. Ταχερί,  Γεν. Γραμματέας του Οργανισμού “Πολιτιστική Κληρονομιά”

 

ΚΑΛΛΙΤΕΧΝΕΣ:

 

κ. Καριμνιά, παραδοσιακή Ιρανική ενδυμασία

κ. Μπαγκερζαντέ, υφαντική – χαλιά

κ. Μπαχραμί, κεραμική & γυαλί

κ. Καραμί, μινιατούρα, χαλκός

κ. Ετεσαμί, εγχάραξη σε ξύλο και πέτρα

κ. Ερφανί, ψηφιδωτό

κ. Παναχιάν, καλλιγραφία

κ. Χαταμί, κέντημα

 

ΚΑΛΛΙΤΕΧΝΙΚΑ ΕΡΓΑΣΤΗΡΙΑ:

 

Κατά τη διάρκεια της τριήμερης Έκθεσης στο Βυζαντινό Μουσείο

θα   λειτουργήσουν δύο καλλιτεχνικά εργαστήρια με δασκάλους

τις καλεσμένες καλλιτέχνιδες του Ιράν,

 στις 5, 6, και 7 Δεκεμβρίου, καθημερινά 11:00 – 15:00:

Α΄ Εργαστήριο υφαντικής – κεντητικής – ενδυμασίας

Β΄ Εργαστήριο καλλιγραφίας – μινιατούρας – εγχάραξης – ψηφιδωτού