Abstract
In this article, I look into a case study of a kermes (kermis) to see how Islamic discourses can structure and re-structure an apparently mundane practice. The aim is to see how a mundane activity is transformed into an act of piety, simply because it is driven by a religious intention. Additionally, we study how this intention supported by the articulation of a particular interpretation of an Islamic tradition. Ultimately, the goal is to understand how the kermes is converted into a disciplined practice of moral construction, ethical conduct and allows for the fulfillment of religious and non-religious responsibility and, consequently, how a moral discourse can embed a completely mundane practice and transform it into an ethical cycle of self-development, sacred duty and gift giving. This study fills a gap in the literature on volunteering as it examines how practices of volunteering are developed according to a discourse of piety and are the result of a process of active decision-making, according to the context in which the volunteers live. The data for this research was gathered through participant observation and dialogue.
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Notes
The volunteering practices observed in this research can be framed as the collectivist type of volunteering (Hustinx and Lammertyn 2003; Eckstein 2001). Eckstein defines collective volunteering as practices that are “initiated, stipulated, and supervised by groups” rather than by individuals themselves. The volunteer, in this case, is not an “individual actor”, but part of a larger body of volunteers. Collective styles of volunteering are duty driven, where the main motivation lies in a sense of responsibility towards the community or the collective body of volunteers. Religious tradition, altruism or a commitment to a greater system of meaning can be embedded in this type of volunteering, where there is a dedication to a “common good” (Hustinx and Lammertyn 2003: 173). It is safe to say that my interlocutors, who come together in the same association to volunteer, prototypically fall under the definition of collectivist volunteering. They identify as Golden Rose volunteers, carry out their practices together, and are always ‘in the know’ about what others are doing in terms of philanthropy. They can also be regarded as a collective in terms of their religious orientations, which will be developed further in the sections that follow.
I use the term mundane as it is used by Michel de Certeau in his phenomenal book on everyday practices (see de Certeau 1984). De Certeau conceptualizes the everyday as ordinary practices that are part of the daily routine. When I frame a practice as “mundane”, I conceive of it as a practice that has no apparent religious disposition. It is not an act of worship (ibadat) as Mahmood uses the term (see Mahmood 2005). It is not a set of predetermined ritual practices (such as praying, fasting or visiting the mosque) but instead, as de Certeau suggests, as practices of daily routine such as cooking, eating and shopping.
Hizmet means “service” and from now on I will use Hizmet with an upper case H to refer to the movement and hizmet with a lower case h to refer to literal meaning.
The Hizmet Movement is a global, faith-based movement which has associations and schools in several parts of the world and carries out philanthropic activities. The Movement is well-known for setting up schools in different parts of the world, including former communist countries and Africa (Park 2007). But its scope is not limited to education, as Gülen is a devout believer in interfaith dialogue and that the world can come together on common humanitarian grounds, regardless of the differences that bring people to the verges of conflict (Sarıtoprak and Griffith 2005). My interlocutors take Fethullah Gülen to be a religious intellectual and read his books to obtain religious knowledge and to empathize with his reasoning. His emphasis on interfaith dialogue and openness is one of the main reasons that inclusiveness is the founding principle of the association. Hence, my interlocutors, who were mostly inspired by Gülen, wished that the association that they had founded to be a center for different people of different faiths and cultures.
Michael Jackson asserts that the way a person behaves is a “validation” of what they know. Correspondingly knowledge is “both gained and given expression” (Jackson 1996: 34).
This definition refers to the concept of agency, which Mahmood elaborates on in her book. She regards agency as “the capacity to realize one’s own interests against the weight of custom, tradition, transcendental will, or other individual or collective obstacles” (Mahmood 2005: 8).
For more information on comparisions between the Milli Görüş and Diyanet, see Wilson (2000), Secular and Religious Nationalism among Young Turkish Women in Belgium: Education May Make the Difference, in Anthropology and Education Quarterly 31(3): 333–354.
For more on the educational activities of the Gülen Movement, see Aslandoğan and Çetin (2007) ‘Gülen’s Educational Paradigm in Thought and Practice’ in Muslim Citizens of the Globalized World: Contributions of the Gülen Movement, Robert A. Hunt and Yüksel A. Aslandoğan (eds), pp.35–61.
Sohbets are meetings during which five to seven women come together, determine a subject and discuss it, taking a religious book, a video or some other religious text as their reference point. The sohbet sessions are seen as gatherings during which they obtain knowledge through active discussion, and explanation of the texts by a leading figure who probably has more experience with the texts than the rest of the women. The leading figure, who is also a woman, may not necessarily have received any formal religious education, but she would somehow have more experience with the texts, and would initiate the discussions and explain about the hermeneutics of them. Sometimes sohbets are active, in which everyone participates, or they may be passive and the leading figure would be the only one to speak. For detailed information, see Rausch (2008), ‘Progress Through Piety: Sohbetler (Spiritual Gatherings of the Women Participants in the Gülen Movement’: Conference proceedings, Islam in the Age of Global Challenges: alternative Perspectives on the Gülen Movement, Georgetown University, Washington, DC.
I have used pseudonyms when referring to my interlocutor’s throughout the article.
Pınar is one of my informants that I became acquainted with later on in my fieldwork. She is a mother of three boys and works for her husband’s company, which is based in Brussels. She was introduced to Hizmet through her husband and has actively volunteered for over 10 years.
Eckstein contends that in collective volunteering there is usually class or community homegeneity. Although we cannot speak of a class homogeneity among my interlocutors, we can definitely observe a sense of homogeniety in how they define themselves as part of a religious social movement (Hizmet), and a common religious discourse. Eckstein adds that in these types of structures there is high commitment to the group identity and goals, where the common goals surpass individual aspirations (Eckstein 2001). “Social involvement acquires a very specific symbolic meaning”, in which it becomes a way of reaffirming the group identity (Hustinx and Lammertyn 2003:175). Consequently, Hizmet embeds common goals of responsibility and duty (doing something good for society) and becomes a shared identity for my interlocutors. They share this identity and acquire the moral reasoning for this from their religious discourse.
Strathern asserts that the flow of objects symbolize the flow of people; indivduals give themselves through objects.
Lara Deeb mentions similarly that, according to her female interlocutors in al-Dahiyya, the “value of piety” is determined by the correct practice of Islam. This entails that one sacrifice their time, labor and money to help those in need.
See also Özgüç, Orhan (2008), 'Islamic Himmah and Christian Charity: An Attempt at Inter-Faith Dialogue."' Conference Proceedings of Islam in the Age of Global Challenges: Alternative Perspectives of the Gülen Movement, Georgetown University, Washington DC.
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Kayikci, M.R. Giving in God’s name: investing in the ethical self in the case of the kermes . Cont Islam 10, 455–476 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11562-016-0362-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11562-016-0362-6