A traditional Turkish reed and thatch roofed barn.

Like a young boy entering a trade, each young girl is initially an apprentice in both the skills and knowledge of family care and the constellations of ritual-beliefs associated with home tasks.

Being a universal religion, Islam gives life a universal meaning.  It, however, does not deal specifically with all the details of work life.  Consequently, local peoples create special rituals to guide their work, and eventually use Islam to justify them.  Many of my illiterate informants claimed (incorrectly) that the Qur’an prescribed their special ritual-beliefs.

By choice, the Turkish folk wrap their otherwise mundane acts in spiritual clothing.  Many dedicate each task to Allah by pronouncing “Bismillah” before they begin.  Traditional Turkish women begin each home task by saying, “Not by my hand, but by the hand of Aysha [the Prophet’s wife] and Fatima [the Prophet’s daughter].”  In these and many other ways every traditional domestic act takes on the quality of holy ritual; it acquires spiritual meaning and links the woman directly with her God.  Almost nothing in the home remains secular.  The traditional Turkish home becomes a temple, and the housewife its priestess.

Paul J. Magnarella is professor is professor of anthropology and Middle East studies at the University of Florida, Gainesville.  He has authored two books and numerous articles on Turkish and Middle Eastern topics.