The Republic of Turkey, located in the continent of Asia in the Middle East, is bordered by the Black Sea and Georgia to the north, Armenia and Iran to the east, Iraq, Syria and the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and to the west the Aegean Sea, Greece and Bulgaria. As for its location, it is a strategic location, as it forms a link between Asia and Europe, with an area of (783.562) square kilometres.
Its population is about (76,667.64) people, the official language in it is Turkish, and the religion espoused by most of the population of Turkey is Islam, and they make up 90% of the people.
There are many ethnicity in Turkey including the Turkish race which is the largest and constitutes approximately 70 % of the population, and there are also Kurds, Persians, Arabs and many others.
Islam in Turkey
The proportion of Muslims in Turkey reaches 90%, and most of them are Sunnis, but Islam is not the official religion. There are no texts showing the religion adopted in the Turkish constitution for ruling, so it follows the secular system of governance away from any religion.
Many Turkish cities were conquered during the time of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, so the people of Turkey converted to Islam, and the Islamic conquests continued in Turkey all the way to Constantinople, which is known as Istanbul. At the hands of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror.
The most important Islamic mosques in Turkey
Sultan Ahmet Mosque:
It is called the Blue Mosque, and it is considered one of the most important and largest mosques in Istanbul. It is located in Sultan Ahmed Square and in front of it is the Hagia Sophia Museum, and is characterized by its distinctive architecture.
Sulaymaniyah Mosque:
It is called the Sulaymaniyah Mosque. The mosque is located in the middle of a group of areas represented by a cemetery, four schools, a hospital, a hotel, a minaret, shops, bathrooms, and others.
Al-Fatih Mosque:
This mosque was built in the time of the Ottoman Empire.
How did the Turks enter Islam?
The Turks began to learn about Islam and Muslims as a result of geographical conditions, starting from the eighth century. They converted to Islam out of conviction and not by the sword. The Holy Qur’an forbids forcing people to convert to Islam by the edge of the sword. The good morals of Muslims is what prompted the masses of people to enter this new religion.
Shortly after the advent of Islam, Muslims conquered Egypt and Syria in 641 and thus were able to break the power of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire). One year later, the Muslims destroyed the Sassanid Empire and reached the Gihon River, where the Muslims first came into contact with the Turks. However, due to the killing of Caliph Omar Ibn Al-Khattab and after him Uthman Ibn Affan, may God be pleased with them, and the internal conflicts that began to appear in the Islamic empire in that era, the relationship between Muslims and Turks did not go beyond being just a neighborhood caused by the existence of common borders between them until the beginning of the eighth century. It is known that the Umayyad leader Ubayd Allah bin Ziyad transferred some of the first Turks to convert to Islam and settled them in Iraq in 675.
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Choose the right side
The Umayyads appointed al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi as governor of the Wilayat of Iraq, which includes all the eastern regions of the Islamic empire. In 705 Al-Hajjaj sent the commander Qutayba bin Muslim, one of the most famous leaders of that era, to the Khorasan region. After a short period of time, the Muslims were able to control the area beyond the river. The Turks were able to curb the advance of the Arab armies. However, these wars were the cause of the Turks getting to know Islam closely.
In the year 751 near the banks of the river “Talas” which is now in Kyrgyzstan, the Turks fought alongside the Muslims in the war that broke out between them and China.
This date is an important turning point in the history of the Turks.
Islam began to spread rapidly after that battle, and over time almost all Turks chose to convert to Islam.
The reasons
There are several reasons that prompted the Turks to convert to Islam
1- Religious reasons:
Most Turks professed the “Gok Taneri” (God of Heaven) religion. Their beliefs and lifestyle were very close to Islam. They believed in the one God, the existence of Satan, the survival of the soul, the afterlife, heaven and hell. Bad character and crimes such as lying, theft, adultery, murder and injustice were forbidden to them. The slaughter of sacrifices, prostration and polygamy were common among them. The Turks, before Islam, never ate or raised pork. Also, the command to wage jihad in Islam corresponded to the combative nature of the Turks.
2- Economical reasons:
After the conquest of Turkestan, trade relations developed between Muslims and the local population. These trade relations caused the Turks to mix with Muslims, and then they became acquainted with this new religion well. Thus, Islam began to spread first among the Turks residing in the cities and engaged in trade. Over time, the Turks living in the northern and eastern regions began to embrace the religion accepted by their compatriots who dealt with them in trade.
3- Social reasons:
Muslims in that era, with their observance of moral principles and honesty in their commercial dealings and their respect for justice, had a positive impact on the local population of Turks, who found the opportunity to contact them because of neighborliness and commercial relations. The Turks did not delay in realizing that these good manners enjoyed by Muslim merchants stemmed from their religion. For example, they would loosen the cloth while selling it and tighten it well while buying. They impress the Turks with their good manners, to the point that they made them think, “You see, are these people or angels?”
4- Political and military reasons:
The Umayyads and Abbasids established military units made up of Turkish soldiers. And they established military garrison cities for them, such as Samarra. The Turks, known for their high war capabilities, rose to high positions in the army. They were also appointed to important positions in the state administration. Thus, the Turks acquired important positions in the administration of the state and the army, which also helped in the acceptance of Islam by Turkish societies.
The Turks did not surrender by the edge of the sword, but rather converted to Islam with the consent of the same. The Qur’an forbids forcing people to convert to Islam by force of the sword. The Islamic conquest of the country of the Turks began in the early eighth century. However, the entry of the Turks to Islam collectively began after that date, about two centuries ago, at the beginning of the tenth century. During that period, there were Turks who converted to Islam, but they did not form large communities. This indicates that the Turks converted to Islam with their own consent, and did not enter Islam under compulsion.
Under Shari’a laws, non-Muslims pay more taxes than Muslims do. And their preservation of their religion is already more beneficial to the state. Therefore, it is illogical for them to try to force non-Muslims to convert to Islam.
The first of the Turkish rulers to convert to Islam
The first of the Turkish rulers to become Muslim were the princes of the small states that were located near the region of Transoxiana. In the year 704, Prince Nizak Tarhan, ruler of “Toharistan”, embraced Islam and remained on his throne and participated with the commander Qutayba bin Muslim in the wars.
The Bulgar Turks who lived near the Volga River converted to Islam at an early age. Their ruler, “Iltibar Alamish Khan”, took over the rule in 920, embraced Islam and named himself Jafar. Jaafar was the name of the Abbasid Caliph at the time.
The Bulgars are the ancestors of the present-day Kazan Tatars.
As for the first Turkish ruler who became famous as the first Turkish ruler to enter Islam, he was “Satuq Bogra Khan”, the ruler of the Qarakhanid state (Qarah Khanli).
Bogra Khan was not the first Turkish Muslim ruler but he was the first Turkish Muslim Emperor (Khan). He was introduced to Islam by Muslim merchants before he was twenty-five years old, and he is still the governor of the Artuch region.
And influenced by their good morals. According to the narration mentioned in the historical sources: Bogra Khan saw the Prophet Muhamad in a dream, so the Prophet asked him saying: Is it not time for you to enter Islam? by that he meant the Turks to enter Islam.
History of Turkey
Here is a video explaining the history of Turkey from the bronze age up to the current secular era