4 September 2010 / ABDURRAHMAN BÜYÜKKESKIN , ANTALYA
The Manavgat Mufti’s Office is set to host an iftar on Sept. 6 -- the guests of honor will be non-Turks who have accepted Islam and participated in an ihtida (conversion) ceremony.
Manavgat Mufti Halil Taş says that his office has begun trying to get in contact with all Muslims of foreign descent who converted through the administration of an ihtida ceremony. The aim is for them all to gather for a fast-breaking iftar dinner and share their experiences with one another. He noted that it was difficult to find some of these people, as many of them converted while simply visiting or traveling in Turkey. The addresses they provided for paperwork are often not current or updated, and so it is hard to track them down, he noted. “We want to come together with our brothers in faith who came to Islam in Manavgat, and experience the joys of Ramadan, the sultan of the other 11 months, with them,” he said.The mufti noted that it has been easy to contact converts who reside in Turkey. “We want to listen to the experiences in particular of those for whom this is their first Ramadan fasting, new Muslims -- we will listen to them with excitement, and we want to share their joy,” Taş said. In the past 46 years, 124 people have converted to Islam in an ihtida ceremony in Manavgat. No ceremony or even witnesses are required for conversion to Islam. The only requirement is attesting to faith, usually through the words: “I bear witness that there is no God but God, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of God.”
