Reciting the Quran, Islamic call to prayer shouldn't be in Turkish: Turkey's top religious body

Turkey's top religious authority has said that reciting the Quran and the Islamic call to prayer shouldn't be in Turkish. The Diyanet's statement came in response to an event organized by the CHP, during which the Quran was recited in Turkish.

Thursday December 24 2020 11:12 am

Duvar English

Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) has said that reciting the Quran and the Islamic call to prayer shouldn't be in Turkish.

"Islamic scholars are in consensus that the translation of the Quran can't be accepted as the Quran," the Diyanet said in a statement on Dec. 23, adding that the same goes for Islamic call to prayer.

The religious body's remarks came after the Quran was recited in Turkish during an event organized by Istanbul Municipality, which is run by the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).

According to the Diyanet, both the Islamic call the prayer and the recitation of the Quran must be in Arabic.

"Reading the translation of the Quran as if it is actually the Quran itself is not appropriate," it said.

The recitation in Turkish was earlier slammed by government officials, with Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun saying that the Quran was disrespected.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also slammed the CHP for "refraining from praying in Arabic."

"If the CHP plans to return to the fascist practices of the 1940s, we already express that this is a wrong idea," Erdoğan told members of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on Dec. 23.

According to the Islamists, reciting the Quran in Turkish is reminiscent of the practices of the early years of the republic, during which the call the prayer was in Turkish.