# Turkey: Call to prayer. Danger to infidels? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 11, 2015, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-call-to-prayer-danger-to-infidels/730702 "2015-09-11T20:11:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-call-to-prayer-danger-to-infidels/730702/21 "2015-09-14T16:30:29Z")
> [@Steken](#): > > For the love of all that’s holy, ask the man to go eat at Ciya Sofrasi - an absolutely amazing Turkish restaurant in the Asian part of town. So, I sent him the restaurant suggestion and he replied with a picture of his credit card receipt from there!! He said that Umut Mutlu recommended the place highly. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-call-to-prayer-danger-to-infidels/730702/22 "2015-09-14T17:25:57Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Not Constantinople? Now it’s Istanbul. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-call-to-prayer-danger-to-infidels/730702/23 "2015-09-14T18:04:25Z")
Why on earth would the OP think its a threat? I have been to some pretty down right conservative places, including in Saudi Arabia, and its just…that a call to prayer. Can’t imagine anyone being in danger. And in most places, most people don’t go to praying in the mosque except on Fridays afternoon, even if they pray otherwise five times a day, they will do it at home. Plus different mosques in a locality will give the call to prayer at different times., for example if the afternoon prayer is between 12-3, you will hear multiple calls from different mosques. As for Istanbul, I cannot recommend it enough, its awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-call-to-prayer-danger-to-infidels/730702/24 "2015-09-14T18:15:45Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > As for Istanbul, I cannot recommend it enough, its awesome. Seconding this. It’s umpteen kinds of awesome. Turkey in general is awesome. I was there mainly for the ancient Roman stuff, but there’s awesome to go around for many a heart’s desire. As for feeling safe: If you wanted to mug me, the best time to do so would probably be after I’d spent a week in Turkey, because the place was so chill, laid-back, friendly and non-threatening that my paranoia and fear of humanity melted to a puddle. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-call-to-prayer-danger-to-infidels/730702/25 "2015-09-14T19:21:55Z")
Meerschaum pipes, porcelain, rugs, leather, jewelry,… ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-call-to-prayer-danger-to-infidels/730702/26 "2015-09-15T03:30:20Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > My mom just got back from a vacation in Turkey. As in she landed at JFK few hours ago. She booked it when things were calmer there. I was quite relieved when she got back safe. > > I haven’t had a chance to hear all the details yet, but she told me something I didn’t expect - there were women there walking around in full burkhas. As in, even the eyes were covered. Even more surprisingly (to me), the full burkhas were more common in Istanbul than in outlying areas. We were there a month back… as well as much closer to the Syrian border as well. My time in St. Louis today felt (and was) much less safe. Turks are incredibly warm and friendly- women in various full dress would come up and interact with my children and wife (not much with me though) to the extent that my son was exhausted from all of the attention and free food. I highly recommend you head to Turkey yourself, **Green Bean**. I think you will find it awesome and not the least bit ominous. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-call-to-prayer-danger-to-infidels/730702/27 "2015-09-15T03:58:00Z")
> [@Disheavel](#): > > Turks are incredibly warm and friendly They really are. And I don’t usually say that about people in places I visit, because I know how stupid it must sound to the locals. I live in Norway, which is borderline exotic to some, and I’ll sometimes read posts from people who have visited. They’ll go: “Everyone there is so nice and friendly, and sweet and helpful”, blah blah. Mostly I just want to slap those people. No, Tourist Person, we’re not, not really. The ones you interacted with maybe were, but amongst ourselves, on a daily basis, we’re you know, human. With everything that comes with that. It’s frankly a bit insulting, in a backward sort of way, to suggest that we’re living in Munchkinland. But _even taking that into account_, Turkey was, I dunno, different. It was like everyone everywhere had taken a chill pill. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-call-to-prayer-danger-to-infidels/730702/28 "2015-09-15T11:33:55Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Why on earth would the OP think its a threat? I have been to some pretty down right conservative places, including in Saudi Arabia, and its just…that a call to prayer. Well, the state department was warning about traveling to the area, then rescinded the warning. I’ve never been anywhere even remotely like Turkey, and so I was curious. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-call-to-prayer-danger-to-infidels/730702/29 "2015-09-15T11:43:01Z")
I saw a person in a burkha at a farmers market in Sacramento this summer. I can’t imagine how hot it must have been. I was too warm in capris. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-call-to-prayer-danger-to-infidels/730702/30 "2015-09-15T12:25:36Z")
Regarding the OP, I lived in the United Arab Emirates for 4 years (1999-2003) and while not as strict as, say, Suadi Arabia, it is a Islamic country and the call for prayer came to be a regular background. That said, even there it was more of an advisement than a command, people did not suddenly stop driving or doing business at that moment, but normally would find some time around then to go and pray (most large building/shopping centers had areas for ‘mosque’ and there were Mosques ever couple of blocks it seemed, from huge to tiny. About the only time that mass prayer was manadatory was around noon Friday, when the preachers did their talking (and some fire-and-brimstone Baptists could take lessons from those guys) and things pretty much shut down. But in general, no risk whatsoever, as long as your brother didn’t crash a car into a mosque while drinking from a bottle of Jack Daniels… And another vote for Byzantium (really old school…). Incredible city and wonderful sites. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-call-to-prayer-danger-to-infidels/730702/31 "2015-09-15T12:50:03Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Well, the state department was warning about traveling to the area, then rescinded the warning. I’ve never been anywhere even remotely like Turkey, and so I was curious. State Department travel warnings are notoriously conservative. They are worth reading, but generally are more alarming than is really warranted. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-call-to-prayer-danger-to-infidels/730702/32 "2015-09-15T13:06:35Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > Funny…then how come I’ve never seen one? Ever. > > I did see a group of several women with veils over their lower faces walking out of a hospital earlier this year. They weren’t the most covering of veils either. That’s the closest I’ve seen to anything approaching a burkha in New York City. > > Hijabs are pretty commonplace. Anything more is not, unless they’re in some little enclaves somewhere. > > Fwiw, it turns out that the burkhas she saw did have little eye-slits, so maybe they were really niqab, but the Turkish guides referred to them as burkhas. Regardless, they were common. Huh, New York obviously isn’t quite the melting pot it likes to make out. It’s a pretty common sight in London. The summer season is hugely popular with wealthy arabs and their wives who descend in their hordes on Selfridges and Harrods. In all manner of cover-ups. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-call-to-prayer-danger-to-infidels/730702/33 "2015-09-15T13:20:20Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > Funny…then how come I’ve never seen one? Ever. > > I did see a group of several women with veils over their lower faces walking out of a hospital earlier this year. They weren’t the most covering of veils either. That’s the closest I’ve seen to anything approaching a burkha in New York City. > > Hijabs are pretty commonplace. Anything more is not, unless they’re in some little enclaves somewhere. > > Fwiw, it turns out that the burkhas she saw did have little eye-slits, so maybe they were really niqab, but the Turkish guides referred to them as burkhas. Regardless, they were common. Full coverage including gloves and veils over the eyeslits are quite rare in London but I’ve seen a few, including a woman dressed thusly on the Croydon tramlink about two weeks ago. Full coverage with veil but eyes and hands uncovered is more common in areas with wealthy Middle Eastern populations or stores catering to such (including Harrods) and I’ve certainly seen plenty of those and chatted to a few on the Tube. And hijabs as you note are ridiculously common - there are women in my office who wear them and you can see them on teenagers working at Burger King or university professors. I have a Muslim friend who jokes about it but would not under any circumstances let me or any man other than her husband see her hair (not that I’ve asked, mind you), although she’s been uncovered when my wife was visiting her. Back on topic: I was in Istanbul in 1997. It was nice. Touristy but nice. We even visited a few of the big mosques during non-prayer times - they’re amazing inside. But that was a quieter time. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-call-to-prayer-danger-to-infidels/730702/34 "2015-09-15T17:15:42Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Huh, New York obviously isn’t quite the melting pot it likes to make out. It’s a pretty common sight in London. The summer season is hugely popular with wealthy arabs and their wives who descend in their hordes on Selfridges and Harrods. In all manner of cover-ups. Last time I visited London (1994!), someone did mention exactly that phenomenon. I guess if you want to do some fashionable shopping, London is a lot closer than NYC. I wonder if they go to Paris lately, given the ban against face coverings. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkey-call-to-prayer-danger-to-infidels/730702.md?page=1)