Sermons in Turkish schools: 10 year-olds to be taught 'martyrdom'

Turkey’s Religious Affairs, after stating that 9-year-old girls can marry, will give sermons to schools children and teach “martyrdom”
Wednesday, 10 January 2018 18:13

Turkey's Religious Affairs, or Diyanet, has announced the working calendar of the Family and Religious Guidance Bureau for 2018. In the letters clarifying the calendar sent to each of Turkey's city management, Diyanet identifies several topics under the heading of "national and spiritual values" to teach school children. Among the topics are there "thankfulness, praise, patients at the time of disaster, devotion in the moment of goodness, sacrifice, heroism, ummah and nation awareness, belonging, fair behaviour in Islam, martyrdom, acceptance of prayers".

According to Cumhuriyet the process of assigning preachers in schools has also begun. With the instructions of the Diyanet, the offices of muftis in cities already started to take the first steps to assign preachers. The Governorship of Çanakkale gave official letters to the mufti office's staff members to be assigned to preach to children in secondary schools on "national and spiritual values". Among the subjects of the sermon to be given to the children aged 10, "umma consciousness, martyrdom" titles were included.

Çanakkale Provincial Mufti Arif Gökçe requested that the preachers should give presentations between 8-19 January 2018 at the secondary schools. The Governor's Office acted immediately after the proposal of the mufti. Following the permission, 5 preachers under the office of mufti were offered the opportunity to preach for 10 days for the 10-year-old school children.