Headscarves and circumcisions...

Today saw a new first as I was helped by a neighbour to drap a headscarf over my hair before heading off to another neighbour's home for a Koran reading.  The occasion was the the sunnet (circumcision) of their 4 1/2 month old son.  Unlike in some other parts of Turkey where the parents wait until their son is about 7-8 years old and then parade the poor unsuspecting boy about dressed as a king, often with scepter in hand, encouraging him that he will soon become a man... in this part of the country it seems preferred to circumcise the boys when they are much younger. 

Tulbent (headscarf)

To commemorate the event about 15 women gathered to read the Koran and pray.  I duly went first to another neighbour to borrow a headscarf and so I could arrive with company - we then turned up the only two covered!  Everyone had a good chuckle and we removed our scarves until the reading of the Koran when everyone covered their heads.  Three women read simultaneously and at various times the other women added their muttered prayers or performed hand gestures.  Then it was over and the formality quickly dissipated as lahmacun (yummy, very thin pizza-like dish), Ayran (yoghurt drink) and tulumba (sticky, sweet, kind of donut) were distributed.

Lahmacun

Clearly some women were much more religiously inclined, however everyone seemed to know what was going on and the appropriate words and gestures, including  my neighbour's 13 year-old daughter. There is clearly a belief of sorts, however to an outsider it appeared as though for many of the women this was about the performance of a tradition and security sought in religious rites, in spite of fairly loose religious practise in everyday life.   Tomorrow I plan to visit again and I hope to ask just what it all meant, in theory and to them...