Funeral prayer in absentia for Khashoggi

As of today, 43 days have passed since Cemal Khashoggi entered the Consulate General of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul and could not come out.

On the 40th day of Khashoggi's passing, whose death, and whose manner of death in the most savage form humanity can see, was confirmed last Sunday, a commemoration meeting was organized by his friends.

His friends in Turkey, at the Ali Emiri hall in Istanbul's Fatih, and his other friends in Washington DC, London and many places in Europe, by holding simultaneous meetings where they were, tried to expound the new meanings and messages Khashoggi has taken on today through his martyrdom.

There were those who described Khashoggi as a martyr of speech and thought. There were those who described him as a martyr of democracy and freedom. In every case, the awareness caused by his death has made the whole world witness, in the barest form, realities that could not be shown or told in any other way.

To make witness or to witness... It is the experience that best conveys the power and truth of the station of martyrdom.

There is no doubt that, through his martyrdom, Khashoggi has carried the whole world to another level of awareness. With his death and the revelation of the manner of his killing, the gilding of the gilded lies that were sought to be swallowed by the whole world has flaked off, masks have fallen, and then all the ugliness, villainy and baseness of a power that reigns supreme in the world was laid before our eyes. Those who knew the ugliness of this world knew it, of course, but could not show it with such clarity. The martyr made the whole world witness to its truth.

In fact, very few people in Turkey knew Khashoggi while he was alive. The world that does not speak or listen to Arabic or English did not know him much. Since he was not known, no one of course knew about his ideas. Whom was he against, why was he against, whom was he criticizing, why was he criticizing, whom was he angering with his criticisms, how would anyone know?

Those who decided to kill him saw even his voice, which turned out so feeble, as a great danger to themselves and cared greatly about silencing him. Yet by slaughtering him they ensured that he was recognized by everyone. In making him known, they made themselves known too, in their most makeup-free, most mask-free, plainest state. Now they have no strength to appear before anyone with those makeup-free faces. Even those who were friends to them cannot risk protecting them or being seen with them.

Likewise, there is no one now who does not know Khashoggi, who does not know whom he angered and why, who does not know what rottenness those who were angry at him were up to. Whichever media or lobby centers his killers buy with their petro-dollars to build a world of lies, that world fizzles out like this under the testimony of a martyr.

43 days have passed since his killing but his body is still nowhere to be seen, and there has been no statement about his body from the perpetrators of the incident. Yet this information is held by the 18 people said to have been arrested as perpetrators of the incident. Despite so much pressure and so many accusations, their not sharing this information can mean nothing other than shame. Evidently this information is not shareable, and evidently, from this hour on, we will not be able to obtain any information about his body.

That is why the time is coming and passing to hold for Khashoggi, whose death has passed its fortieth day, the funeral ceremony that every Muslim deserves. Even if no one performs it, performing the funeral prayer, which is farz-ı ayn for all Muslims, is undoubtedly no longer Khashoggi's obligation but the obligation of those who witnessed his death. The absence of a body to bury does not remove the obligatory nature of the funeral prayer; it only changes the form of the prayer slightly.

The absentee funeral prayer is a prayer performed for those whose death is confirmed but whose body is not present, or for those who have been buried elsewhere, performed from afar even if repeated. It is known to have been performed by our Prophet for the Negus, the King of Abyssinia.

Khashoggi's, however, is in fact a different kind of prayer. Although it has been known for 43 days that he is dead, his body is nowhere to be found, yet at the same time he is among us as no one has been. With the effect his death has caused, he continues to bring about the change of balances in nearly the entire world. He assumes in his death the effect he could not exert or realize while alive.

Meanwhile, as his body was being destroyed, Turkey was in fact being targeted through him. They were fully prepared to declare Turkey an unsafe and untrustworthy country by killing him. A small precaution he had taken in advance with his foresight got tangled in the feet of those who set up the plot. Thus, in a way, he died having protected Turkey from one of the most dangerous attacks it has faced in its history.

Since it has been conclusively understood that Khashoggi is dead, the funeral prayer he deserves must now be performed for him. To this end, in the absentee funeral prayer to be performed after the Friday prayer at the Fatih Mosque, we will fulfill one of our fundamental duties toward him.

Undoubtedly our duty toward him will not be limited to this. Whatever he invited us to see, we will continue to be witnesses to it.