An away-game atmosphere at the funeral

DTP Chairman Ahmet Türk attended the funeral prayer of former Deputy Prime Minister Erdal İnönü held at Teşvikiye Mosque. However, when Türk arrived at the mosque, he was met with protests from some people in the courtyard.

Not only in our culture, but in almost all cultures, funerals and condolences have always been important occasions for new encounters; they are events that offer another chance for communication opportunities that under normal conditions might often be missed. During funerals, hearts that have hardened in the course of life soften a bit, and the meaning of life once again naturally lies upon the mortuary bench right before one's eyes. This is perhaps the last good gift, perhaps an inheritance, left by the deceased to those who remain behind.

In Islam, performing the funeral prayer (janazah) for a deceased person is a communal obligation (fard al-kifayah). That is to say, if no one performs it, the entire Muslim community is sinful, but if one or a few people perform it, the funeral prayer is a supplication that lifts the burden from the rest. Contrary to popular belief, however, the main benefit of the funeral prayer, the supplication, and the condolence ceremonies is not for the deceased, but for those left behind. With every death event, people are effectively invited to a confrontation.

What they are expected to confront is not the person lying on the mortuary bench, but their own lives. Every funeral prayer is an occasion to reflect that one day they too will lie on that bench. By praying for the deceased, they remember that they themselves are also in need of that prayer. Otherwise, the deceased's book of deeds is closed. If the funeral prayer is not performed, it is not the deceased, but those left behind who become sinful.

Whether one abides by the etiquette of funerals or not, those who win or lose are once again those left behind.

Recently, due to many funeral ceremonies taking place one after another, new but far from beneficial customs—innovations (bid'ahs)—have emerged. This custom, which began with the Council of State murder, continued with the funeral of Bülent Ecevit, and gradually began to be repeated with every martyr's funeral, has already turned the use of funerals as a “medium for political messages” and their appropriation by a certain segment into a tradition. During the Council of State murder, members of the government were protested against; moreover, because Prime Minister Erdoğan foresaw this beforehand as if it were a normal thing, he could not even attend the funeral ceremony held at Kocatepe Mosque.

Exactly one year ago around these days, at Ecevit's funeral ceremony held at Kocatepe, the innocence and mournful feelings provided by being the bereaved were turned into an advantage for opposition or protest, making the AK Party ministers and deputies attending the funeral feel a heavy away-game environment. The tragic part was that those who turned Ecevit's death into a rally atmosphere the most were those who had shown him the greatest disrespect while he was alive.

However, from the moment a person becomes deceased, they have now returned to God; they belong to no one. Therefore, no one can know whose good supplication will be acceptable, and there is no greater evil to be done to a deceased person than trying to appropriate them or attempting to block those who attend their condolence.

Particularly before the elections, demonstrations organized at martyrs' funerals began to strongly convey the impression that the martyrs caused these people no pain at all; on the contrary, like an addiction, the funerals were eagerly awaited by the attendees themselves and always seen as an opportunity for a match, a show on their home turf.

Putting funerals into this atmosphere of encounter-competition formed such a habit that media organizations began to base their broadcasting programs on this expectation. For instance, regarding İnönü's passing, news could be made claiming that the condolence request of President Abdullah Gül—that is, the opposing team—was rejected by the İnönü family. Right after, a statement from the Presidential Palace said no such request for a condolence visit had been made by the Presidency. The final stage showed that all of this was an invention of the media, which wanted to see a match or competition atmosphere in this funeral as well. The İnönü family, of course with the dignity that a bereaved family should display, declared that such an event had never occurred, and naturally, their doors could not be closed to the condolences of the President or anyone else.

Thus, hopes regarding the image of an away-game funeral were dashed. As far as can be seen, considering the nature of the days we are living through, it seems we had to make do with Ahmet Türk.