TURKEY’S prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, believes that one of the keys to prosperity is a young population. He would love to ban abortion and he nags families to have at least three children. His campaign received an unexpected boost from a respected Islamic theologian, who said on a popular television show that sex was a form of worship. “Sex is a part of worship and, indeed, is the same as namaz (Muslim prayers),” Ali Riza Demircan told Haberturk TV. A conservative backlash then forced him to clarify that sex and prayers were not of equal virtue.
To the delight of TV channels, the Islam and sex debate is growing noisier. A young Islamic counsellor, columnist and TV host, Sibel Uresin, has jumped in, saying that “the path to proper namaz goes through proper sexual union.” Mrs Uresin (her name means “should reproduce”) also believes that polygamy should be legal because “the Koran says so.” To prove her sincerity she has “offered” a friend to her husband. |