Between Empire and Nation-State
Major Sadık also rationalizes the location of Dönme cemeteries and
their inscriptions ( 30 ). As for their cemeteries in Salonika being located
between Muslim cemeteries on one side and Jewish cemeteries on the
other, “when the Dönme arrived, these were the only empty lands where
they could make cemeteries. One is found today outside of Yenikapı [la-
beled “Turkish Cemetery” on turn-of-the-century French maps, this is
near the Mevlevi lodge just outside the western walls of the city], the other
has no Jewish cemetery on any side. Do we not see the same writing on
their tombstones as on the tombstones of other Muslims?” Major Sadık
notes that inscribing the Fatiha sura on tombstones does not rest upon
any Qur’anic verse or saying of Muhammad. He argues that in Anatolia
and Istanbul, one does not always see the Fatiha on old tombstones, and
one does not always find the name and date of death either. It seems ( 31 )
that only recently has the Fatiha begun to be inscribed upon tombstones.
Moreover, he notes one does find the Fatiha on headstones in Dönme
cemeteries in Salonika and in Istanbul. Concerning the claim of their
cleansing the bowels of the dead, Major Sadık writes “the author men-
tions how Rabbi Ari [Isaac Luria] came from Poland to Jerusalem in 1573
and started the radical practice of purifying the dead, although it is not
found in the Torah, nor in the writings of any prophets.” However, the
reader wonders, if this is not something that Dönme practice, why men-
tion it? And how did Major Sadık know about Lurianic Kabbalah? Or is
he referencing the Dönme belief that what matters in spirituality is not
external Islamic practice, but internal belief, that the heart is clean and
pure and loyal to Dönme religion? Again the author’s rebuttal, because
it contains a Dönme perspective and intimate knowledge of the group’s
boundary-maintaining mechanisms and religion has instead served to ad-
vance the cause of the treatise it is meant to refute.
In the end, the author returns to his claim that the Dönme are a very
pious people ( 32 ). He argues it is a great error to question the sincerity
of these good-mannered people, who need no one else, go about their
business, and never harm others in order to profit. He asserts it is im-
portant to remember they are people who would never do anything with
any fault or defect, especially when it comes to the afterlife, and who,
unlike other Muslims, would not decorate their graves with pictures of
animals. In sum, “They are such loyal and faithful people that paying
attention to the life hereafter is to remember that they will pass from
this base, material world to the everafter. Accordingly, they design a sign