Between Greek Thessaloníki and Ottoman Istanbul, 1912–1923 their prayers. Before dawn, although they haven’t actually set the table
for the predawn meal, they make noises with forks, knives, and plates as
though they were preparing the meal.”
Concerning prayer and marriage, the anonymous author compares the
Dönme to Jews. He writes that on Saturdays, Dönme pray according to
Jewish rites in underground synagogues. Young Dönme only learn the
secrets of Dönme religion the day they marry; until then, they have no
idea whether they believe in Islam or Judaism, and know only that they
are Dönme ( 14 – 15 ).
The most bizarre sections of the treatise concern Dönme burial cus-
toms ( 15 ). According to the anonymous author, just as they have separate
imams, so too Dönme have their own cemeteries, located between the
Muslim and Jewish cemeteries. The inscriptions on their tombstones do
not include the Fatiha prayer (the first sura of the Qur’an) at the end.
Furthermore, “because they implement the command ‘do not come until
your insides are clean,’ they are buried only after funerary procedures dur-
ing which the filth in their intestines is cleaned out.”
Thus, for the anonymous author, the Dönme represent a threat stem-
ming from their muddled, yet primarily Jewish, origins. Banding together
and practicing endogamy, they became diseased. This affected not only
the people whom they drew into their community, but society as a whole,
for their physical breakdown was only matched by their immorality and
duplicity in business, government service, and Islamic practice.
Defending the Dönme: Moral Piety in a Secular Age
Dönmeler’s outrageous attacks on the Dönme incited a very lengthy
rebuttal, Dönmelerin Hakikati (The Truth About the Dönme), written
by pious and patriotic retired Major Sadık, son of Suleiman, who one
suspects may have been a Dönme from the Yakubi group. This response
was published only two months after Dönmeler appeared in 1919. Instead
of race, those who defended the Dönme such as this veteran emphasized
service to the fatherland. In addition, and for the last time this would be
used in their defense, Major Sadık depicts Dönme fidelity to Islam:
§ Major Sadık, son of Suleiman, is feverishly at work on a major essay in
Istanbul in the winter of 1919. The depressed veteran reflects glumly upon
what had happened since that day he fell into enemy hands. Despite