President of Religious Affairs Erbaş announces the theme of Ramadan: “Ramadan and Awareness of the Hereafter”

The Ramadan 2024 Activities Promotion Program was held at the Presidency of Religious Affairs 15 Temmuz Milli İrade Şehit Ali Alıtkan Conference Hall with the participation of the President of Religious Affairs Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş.

Giving a speech at the program, which started with the recitation of the Holy Qur’an, President Erbaş stated that it was the eve of a blessed season full of countless beauties and reminded that Ramadan will begin on Sunday evening, March 10, with the Tarawih prayer.

“I wish that the month of Ramadan will be conducive to a new awakening and resurrection"

Stating that this year Ramadan had started with deep wounds in the hearts caused by the massacres in Palestine, President Erbaş continued his words as follows:

It is a tragedy that Gaza has become the scene of an unprecedented atrocity in front of the eyes of the whole world. Law, morality, conscience, and all human values have been buried under the rubble in Gaza. The crazed Zionist murderers have been committing genocide in Gaza for months. Zionism, which feeds on a distorted belief, a perverted ideology, and a dirty politics, has become the greatest danger and threat to humanity today. A new international initiative to eliminate this threat is sorely needed. The world is in need of a new construction of law and morality. Because what is happening in Gaza today has clearly revealed the dysfunctionality of international structures in their current form.

At this point, I must strongly emphasize that the responsibility to put an end to the persecution and tragedies in Islamic countries is primarily on the shoulders of Muslims. The liberation of Gaza, the freedom of Al-Quds, Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the prosperity of East Turkistan also depend on the oneness, unity, amity, togetherness, cooperation, solidarity, and joint action of Muslims. I wish that the month of Ramadan will be conducive to a new awakening and resurrection in this regard."

“Ramadan and Awareness of the Hereafter”

Stating that the Presidency brings an important theme to the public agenda every year during the month of Ramadan in order to increase social sensitivity and awareness and that they have determined this year's Ramadan theme as "Ramadan and Awareness of the Hereafter" in order to carry out services, activities and negotiations within this framework, President Erbaş said that with the programs they will carry out during the month of Ramadan, they aim to better understand Islam's vision of life in the balance of the world and the hereafter, and to ensure that the civilizational vision on the axis of faith, worship, morality and values dominates life in the individual and society dimension.

Stating that the desire for immortality has always had a determining effect on the journey of human life from past to present, President Erbaş made the following statement: "It is not possible for such a desire to find reality in a world that is temporary in all aspects. Because in many verses of our exalted book, the Holy Qur'an, it is stated that the heavens, the earth, and everything in between will disappear and come to an end with the expiration of the limited time allotted to them. It is stated that after a terrifying day that will end the worldly dimension of life, the Judgment Day, a new dimension of the Hereafter life will begin."

Pointing out that the biggest challenge and problem of humanity today and the biggest reason for the spread of evil is that people act as if there is no hereafter, President Erbaş said that people who have an awareness of the hereafter must convey this truth to their friends, children, and young people, and that the month of Ramadan is an opportunity for this.

"The month of Ramadan is a great opportunity to make a new start"

Stating that the month of Ramadan is one of the most abundant destinations of the journey of life in terms of facing oneself, accounting one's life and preparing for tomorrow, President Erbaş continued his words as follows:

“This blessed month, the radiant shadow of which has begun to fall on us, is a great opportunity to make a new start to an ideal life that will continue in the integrity of faith and good deeds, and as a result, to have a chance to win the land of everlasting happiness. Because this blessed period of time has a spiritual atmosphere that, first of all, directs people to return to their nature and do self-examination, as well as reinforcing faith with sincerity, making worship a consistency with love, and adorning life with good morals."

“Let us encourage, motivate and support our children”

Noting that they see the month of Ramadan as a suitable opportunity to bring together the universal principles, values, and truths of Islam with children, youth and all humanity, President Erbaş remarked, "Parents have a great responsibility especially for our children to accumulate sweet memories of Ramadan in their minds and hearts. Let us encourage, motivate and support our children so that they can benefit from the spiritual atmosphere of this month and build their morals and characters in the climate of mercy of Ramadan."

President Erbaş noted that the Presidency of Religious Affairs is working carefully to ensure that children, young people, and women can benefit from the spiritual climate of Ramadan and the peaceful atmosphere of mosques to the maximum extent, and that all religious officials are preparing for this beautiful moment with great excitement and sincerity.

“Guidance and preaching programs and seminars will be held across Türkiye”

President of Religious Affairs Erbaş shared the following information regarding the services to be carried out in the month of Ramadan:

“During the month of Ramadan, our services will be carried out with great care. Guidance and preaching programs and seminars will be held in every corner of our country within the framework of the theme 'Ramadan and Awareness of the Hereafter'. During Ramadan, special guidance programs will be organized for women, youth, children and the disabled. Recitations will be performed in all our mosques and Qur'an courses. Citizens who are unable to attend these will be able to follow the recitations every day during Ramadan on Diyanet TV. It will also be ensured that public officials, who cannot attend the recitation in mosques due to their work in official institutions, will be able to read recitations in places deemed appropriate by the institutions. In our mosques deemed appropriate by our mufti’s offices, "Recitation and Exegesis of the Holy Qur’an" programs will be held for our citizens to understand the Holy Qur’an. Again, 'Tarawih Prayer with Khatim' will be performed in our mosques and masjids deemed appropriate by our mufti’s offices. We have the '190 Religious Information Line', which will be at the service of our citizens 7 days a week between 08.00-22.00 during the month of Ramadan.

In addition, our citizens will be able to ask all kinds of religious questions in written or video form through the Mobile Fatwa Application of the High Board of Religious Affairs, the website or e-government. Our special website 'ramazan.diyanet.gov.tr', which includes books, magazines, and other printed, visual, and audio materials on the theme of 'Ramadan and Awareness of the Hereafter' prepared by our Presidency, will be at the service of our nation. On the occasion of Ramadan 2024, a discounted book campaign will be organized between 11-31 March. Furthermore, starting on March 15, in the courtyard of Fatih Mosque in Istanbul and in the courtyard of Hacı Bayram Veli Mosque in Ankara, the Türkiye Diyanet Foundation will open a book fair, which has traditionally been going on for 41 years. There will be iftar and sahur programs on Diyanet TV, Diyanet Radio, Diyanet Qur’an Radio and Diyanet Risalet Radio. In addition, our hodjas will make face-to-face programs in our mosques, Qur’an courses, conference halls, local TV, radio channels and internet channels."

“We need to adorn our people with authentic knowledge centred on the Qur’an and sunnah”

Reminding that religious programs are intensively carried out in local, national media and digital media during Ramadan, President Erbaş continued his words as follows:

“This is certainly pleasing for us in terms of its contribution to making us feel the atmosphere of Ramadan in every moment. I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to everyone who sincerely provides services and makes efforts in this regard. However, from time to time in such programs, we witness that the trust of our people is abused, their religious feelings are exploited and even worship is made a subject of polemic. I would like to say that this has decreased considerably compared to the past, but we know that this situation is extremely disturbing and that these programs confuse minds, even if a little, by randomly bringing issues that have no benefit to the TV screens. I would also like to express that this is a great sin. We need to adorn our people, our youth, our children with authentic knowledge centred on the Qur’an and sunnah, and we need to feed their minds and hearts in this way.”

Addressing the importance of the presentation of the subject while discussing religious issues, President Erbaş also made the following remarks, "It is clear that explaining religion with a style that is far from moderation and lacks courtesy and elegance does not and will not benefit anyone. It is beyond explanation that making contradictory discourses and exhibiting extraordinary attitudes and behaviours just for the sake of getting more viewers will cause great wounds in the perception of religion of the society. Such behaviour, which is incompatible with the Muslim personality, should definitely be avoided. In this regard, I would like to ask both our nation and our brothers and sisters who make programs, draw and share in the media and digital media to be more sensitive, especially for the sake of Ramadan."

"We aim to reach 2 million people in need during the month Ramadan"

Stating that the Presidency of Religious Affairs has produced various projects with Türkiye Diyanet Foundation (TDV), which has set out with the ideal of making goodness prevail on earth, with the theme of "Time for Goodness for Türkiye, You are the One Who is Expected, Let Our Brotherhood Be Blessed with Zakah, Be Zakah for Your Brothers and Sisters", President Erbaş said that Türkiye Diyanet Foundation will keep the spiritual climate of Ramadan alive in 81 provinces and all districts and in 74 countries and 350 regions abroad with the support of the nation during the month of Ramadan this year.

Stating that they aim to reach more than 2 million people in need this year with shopping and aid cards, iftar, provision and food packages, and goodness tables to be set up especially in oppressed and victimized geographies, President Erbaş added the following:

"Inshaallah, our Presidency and Türkiye Diyanet Foundation will work together to reach our victimized brothers and sisters, especially in the earthquake regions of our country, and to reach people in need of a slice of bread and a glass of water in many parts of the world. In addition, we plan to deliver 56,500 Qur’ans printed in 6 languages to our Muslim brothers and sisters in 27 countries within the scope of the 'Let my Gift be Qur'an' campaign during Ramadan, the month of the Qur’an."

President Erbaş said that citizens who want to provide aid to those in need can make their zakah, sadaqah al-fitr, fidyah, shopping card, food package, hygiene package, cleaning package, iftar-sahur and Eid donations at "www.tdv.org" and "bagis.tdv.org" as well as through provincial and district mufti offices, Türkiye Diyanet Foundation branches and contracted banks during the month of Ramadan.

President Erbaş stated that donors can also donate by sending an SMS to 2177 by typing "FITRE" or "FIDYE" from postpaid and prepaid lines connected to all GSM operators, and that one SMS fee is 130 liras, which is the cost of one sadaqah al-fitr or fidyah.

In the program, Vice President of Religious Affairs Assoc. Prof. Dr. Burhan İşliyen made a greeting speech.