By Rufai Goni
MY second thought upon learning of the Turkish-Syrian earthquake was the cats of turkey, the first being the people that feed them, I am most certain that Allah would come to your aid My dear Turkish and Syrian people, you respect and care for animals to the extent that a Governor of Istanbul announced the death of Gli (the worlds famous cat) September 2020. A cat you raised to a statue of celebrity to have met Turkish president and US president in the year 2009.
Cats of all colors, sizes and ages are pretty much everywhere in Istanbul, uninterested by the busy life of the city and undisturbed by the uncertainties of the world with devoted public servants who make sure they are fed, sheltered, and cared for.
As our skin color differs across the globe so our time zones, 04:17 Am on the 6th of February at Istanbul Turkey was exactly 06:17 Am at Abuja Nigeria. On that faithful day, as the Turkish were enjoying the early morning weather, they were abruptly awakened by a powerful earthquake that was estimated to be about 7.8 magnitude. It was claimed as of 13th February 2023 about 36, 000 people are confirmed dead!
While the world is busy mourning and sending condolences, palliatives and prayers, I checked my account and I have nothing to offer, however, Ican offer two things, is firstly, my sincerest prayers to the people of Turkey and secondly an article to show the beautiful side of Turkish culture, the culture that is brought out from the Islamic values of kindness, fairness and love to all beings. Follow me through this article as I unveil to you the beautiful romance between Turkish people and cats.
The beauty of Turkish culture towards cats lies in the fact that many people that doesn’t know the teachings of Islam believes that Islam is a religion of hate while Islam is a hallmark of decency, fairness, justice, and love. In some popular narrations it was vividly highlighted that “a woman was declared to be in a hellfire for mistreating a cat” in another narration Prophet Muhammad SAW said, “Allah curses any person who branded, mark or strike the face of an animal”. In the same way prophet said, “Allah has forgiven a prostitute for being Kind to a Dog”.
As of December 2021, there were about 4.4 Millon cats in turkey (which is more than population of some states in Nigeria). If the cats in turkey would be given a space in Nigeria’s population map by state, the state of cats in Nigeria would be 24th largest state, larger than the likes of Enugu, Cross Rivers, Kogi, Osun and Gombe states amongst others. In Istanbul alone (loosely Catstanbul) there are about 1,000,000 cats, which is more than the population of Kuje, Gwagwalada, Bwari and Abaji Local Governments of FCT.
A popular Non-Governmental Organization in Turkey (cats of Istanbul) has more than 300 volunteer workers with thousands of followers on social media, they are known for setting up cat houses, provide food and shelter for cats. In 2016 a documentary about Turkish cats was aired in the name of “KEDI” simply cat in Turkey. The 80 minutes documentary made a profit of more than $8,000,000 dollars.
On the 2nd of July 2021, a bill was submitted to the Turkish parliament, the bill was to classify cats as living beings not commodities with a jail term for anyone who kills, abuse or torture cats, jail term could be from six months to four years.
Celebrity Cat in Turkey: Gli; (2004-2020) the most famous cat in the world with about 200,000 followers on Instagram lived in the Hagia Sophia mosque. In 2009 Gli met Turkish president Recep Tayyib Erdogan and US president barrack Obama when the later visited Istanbul. Gli’s death was announced by Istanbul’s Governor Ali Yerlikaya on 24th September 2020.
The history of love for cats in turkey can be traced back to Ottomans dynasty, it was certain that cats were used to protect rare books and important paper documents before printing machines were available in turkey, cats have a very important place in Islamic history, as the prophet SAW is reported to have said “Affection for cats is a part of faith”.
Islam taught us the value of love, brotherhood and mutual supports especially when calamity or disaster befalls one. The 6th February earthquake that hit turkey and part of Syria is one of the deadliest earthquakes recorded in the 20th and 21st century.
This is a time that Turkish and Syrian people need to feel the brotherhood and solidarity. People over the world have been sending assistance in cash or kind.
Although in the early lines of this article I mentioned that I would contribute by prayers and my article on how humane the Turkish people are, I now realized I cancontribute more by reminding Muslim brothers and sisters that the Turkish embassy in Nigeria are actively soliciting for aids to be collated at No.46 Aminu Kanu Crecent, Wuse 2, Abuja and send to the good people of Turkey and Syria.
Ours is to give for the sake of Allah and he would alleviate our hardship and sufferings too, this is Allah’ promise
References:
https://www.dailysabah.com/gallery/turkey-the-land-of-cats
https://goturkiye.com/all-you-need-to-know-about-istanbuls-friendly-cats
https://www.dailysabah.com/gallery/cattitude-10-turkish-cats-that-stole-headlines/
Goni writes in from Wuse II, Abuja, Nigeria.