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Muslim Living, an essay by writer and thinker Rasim Özdenören, examines the challenges faced by a Muslim in the modern world and the attitudes one should adopt in response. It was first published in 1983. Subject of the Book The work explores how a Muslim individual can maintain their faith while living in contemporary society. Themes such as modernization alienation cultural disintegration individual responsibility and Islamic consciousness form the central framework. Özdenören opposes the view

There are people whose lives can be summed up in a single phrase: “I refuse to be lacking.” The famous tirade from Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac captures not only Tarık Buğra’s art but also his character: an upright, unyielding, unflinching stance… a writer who does not steer his pen according to the wind, who writes only what he believes in, and who never bends while writing… The heroes in Buğra’s novels are solitary. But this solitude is not the solitude of defeat; it is the solitude of

Sometimes you know a person for years. You know the tone of their voice, how they take their coffee, which songs they love, what topics make them angry… You have become so familiar with them that you can even finish their sentences before they speak them. Then one day, in a completely ordinary moment, they say something you never expected. Or their reaction to an event stops you in your tracks. A brief thought crosses your mind: “Did I ever really know this person?” Human relationships may revol

Humans do not only miss other people. Sometimes they miss cities, the memories tied to those cities, and the people they left behind. They have returned involuntarily to a place that does not belong to them. The place that truly belongs to them is the one they left behind. As Kahraman Deniz sings in one of his songs, “I was just about to leave this city, to return to streets where I never belonged.”【1】 And sometimes you are ready to leave—something is merely holding you back. No one is forcing y

I want to be on a train. Far away from where I am, I want to see the sea from my window, and feel that scent with every breath. I suppose I want too much—it feels like a dream, yet when I think about it, it seems even closer than a dream. I want to be on a train, to flee this city without even taking my bag. I want to leave behind the bad feelings it left on me and not even look back. I want to watch the clouds drift by, accompanied by a faint melody in my ears. I want to amplify feelings no one

I view my tears as acts of sacrifice. They can also be seen as an outward expression of what I have lived through and witnessed alongside others. For example, I never forget a single night I cried. My tears solidify that night in my mind. I do not cry easily. If I love something enough to cry over it, I will never let it go, no matter what. This is actually one of my weaknesses. Sometimes people believe that crying does not change anything and is therefore pointless. But it does not need to chan

In fact, everyone’s experiences have value unique to them. If you are born in a house engulfed in flames, you believe the entire world is burning. But that is not true. Deep down, you find that the world is not burning. Yet it has taken such root in your mind that you cannot believe the world is not on fire. The world does not burn only for you; it burns for everyone. The world burns at everyone’s weakest point. Just when everything seems to be going well, your life can suddenly collapse. You as

Have we not all, at least once, watched the construction of a building being assembled? We were all children fascinated by building and constructing. I too had a sketchbook that reflected this curiosity and enthusiasm. I believe many of us have gone through such sketchbooks. While tidying up my library shelves, which were in complete disarray, I came across my old notebook—the one with all its stickers still intact on their pages. I know I am not alone in this fascination with stickers. We found

Some days a person stands for a long time in front of the closet. There are many options, yet nothing seems to match the feeling of that particular day. Then suddenly, without warning, the hand reaches for that one piece that always makes you feel good. Maybe it is a blazer that fits the shoulders perfectly, maybe an old sweatshirt that has not been worn in years, or perhaps just a simple outfit that, when seen in the mirror, gives you the sense that today is the day. What is interesting is that

Sometimes a person stumbles upon an old song when they have nothing at all. Within the first few seconds a part of them aches. They cannot quite explain what they are missing at that moment but feel as if something long gone wishes to return. Perhaps an old summer evening, perhaps conversations after school, perhaps a feeling that no longer exists… Then the person quietly forms this sentence to themselves: “The old days were better.” Were they really? Perhaps people remember the past not as it w