11.03.2025 15:41
The President of Religious Affairs, Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş, spoke for the first time about the news claiming that he "does not know the Shahada." Erbaş stated, "Our advice to people is not to believe in these slanderous and distorted news. They should look at the statements. I have been praying since I was 10 years old. Do those who write this not know that I recite the Shahada every time we sit in the Tashahhud during prayer?"
The President of Religious Affairs, Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş, was a guest on Ümit Özdemir's "Huzur-u Sahur" sahur program. Erbaş responded for the first time to the criticisms against him here. Erbaş said, "Our advice to people is not to believe in such slanderous and distorted news about us, the Diyanet, or people. They should look at the statements."
"DO THEY NOT KNOW THAT THE SHAHADA IS RECITED IN EVERY PRAYER?"
Responding to news titled "He does not know the Shahada," Erbaş said: "Last summer, we opened a mosque in one of our provinces. I recited the couplet of Mehmet Akif Ersoy, 'These calls to prayer are the foundation of religion. My eternal homeland should resonate with them.' and I said, 'The concepts of shahada in our calls to prayer, Eşhedü en la ilahe illallah eşhedü enne Muhammeden rasullullah', that is, as it is mentioned in the call to prayer, these will eternally, hopefully, resonate from these minarets and rise to the heavens.' A few days later, I saw that they made news saying, 'The President of Religious Affairs recited the Shahada incorrectly.'
Thank God, I have been praying since I was 10 years old. Do the people who write this not know that every time we sit in the Tahiyyat during prayer, we say 'Eşhedü en la ilahe illallah ve eşhedü enne Muhammeden abdühü ve resulühü'? Forget about the President of Religious Affairs; everyone who prays, even children, knows the Shahada.
People we never expected took this and used it. A big man tweets, saying, 'How can you be the President of Religious Affairs if you do not know the Shahada?'" he said.