I have added a link to your site here:

http://www.talkcyprus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=86295#86295

cheers!

Living in America, people of Greek heritage, although many do not speak Greek, have a very strong sense of who they are. Their culture, cuisine, traditions, etc. are still very much alive. My great-grandparents immigrated to America and three generations later, my family is still very Greek, even though most of us don’t speak the language anymore. I guess many Greek-Americans are like the Vlachs and Arvanites that EllasEllinonXristianon mentioned.

I should have mentioned the Pontic Greeks who still live in northern Turkey. Not the Christian Pontics but the Muslim Pontics. After the genocide in the early 20th century, the Greeks and Armenians that remained were Muslim. Perhaps Christianity was considered such a part of Greekness, the Muslim Greeks were overlooked or not noticed at all in Attaturk’s time. But my point is that there are still Greek-speaking and Armenian-speaking villages in Turkey. Their culture is very much alive too. Take their music and dances for example.

Also, remember that most Muslims do not speak Arabic (or Turkish for that matter!). Take the Indonesians for example. Yes, the Greek Orthodox Church did much to preserve Greek identity during the 400 years of Turkish occupation. We should all be thankful for this. But I’d argue that this was not because of religion but because of a basic need to preserve who we are. If every Greek had turned Muslim during the turkokratia, the same need would be there. Greeks would not have forgotten their language, heritage, etc. no more than Indonesians have forgotten their own.

I like the dialogue that goes on here on this website. Let’s keep it up.

Let’s clear a few things up from the begining. There is a DIFFERENCE between culture and religion. For ex.

Greek Muslim
Arabic Muslim
Chinese Muslim
Indian Muslim
Turkish Muslim

Greek Christian
Arabic Christian
Arabic Jew
Chinese Buddhist
Indian Hindu
Turkish Christian

The first is your culture and you cannot change that no matter what. You are born into it and it depends on what your parents are. For example, both my parents are Greeks, therefore I am a Greek.

The second is your religion that you choose. I choose to practice Islam because I submit to the will of our Creator, One God, who created all of us.

Just because I chose to be a Muslim does not turn me into an Arab and I am not “Turkified”, whatever that means.

With that said, yes, there is a lot of animosity between Greeks and Turks from past history but that doesn’t change the fact that I am both Greek AND Muslim and enjoy it.

Hope that clears it up.

You’re suggesting that we throw all that away. I guess we already threw the “Romaic” part away so the “Christian” one might as well follow. Nikos above suggested that “our language is also an important part of our identity”. While that might be true in some contexts (let’s not forget all of the Greek Arvanites, Vlachs etc. who felt Greek despite their language), I also guess that our Koine Greek liturgy will be replaced with Arabic. What will there be left?

All that being said (and asked), good luck in your future endeavours.

One thing that really helped me with my parents is to tell them upfront what will change and what will not. For example, in the beginning I would say things like, I’m not wearing hijab right now, but I will be in the future or when I get married, he will be a Muslim. I think this made a huge difference because when I do those things, there is no surprise and it gives them time to get used to the change before I go and change. Also, I would state what things won’t change, for example, spending time with family, etc.

I’ve noticed that some converts don’t do this and then when it comes time to do these actions, their families go balistic and usually persuade the convert to compromise in their faith in some way.

In the end, it’s all about educating them about your new lifestyle.

As Greek Muslims we know our religion comes first and when it comes to practices of our Orthodox Christian family we know what we can and can’t do. Most, if not all, is in the “can’t do” list–but our families are the ones who view it like this–”that convert can’t do this and that….” We see Islam as a blessing and are happy to accept what we believe will help us gain self-purification and the contenance of Allah, the Most-Compassionate. We believe we have been given something better than what our past deen could offer. I came across this hadith:

Prophet Muhammad, pbuh, once saw the Ansaar celebrating a certain day. He inquired about that and was informed: This is one of two days that we used to celebrate in Jaahiliyyah (pre-Islaamic ignorance) and we continue to do so. He replied: Nay! Allaah has substituted for you two better days: the day of al-Fitr and the day of al-Adhhaa. [Authentic; narrated by Ahmad, an-Nasaaee, and others]

The eids of al-Fitr and al-Adhhaa are better for us than our Pascha and Christmas. In my opinion, this can be symbolic of Islam replacing all that was jahilliyah in our traditions that were aparently the core of Greek identity.

We need to show our families that there is more to being Greek than following traditions related to the Orthodox Church. I don’t know about your own families, but mine do not know much about their own religion and rather accept it only because it is their heritage and culture. I think this is why many of our fellow Greeks think it is such a scandelous thing to dissociate ourselves with our past religion. Hanging icons in the house and praying in front of them, lighting kandilia, making the sign of the cross, going to church, saying “Christos Anesti” for Pascha, taking communion, praying to saints…all these practices are considered “greek” in the eyes of our fellow Greeks.

If we follow the Islamic way of life, I think what is good for us will make itself apparant. What is far more meaningful to us and better for us Greeks is still there for us to call a part of OUR culture, heritage and traditions. Such things like the Greek language, our diverse cuisine, the good characteristics of being Greek like hospitality and love for family which can be translated into the Islamic way of life.

Sure, we can’t have that BIG FAT Greek Wedding that our Yaya always wanted for us, but there is still so much MORE to being Greek! Alhamdulillah.