IMAM HATIP SCHOOL (IMAM HATIP LISESI): Islamic School in Contemporary Secular Turkey

Abstract

Imam Hatip schools have been a crucial and controversial Islamic education in a secular Turkey. The majority of Imam Hatip School students come from families who live and conduct their relations in accordance with Islamic norms and principles. Many conservative, religious-minded parents in rural and small town (in central and eastern Turkey)  sent their children after primary school to an Imam Hatip  High school, because this is the only school type where  they would study Islamic subjects besides the general curriculum and where the teachers  were believed to impart traditional moral values. Many of those parents would, however, wish their children to pursue modern careers and find more prestigious and better paid jobs than that of a modest preacher. Today Imam Hatip schools do not only produce Imams (leaders of prayer) and hatips (deliver khutba at every Friday sermon), but also designed to cultivate religious sensibilities (dini hassasiyetler) in their students. The schools aim to heighten their students awareness of faith and promote the notion  that religion  should play a substantial role in the life of individuals and society. The most important is that Imam Hatip schools play an important role in Turkey’s pious community  and making the country more Islamic.