„Some people have a Kaaba, my Kaaba is the human being“

By Ruhan Karakul

As a child, you don’t care about religion, politics or what’s going on in the society. Your main concern is about playing, convincing your parents to allow you to stay up late or getting mountains of ice cream. In my childhood, there was a day, I will never forget, because it was the day I was pulled out of my „everything is fine“-bubble. It was the 2nd of July, 1993 when my parents switched on the TV and watched a horrible “movie”. Ten thousands of men stood in front of a hotel that was on fire and chanted slogans like „WE WANT SHARIA!“ or „WE WILL ABOLISH LAICISM!“. My parents were speechless, started to cry. I didn’t understand anything.