Trade and the Mosque: An Investigation of Commercial Activities and Mosques in Antalya with Spatial, Legal and Functional Recommendations

Abstract

Expenditures, such as repair, heating and lighting costs, and payment of mosque staff’s salaries, are the main cost items that need to be satisfied for mosques to continue their services. Throughout history, these expenses have been met sometimes with the state budget, sometimes through waqfs and associations, and sometimes with the cash aid provided by the people directly in Turkey. Adding a commercial function to the mosque, which was built for the sake of continuous income, has been seen in the history of Turkey since the Ottoman period. However, the commercial units dedicated to the mosque during this period were not always close to the mosque; sometimes they could also be located in very remote location. Today, a type of structure is built which can be called a trade and religious building in the lower floor of the mosque, or as a part of the same floor due to space shortage, cost reduction etc. This type of building, which was interpreted with different perspectives, caused problems in terms of perceptibility, ratio and proportion, visuality, accessibility, noise pollution, and the moral values of the mosque, and even became the subject of lawsuits for the closure of commercial functions. In this context, the commercial functions that the mosques added to the structure in order to find financial resources were examined throughout the city center of Antalya. Accordingly, the architectural projects and zoning status of the 15 identified mosques were examined, and a spatial and configuration analysis was made. The functionality of the mosques was discussed with the mosque community, its officials, and the people in the area close to the mosque via focus group discussions, and examples of the issue brought to the judiciary were examined.