The issue of representation of living beings dominates the discussions of Muslims attitudes towards the arts. In the Kuran el Kerim itself there is no formal statement opposing such representation and there is a general consensus that what can be called the Muslim "aniconism" (as opposed to "iconoclasm") was a reluctance, initially social and psychological rather than ideological, but over the centuries it acquired intelectual and theological justification and used various Koranic passages and doctrines to do so. There was, in particular, the passage which relates how Jesus gave life to the effigy of a bird, as a miracle showing that God alone has the power to bestow life. The unique omnipotence of God is an essential feature of Islam and one of its corollaries in the absolute opposition to idols. The artistic representation of life was seen as idolatry and eventually considered sinful. This prohibition affected Islamic art: the faith itself could not be expressed through images and thus, piety had to find other ways to be shown visually. One way, has been argued was through writing and the promotion of calligraphy to a sort of sacred art form. Another effect may well have been the importance taken by the secular arts, especially artisanal ones.

"Turkey is a country rich with legends of saints and heroes. One of my favorite stories is the origin of the shadow puppets Hacivat and Karagöz.
These figures, famous throughout the country, represent the common man, with all his fallibilities, in a comical yet educational way. However, many people do not know that they were real people with an interesting history.
When Bursa was still the capital of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Orhan Gazi (1323-59) decided to have a new mosque built. Traditionally, before a mosque is erected a hamam (bathhouse) is built first so the workers can bathe every day before beginning work. However, for some reason the hamam was omitted from the plans of this new mosque. This worried local Sufi Sheikh Kusteri, who did not want to directly confront the Sultan to tell him of the oversight. Instead, the sheikh sent two of his pupils, Hacivat and Karagöz, to the construction site with orders to disrupt the work. He promised them that by following his orders their names would live forever. The two men began going to the site every day and entertained the other workers with jokes and pranks. As a result, work fell far behind schedule. The sultan heard of the delays and came to find out what was causing the problem. When he saw the two workers playing around rather than working he became enraged and had them executed immediately. But the other workers missed the entertaining pair so much that work still did not progress as planned.
Several nights after the execution of Hacivat and Karagöz, Sheikh Kusteri was invited to dinner with the sultan, who was unaware of the connection between the pranksters and the sheikh. After dinner, the sheikh asked if he could give a little puppet show to entertain the sultan. He then pulled out two puppets made from camel skin in the likeness of the two jokesters. Using the puppets, he proceeded to tell the entire story. The sultan was embarrassed and ashamed of his oversight and overreaction and ordered that the hamam be built before any other work took place. Moreover, the sheikh was indeed right that the names of Hacivat and Karagöz would live on".

Today`s Zaman, KATHY HAMILTON, 26.02.2007

speaking about the "Sunday evening blues" (to quote Elisa),

DAMIEN RICE-"The Blowers Daughter"

And so it is
Just like you said it would be
Life goes easy on me
Most of the time
And so it is
The shorter story
No love, no glory
No hero in her sky

I can't take my eyes off of you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off of you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes...

And so it is
Just like you said it should be
We'll both forget the breeze
Most of the time
And so it is
The colder water
The blower's daughter
The pupil in denial

I can't take my eyes off of you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off of you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes...

Did I say that I loathe you?
Did I say that I want to
Leave it all behind?

I can't take my mind off of you
I can't take my mind off you
I can't take my mind off of you
I can't take my mind off you
I can't take my mind off you
I can't take my mind...
My mind...my mind...
'Til I find somebody new

can yoldaşı- life partner
sırdaş- confident

sobe- hide and seak
sobelemek- to play hide and seak