Turkey fumes over Quran-shaped cake
Top religious body investigates ‘unacceptable’ dessert baked by seminary students to celebrate Muhammad’s birth
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJudah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel's religions and Diaspora affairs correspondent.
Turkish religious authorities have opened an investigation against Anatolian students for baking a cake in the shape of the Quran, Turkish Hurriyet Daily News reported Monday.
According to the report, in 2013 a religious study group in the northern Tokat province of Turkey made the Quran-shaped dessert as part of their religious celebrations.
When photographs of the cake emerged on social media recently, the Diyanet — Turkeys top religious authority — denounced the cake last week as “unacceptable,” even if it had been made by the seminary’s Quran-course students.
The Diyanet’s head cleric, Mehmet Görmez, said that the cake was not an appropriate way to observe the Holy Birth Week of the Prophet Muhammad. He added that the cake was decorated by students without the seminary’s knowledge.
The Times of Israel Community.