A survey was conducted to examine how the Turkish people perceive the holiday during the pandemic and whether they comply with measures to reduce the risk of transmission. According to the study led by Prof. Dr. Ebulfez Süleymanlı, Head of the Department of Sociology at Üsküdar University, 73.6 percent of the participants said that they spent Eid at home. While 13.8 percent of the participants stated that they preferred to meet face-to-face with their relatives on Eid, 53.2 percent stated that they preferred to meet with their relatives online. While 35.9 percent of the participants stated that the pandemic affected the way of sacrifice; 46.8 percent stated that they sacrificed, 25.1 percent stated that they sacrificed by proxy and 28 percent stated that they did not sacrifice.
Üsküdar University Sociology Department conducted a survey titled 'Eid al-Adha in the Pandemic Process'.
Participation from 44 provinces
Head of the Department of Sociology Prof. Dr. Ebulfez Süleymanlı said that 760 participants aged between 18 and 70 from 44 provinces of Turkey showed interest in the survey they conducted on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th days of Eid and that very interesting findings emerged.
Eid visit limited in pandemic
Stating that 26.4 percent of the participants spent the Eid completely isolated at home, Süleymanlı said, "54.3 percent noted that they spent it partially isolated. Likewise, 13.8 percent of the participants said that they preferred to meet face-to-face with their relatives on Eid, while 53.2 percent stated that they preferred to meet with their relatives online."
Only 8.9% considered it as a vacation
Prof. Dr. Ebulfez Suleymanli continued his words as follows: "In response to the question of whether they consider Eid as a holiday, only 8.9 percent of the participants stated that they considered it as a holiday, while 10.3 percent stated that they had a partial holiday. While 73.6 percent of the participants stated that they spent the holiday at home, 43.8 percent of the participants answered the question 'Where did you spend the holidays in the period before the pandemic?' with close relatives, 38.2 percent in my own home, 8.7 percent in a holiday resort, 6.9 percent with close friends. While the behavior of those who consider the holiday as a vacation remained the same, a significant decrease was observed especially in visits to close relatives and friends."
The holiday was negatively affected by the pandemic
Prof. Dr. Ebulfez Suleymanli said that "55 percent of the participants think that the pandemic has a negative impact on the holiday" and continued his words as follows:
"11.6 percent of respondents stated that the holiday was not negatively affected by the pandemic. The pandemic changed the holiday plans of 45 percent of the participants. While 16.3 percent of the participants stated that the holiday during the pandemic met their expectations, 46.3 percent stated that their expectations were not met. The results show that the pandemic has had a negative impact on the holiday."
Digital holiday calls will not be preferred
Prof. Dr. Süleymanlı stated that they asked the participants whether they would prefer to continue digital holiday meetings, which were shaped by the pandemic period, in the coming holidays, and said, "21.4 percent of the participants stated that they would prefer online Eid exchanges in the coming holidays, 47.2 percent stated that they would not use online platforms for Eid exchanges, and 37.4 percent stated that they would partially prefer them. While 42.2 percent of the participants stated that they made an additional effort to find more secluded places where they could spend time during the pandemic period, 23.9 percent stated that the holiday during the pandemic period made them feel lonely."
Sacrifices were also affected
Noting that the pandemic affected the way 35.9 percent of the participants sacrificed, Prof. Dr. Ebulfez Süleymanlı said, "46.8 percent of the participants stated that they sacrificed, 25.1 percent stated that they sacrificed by proxy and 28 percent stated that they did not sacrifice. 69.6 percent of the participants stated that they sent a share of the meat of the sacrifice to their relatives and neighbors on the Feast of Sacrifice."
No special clothes were bought for the holiday
Süleymanlı stated that 82.6 percent of the participants responded negatively to the question "Did you buy new clothes for this holiday?", "14.7 percent stated that they bought new clothes, while 2 percent stated that they received new clothes as a gift. To the question "Did you do holiday cleaning and holiday shopping in your home?", 43.3 percent of the participants answered "yes, it was done", 18.6 percent answered "no, it was not done", and 38.2 percent marked the answer option "The usual shopping and cleaning continued, it was not done specially". While the rate of participants who preferred to shop online during the pandemic period was 25 percent, the rate of participants who preferred to do their holiday shopping by going to the market or grocery store was 50.1 percent."
The rate of those who went on vacation decreased
Stating that 73.6 percent of the participants responded that they spent this holiday in their own homes during the pandemic period, Prof. Dr. Ebulfez Süleymanlı said, "16.3 percent of the participants spent the holiday with their relatives and 1.3 percent with their close friends. While the rate of those who spent the holiday in a holiday resort before the pandemic was 8.9 percent, this rate decreased to 3.6 percent during the pandemic period. In addition, 43 percent of the participants spent the holiday with their parents and siblings, 41.6 percent with their spouses and children, 6.4 percent alone and 1.2 percent with their friends."
Feeling of loneliness and sadness were effective
Süleymanlı said that they concluded that 23.9 percent of the participants felt lonely during the feast and added, "49.3 percent of the participants responded to the question "How did you feel during this feast period?" that they were happy, while 39.1 percent were sad and 11.6 percent were nervous, anxious and worried.
Social distancing was observed during the holiday
According to the results, 12.1 percent of the participants stated that they could not comply with the physical distance rules even if they wanted to during their Eid visits, while 56.4 percent responded that they fully complied with the physical distance rules, Süleymanlı continued his words as follows:
"Which of the actions such as hugging, kissing hands, shaking hands, etc. did you do for Eid this Eid?", 65.3 percent of the participants stated that they did not take any action involving physical contact for Eid, while 18.3 percent used a special greeting method such as elbow-to-elbow contact, 6.7 percent kissed the hands of elders, 5.5 percent shook hands with people, 3.2 percent hugged people and 1.1 percent kissed people cheek to cheek. The average age of the participants who kissed cheek to cheek was 34.5, while the average age of the participants who hugged people was 28.6 percent."
Eid is a collective social ritual
Prof. Dr. Ebulfez Süleymanlı said that religious or national holidays are very important in the context of creating a collective cultural ritual, unity and sympathy beyond their unique qualities. "The existence of this common cultural space also unites the individual and the social and in this sense, it has a unique role in social terms. In this context, although Eid al-Adha is a religious holiday, it is actually a collective social ritual that brings people together with various emotions and actions in the public and private spheres, and therefore transcends its unique nature and gains importance in the cultural field."
Changing conditions do not provide the same satisfaction
Prof. Dr. Ebulfez Süleymanlı said that the holiday can be celebrated in some way, even if the conditions change, but it is understood that it does not provide the same satisfaction and does not create the same and social space and continued his words as follows:
"This leads us, as in many other issues, to ask questions about the transitional order we met during the pandemic process and its aftermath, and to sociological foresight efforts. We see how important it is how concepts such as communication, interaction and togetherness are experienced. However, we can foresee that phenomena such as holidays, where these factors are effective, are social practices and rituals that belong to the cultural sphere and become permanent with emotions and repetitions, and if the private and public spheres and their potentials are transformed with the pandemic, they will turn into new rituals over time with repeated practices and reinforced emotions."