Lauren Booth – Meeting Erturgrul cemented my move to Turkey
AI: Summary ©
A guest on radio discusses his love for Turkey's culture and the importance of it to their community. They also talk about a family show called Little House on the Prairie that brought interest to them. The guest describes a woman who talks English and describes a film experience as intense and intense. They also mention a woman in a tent and a woman in a room who talks English and describes it as a intense experience.
AI: Summary ©
As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu, ahlan
wa sahlan wa marhaban lukum, hosh gardeners and
hello to all Radio Dawn 107.6 FM
listeners, viewers and Pre-Meet Institute followers as
well.
I'm really excited about today, thank you very
much for joining us today, it's a really
exciting session and I'm really happy about it,
I'm really excited, my heart's pounding already because
of the stuff that we're going to be
talking about.
I just want to mention the guest that
we have today is live from Turkey itself,
alhamdulillah.
Turkey is very important to us and it's
in our hearts, alhamdulillah, I've visited Turkey and
I really felt something special about it and
it's got some great Islamic history there as
well and inshallah we'll also talk about that
at some point today as well.
Without further ado, we welcome Sister Laura Booth,
as-salamu alaykum.
Wa alaykum as-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa
barakatuhu, hosh gardeners, nice to be here.
You're live from Turkey as well, absolutely fantastic,
so if we're not in Turkey, we've got
some sort of connection with Turkey through yourself
at the moment.
You're all welcome, come visit, it's an open
place, we would love to see you inshallah.
Sister Laura, are you actually basically in Istanbul
at the moment, is that where you're residing?
I've been living here for two years by
the grace of Allah and it's been amazing,
I'm about to move house within, move home
within Istanbul but it's definitely, you know, a
space that has a lot of expats here
at the moment.
I think there's a group that I'm on
that has 1,000 English speakers in Istanbul
alone and there are many more who won't
know about that group but they're gathering to
kind of learn about Deen and do good
deeds and support charities and nice people, hamdulillah,
good people and more importantly than that of
course is the Turkish community because when you
move to a place you shouldn't, you know,
the Brits have been too good about setting
up sort of centres and not speaking the
local language and not getting on, that said
I don't speak English yet but with love
to our Turkish, you know, neighbours and hosts
really and getting to know them, getting to
know the culture is very, very important.
Sister Laura, we know Turkey's got an amazing
Islamic history, it's the last Islamic state as
well, why Turkey?
I visited here around six, seven years ago
and then got a couple more invitations to
come back and I think that it still
fulfills its role as east meets west, that
is how Allah Ta'ala has placed it,
you know, you're one foot, literally you're one
foot in Europe and the other in Asia
and so you're across two great continents and,
you know, the Christianity that came through here
and then the Islam that flourished here and
then the people making their way in the
modern state of Turkey, I think it's a
very special place in the world, mashallah.
Mashallah, alhamdulillah, now obviously Turkey is very special
to us, very important to us as well
and I think it's a shame because as
Muslims I don't think we actually recognised its
value to us until these famous television series
that have come on, I think there's many
now, the first one that started was Ertuğrul,
wasn't it?
Resurrection Ertuğrul and from then we got Alp
Arslan, we got Osman, we got so many
that come on, I think the interest is
there and now people are actually visiting Turkey
now trying to find out more intrigue and
actually visiting, you know, the famous sites, for
example the tomb of Ertuğrul and the Halima
and so on, the stars as well, so
I think that's actually raised the interest but
another thing and I think I'm really jealous
about is that you actually got to meet
the cast as well, you had to visit
them, I'm so jealous.
Can you say mashallah please?
So this was something incredible, I mean like
you, you know, my children were a bit
younger, they're in their teens and you're constantly
looking for, please God, give us some ethical
content, you know, we're looking for, I mean
when I was a kid we used to
watch Little House on the Prairie, now I
have to say, although it's from a Christian
background, I think it still stands the test
of time.
If you're really stuck for something ethical with
good people doing good things and considering one
another, you could go a lot fast worse
than something like Little House on the Prairie.
Islamically, since in the last 10 years, yes
there have definitely been new cartoon series and
family shows coming through but when my kids
were teenagers it was like, what do we
watch together?
So then we discovered Ertuğrul and, you know,
just it drew you in and seeing, I
don't know about you brother, but seeing our
brothers and sisters praying on screen is like,
oh we do that, oh that's actually us,
I'm not watching another, because even if we're
watching say, you know, you have Pakistani soaps
or Indian soaps or any, they're people not
doing great things, they're not being their best
selves on the whole in dramas, you know,
and if we're in Britain, those people are
definitely not being their best selves in TV
dramas, okay.
So for once Ertuğrul brought to our screens
something that was aspirational, full of hope and
a dynamic vision of what a Muslim leader
could look like and it just melted our
hearts.
So how did it happen?
Yeah, I got contacted by the Eunice Emery
Institute, now they have a centre in London,
if you ever get the chance go and
take a visit.
They do lots of cultural events, do with
the Turkish language and Turkish poetry and Ottoman
history, mashallah.
They contacted me and said, would you like
to come on an early Ertuğrul tour?
And I said, subhanallah, this is what a
great opportunity.
And so I said, I don't suppose any
chance of going on set is there, so
it was still filming, this is now, good
four years ago now.
And they said yes, but nobody gets on
set.
The only people who've been on set were,
I think it was a Venezuelan leader and
of course the President of Turkey, President Erdoğan.
They're like the only people who've got on
set and I'm like, okay, I know my
place, I know my place, I'm not, you
know, a president of people, so I'll keep
it in my heart and maybe, you know,
maybe I'll just ask Allah, I'd really love
to meet these people if possible and get
that moment in, you know.
And so by the grace of Allah, they
said, amazingly Lauren, now you're in Turkey, they've
said you can come on set.
And I was like, my heart was pounding
like you wouldn't believe, subhanallah.
And one of the, one of my observations
was this, that I've, by the grace of
Allah, I've met President Erdoğan as well in
the presidential palace in Ankara.
And, you know, every world leader that you
meet, you have tiers of security and roadblocks
and things to go through.
It was harder getting onto the set of
Ertugrul than getting close to President Erdoğan.
That's how serious they were.
So it took place, it was filmed in
the, in the hills and forests, just I
think to the north of Istanbul.
We were taken by car.
I mean, honestly, had they put, had they
kind of handcuffed me and put on a,
you know, put a blindfold on, I wouldn't
have been surprised because they did not want
us to know where you're going.
Checkpoint, checkpoint.
And then suddenly you're walking down a muddy
lane and there's, there was this, and, and
you come around a corner and you're in
a forest and then you smell wood smoke.
And suddenly I was like, oh my God,
I looked around and I was in the
village.
I was outside the meeting tent, the famous
tent and the whole thing, you know, being
an actor myself, the minute that you walk
onto a set, you take on a role.
So I was not 21st century Lauren there.
I was, I was Sara, you know, you
know, in a tribe of, of all those
centuries ago.
And so I, you know, there were the,
remember the old ladies, you know, one of
the famous shots that they always have is
the women who are doing the yarn with
those kind of, they were there, the women
with the yarn.
I'm like, there's the women with the yarn
and the horses were going past.
And so they said, look, you won't get
to speak to anybody on set.
They're all too busy, but at least you'll
get a walk around.
And I was more than satisfied with that.
But when I, they didn't tell me this,
but, and I don't know how it happened
to this day.
I climbed the steps to the tent where
all those famous, all those meetings take place.
And as I turned around, all the bays
came over, all of them.
And I'm looking and I said, like this.
And there's, there's Bamsi, there's, I was like,
so then Halima, sorry, the, the mother, the
mother came out.
Yes.
And I said, very nice to meet you.
And she was still in character.
She was in, obviously they were all in
there.
And so I'm looking at this and I'm
thinking, I am literally an Ertugrul, just taste
this every second of this.
And then a deep voice next to me
said, Assalamualaikum.
And I, and I remember looking up and
going, oh my God.
And you know what my waswas said, my
personal Shaytan said to me, if you pretend
to faint, he'll have to catch you.
And I went, Auzubillah, Auzubillah, Astaghfirullah, Astaghfirullah, because
I really, you know, and he's so full
and his voice is so deep.
So, like I said, I was, I had
to play a role because that's just how
Allah has made me.
And so I said this, I said, Assalamualaikum,
my dear brothers and sisters, you who are
changing the vision of modern Islam, I bring
you greetings from the Western Ummah.
And in character, they all went, oh Allah.
There you go.
Just amazing.
I actually have a clip because, would you
like to hear it?
An exclusive on Greemy Institute social media for
just you guys.
So one of the things that was a
condition of going on was you cannot film
anything because it will, it will kill the,
it will kill the feeling for people who
are yet to watch it, which I totally
understand.
But I did whip out my phone and
do a little bit of, I asked, I
said, a little bit of audio, maybe I
can do, they said, fine.
And I was sitting in the tent with
the director, watching a screen and thinking, this
is, this is surreal.
And then a man sat next to me
and it was Alton and the, the actor
who plays Ertugrul just came and sat in
a chair next to me and I'm like,
oh God.
So I just quickly snuck an interview.
So that's what I'm going to play to
you now.
Okay.
Bismillah.
You speak, you speak English?
Yeah, I can speak English.
I don't know.
Fair enough.
It's nice to see you.
Thank you very much.
You have a very, you have a really
intensive filming schedule.
I don't envy it.
Lauren, I think you've gone on a big
part in it.
I wish for you a break, but not
for us viewers to break.
Thank you.
What effect is it having on you as
an actor?
How have you grown?
What does it mean to you to be
doing a project like this at this time
in your life?
It's a very big project.
And also it's the first time in Turkey.
It's like, like these big productions, to tell
the Muslim people in front of them, it's
very interesting.
I was very excited when I saw the
first episodes.
It was very nice.
Interesting.
They did let me take some photos.
So there's photos of me on the set.
So.
That was absolutely amazing.
Honestly, I felt like I was there.
It's crazy, but.
You know, the, the, the Mongols in the
woods, I went up to the woods and
it was one of the most terrifying, genuinely
terrifying experience in my life.
So, yeah, do take a look at that
guys.
Alhamdulillah.
It was, it was a really incredible experience.
So, so what happened there?
Did you actually meet anybody there or was
that just the music?
Yeah, well, they, they, they didn't, I didn't
meet the, what was his name?
But they drove me to another part of
the set, because if you watch Ertugrul, you
watch so many episodes and you realize there's
only three places.
There's like a patch of woods, right?
And there's, there's a place where the horses
always go around and you start to recognize
it.
So they said, come to our other set.
We're filming a very grisly scene right up
in, in the woods, in the hillside.
And so I'm walking and there's a smell
of incense.
There were actors playing the Mongol hordes and
they looked at me and sharpened their knives
and a shiver went through me.
Like it was, it was very visceral and
frightening.
Wow.
Are you going to play something now?
Did you say?
No, no, no.
That's fine.
So that's on your YouTube page as well.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
No, that's fantastic.
Excellent.
Thank you.
I would really appreciate sharing that with us.
Honestly, I didn't know that, you know, we'd
get a treat like that today.