Kemal Tahir is one of the most important writers in Turkish literature and “Devlet Ana” is his well-known novel. Kemal Tahir was interested in the discussions about the construction of society and he defended that we should benefit from history in order to solve our problems. The religion is one of the most important parts of the society, too. The purpose of this work is to understand the way Kemal Tahir approached the religion in “Devlet Ana” in which the establishment period of the Ottoman Empire was described. This novel was examined under the titles of “religiously experienced dualities” “social decay, the religion and the clergy”, “the acceptance problems of the new Muslims, the perspective to the non-Muslims”. In “Devlet Ana”, Pre-Islamic and Islamıc belief patterns found a place in the daily life of the individuals. In addition, it was seen that the new Muslims used some behavior patterns of the old religion, Christianity, while living the new religion. At the same time, some Muslim characters of the novel performed in non-Islamic behavior like drinking wine under the influence of different cultures. It was seen that Kemal Tahir embodied the social corruption around the clergy in “Devlet Ana”. It is clear that the clergy were brought to the forefront with their vulnerability to the property. It was expressed that some Muslims had difficulty in accepting Christians and even new Muslims in the novel.

Anahtar Kelimeler
Kemal Tahir, religion, The Ottoman Empire.