In Istanbul women cover their faces, and the wailing from the mosques resonates around the city, part of a culture that stretches across Islamic Asia. The Turks are serious about their religion, but recognize that it has its place. One reason why Moslems are sometimes suspicious of capitalism is that it can disrupt the Islamic pattern of society. Capitalism entails an extension of choice, as its foundation and as its result. By making available new arrays of material goods, it tempts the Moslem with Western values.
Capitalism pays no respect to hierarchies of power.
It allows individual people to live independently of government, and disperses power to the many. It opens up new networks of communication, beyond the critical supervision of the guardians of Holy Law. Where Islam is imposed as a rigid code of uniformity, capitalism is a threat. In Istanbul, alongside the mosques are shops selling Japanese cameras. In amongst the symbols of a traditional and ancient culture you find the trappings of Western materialism.