Turkey’s Gen-Z Stuns Muslim World With Viral Videos – What They’re Doing During Namaz Will SHOCK You | DNA world news

In Turkey, a nation with 99% Muslim population, something unexpected is happening. The country’s youth have started a social media trend that’s raising serious questions about religious identity, tradition, and generational divides.

The Viral Trend That Started A Conversation

It started in December 2025 on TikTok, a trend that caught everyone by surprise. Turkish Gen-Z began posting videos where they appear to allegedly mock Namaz (Islamic prayer), one of the five pillars of Islam.

In these viral clips, young Turks pretend to pray, smile during prostration (sajda), then suddenly collapse. Some videos show casual behavior during prayer rituals. One video garnered over 1 million views in a week.

The reaction was swift. Muslim communities worldwide expressed concern. Comments questioned what’s happening to Turkey’s youth: “Their parents must address this,” “May Allah guide them,” “What would our ancestors think?”

Understanding The Trend’s Origins

Turkey is 99% Muslim. President Erdogan has emphasized Islamic values ​​in governance. Yet the nation’s youth are displaying distance from traditional religious practices. What’s behind this?

Analysts point to two factors:

First, the trend may reference a scene from the Turkish TV series “Kurtlar Vadisi” where an imam dies while praying. Some believe youth are recreating this dramatic moment.

Second, experts see this as pushback against mandatory religious education. The government has increased Islamic instruction in schools, and some young Turks are expressing discomfort with forced religiosity.

Many observers link this to Kemalism, the secular ideology of Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who championed the separation of religion and state after the Ottoman Empire’s fall.

#DNAFriends , #DNA #DNAWithRahulSinha #Turkey #Namaz @RahulSinhaTV pic.twitter.com/GZ990e0mFo — Zee News (@ZeeNews) December 25, 2025

What The Data Shows

Surveys reveal significant shifts in religious identification among Turkish youth:

• 2025 KONDA survey: Those identifying as “religious” decreased from 55% to 46%
• Non-religious citizens increased from 2% to 8%
• Among 18-24 year-olds, 11% identify as non-religious
• Only 18.4% of young Turks consider themselves “devout Muslims.”

These numbers suggest Turkey’s younger generation is choosing different paths regarding religious observance.

What this indicates

Turkey’s social media trend reflects broader questions about how younger generations relate to inherited traditions. It highlights tensions between state-promoted religious values ​​and individual choice.

The trend isn’t necessarily anti-religious; it may be young people questioning how religion should be practiced, not whether it should be.