Shedding his image of an ordinary bureaucrat, Esat Yapıcı combines his work with his passion, leading a group of youth every Sunday for a bicycle tour of Istanbul. Yapıcı, mufti of Üsküdar district on Istanbul’s Asian side, says he lives his childhood dream: of having a bicycle and riding freely.

The idea of a regular bicycle ride with young people dates back to the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic for Yapıcı. "I was riding alone every week and came across a few friends who wanted to ride along with me. We used to depart from the mosque in the morning and some youth attending the mosque saw us and asked if they can join. Soon, we had many riders," he said.

The pandemic is on the decline but Yapıcı’s passion, sparked at a time of few vehicles on the streets and more people turning to ride solo, grew. "One of our brothers accompanying us suggested we make it an official group and call ourselves the "Two Wheels, Two Worlds" and we even have T-shirts printed with this slogan now," he said

Every Sunday, the mufti's young companions, including young imams and members of the congregation, gather at a mosque in Üsküdar, parking bicycles outside before going inside for morning prayers. "We have everything for them. You pray first and then exercise (by riding a bicycle). We later tour Istanbul, so, there is a history lesson for you as well. It is also a touristic activity," Yapıcı said about the secret of his success of promoting riding among the youth at a very early hour on Sunday. "We socialize here. People get to know each other. And it only takes a few hours before noon," Yapıcı explained. "This is a productive activity for young people, rather than spending their day in front of computer or cellphone screens," he said. Seeing growing interest, Yapıcı said they were now holding a campaign to buy bicycles for young people who cannot afford one.

"My primary purpose was attracting the youth to the mosque, at least once a week. It worked and we see more young people coming to the mosque. They liked it very much and through word-of-mouth, more people joined us," he said.

Over time, activities of the amateur cycling group grew and Yapıcı now accompanies the youth to weekly meetings at a mosque where they read books together and meet the writers.

Yapıcı explained they were following the footsteps of Prophet Muhammad, in their bid to endear the religion to people. "The Prophet never stepped back in telling Abu Jahl (also known Amr ibn Hisham, a prominent pagan figure of his time) about Islam and always tried to convince him for conversion. He tried every method. We have to do the same to bring our youth to the mosque. They spend more time on the street, in cafes and do not drop into the mosques. Just like Allah told the Prophet that nobody would support him if he used rude language toward the people, we have to change our language and approach," he says.