The bazaar started out as a place where primarily groceries would be sold, but with time, more valuable items such as jewelry, porcelain, silk fabrics, and weapons would be sold in the bazaar as well. As such, the bazaars needed to be strong and covered, and were usually constructed of stone to prevent against fires, just like the famous Grand Bazaar of Istanbul.
One of the most important aspects of being a merchant was to care for your neighbouring business owner. Merchants would be polite and cordial with one another, and would be sensitive enough to be aware of whether or not their neighbouring merchant had made any opening sales for the day. If they had not, merchants would send customers over to their neighbours so that all business owners in the bazaar would feel content early on in the day that they started their sales successfully.
The bazaar would operate between dawn and would close at sunset, in keeping mind security, and the serenity of family life. Shops would close down temporarily throughout the day whenever the call for prayer (adhan) would be heard from the minarets in the city, and business would resume as the merchants returned from the mosques, as soon as the congregation prayer was completed.
One important function of the Sultan, as Caliph of Islam, would be to regularly inspect the quality of goods being sold and mannerisms of the merchants in the bazaar. As such, he would regularly dress in disguise, blending himself into the rest of society, and would roam the streets of the empire and bazaar areas to audit and review the state of affairs of business places, which ensured that merchants were always on their best behaviour, and treating their customers with the highest amount of respect. All Ottoman Sultans and Grand Viziers took this aspect of their office very seriously to ensure that order and peace were kept in Ottoman society (known as Nizam-ı Alem).
Before the stores would open, business owners would congregate meet each other at the mosque and pray the morning prayer (fajr), and would then make their way to what was known as the 'prayer dome' in the bazaar. One of the business owners would be chosen to pray to Allâh for righteousness and success; they would then take their daily oath of promising to remain upright in character and in sales.
The aforementioned daily prayer that was made by the merchants can be found below:
"I seek refuge in Allâh from the accursed Satan
In the name of Allâh:
Glory be to Allâh, praise be to Allâh; Allâh the Lord of the universe to whom we send our prayers and praise;
May the greetings of Allah be upon the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him), on his family, and his companions, his ummah (nation), and upon our beloved people...
Oh Allâh, the Exalted and Sublime! We ask of you to not shame or depress those sellers and buyers who have come from near and far. Allow them to be happy and fortunate...
Allow for the customers to benefit and attain peace from the goods they purchase, and allow for the income of our merchants to be halal (pure, permissible) and plenty, and allow for the purchaser and seller to be satisfied and delighted with one another...
Oh Allâh, protect us from every type of difficulty and distress, sorrow and illness, from falling into scarcity and insufficient livelihood, from pride and arrogance, from cheating people and from being cheated!
Allow us to embody patience, courage, justice and fortitude in our every action. Make us have the best morals and virtues... And in all of our business dealings, keep us honest, loyal and content with what we have oh my Lord!
We take refuge in you, oh Allâh, from a weak heart, from prayers that are not answered, from knowledge that is not beneficial, from helplessness and laziness, from fear and greed, from wasting and poverty, and from damage and loss!
Oh Allâh, protect us from any calamity, evil, disaster or misfortune that may come from any direction, from the sky or the ground, whether it be from outside or within... Oh Allâh protect our beautiful city, our honourable people, our heavenly country, our eternal Empire, our brave soldiers and security forces, our generation and our offspring!
We beg you to accept our prayers, oh Allah... Ameen! Wal Hamdu Lillahi Rabbil Alamin (And all the praises be to Allâh, the Lord of the worlds).
Surah Fatiha, the opening chapter of the Holy Qur'an would then be recited by all merchants who were present."
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