Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Thirty people were enough to make some people uncomfortable! - Turkish Daily News Jan 31, 2006

An interesting story has been developing here in Turkey. About 30 women went into a mosque to pray without headscarves and it has a lot of people upset. In my mind, this kind of religious discussion is never a bad thing:

"The aspect that amazes me most about an incident in which women whose heads were uncovered were praying in the company of men is that a group of 25-30 people is enough to rock Turkey's religious world. This situation must be tied not to their strength per se but to the confusion in the minds of our religious community."

"My amazement only increased when last Friday I saw precautions being taken at some mosques.

Imagine, there were exactly 300 police put on duty at the Camlica Subasi Mosque. At the same time, proceeding on a directive from the Religious Affairs Directorate, the Istanbul mufti brought female aides in to pass out headscarves to women coming to the mosque with uncovered heads. If the same group were to come and try to pray with uncovered heads among the men, they were first to be convinced through talking not to do it, and then force was to be used."

"There is another aspect to all this, something that everyone is curious about. The views from the mosque (of women with uncovered heads praying among the men) rocked our religious world. Arguments about the finer points of religious practice began to sweep through television programs and the written press. Moreover, some people seemed gripped by an unaccountable fear.

It turns out, our religion is not all that open to change. I won't even get into arguing whether that is the intent of this group I have been discussing. I would like to touch instead on the fundamental points of this business. Our religion is practiced and interpreted differently in almost every country. I do not understand why we pull back from arguing and discussing it. I say let's argue and discuss and open up the forum to those who have a different perspective on it all. Those who say, "They have been trying to ruin our religion for the past 1,500 years; they don't have the right," are just reacting. Clearly, they are afraid of society. They act with no self confidence. Those among us who say, "The headscarf is a personal right, and no one can interfere with a personal right," seem to ignore the rights of those who wish to pray without covering their heads. If covering your head is a personal right, something of an intensely personal nature, isn't praying among men or praying with your head uncovered also a personal right?"

"Those who are against women and men praying together have always used the same argument: "If there is a woman next to me or in front of me while I am praying, it is a situation that can excite me. It is uncomfortable to have a woman leaning down and standing up or in front of you while you are praying."

What does this mean, exactly?

Doesn't it mean that your intentions are rotten to begin with if your eyes are taking in the woman next to you or in front of you in such a way? Seeing that you can't control your eyes or your breathing, doesn't it seem like you are trying to be saved from sin by covering up women and keeping them out of sight?

Said in another way, we men are ill-intentioned creatures, and in order to prevent that ill intent from bubbling up, we shut the women away, putting them "off limits." A few of the extremely religious people who showed up last Friday at the Subasi Mosque in Istanbul made threatening moves towards the female journalists present and said some interesting things. For example, there was the young man who said, "You are off limits; you are ruining my abdest [ablutions]." Nevertheless, wasn't he just displaying his own weakness?"

"Christians, failing to interpret their own religion, lived for hundreds of years in darkness, and after many years of slow reforms came to the point that they are at today. They are still searching for answers. And Jews, too, are carrying out their search in the midst of reformers and extremists."

"Turkish society's ties to religion are deep enough that it isn't afraid of reforms or missionaries, and it is not easily affected by these sorts of efforts. Let's not create bogeymen where none exist. Let's trust ourselves. And please, let's not allow these arguments to be used as political tools. Let's not turn "reform in religion" into a piece of AKP opposition. Let's not create new taboos and fears for ourselves. Let's instead enjoy the taste of stability in our country. The day we lose the comfort we enjoy now will be a day we all regret."

"There was another incident, this one at Ankara's Haji Bayram Mosque during last Friday's afternoon prayers. This incident must be dealt with from another perspective. What happened was this: The mosque was filled with males praying, and as there was no room inside for women, the women had to pray outside. When the Altindag mufti said, "Friday prayers are not obligatory for women, anyway, let them pray at home," the prime minister responded with this: "If someone is to pray outdoors, it should have been the men." This exchange underscored another reality, which is that our women are belittled. We treat them boorishly. What women must do is embrace and espouse their rights. Hasn't the time come for them to search out their rights?

While women are so strong at home, why do they lose their voices at the mosque? Why didn't they turn to the men and say, "Why don't you go outside and pray, instead of us?" Why are the mosque directors waiting on this matter? In addition, does the Religious Affairs Directorate have anything to say about all this?"
Thirty people were enough to make some people uncomfortable! - Turkish Daily News Jan 31, 2006

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