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Turkish Fataws Say Hijab is One of Women’s Rights
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Hijab is a controversial issue in
Turkey
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By Saad Abdel Maguid, IOL Turkey Correspondent
ISTANBUL, May 25 (IslamOnline) – In what the media considered an attempt to revive fundamentalism in Turkey while others see it as an activation to the Islamic interpretative judgment activities (Ijtihad), frozen for 700 years, the religious consultative council in Turkey Saturday, May 18, declared 39 religious decrees, Fatwas.
As Islamic interpretative judgment activities (Ijtihad) had been frozen for 700 years, the Islamic council met to settle certain issues facing Islam in Turkey in modern times.
The council, in a session headed by Mohamed Fawzi Yalmaz and attended by 100 religious scholars, released a final official statement concerning different controversial issues in the Turkish society and media.
These fatwas include the refusal of the council to allow the calling for prayer (Azan), to be in Turkish instead of Arabic, considering wearing scarves, Hijab a religious matter and one of the personal rights and freedoms of women, and joining daily prayers to be 3 times a day instead of 5.
The meeting, which was held to discuss religious issues for the first time, focused on four main topics: correct understanding of religious scripts, issues related to women, pilgrimage and other rituals, in addition to opinions and controversial fatwas that affect the society.
One of the fatwas included in the final statement emphasized the equality between men and women, as it states that equality between both sexes should be implemented in education and work opportunities, in addition to the must of removing all obstacles disabling women to enjoy such equality.
Using Turkish language in prayers was also among the issues the council allowed, as it said there was no harm done to rituals when done with the mother language of a person (in case he/she doesn’t know Arabic with a special stress on the necessity of learning Arabic language).
Reducing the prayers to 3 was refused by the council. I don’t know where such idea came from, prayers in Islam are five, said Yalmaz.
The council said it is acceptable in Islamic rulings joining two prayers under certain circumstances, such as traveling or other agreed upon excuses. The Noon (Zuhr) and Afternoon (‘Asr) prayers can be joined, as well as the Sunset (Magrib) and Evening (‘Isha) prayers.
Nevertheless, Hussein Khatami, a law professor, said it is not permitted to join Dawn and Noon prayers, as joining prayer is confined to certain cases in a very special way stated in Shariah (Islamic rulings).
Hareet daily newspaper said these fatwas can be considered a revolution in women lives.
These fatwas marked the beginning of a new era of enlightenment in Turkey, said Saleh Ak Demir, university
professor.
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