Editorial

The concept of family, which constitutes the core of human history regarding
the formation and development of humanity, has been one of the
most emphasized issues throughout history. Although this concept has
been handled and discussed in different ways with religious, socio-cultural
and economic approaches in different periods, it has never lost its importance
and has always been seen as the basis of a healthy society even in different
religions, cultures and geographies.
In a broad sense, the family, which refers to the community that includes
all of the individuals who are connected to each other by kinship,
also refers to the community consisting of husband and wife and children
with the definition of “nuclear -or elementer- family”. In any case, the issue
of the protection and continuity of the family, which refers to a community
of people who come together with a marriage bond, is one of the most
talked and emphasized issues today.
While the family appears primarily as a religious institution in Judaism
and Christianity; It is also defined as an environment in which one can
find peace and happiness, and as being a social institution encouraged by
Islam it has a great importance from the point of continuity of the generation.
In Islam, legal precautions have been taken along with various recommendations
for the protection and continuity of the family, which is seen as
a means of keeping people from various sins. What these recommendations
are and the meaning of the approaches put forward by Islam for today are
issues that need to be addressed. Because these issues also brings up a series
of issues such as marriage, pre-marital relations, legal conditions arising
from marriage, children, education, divorce, inheritance, custody, and mahr.
Discussions about the family, which is seen as one of the basic conditions
for the healthy survival of societies, today, are not unique to Western
societies. Although the related conditions and importance of it are clearly
stated and emphasized in the Quran and the Hadith; family-related problems
have also become the main issue of Islamic societies. The problems
that arise within the framework of issues such as divorce, corruption of the
Family And The Istanbul Convention values that form the basis of the family,

child upbringing and privacy continue
to threaten all societies regardless of religion, race and geography, especially
with the increase of globalization and media communication opportunities.
How to overcome this problem, which references to apply to
establish a healthy family model, how to remove internal and external influences
that weaken the family are questions that need to be answered.
In the ideal sense of the family; it refers to a center where the feelings
of sharing, solidarity, unity and togetherness, affection and love are actually
experienced and transferred to the society starting from it. Damage to the
institution of the family brings with it a series of problems that spread from
individual to society; social ties are weakened and, with a wider perspective,
the future of the concept of ‘nation’ is endangered. While dealing with the
issue of the formation, continuity and upholding of the family; it will be
necessary to discuss the facts such as individual, society, education and globalization
together. How to deal with the issue in integrity, what perspective
the issue should be addressed starting from mother-child relationships,
how to include the dynamics that make up the society – civil society, communities,
education, etc- are among the questions that need to be answered.
One of the issues that has recently made the subject controversial is undoubtedly
the Istanbul Convention. An international document that considered
as to prevent the increase of violence and murder of women in
Turkey, signed by our state and came into force on August 1 in 2014; the
Istanbul Convention is discussed frequently in recent days. The Istanbul
Convention, together with its content, should be handled in a multifaceted
way in terms of its compatibility with our social structure and family
understanding shaped by religious and cultural codes. While The Istanbul
Convention, sees the violence against women as a violation of human rights
and a form of discrimination and obliges the states to bring some sanctions;
its being a figure came into agenda with regard the concept of “gender”, its
bringing along many difficulties in practice due to the definition of “domestic
violence”, its aiming to promote gender equality by adding a new dimension
to the debates on equality between women and men with the approach
that “equality between women and men is a fundamental factor in
preventing violence against women”, and on the contrary the claim that gay
marriages are tried to be legitimized by the Convention should be examined
as the main criticisms brought to the Istanbul Convention.
Based on this, one of the issues that need to be addressed will be to handle
the studies based on ‘desexulalization/degendering’, which was presented
as a social gender project of the modern world, which started from the
West in recent years, around the concept of family and the discussed Istanbul
Convention. The effects of this view, which defends that there are no
differences between men and women in social life, on the family and society,
the psychological and sociological effects of the issue, and the approach of religion on this issue are matters to be addressed. Having children as the
main goal of this project makes the issue even more important in terms of
the place and importance of the child in society, the education of the child
and the education system itself.
Undoubtedly, one of the main aims of this issue is to reveal how the
family and members of the family can be protected spiritually, mentally
and physically, how to establish a healthy family model and the meaning
of the family.
We think, in this regard, that Bediuzzaman Said Nursi’s ideas are guiding.
“Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, who likens family life to the life of paradise
saying “family life is the refuge of people, and particularly of Muslims, and
a sort of Paradise, and a small world”, handles the issue from multiple perspectives.
The family model put forward by Said Nursi is based on unshakeably
belief and loving for God, true love, spirituality and faith in the hereafter
are seen as the foundations of a peaceful family. The dissemination of
this understanding will also lay the foundation of a solid society.
Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, who pointed out that Islamic upbringing is
the basis of the family’s happiness in this world and hereafter, states that
sincere love, respect, loyalty and trust between spouses are also the causes of
happiness. Stating that issues such as immorality and lack of hijab damage
the affection and trust between spouses under the influence of the wretched
civilization, Said Nursî emphasizes that such understandings are projects
designed to spoil the family.
Bediuzzaman Said Nursi’s solution proposals in line with the belief and
moral principles of Islam in the face of the corruption of the family and the
problems that arise today; the importance of the family in terms of Islamic
brotherhood; how the values such as love, love, good morals, compassion
and compassion, unity and togetherness and sharing will be dominated in
the family; the role of the general education system in this regard and how
the Islamic world will achieve a construction movement that starts with the
family is among the general discussion topics of this issue.
While we leave you alone with this issue, which was shaped by a desk
study we organized in Izmit in recent months around these issues, we hope
to be with you in the next issue with the topic of “Divan-ı Harb-i Orfî”.