Characterized as “compassion hero” in Risale-i Nur, identified with
“respect, conversation and patience” concepts and highlighted with kind-coquettish
creation, woman has constituted focal point of many different understandings and
applications throughout the history. Women considered in terms of various scopes,
such as their status within the community and against men, their importance for
the family as a spouse and mother, their place within the community, their obligations
in individual and social life are included in discussion scopes of various doctrines,
ideologies and scientific disciplines.
Sublimated as to lay the heaven under their feet and treated with
respect in different religions and communities due to her “maternal” characteristic,
women is the leading actor of the family forming the base of social structure. Undertaking
the task of transmitting the values, that sustain the community, to the next generations,
attitude of women against social changes and deformations may affect overall layers
of the community. New definitions and applications about woman identity within social
change processes may cause arise of unexpected results regarding social structure.
Sanctified in matriarchal communities, but placed in second class
in patriarchal communities, women do not have any value and right in some cultures.
In this context, the status presented by Islam to the women in individual, political,
legal, social and economical senses and identification of women’s place in various
areas with respect to other religions and disciplines gain importance.
It is possible to state that women movements take form on two different
bases today. One of them aims to change individual and social position of women
by ignoring Islamic values. Here, women are promoted to comply with legal base supporting
Western type modernization. One of the bottlenecks of this movement is impositions
destroying woman creation, as well as causing social deformations. Second movement
highlight Islamic values and supports elimination of traditional applications and
understandings not complying with religion, as well as supports arrangement of social
and legal status of women on the basis of new understandings and needs. Conclusions
arisen due to confliction between these two movements should be evaluated.
Other significant issue required to be analyzed is the meaning attributed
to women by modernity. Women having the chance to improve status and move more independently
thanks to modernity could not rescue from becoming a meta of capitalist communities
due to will of unlimited freedom. Modernization process causing serious traumas
in Eastern communities trying to imitate Western modernization by moving away from
its own values caused different problems regarding women. Acting on the basis of
women and men equality, as well as freedom concept, women have undertaken more loads
by taking certain social responsibilities in addition to their task at home as a
result of which significant changes and problems occurred within family structure.
Intellectual, well-educated, well-groomed, successful and ambitious modern woman
image putting her maternity task over has no longer continued and replaced with
depressive, unhappy and alone woman image. Being shaken with heavy loads of consumption
culture, women may leave herself, her family and her community to the sole of obstinate
diseases while trying to create women image imposed them. Questions such as how
social structure deformed with above stated disease infecting also women having
Islamic sensitivity shall be cured, how main tasks of women shall be introduced
to them by achieving their return to their homes and how women shall be revered
existence should be responded.
Under consideration of above explanations, we identified subject
of our 113th publication as “woman”. We plan to discuss this issue in the framework
of “women, family, community, mother-maternity, child, marriage, spouse, compassion,
kindness, moral kindness, sexuality, fashion, sustentation, divorcement, identity,
tesettur, head scarf, working life, morals, compassion, modernity, globalization,
media, feminism, consumption, harassment, bawdiness, dissipation, honesty, protection,
marriage, generation, love, diet” and on the basis of following questions.
What are main problems encountered regarding women in the world
and in our country? What is the meaning attributed to women by Risale-i Nur? How
approaches of Risale-i Nur can be evaluated in terms of today’s women and their
problems? What is the meaning attributed to women by modernity? How should woman
movements be evaluated within modernization process? What is the status of women
within family concept constituting base of community structure? How should women
be evaluated as a mother? What value is attributed to women by Islam? What are the
reasons of different applications and concepts about women emerging in Islamic world,
different cultures and geographies? What is the position of women in Jewish and
Christianity? What is the meaning of women and men equality? What is the approach
of Islam regarding this issue? What is the status of women in terms of Islam? What
are women rights? How should intensive discussions regarding this concept within
modernization process be evaluated? What is the importance and wisdom of tesettur,
if diseases deforming communal structure, such as bawdiness, exhibitionism, improbity,
etc. are considered? In this scope, how should women considered as meta in capitalist
communities be evaluated in socio-psychological senses?
While leaving you to read our magazine, we hope to present you a
different issue naming future of Islamic world around Hutbe-i Samiye.