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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| The world has obviously gone mad |
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| Fozia |
| 12/27/03 at 13:25:56 |
| Muslim Women Chafe under Scarf Ban in Secular Turkey (Islamweb) Philly.com ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Aysegul Yilmaz wants to complete her university studies and become a teacher. She also wants to cover her hair with a scarf. Despite the fact that Turkey is a predominantly Muslim country, the law forbids Yilmaz, 21, to do both at the same time. Similar bans on head scarves in French and German schools are being challenged in the judicial systems of those countries, but in Turkey's secular democracy the courts force women to check their religion at the doors of all government institutions. Zealous professors determined to keep Islam out of Turkish public life even rejected a knit hat that Yilmaz wore in government buildings in an attempt to circumvent the ban. "My family doesn't have the money to move to America and live there," said Yilmaz, who outside school wears fashionable silk scarves. "At least in America you can practice your religion and go to school and work." The pro-Islamic Justice and Development Party (AKP), which was elected to power last year, ought to be Yilmaz's ally. But it has refused to intervene, seeking to avoid conflict with the fiercely secular military. The party also is concerned about Western reaction to overt expressions of Islam at a time when Turkey is seeking admission to the European Union. Human-rights court Yilmaz and millions of other women in Turkey who wear head scarves consider the ban a violation of their human rights. Hundreds have filed cases before the European Court of Human Rights. A survey conducted by Turkish pollster Tarhan Erdem in May for the daily newspaper Milliyet, found that at least 64 percent of Turkish women wore head scarves when they left their homes. Yet only 20 percent of the 1,881 people questioned thought the scarf ban was an important issue - bolstering the elected government's decision not to get involved, said Erdem, a secularist. To Mazlumder, an Islamic human-rights group that campaigns on behalf of women such as Yilmaz, such figures are misleading. Worse, the military and police are putting pressure on women not to cover themselves, said Gulden Sonmez, the vice president of the group's Istanbul office. 'No legal standing' Clashes between covered women and Turkish authorities have propelled the issue into the public eye. President, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, refused to invite the scarf-wearing wives of Turkey's ruling party to an Oct. 29 reception commemorating modern Turkey's 80th anniversary. Most of the party's members stayed away in protest. On Nov. 6, a lawyer who appeared as a defendant before the Turkish Court of Appeals was ordered to leave the courtroom while her case was being heard because she refused to remove her scarf. "There was no legal standing for a court to make such a ruling based on the clothing of the people," said Sonmez, who also wears a scarf. "Even if the woman had worn a bathing suit, she has a right to be in court to defend herself. " Sonmez, herself a lawyer, said she chose not to work in court. "I know that Allah has ordered me to wear it as a person of honor and character and maybe more so as a lawyer," she explained. "How could I defend someone in court when I can't defend myself?" The separation of state and religion has been on the books since Mustafa Kemal Ataturk founded modern Turkey in 1923. He considered female head coverings a symbol of Islamic militancy. That sentiment continues today among Turkey's generals and judges, who act as custodians of Ataturk's secular legacy. In 1997, when the military forced the country's first Islamist-led government to step down, it began enforcing the ban on head scarves in public buildings and schools. The widespread victory of another pro-Islamic party last year heightened enforcement. "At least 10,000 women have filed complaints about the ban to her group since 1997, " Sonmez said. The organization also has presented about 300 cases before the European Court of Human Rights. Although the women had looked to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to relax the rules, the government has been keen to shed its theocratic image. "We must try to represent everybody, not just people with covered hair," said Ibrahim Yildirim, an Istanbul AKP official. "Do they want us to fight for them against the president, against the army chiefs, against the judges? We should be living in this country in peace!" Like the AKP, most women have given up fighting the ban and are either taking off their scarves at work or school or staying home, Sonmez said. Yilmaz, the youngest of four daughters, said she was 17 when she decided to wear a head scarf. Now she questions whether she will become a teacher when she completes her English degree next summer. "It's a loss for me and a loss for Turkey," she said. "But I have to be able to practice my religion freely. " http://www.islamweb.net/web/misc.Article?vArticle=52329&thelang=E |
| Re: The world has obviously gone mad |
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| humble_muslim |
| 12/29/03 at 17:22:34 |
| AA Crazy world indeed. Even crazier and more paradoxical is the fact that many good muslims (not picking on anyone, I fall into this category) will curse the USA with one breath, and long to go and practice Islam there in the other. |
| NS |
| Re: The world has obviously gone mad |
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| Abdul_Hakeem_Yaqin |
| 12/30/03 at 12:33:26 |
| [slm] I totally agree with you both. just a side note, USA here and USA there, howcome it is always abt US ? either it is abt US or a muslim country. is US like the only non muslim country where you can practice islaam ? like the post abt the family that couldnt practice islaam in turkey, and unfortunately they couldnt afford to go to US... howcome US is the only option ? have I missed something essential once again ? if I have, please remind me :) |
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