Should a modern Muslim beat his wife even if his holy book allows him to do so?
A state-run Turkish religious foundation, Diyanet Vakfi, said in a recent book that a man should strike his wife, promptly rekindling an old debate in Turkey at a time when the country -- the first Muslim candidate for European Union membership -- strives to catch up with contemporary human rights standards.
The heated discussions come amid a drive by the head of Turkey's religious affairs directorate, Mehmet Nuri Yilmaz, to re-interpret the Quran and bring Islamic practices in line with modern democracy and liberties.
"These days, a philosophy that is not based on human rights has almost no chance of approval and success at a universal level," Yilmaz told the August issue of a magazine published by his directorate.
"In the west, Islam's image goes together with backwardness, violence, torture and women's isolation from social life. Turkey can change this image," said Yilmaz, who argues that oppressive practices attributed to the Quran actually stem from wrongly interpreting its verses.
The majority of Turks are Muslim, but the state is officially secular.
The powerful military has been leading a harsh campaign against Islam in politics since 1997 when Turkey's first Islamist Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan was forced to step down.
Authorities were quick to launch a probe earlier this month into the foundation which published the book defending men's right to beat women and the minister in charge threatened to close it down.
This also sparked a controversy over what to do with Quran verses which are in obvious conflict with modern values and the Turkish legal system.
The Quran, for instance, openly approves polygamy and allows men, in certain cases, to beat women, while Turkish law prohibits both.
"In pre-Islam times, Arab women were beaten to death. The Quran actually bettered their situation by defining beating as a final measure to preserve family unity. But you cannot continue implementing such verses for ages," Yilmaz said in a recent interview with the Milliyet daily.
"For instance, the Quran includes provisions on slavery, but there is no such phenomenon today," he added.
Sakir Keceli, the author of books on Islam who argues that its hardline provisions can never fit democracy, hailed Yilmaz's initiative for bringing a "new flavor and understanding" to Muslim religion.
"The Quran is not implemented literally in any Muslim country today. People are forced to change by the constant development that life and science bring about," he said.
Within the framework of Yilmaz's drive, religious experts have started to revise volumes of books reflecting the life and sayings of Prophet Mohammed as well as interpretations of Islamic holy book.
"We will detect those interpretations and opinions which are based on outdated customs and traditions and outline interpretations which can help solving contemporary questions," Yilmaz said.
"Another major objective is to eradicate superstitions by enlightening people with leaflets and films based on scientific research," he added.
Yilmaz played down reports that his drive was ordered by the country's leadership to implant a new understanding of religion among the people on Turkey's road to EU membership.
But he said he would not be "bothered that much" if his initiative is seen as a part of Turkey's efforts to adopt universal values in its accession process to the EU.
While the mainstream press gave full backing to the innovation campaign, writers from hardline pro-Islamic newspapers blasted it as a "nonsense" and "a waste of energy to reform something which is closed to interpretations." -- ANKARA (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
