Islam, April 1997

BE AWARE and TAKE PRECAUTIONS

Prof. Dr. Halil Necatioğlu

A good Muslims tells the truth, takes a stance with the truth, and supports the truthful. This is an order from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He has to be just and fair in every issue even if its outcome is not pleasant for himself, his parents or his relatives. He has to strive for truthfulness and perfection.

In Turkey, the human rights and freedom as well as justice has been violated recently. Newspapers, periodicals and televisions have been disseminating false information, fabricating news, presenting the falsehood as truth, and truth as falsehood.

The reason for this unfortunate development is the fight between the opposition parties and the ruling parties, and the conflict of interests among various groups. The speakers of some groups state this in public: all they are trying to do is to remove the Welfare Party from the government and "save" the country from the ruling coalition. To attain their goal, they have declared a fight against Islam and all Islamic establishments and values.

Those who are not aware of the essence of the matter, and those who are not familiar with the domestic, international, political, economic, social, religious, historical and contemporary problems of Turkey may be deceived by the tricks and the ploys, for the mischief makers disguise their real intentions well and present themselves as pro freedom and pro human rights. They also claim that they protect the national interests, republic and the revolutions. They are no less than the wolves in sheep skin.

Listen to all groups attentively, and find out their contradictions, lies, and ill intentions. For instance, they claim that they want democracy and decision made by the majority, yet they state insolently that they would not let a certain political party to rule the country even if that party gets the majority of the seats in the parliament. They threat a rightful government with a military takeover and provoke the military. They state that they will be the supporters of a military junta.

One other example for their contradiction is that they claim to be respectful of human rights and freedom, yet they cannot tolerate Muslims to live in accordance Islam, to be free in their beliefs, life styles, and raising their children. They prevent Muslims from teaching and learning Islam. They have great enmity towards Qur'an courses, Imam-Khatib High-Schools, radio and television broadcast of religious groups, devout worship of Sufi Muslims and their associations and organizations. They present the Islamic developments as a threat to the society. They try with all their might to stop the religious Muslims from going to the Friday Prayer and get them fired. They try to prevent some practicing Muslims from registering schools, to expel some practicing students from schools, and to recall practicing graduate students abroad before they finish their programs. They prevent good Muslims from reaching higher ranks and degrees in the military; they force the practicing wives of the officers to expose their hair in public. They prevent practicing female lawyers to take cases in courts as attorneys. They do unimaginable injustices and discriminations against practicing Muslims.

Still another example is that they show on television a woman who escaped from Iran to express the oppression there, yet in the same program they show Turkish women in chadoor and Turkish men wearing turbans and say that these people should not exist in Turkey. Thus, they display prove how oppressive and intolerant they themselves are.

We all witnessed an event that a female student with hijab scored highest in her graduating class, yet she was not allowed to speak in the graduation ceremony and physically silenced by a "spiteful hag." The student was guilty of wearing hijab.

Another example is that a private high-school founded by practicing Muslims had excellent students who won prices in international mathematics competitions. The student had much better facilities that the state schools. Some so-called "forward-looking" people criticized this school for not having some works of so-called "contemporary" Marxist writers. (What a pity! The criticizers are not aware that Marxism is out of fashion and about to be wiped off from the face of the earth. These students have proven themselves to be in step with modern times by the prices they won.)

There are countless examples of the injustices and oppressions in Turkey in all walks of life and at every level. The oppressors seem to overwhelm the oppressed and speak louder.

Now there is great responsibility on those who make up the majority of the population and have the fear of God, love of truth, desire to serve the nation, experience and skills. They all should look into the problems of the country seriously. It is not time to keep silent, stay back or fear. Everybody must consider his abilities, position, state and knowledge and think about what he can do. He must consult with knowledgeable, experienced, and God-fearing people and avoid all kinds of misguidance and stubbornness. He must take a stance with the truth, the logic and reason. He must take precautions without delay.

The matter is not a joke; it is extremely serious. It cannot tolerate any negligence or delay, for the ignorant will bring the nation to the total destruction if the matters are left to them.

Do not expect justice from the oppressor, the malicious, the cruel. In this strange state of affairs, the rights are not given but taken. If the rights are not protected attentively, they will be violated or taken away.