Namus
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Namus is the Arabic word (Hebrew "nmūs", Greek "νόμος") of a concept of an ethical category, a virtue, in Middle Eastern patriarchal character. Literally translated as 'virtue', it is now more popularly used in a strong gender-specific context of relations within a family described in terms of honor, attention, respect/respectability, and modesty. It is important to note that the concept of Namus in respect to sexual integrity of family members is an ancient exclusively cultural concept which predates Islam and the Judeo-Christian religion. Support for it does not exist in any of the holy scriptures.
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Etymology
The Arabic word "nāmūs" (ناموس) may mean "law", "custom", or "honor". The Hebrew words "nmūs" (נמוס) or "nūmūsā" (נומוסא) again means "law". The Ancient Greek word "nómos" (νόμος) meaning "law, custom".[1]
Context
For a man and his family, namus, among other things, may mean sexual integrity of women in the family, their chastity in particular. On the other hand, the man has to provide for his family and to defend the namus of his house, his women in particular, against the threats (physical and verbal) to members of his extended family from the outer world.[2]
Namus of a man is determined by namus of all the women in his family (i.e., mother, wives, sisters, daughters). In some societies, e.g., in Pashtun tribes of Afghanistan, namus goes beyond the basic family and is common for a plarina, a unit of the tribe that has a common ancestral father.[3]
For an unmarried woman, the utmost importance is placed on virginity before marriage, and "proof of virginity" in the form of bloodstains on a bed sheet is required in some cultures to proudly demonstrate after the wedding night. Professor of sociology Dilek Cindoğlu writes: "The virginity of the women is not a personal matter, but a social phenomenon".[4]
In the Middle East, for a woman, namus is in obedience, faithfulness, modesty (in behaviour and in dress), "appropriateness".
Violations of namus
The namus of a man is violated if, for example, a daughter is born into the family instead of a son, or if an adult daughter is not dressed "appropriately", or if he tolerates an offense without reaction.[2][5][6]
Among Pashtuns an encroachment on a man's plot of land also signifies violation of his namus.[3]
Restoration of namus
According to those adherent to this concept, a man is supposed to control the women in his family, and if he loses control of them (his wife, sisters, daughters), his namus is lost in the eyes of the community, and he has to clean his (and his family's) honor. This is done by abortion, murder or forced suicide.
In the west, such cases are especially visible in immigrant societies, when a girl faces the conflict between her choice of the culture of the new home society and the traditions of the old home.[7]
In cases of rape, the woman is not seen as a victim. Instead, it is considered that the namus of the whole family was violated, and to restore it, an honour killing of the raped woman may happen (estimated 5,000 victims yearly and on the rise worldwide[8]). The raped woman may also commit forced suicide.[9] In Pakistan acid is often thrown on the victim's face to disfigure them rather than them being murdered.[10]
In the British Bangladeshi immigrant culture the violation of namus can result in the murder of the male involved with the female family member.[11]
Meanwhile, in cases of namus loss due to the arrival of a female child into the family, infanticide or sex-selective abortion may occur.[12]
Namus around the world
Afghanistan,[13] Bangladesh, Great Britain, Brazil, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Morocco, Sweden, Turkey, and Uganda are countries in which "honor killings" occur amongst the Muslim population.[10]
Namus is still an active force in rural societies.
In 2002 international attention was drawn to the murder of Fadime Sahindal, of the Kurdish minority in Sweden, who violated namus by suing her father and brother for threats and then rejecting the marriage arranged for her.[14]
Jordan
Sharaf[15] is the honor of the family, tribe or person which can increase if the path of moral behavior is followed or decrease if it is left. ‘ird is that honor which relates only to the women in family; it can only decrease. Sharaf is outweighed by 'ird.
To regain sharaf 'ird must be cleansed.
"A woman is like an olive tree. When its branch catches woodworm, it has to be chopped off so that society stays clean and pure."
Murder, marriage to the person that violated the woman's honor, or marriage to another man will all restore 'ird.
Support and opposition
Some Jordanian Islamic groups say that punishment of adulterous wives should be left to the state, while others say Islam advocates that male relatives should carry out the punishment. Yotam Feldner writes, "if honour killing originated in pre-Islamic Arab tribalism, it has long since been incorporated into Islamic society and thereby become common throughout the Muslim world, ..."[15] However, "‘Izzat Muhaysin, a psychiatrist at the Gaza Program for Mental Health, says that the culture of the society that perceives one who refrains from "washing shame with blood" as "a coward who is not worthy of living."[15] "Hundreds, if not thousands, of women are murdered by their families each year in the name of family 'honor'."[10]
Forces against honor killing
In many societies that had or have "honor killings" contrary social forces are also in action. Feminism and human rights workers seek to stophonor killing. National law can be promoted ahead of the right of families to protect namus. Elements of namus are considered by some to be remnants of archaic patriarchal prejudice.
Fifty years before the murder of Fadime Şahindal, Abdullah Goran (1904-1962), the modern Kurdish poet, condemned honour killing in his poem, Berde-nfsLk “A Tomb-Stone”.[14]
In arts
- The 1925 Armenian silent film Namus[16] tells the ill fate of two lovers, who were betrothed by their families to each other since childhood, but because of violations of namus, the girl was married by her father to another person. In 2006 it was restored, digitized and dubbed in French.
Technology
Even the associated practice of virginity tests in cases of claimed sexual misconduct do not always protect women from femicide, since gossip and rumors may take precedence over forensic evidence, especially since the practice of virginity restoration has become widespread (for women with sufficient money).[17] In France and in Germany, where there is a large Middle Eastern Muslim diaspora, the women sometimes may resort to such cosmetic surgery.[5]
See also
References
- ^ "Namus" in Sözlerin Soyağacı: Çağdaş Türkçenin Etimolojik Sözlüğü (A Family Tree of Words: A Contemporary Etymological Dictionary of Turkish). Istanbul: Adam Yayınları. 2010. ISBN 9789752896369. (Turkish)
- ^ a b Werner Schiffauer, "Die Gewalt der Ehre. Erklärungen zu einem deutsch-türkischen Sexualkonflikt." ("The Force of the Honour"), Suhrkamp: Frankfurt am Main, 1983. ISBN 3-518-37394-3.
- ^ a b Pashtunwali Terminology.
- ^ Dilek Cindoglu, "Virginity tests and artificial virginity in modern Turkish medicine," pp. 215–228, in Women and sexuality in Muslim societies, P. Ýlkkaracan (Ed.), Women for Women’s Human Rights, Istanbul, 2000.
- ^ a b Uli Pieper: Problemfelder und Konflikte von Kindern ausländischer Arbeitsmigranten in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, a sociological analysis.
- ^ Anatomie eines Ehrdelikts ("The Anatomy of Honour Crimes") , by Werner Schiffauer.
- ^ A Matter of Honor, Your Honor?, by Rhea Wessel, the first article in her series about the rights of Muslim women in Europe, particularly Turkish women in Germany.
- ^ "Ending Violence against Women and Girls", a UNFPA report.
- ^ "UN probes Turkey 'forced suicide'", a BBC article, May 24, 2006.
- ^ a b c Hillary Mayell, Thousands of Women Killed for Family "Honor" National Geographic News February 12, 2002. retrieved 5-1-07
- ^ The honour code that drove a family to murder. Times Online. November 04, 2005. retrieved 6-1-07
- ^ [1]
- ^ Sawyer, D. (1999). (see "A feminist analysis of honor killings in rural Turkey". Culture of honor, culture of change. Department of Sociology, University of Toronto. 2001. http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~socsci/sever/pubs/honorkillings.html. Retrieved 2007-01-06.) Citation: Honor Killings. Aired on 20/20. NBC: Friday, January 22. Retrieved 2007-01-05
- ^ a b Shahrzad Mojab and Amir Hassanpour In Memory of Fadime Şahindal: Thoughts on the Struggle Against “Honour Killing” retrieved 5-1-07.
- ^ a b c All in the Family: How the perpetrators of Honour Killings get off lightly retrieved 2007-01-12
- ^ Namus at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ Imposition of virginity testing: a life-saver or a license to kill?, by Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, an article about sexual abuse in Palestinian society, a UNIFEM-funded study.
External links
- International Campaign Against Honor Killings, contains an extensive archive of news reports and photos of victims
- Culture of Honor, Culture of Change: A Feminist Analysis of Honor Killings in Rural Turkey, by Aysan Sev'er in Violence Against Women: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal, relates namus to "Myths about and fear of women's unchecked sexuality and men's legitimacy to curb that sexuality."
