IIIT lectures series for CIS countries, organized by the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) and the Institute of Knowledge Integration (IKI), continues, and on October 16, Dr. Ranetta Gafarova, PhD in Philology, Associate Professor, Translator at the Caucasus University Association (Istanbul, Turkey) delivered the lecture "Sharia in the female dimension of the Turkic space".
During her presentation, Dr. Gafarova focused on peculiarities of the women dimension in Sharia in different historical periods of the Crimean Tatar, Kazan-Tatar, Uzbek, and Turkish communities. The scholar noted that during historical events and processes over the centuries, the status of Muslim women changed rapidly, it characterized with the dynamic and evolution, especially regarding observance of moral and ethical prescriptions of Islam by women, women's behavior in Islam.
Dr. Ranetta Gafarova outlined four main historical approaches to the observance of canons, change and the study of the social status of Muslim women:
– the first period is the period of the Crimea and Kazan Khanates, the Ottoman Empire, the Emirate of Bukhara; it was the time of communities’ formation and Muslim women manifestation (it is approximately the period between 1453 and 1783, which is associated with the loss of Crimean Khanate and further with the history of Turkic states until the XIX century);
– the second period is the period from late XIX and early XX century, the beginning of reformist changes related to the dynamics of the women status (1917-1944).
– the third period – since the middle XX century until 1991 – is the period of flourishing Soviet atheistic ideology and the collapse of the Soviet Union;
– the fourth period is the modern times from 1991 to present.
Giving more details about each period, Dr. Gafarova spoke about the research in the field of women's history, their status, changes in Islamic thought. She also introduced renown researchers which studied the Crimean Tatar, Tatar, Uzbek and Turkish societies.
The second part of the lecture was dedicated to questions from the participants and discussing their views on the social status of women in the historical context. The audience was also interested in sources and literature about women during the Crimean Khanate, as well as national features of the study of women’s role in history.
More than 50 participants from different countries, including Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Russia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, and Lithuania, registered for the lecture.
The next lecture is scheduled for October 23, it will be given by Professor Alexander Knysh, who will speak on the topic "Sufi dilemma: to be with God alone or in a crowd?" The announcement and registration form are already available on the IIIT CIS lectures and the Institute of Knowledge Integration Facebook pages.
