Hello - can someone please explain what Namus and Namusson mean in turkish culture? Why is it important and when is it used?

Thanks,

Amyindubai

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, Judaism and Christianity. It is claimed that religious alignment with Namus does not exist in any of the holy scriptures of these religions.

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" (νόμο&sigmaf means "law, custom.

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.

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.

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".

In the Middle East, for a woman, namus is in obedience, faithfulness, modesty (in behaviour and in dress), "appropriateness".

Hello Tunsi and thank you for your reply!

I also found the same definition on the web but what I am really trying to understand is what it means when a person calls you their Namusson? What does it mean to that person?

Hope you can help!

Thanks, Amy

 "Namusuz" is sort of swearing word. its not good  to call  someone Namusuz as it means " A person who has no honor "

 Agree. It also implies they sleep around, or are dishonourable in a sexual way.

Tunci, could you explain the subtle differences between the following. The UK is a guilt-innocence culture rather than a shame-honour culture so we don´t have so many words with minor differences in meaning for honour and shame:

şeref, şerefli,şerefsiz

fazilet, faziletli, faziletsiz

onur, onurlu, onursuz

namus, namuslu, namussuz

 This sentence of yours [UK is a guilt-innocence culture rather than a shame-honour culture ] is the key that one should know to understand the differences between the eastern society and western society.

Generally ,in eastern societies the shame-honour values are pretty strong. Sometimes the illegal acts relating shame-honour can be tolerated in the society ,not in law.

Therefore , those values still keep their strong influence in people´s lives although its changing among new generation.

şeref = Honour

şerefli= a person who has honourful life.[a person who doesnt bring shame into himself or his family]

şerefsiz = completely opposite to "şerefli" [ a person who has shameful life and acts accordingly ]

onur, onurlu, onursuz [turkish word] is same as şeref,şereli,şerefsiz [arabic word]

fazilet = virtue, merit , honour

faziletli= the person who has virtue

faziletsiz = the person who has no virtue