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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".
Edited (9/30/2011) by tunci
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that would be something like this ;