Witnessing the solar eclipse on April 8th, 2024, at Niagara Falls was an unforgettable experience. Our school’s field trip, a chance for both my students and me to marvel at this extraordinary natural spectacle, was met with palpable excitement. As we arrived, we found Niagara Falls bustling with even more activity than usual, transformed into a hub for eclipse chasers from around the globe.

Despite the brief total eclipse lasting just one to three minutes, the anticipation built over two enchanting hours in the afternoon, transforming this renowned tourist destination into a focal point of celestial wonder. The convergence of the majestic falls and the cosmic event created a breathtakingly surreal backdrop for an already momentous occasion.

Toronto was just outside the path of totality and set to experience a partial eclipse peaking at 3:19 PM ET. This made the Toronto District School Board reschedule a professional development day for teachers from April 19th to April 8th. The decision was made due to concerns that the eclipse would coincide with school dismissal, increasing the risk that children might be outside and look directly at the sun without proper protection, potentially leading to serious eye damage, including partial or total vision loss.

The cloudy weather added a mystical atmosphere to the event. Watching a solar eclipse under a clear sky might have felt ordinary, but here, we could only catch fleeting glimpses when the clouds allowed, heightening the excitement of the crowd. Niagara Falls took on a festival-like energy, with a cheerful crowd donning special eclipse glasses and eagerly scanning the sky. Each time the sun briefly emerged from behind the clouds, the excitement surged. There were shouts, exaggerated noises, and enthusiastic calls. At that moment, I didn’t fully understand, but it seemed that many people—perhaps the majority—considered being there and showing enthusiasm more like a form of worship rather than just witnessing a remarkable natural event.

It was a total solar eclipse. For three minutes, the moon completely covered the sun, plunging us into darkness. It felt like midnight, even though it was the middle of the day. The atmosphere became eerily silent; for about thirty seconds, no one made a sound. It was as if we had been transported to an abandoned, desolate place. Then, a few cheers broke the silence.

During those three minutes of total eclipse, it felt as though life had paused. We couldn’t hear or see any living creatures, especially birds, during this time. It’s worth mentioning that before the eclipse began, all the animals, especially the birds, seemed to be greeting it in their own way. The birds flew around wildly and noisily, announcing the upcoming event. Their chirping and excitement spread to all living creatures, filling the forests and parks around Niagara Falls with a sense of joy. But during those three minutes, all of that vanished. I found this as fascinating as the eclipse itself.

After about three hours, the solar eclipse ended, and on the way home in the school bus, I discussed the day’s events with my students. I started with a question: “If our school bus could travel to the sun nonstop at a speed of 60 mph (96 km/h), how long would it take?” The Earth orbits the Sun at an average distance of 150 million km (93 million miles), which we call 1 Astronomical Unit.

Depending on your preferred method of transport, it would take you 19 years to reach the Sun on a plane traveling at 885 km/h (550 mph) or 177 years to drive at 96 km/h (60 mph) or 3,536 years to walk there at 4.8 km/h (3 mph). A photon of light makes the journey from the Sun to Earth in just 8 minutes and 20 seconds.

I continued, “How long would it take to reach the moon if we could travel there in the same bus?” It would take about 165 days. At this point, I explained how the two celestial bodies, separated by about 400 times that distance, align so perfectly to cause a solar eclipse. If such an alignment happened less frequently, life on Earth would be significantly affected.

The sun, the star of our galaxy, is assigned a key role in the creation of life in our world by sending its light across 150 million kilometers in just eight minutes. Just think—our bodies rely on the sun to produce vitamin D, a crucial nutrient for bone development. That light, traveling across the vastness of space, reaches us and plays an essential role in our health and survival.

The health benefits of sunlight are well-documented, particularly its role in vitamin D production when UVB rays interact with the skin. While people can obtain vitamin D through diet and supplements, sunlight remains a crucial natural source of this essential nutrient.

Vitamin D is necessary for key biological processes, supporting healthy bones, managing calcium levels, reducing inflammation, supporting the immune system, and regulating glucose metabolism. Researchers have also found a link between sun exposure and lower blood pressure, with reduced death rates from cardiovascular issues. They suggest that exposure to sunlight triggers the skin to release stores of nitrogen oxides, which cause arteries to dilate, lowering blood pressure and potentially reducing the impact of metabolic syndrome. Increased sun exposure may also protect people from diseases like type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis (MS), and several forms of cancer, including colon, breast, prostate cancer, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Sunlight also supports better sleep and sets people’s circadian rhythms by regulating serotonin and melatonin levels. Being in the sun generally makes people feel good, and there are many scientific reasons for this effect. Exposure to UVB rays causes human skin to produce beta-endorphins, which are hormones that reduce pain and promote a sensation of well-being, improve mood, boost the immune system, relieve pain, promote relaxation, help wounds heal, make people feel more alert, increase job satisfaction, and reduce depression.

The sun is the closest star to Earth. Despite the huge distance in between, the sun’s gravitational pull holds the planet in orbit. It radiates light and heat, or solar energy, which makes life possible on Earth. Plants need sunlight to grow. Animals, including humans, need plants for food and the oxygen they produce. Without heat from the sun, Earth would freeze. There would be no winds, ocean currents, or clouds to transport water.

Solar energy has existed as long as the sun—about five billion years. While people have not been around that long, they have been using solar energy in various ways for thousands of years.

As I explained the importance of the sun to us, one student turned to another and said, “The teacher is one of us.” I didn’t understand what he meant, so I asked a colleague next to me. My colleague explained that the student thought I worshipped the sun, just like he did.

At that moment, I could not help but ran a theory in my head: “If the sun is a god, then, so must be the moon, for it can block it.” If he had heard my thoughts, the student would probably warn me for blasphemy.

I realized that some people there were present due to their religious beliefs. We, on the other hand, were there to appreciate the magnificent creations of the Creator. In the back of my mind, I thought of the words of Prophet Abraham, who said, “I love not the things that set” (An’am 6:76).

The spectacle of the solar eclipse at Niagara Falls highlighted a fascinating intersection between science and spirituality. Throughout history, humans have often turned to spiritual or religious explanations to make sense of natural phenomena they could not otherwise explain. The sun and the moon, due to their profound influence on our lives and their mysterious, awe-inspiring appearances in the sky, have frequently been deified. Various cultures have worshipped these celestial bodies, attributing to them godly powers and constructing elaborate myths around their movements.

This dualism—where natural phenomena are seen through both scientific and spiritual lenses—was evident among the crowd at Niagara Falls. For some, the eclipse was a mere alignment of celestial bodies, a predictable event explained by the principles of astronomy. For others, it held deeper, spiritual significance. The temporary darkening of the sun by the moon was not just an astronomical occurrence but a moment of divine interplay between celestial gods. This view posits that the sun and the moon, embodying powerful deities, engage in a cosmic dance that directly impacts human life.

In the past, such interpretations were necessary due to the lack of scientific understanding. The unexplained needed a framework, and spirituality provided that. The sun, with its life-giving rays, was seen as a benevolent god, while the moon, with its control over tides and mysterious phases, was often perceived as a powerful and sometimes enigmatic deity. This spiritual dualism gave people a sense of control and understanding over the natural world, offering comfort in the face of the unknown.

Even today, despite our advanced scientific knowledge, these ancient beliefs persist. They coexist with scientific explanations, showing that human beings seek meaning beyond what can be quantified and explained. The eclipse at Niagara Falls was a perfect example of this duality. While we marveled at the precise calculations that allowed us to predict the event, the emotional and spiritual reactions of many in the crowd reminded us of the enduring power of myth and religion.

The solar eclipse at Niagara Falls was more than just a spectacular natural event; it was a profound reminder of our place in the universe. As we watched the moon obscure the sun, plunging us into an eerie midday darkness, it underscored the delicate balance that sustains life on Earth. This extraordinary phenomenon not only captivated our senses but also prompted deep reflections on the significance of the sun’s role in our lives. From its vital contribution to our health and well-being to its essential function in maintaining the ecological balance, the sun is a powerful force given to us as an important to be appreciative of.

This trip was a unique blend of scientific wonder and cultural insight, teaching us to appreciate the natural world and the diverse ways people find meaning in it. As we returned home, the shared experience of witnessing the eclipse left us with a renewed sense of awe and gratitude for the intricate beauty of the cosmos.

Among His Sings are the Night and the Day, and the Sun and the Moon. Adore not the sun and the moon, but adore God, Who created them, if it is Him you wish to serve. (Fussilat 41:37)

References

• https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0155614&mod=article_inline
• https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-HealthProfessional/
• Sunlight Has Cardiovascular Benefits Independently of Vitamin D | Blood Purification | Karger Publishers
• https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07315724.2015.1039866

Religion is still profoundly embedded into today’s contemporary, postmodern, and secular society. A major facet of this intermingling between religion and society is the way individuals communicate with society as a whole, via their religious rituals and myths. Though myth is not entirely scientific, it is undoubtedly one of the best instruments for revealing the oftentimes hidden and complex meanings of religious beliefs, tenets, creeds, and principles. Thus, I would like to clarify the ambiguity and different connotations of myth for present-day readers. While myth in common parlance has come to mean “what is not true,” religious and academic connotations are quite a different story.

The English word myth comes from the Greek muthos, meaning “word” or “speech.” It owes its significance to its contrast with logos, which can also be translated as “word,” but is used especially in the sense of a word that elicits discussion or an argument. Muthos in its meaning of “myth” describes a story about gods and superhuman beings.

A myth is an expression of the sacred in words: it reports realities and events from the origin of the world that remain valid as the basis and purpose of all there is. Consequently, a myth functions as a model for human activity, society, wisdom, and knowledge. (Gale Encyclopedia of Religion, Vol. 9)

This aforementioned definition of myth serves us well and points to several aspects of a myth. For instance, the story of Abel and Cain is a wonderful description of the horror, terror, and disgust of murder, as well as the evil of envy. As the story well illustrates, both Abel and Cain were supposed to sacrifice something of their most beloved to God. One did so wholeheartedly (Abel), while the other did not (Cain). Eventually, God accepted the sacrifice Abel made (since it was sincere), but rejected the half-hearted sacrifice of Cain, which made him very jealous of his own beloved brother. Then, in spite of his brother’s heartfelt efforts to help him repent his sin, his deeply felt envy caused him to murder in the name of evil. Thus, this myth perfectly portrays a model for us to adapt in order to refrain from vicious and destructive acts like murder and envy. It becomes a timeless paradigm of a human action that, no matter how unrealistic it may be, can still guide individuals to good by illuminating life’s deeper meanings. Even if such a story never happened, it would still function as an outstanding model for those who want to understand the perils of envy.

Furthermore, the story of Prophet Adam and Eve, and their corruption by Satan, has a very pertinent meaning and message. As the myth goes, Satan was an obedient servant of God, who even temporarily led almost all the angels in the name of the order of the universe. But when God willed and created Adam out of clay and infused into him His word (spirit), and then decreed all the others to prostrate before Adam, Satan did not comply. After that, even though Satan had the opportunity to show regret for his disobedience before God, he insisted on his own mistake, an error that was ultimately greater than his previous mistake. Then, his infamous efforts to seduce both Adam and Eve to follow the very same way, caused Adam and Eve to commit the first sin, leading to the Fall. But soon after, Adam and Eve realized their rebellion against the decree of God and earnestly repented. While Satan could not admit his own mistake, Adam and Eve were able to humbly repent. This led to them, in spite of the Fall, rising above even the great angels in attitude and character.

One can find a lot about the nature of human beings in this myth. For example:

1. We are prone to mistakes – that is, we are not infallible. Therefore, we need to admit the fact that we can/will err. But what matters most here is our recognition of fallibility and our efforts to rectify the mistakes we make.
2. Some beings are not obedient to humans
3. Human beings are composed of both physical and metaphysical aspects. (God created man out of clay and instilled His word/spirit to this clay-made physical body).
4. Repentance is the only way to redemption.

As illustrated above, these myths can serve good examples of ideals, paradigms, and models for human beings. As a matter of fact, together with parables and other symbolic languages like metaphors, myths build a splendid essential bridge between the addressees of religion and the scientifically incommunicable realities of religion.

As for ritual, though it might seem easier to define compared to myth, in religious studies it is rather troublesome to thoroughly describe what ritual is. While some famous scholars like Edmund Leach maintained that the term ritual should be applied to all culturally defined sets of behavior (the symbolic dimension of human behavior as such), others like Otto and Eliade argued that ritual arises from, and celebrates the encounter with, the “numinous” or “sacred” (Gale Encyclopedia of Religion, Vol. 9). Still others, like Robertson Smith and Emile Durkheim, have presented ritual as the very heart and soul of religion, and put more emphasis on ritual than myth. As Durkheim contended, “Societies image themselves in their ritual symbols and the sacred is the essential social idea” (Gale Encyclopedia of Religion, Vol. 9).

Having admitted the difficulty in defining ritual, I would like to pay attention to its simple definition according to James Livingston:

Ritual can be defined as an agreed-on and formalized pattern of ceremonial movements and verbal expressions carried out in a sacred context.

Of the several dimensions of the definition above, I want to underline the fact that for a ritual to be qualified as religious, it should be carried out in a sacred context. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have any taste of religion; it would rather be a mere formalized systematic model of ceremony or verbal expression. Therefore, not every ritual is a religious ritual in the sense that it does not carry the meaning of the encounter with the sacred or the numinous.

The role ritual plays in religion is of the lofty consideration in religious life. While Aristotle held, “We are what we repeatedly do,” Kant argued that the ultimate truth cannot be known just through theoretical cognitive research; it must be internalized by means of habitual repetition of some formalized patterns of behavior or verbal expressions – in other words, ritual conceptualization or communication (he called it the “practical mind” in critique of pure reason). 

Religious ritual is a crucial part of holding the members of a society together (the idea of “we” interdependence, rather than “me only” independence), and maintaining the continuity and congruity of the social body or organism. As some scholars reason, three individuals (1+1+1=3) are equal to 3 in mathematics, yet in a society of three individuals held together by the invisible but practical bond of ritual, the sum is not three, but 111. [When three individuals line up next to each other and have a complete consensus and synergy about the purposes of their society socially add up to almost 111.]

Ritual unquestionably serves many significant psychological and social functions. For example, through religious rites and rituals, individuals can cherish an opportunity to synchronize one’s own ideas and emotions with those of others. Moreover, social togetherness via rituals is most likely the best remedy for individual anxiety and selfishness, as the maxim “it takes the whole village to raise a child” depicts. Rituals can also cure some social tensions, whether they are due to uneven distribution of wealth and material resources, or apparent injustice because of allocation of social status. For example, a janitor in a faithful society can stand side by side with a President while praying before God in a mosque or a church. The two of them are equal in the sight of God. Rituals are also the best means for the realization and application of the archetypal patterns made manifest in myths and other symbolic languages like parables and metaphors. Therefore, rituals serve as “the practical mind” for the adherents of a religion, allowing them to embed the sophisticated meanings communicated in the sacred scriptures and myths. Ritual is to religion, what light is to the act of seeing – indispensable. Rituals keep faith alive.

In regard to the interconnectedness of ritual and myth, they are like two facets of one reality, implementing one another’s functions and meanings. Neither ritual nor myth is superior; each has its own peculiar role and functions in religion. I would describe ritual as the realized and applied perception of religious myths and sacred scriptures. For this reason, neither myth nor ritual can exist on its own. While myth presents perfect archetypes and paradigms of the doctrinal system of religion (the theoretical mind), rituals function as conducive platforms to realize what the theoretical mind puts forward, by means of systematic repetition (the practical mind). Together, they form a united reality of both the theoretical and practical mind of religion. As the great Rumi contended about the vital importance of practicing religious tenets and beliefs through rituals, “We either appear as we are or we become as we appear.”

In conclusion, ritual and myth are two angelic wings of the same heavenly system of religion. For the modern students of world religions, both serve as celestial lifts or launchers that can enable the believers to pass beyond the boundaries of this three-dimensional realm and enjoy the sacred bliss on the opposite shore of existence, the transcendent realm: the experience of encountering the numinous. A religion functions best when it has these two angelic wings – myth, the theoretical mind, and ritual, the practical mind.

References

• Gale Encyclopedia of Religion, 2nd Ed.
• Livingston, James C. 2008. Anatomy of the Sacred: An Introduction to Religion, 5th Ed. Pearson.
• McAuliffe, Jane Dammen. Encyclopedia of Qur’an.
• Pals, Daniel L. 2006. Eight Theories of Religion, 2nd Ed., Oxford University Press.
• Pals, Daniel L. 2008. Introducing Religion: Readings from the Classic Theorists, Oxford University Press.

I began my research by reading all the Turkish material I could find on the subject. Most of the works I found were Turkish translations of European travelers’ reports about Ottoman life. Of course, it was necessary to separate fact from fiction, because many travelers, males in particular, described aspects of Ottoman life they had never personally seen-the inside of the harem, for example. But in spite of this, I was able to glean a fairly accurate description of Ottoman women and the harem from a number of different travelers (mostly women) who can be considered as eye witnesses to harem life. The portrait of Ottoman women that emerged reflected a very feminine appearance and demeanor, refined manners and decorum, and a pious and chaste character. Their domestic roles of wife and mother further reinforced this strongly feminine image.

The portrait of Ottoman women I found from my reading was a far cry from the Orientalists’ exotic stereotype. I learned that only approximately ten percent of the young slave girls in the imperial harem were actually royal concubines, and this number included concubines to the princes as well as to the sultan. The rest were groomed and trained for service to the royal family by means of the administrative hierarchy in the imperial harem. Even the belly dance, which is always associated with slave girls in the harem, apparently did not even exist in the imperial harem. That is what we are told by Leyla Saz Hanýmefendi who grew up in the palace from the age of four and who was closely associated with the royal family during the reign of six different sultans during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Armed with the information and knowledge I had gained from many travelers’ reports and secondary sources, I felt ready to challenge the sensationalist myth of the harem. Little did I know at the time, however, that an even greater discovery regarding Ottoman women awaited me in future research.

By a quirk of fate, I found myself spending a year with my daughter who was studying for a master’s degree in Islamic studies at a leading North American university. One of the courses she took was related to the Muslim qadi or judge and Ottoman court records. Much to my amazement I learned that throughout the duration of the Ottoman state (six centuries) women had many significant legal rights, more perhaps during that time than any other women in the world. This was a point that had been somehow overlooked in the many sensationalist books on the harem! Investigating this point further, I learned that Ottoman women had legal agency or, in other words, they could sue and be sued in court independent of their husbands. They could enter into legal contracts like marriage contracts with their husbands, or into business contracts with others. They had the right to own property and to inherit it. They had the right to initiate divorce. They had full control over their own income and property and could do with it as they wished. Ottoman women also had the right to be guardian of their children in case of the death of or divorce from their husband. European women, on the other hand, gained these rights much later, and today in some parts of the world women are still struggling to obtain them. British women, for example, did not have these rights until 1882. Previous to that time they had to turn over any property, inheritance or income to their husband upon marriage. Women did not have legal agency nor were they able to make legal contracts independently. Also they were unable to defend themselves in divorce cases and they could not get legal guardianship of their own children.

Furthermore, I learned that not only did Ottoman women have these legal rights, but that they actively pursued their rights as well. There are thousands of court records that attest to this. By no means were legal rights enjoyed just by a privileged few. They were accorded to Ottoman women of all social and economic strata. For example, one of my favorite cases was taken from early seventeenth-century Kayseri court records. It involves a woman named Teslime who was working on her land when her neighbor’s donkey strayed onto her property. When she seized the animal, her neighbor, who was a man, cursed her. Teslime immediately filed a complaint with the local qadi. Two witnesses were found to support her complaint and she won her case. While reading her case, I could not help but wonder how many women today would take a man to court for cursing them; and if they did so, how many would be taken seriously? There are countless recorded cases of Ottoman women who turned to the courts to get redress for injustices perpetrated against them. Upon review of such cases a different image of the Ottoman woman in the legal arena emerged: a strong and courageous woman who put Haqq (Truth and Justice) above everything else.

It was the discovery of this side of Ottoman women that really clenched my respect and admiration for them, because it enlightened me in regard to how Muslim women should be. They were not only very feminine and refined, but they were also strong defenders of Haqq. Their feminine and masculine natures were amazingly well balanced. As a Muslim convert, I have found the female model I was looking for. Whenever I get into trouble, I first ask myself, “What would an Ottoman woman do?”

Furthermore, I discovered that the spiritual nature of women was honored in Ottoman society.

Ottoman women were honored in the harem, not imprisoned there. Unfortunately, this way of perceiving women has all but been lost today. Much of the time women are perceived mainly as physical beings and, in its lowest form, as sex objects. They are often valued to the degree that they can rival the accomplishments of men. Ottoman women, however, were honored and valued as women.

I wanted to share these discoveries with others. I began lecturing on the subject of Ottoman women in Turkey, and these lectures eventually led to a small book in Turkish entitled, “Osmanlý Toplumunda Kadýn ve Aile (Women and Family in Ottoman Society).” Later on I began thinking about writing a book on Ottoman women in English-not an academic work, but a book giving a general overview that would appeal to any Western reader interested in the subject of women. Again, I rolled up my sleeves and set to work. As the book took form, so did my concept of how the book should be illustrated. I wanted it to reflect the spirit of the Ottoman woman-the beauty and harmony and refinement of her life. Once Tughra Books (formerly The Light, Inc.) agreed to publish the book and the design concept was agreed upon, members of their graphics design department did an extraordinary job that eventually led to the book being a finalist for the 2008 PMA Benjamin Franklin Award in the category of cover design/large format.

My book was published under the title “Ottoman Women: Myth and Reality” at the end of 2007. In the spring of 2008 I went on a book promotion tour in some major US cities: Los Angeles, New York, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Pittsburg, Rochester and Newark. The people I met and spoke to-men and women, young and old, American and Turkish, Muslim and non-Muslim-all responded positively to the book. Many were surprised to learn about the high social status of Ottoman women, particularly about their legal rights. Some, young Turks in particular, were thankful that the myth of the harem was finally being challenged. Almost all commented on the beautiful design of the book. The highlight of the tour occurred on the evening of the annual PMA publishing awards dinner in Los Angeles. That night my long journey of discovery in regard to Ottoman women was crowned when my book won the PMA Benjamin Franklin publishing award in the category of history/politics.

As a final comment, I would like to mention the great contribution to the book of my now deceased son, Sahin Sancar. He was with me every step of the way, from the signing of the contract with my publisher to the final touches in the design. He was a beautiful person and he contributed greatly to the beauty of the book. May he live eternally in beauty and light.

Asli Sancar has two more books and numerous articles, mainly dealing with women and family.

This book by the author, entitled “Ottoman Women: Myth and Reality,” combines both splendid design and objective narration, and could be referred to as a proof of the real status of women at that time giving full information on every aspect of their lives.

World of women-not as seen on TV

In our time when the rights of women are not well protected but are at least widely spoken about, it is very important to have research on the position of Ottoman women based not on common imagination (sometimes very colourful), but on the historical truth.

Unfortunately the further the topic moves to the East the more deviated the data becomes. Remarks untrue from the very beginning are more and more likely to be decorated with what-somebody-thinks-(s)he-could-have-seen. So for decades, when it came to the issue of a woman living in Muslim society there were only two options: whether a sultan’s harem full of silk, coffee, gold, hatred and intrigues or a harem in a mud house managed by a cruel and uneducated husband.

The truth had always been a card – laid at the table, played and beaten. Real facts were mixed with fruits of imagination; objective data was presented only when it could have been useful for the narrator.

In her book the author successfully presents the real state of affairs proving her point of view by documents from Ottoman records and remarks by Western travelers. Ottoman society was a highly organized and sophisticated system, so the position of a woman – should the issue concern her life in a household harem, childbirth and custody, charity and social activities – was regulated by religion and law. Even the foreigners disliking Muslim society and bearing hostility towards the Ottoman Empire, in particular, could not help but admit that Ottoman women enjoyed much more freedom and were way more respected and loved than their Christian sisters.

Ottoman woman: social position, rights, life in the harem

This research consists of six main chapters describing all the main aspects of Ottoman women’s lives. The chapters are dedicated to description of Ottoman women by Western travelers, life in the household harem, the status of slaves in the harem, the imperial harem, Ottoman women in court records and the metaphysical meaning of being a woman in the Ottoman Empire. The first chapter presents observations through Westerners eyes. Placing this part at the beginning is quite logical in respect to putting things in order and separating proven documentary facts from the fairy tale. Special attention was paid to the remarks of several female travelers and persons who had stayed in the Ottoman Empire for a long time and thus witnessed Ottoman life.

Even travelers’ comments needed to be studied with great care. Their accuracy had to be taken into consideration. The Ottomans would never have tolerated any interfering in their private life, so even female travelers with well-established diplomatic connections were accepted into the Ottoman harems with great restrictions.

Arabian nights vs. Ottoman daylight: outbeating the harem myth

When a woman needs to struggle with an enemy, she does it in a very delicate, feminine way. Here we see the author beating the harmful myth of harem life in a very confident and logical manner. “Women are not prisoners in any sense of the word, nor are they pining behind the latticed windows as we are sometimes led to believe…,” Elizabeth Cooper wrote in 1916.

Starting the second chapter of the book dedicated to life in the household harem by breaking with a popular myth presenting Ottoman and thus Oriental women as prisoners of their homes, is both bold and logical. It can be clearly seen that Ottoman women were never captives of their part of the house. But the fantasies of the Arabian nights made her image a hostage to common opinion in Western eyes. French translation of Arabian tales published in Europe at the beginning of XVIII century served the Ottoman women badly, turning them into sensual, infidel, vile creatures inventing one intrigue after another while spending their days in the sweet laziness of the harem.

Contradiction between exotic tales and reality should be solved fairly – this is what the author wants, and what women would have desired. They were secluded because they were loved and cared about, not imprisoned. The harem had never been a prison, but a sacred space where all the family enjoyed everyday life, celebrated holidays and was engaged in various social activities. Richer women were busy with distributing charity and caring for orphans and the disabled. They hardly had time for gossip, and their strong faith in God and the education they had would never have let them act improperly.

The chapter dedicated to the imperial harem is marvelous. Whoever thinks of “dolce far niente” practiced by the harem women day after day should study it carefully. A reader will see that not a single creature in the imperial harem possibly could be accused of doing nothing. If one takes a walk in modern Istanbul, no matter what the route is, he/she will surely see a mosque, a public bath, a hospital, a market complex, a water-spring, or a school ordered to be built by a queen mother, or by a mother of a prince, or by any other high-ranked lady from the harem. For God’s sake when did they manage to do all these? Between gossiping and intriguing? Oh that’s a shame! There should be some Turkish coffee break in between…

Winning her rights back: court records

Imagine an Ottoman woman coming to the court to protect her rights.

An Ottoman woman appealing to an Ottoman court. Winning the case, having been restored in her rights. It is not simply “possible.” This was a real documented process clearly showing that a woman living in the Ottoman Empire should never be thought of as something between a nice pet and a piece of the home decor. For centuries she was free in her half of the house which was considered sacred.

Here I can give a lot of examples of what an Ottoman woman did in her life. And the reader acquainted with Oriental life and traditions only by means of pocket novels written in a month, read in a couple of days and forgotten forever, could think that this book is just another fantasy product attributing more freedom to the prisoners of the harem in order to gain more attention by female readers.

The truth is even more shocking. A creature considered indolent, depraved and exotic will sooner or later come to the court of civilization and appeal to get back her dignity and good name. Indeed she has all the evidence of what she really was – the author presents citing from the Ottoman court records as well as the opinion of Lucy M. Garnett who in 1909 wrote: “With regard to their legal status, Turkish women – already possess the legal, personal, and proprietary rights necessary to give them a social position equal, if not superior to that of European women generally.”

Design of the book

“The interior is as exciting and rich as the exterior. Images are beautifully reproduced be they photographs, drawings or old paintings.” (PMA review of the design of the book)

“Her beauty is of color rather than of line”, says Z. Duckett Ferriman. Design of this book is both of color and line. It is of luxury worthy of the Topkapý Palace. Graphical concept is deeply connected with the spirit of the book. Richness of colors and illustrations, selected with major taste and care, seem to reflect the position and respect an Ottoman woman enjoyed. The very notion of East has always been associated with luxury, mystery and wonderful colors that could hardly be seen in the West. This time this is not just a stereotype. That is why there are so many attractive definitions like “Oriental green,” “Turquoise,” “Glow of the Desert” used especially for goods closely related to style and fashion. The cover could be called royal green with semi-sweet coffee foam beige and wedding bracelet gold on it. Gentlemen in charge of art and graphic design did everything possible to turn this book into a real pearl of the harem – with textile details and paintings by Osman Hamdi, every page takes us to the world of women – beautiful, pure and splendidly decorated.

The book was highly appreciated by PMA for its perfect design. Everyone who will read it will be deeply impressed by the luxury of every single page, clarity of paintings, photographs and any other illustrations – each of them in its place, in total harmony with the message of the “Ottoman Women.”

Ottoman woman: year 2008

Finishing this review, I would like to express my sincere gratitude and admiration to the author, Asli Sancar Hanimefendi, for marvellously starring in two roles at the same time: one of them is that of an American-born lady writing fairly on Ottoman women (almost three hundred years after Lady Montague, one hundred and seventy after Miss Julia Pardoe and nearly a hundred years after Z. Duckett Ferriman), and the other is the role of a Turkish woman, member of the new society feeling respect and devotion to history and the truth. There is also a third one behind every line and in every color of this book.

An Ottoman woman in the court.

Presenting her book.

Calling for justice.

Valeria Kolos is a Ukrainian Turkish-English-Russian translator. Having graduated from the Oriental Studies Department of the Kyiv Shevchenko National University in 1999, she has been living in Istanbul for 6 years. V.Kolos has some publications (poems in Turkish) in several literature magazines.

The popularity of Crusoe

Excepting the Gospel narrative, no story has so dominated the imagination of Europe as Robinson Crusoe. First published in London in 1719, it went through an unprecedented six editions the same year. Over the next century or so, it saw 700 editions and innumerable translations into every major European language. Since then, it has undergone adaptation and abridgement into other media – opera, pantomime, film, serial, cartoon, and so on. For over 250 years Crusoe has been a part of the self-image of every schoolboy with a European education. The author, Daniel Defoe, to cash in on the instant success of Crusoe, had a sequel ready for the press within four months (The Farther Adventures), and later wrote a more philosophical and contemplative third volume of Crusoe’s ‘Serious Reflections’. These sequels never caught on. What holds the imagination is the original situation: how a quite ordinary man, stranded for about 25 years on an uninhabited island, retains his sanity and dignity through every hardship and even emerges from this ‘trial’ with a modest fortune. The novel is a working up of the actual experiences of Alexander Selkirk, a sailor marooned five years on an island off Chile (subsequently named Isla Robinson Crusoe) who got back to England in 1708 and recounted his experiences to an eager public.

Crusoe: the myth derived from the novel

A book so widely read for over ten generations during which the world has undergone remarkable transformations cannot be un-connected to those transformations. The novel has in fact become a modern European myth, and the myth varies from the novel in important ways.

The transformation of Crusoe began very early, through the status accorded to it by the French philosopher Rousseau in Emile (first English trans. 1762). In this treatise on ‘natural education’ (i.e. education without the religious/cultural preconceptions used to adapt children to their future role in society), Rousseau wrote:

I hate books; they only teach people to talk about what they don’t understand… Since we must have books, there is already one which, in my opinion, affords a complete treatise on natural education…. Emile [the boy whose education is being planned] will need no other book in his library for many years. It will afford us the text to which all our conversations on the objects of natural science will serve only as a comment. It will serve as our guide during our progress to a state of reason…. You ask impatiently what is the title of this wonderful book? Is it Aristotle, Pliny….? No. It is Robinson Crusoe.

Robinson Crusoe, cast ashore on a desolate island, destitute of human assistance, and of mechanical implements, providing, nevertheless, for his subsistence, for self-preservation, and even procuring for himself a kind of competency …The most certain method for [Emile] to raise himself above vulgar prejudices and to form his judgement on the actual relations of things, is to take on himself the character of such a solitary adventurer, and to judge of everything about him, as a man in such circumstances would, by its real utility. This romance beginning with his [Crusoe’s] shipwreck on the island, and ending with the arrival of the vessel that brought him away, would, if cleared of its rubbish, afford Emile…. both instruction and amusement …. The practise of simple manual arts, to the exercise of which the abilities of the individual are equal, leads to the invention of the arts of industry the exercise of which requires the concurrence of the many. The former may be practised by hermits and savages; but the latter can be exercised only in a state of society.

This account of Robinson Crusoe the novel is inaccurate and unfair. But it is a near perfect account of the myth. The explicit contents of that myth are: a man can enter upon an unknown land with nothing and, by applying his native energies without inhibition, learn the arts and crafts necessary for survival and economic success; later, he can improve this success by using the labour of others as well as his own to exploit resources in a more organised way. The implicit elements of the myth are less attractive: the adventurer is a white man (not a woman), a European. He never enters into abstract speculations about the moral worth or ultimate purpose or far consequences of particular actions; instead, he calculates their present utility and applies the necessary means to secure himself and make economic surpluses. The land is there for him to subdue and use to his present advantage. Ideally, the land should be uninhabited, but if it happens to be inhabited, he must act as if it were in fact empty. For reasons never uttered, the European adventurer has a right to eliminate any competition: the natives will eventually understand that it is better for them to be ruled by the adventurer.

Crusoe: the novel vs. the myth

The reason is that the myth is still carried by the novel and the novel, being better and greater than the myth, saves the myth. Among several inaccuracies of the myth vis A vis the novel, one is the notion that Crusoe enters upon the island unequipped. In fact, though he lacks needle and thread and a metal spade (for which he improvises with characteristic resolve), Crusoe has pretty well everything else – some food, rice and barley seed, cloth and clothing, an axe and other tools, guns and gunpowder, pen ink and paper, the Bible, a dog and two cats, also his comfort drugs: tobacco and the pipe to put it in and rum. He is not, as the myth pretends, humanly unassisted: the assistance of others is available to him in the compacted form of the ‘capital of all that he salvages from the shipwreck. Without this capital’, Crusoe could not have begun, let alone succeeded, as an entrepreneur. Similarly, on the land itself, he has no rivals – neither predatory animals nor fellow- Europeans nor, until he is relatively securely established, natives. In sum, the Europeans complete self- sufficiency is a fabrication. It has been added to what is there in the novel, namely his resourcefulness with his capital.

Most significantly of all, the myth has wiped from the novel its religious dimension: this is probably what Rousseau meant by the phrase: ‘if the romance were cleared of all its rubbish’. But the religious dimension is not rubbish, it shapes the character and temperament of Robinson Crusoe. The novel has pretensions to spiritual autobiography, in the tradition of Pilgrim’s Progress, but without overtly allegorical characters or plot: the events and the central character are meant to be believed as literally true, not figuratively true. Defoe, it is worth noting, was the author of a very popular book of moral guidance, The Family Instructor, first published the year before Crusoe, and often reprinted.

Crusoe is a first-person diary of events told, as they were experienced at the time, by the wise Christian the narrator has become. Crusoe tells us that his ‘original sin’ was to disobey his father’s instruction to make a career as a lawyer; he could not resist the urge to wander, and ran away to make a fortune in the slave-trade; though he had opportunities to learn the skills of a sailor, he disdained to do so, dressing instead as a ‘gentleman’ (one who does not need to labour with his hands). Through the vicissitudes of storms and capture by pirates, Crusoe tells us, he hardly ever looked upward to heaven or inward to the condition of his own soul. But alone on the island, an earth-tremor that destroys much of his painstaking handiwork, and the sight of seeds sprouting, and his own near death by fever, lead Crusoe to recover his spiritual senses. His life thereafter is one of steady, solitary labour in a state of constant fear – fear of want, of hunger, of attacks by unknown animals or persons. But he maintains a gritty composure, looking regularly for signs of Divine Providence in whatever occurs, expressing gratitude for God’s care of him, in particular of his soul. There are constant references to the patriarchs and prophets of the Bible, so that Crusoe is, as it were, in a state of continual dialogue with his own soul. It is by dint of these inward as well as his outward labours to secure the necessities of life that, little by little, he comes to regard his island not as his prison but as his garden. He accepts his fate by choosing it as his destiny and, till the day he finds a human footprint on the sand, he imagines that he could live there alone and content until Providence decreed his death.

The footprint throws him into turmoil. In part he is afraid of a threat to the security of his person and property. But his chief fear is that the company of men will reintroduce to his life the temptations to sin and forgetfulness of God. Alone, he has no use for money, his needs are minimal; in company, his needs will grow as opportunities for commercial exchange and competition are presented. The ‘state of nature’ (man on his own), conceived as a state of fear, can be relieved by a conscience resigned to Providence; but from the state of society (conceived as a ‘state of conflict’, the war of each against all), there is no relief.

In relation to the natural world, Crusoe is no contemplative or scientist: he sees a tree, not with the eye of botanist or poet but of an entrepreneur, as timber fit for building. He assesses all the islands resources in the same way, and desires to improve them, by which he means quite explicitly ‘to increase their economic value’. His understanding of God does not come through reflection on the natural world as signs of God It comes, instead, through his feeling inwardly that circumstances, and the resources put at his disposal, are all arranged by God to test his faith and actions. His response to the testing is to work hard, resigning success or failure to the wisdom of Providence, and to keep up a stable, steady thankfulness. Once he has attained this peace with himself he can hope that, whatever crisis occurs, he will act in a decent way pleasing to God and his conscience. Thus, for example, when disgusted by the sight of cannibals feasting on the sea-shore, he has an impulse to kill them all in cold blood, but he overcomes the impulse.

Among the resources Crusoe manages and improves is himself.

This aspect of the story is what most delights its young readers: the analysis of how things work or are made, the resort to first principles, the improvisation with inadequate or insufficient materials and tools, the delight in whatever gets made, however clumsy or incompetent. Crusoe is a self-made man, in the moral as well as the economic sense: from the materials provided by Providence, he makes his character – his humility conscience, forbearance, composure, open-mindedness – as well as his outlandish clothes, rickety furniture, leaky bowls, the famous umbrella. Moreover, his religion is not a passive observance, but active personal prayer, personal turning to God, personal reading of the Scripture. What deeper wish does a young boy have, instructed to believe or pray or think in particular ways, and surrounded by things that enter his world ready- made, than to obtain some understanding and mastery of himself and his things through his own effort? Robinson Crusoe is the fulfilment of that wish. It enacts in rich, realistic detail the attainment of economic and moral independence by an individual of ordinary abilities and background, assisted by an omnipresent and benevolent Providence.

Crusoe builds himself a little domain, colonises a little empire. But he did not intend to do so; his empire just came to him by way of economic reward for initiative and effort. On the individual scale, his enterprise involved relatively little cruelty to others, no ugly national or racist pride, no brutal genocide, no violent competition with other colonisers. Crusoe is a decent man, disciplined, humble and, in a typically English way, composed and self-deprecating. It is through this self-achieved moral character and temperament that the novel saves the myth: it allows the English in particular to delude themselves that they did not mean to build a world-wide empire, it just came to them – as if armies and navies, mechanised industries and compelled trade, savage taxation of natives and cynical diplomacy, and the rest, had nothing to do with it. The appeal of the novel rests on this principle: provided an individuals own conscience is clear with respect to his personal actions, whatever evil may be done collectively by the state or society or the nation of which he is a part need not be an additional burden to that conscience. Morally, the individual is independent of the collective: at liberty to protest and to take personal initiatives to help alleviate the consequences of collective actions, he is not charged with moral responsibility for those actions themselves. The evident contradiction may be illustrated from the incident of naming Crusoe’s slave, Man Friday.

Naming the native

This incident was described earlier from the perspective of the myth: as Crusoe names his dog, so he names his slave, Friday, the day he ‘discovers’ him. It is not like that in the novel. At the time Defoe was writing, it had been reported by returning travellers that some of the ‘savages’ they encountered did not have names for each other until the Europeans gave them names. The fact is utterly impossible: there are no human beings who do not use human language, and no human language is conceivable where consciousness of one’s self and the other’s self (which necessitates naming each other) does not exist. But we must allow that such reports were accepted as plausible, even as true, without any particular malice – simply as a mistake – by Defoe’s contemporaries. In this way, giving a name is a positive and indeed kindly act. It is certainly the case that Crusoe sees Friday as a person like himself, a fellow human being with feelings like his own (for example homesickness) and faculties like his own (for example curiosity and dexterity), above all with a past and a mind of his own, to whom he imparts the story of his own life and misfortunes as well as his religion. Crusoe learns from the companionship with Friday, and he says so. Because readers may suspect I am overstating the case, they will allow me an extensive quotation. On spotting his homeland from a hill-top, Friday expresses great delight. Crusoe quickly and wrongly suspects that Friday will now return to his people, come back with them in great numbers and kill and eat him. Here are his reflections on his suspicion:

I wronged the poor honest creature very much, for which I was very sorry afterwards. However, as my jealousy [suspicion] increased, and held me some weeks, I was a little more circumspect, and not so familiar and kind to him as before, in which I was certainly in the wrong too, the honest grateful creature having no thought about it, but what consisted with the best principles, both as a religious Christian, and as a grateful friend, as appeared afterwards to my full satisfaction.

Can there be any doubt that Crusoe means well by his Man Friday? Yet, he is patronising in calling him ‘creature’, even as he praises him and criticises himself. The distance between master and slave is taken as a given; Crusoe never questions its propriety. He contemplates entering the slave- trade and his only negative comment on it is that it is a risky business, that it may be more prudent for him to purchase and pay a traders profit margin than risk the financial perils of capturing and transporting his own slaves. Since Crusoe abhors cannibalism without reserve, we may be sure he is capable of recognising something as an absolute evil; evidently, the slave-trade did not rate as such at that time.

The treatment by Europeans collectively of those natives or imported Negro slaves whose abused lives fuelled their commercial wealth is well known; natives and slaves were not accorded a status much above that of property or livestock, and their mistreatment continued long after such policies were officially condemned and outlawed. At the end of the 20th century, the attitudes behind that abuse have begun to die away, but the economic relations and political structures within which that abuse happened are proving more durable. The individual kindnesses in attitude and practice – and one could give historical as well as fictional examples – were irrelevant to affect or contain the evil done collectively.

The novels relationship with the myth is, in short, that it justifies the secularisation of economic and political life then taking place in Europe. Fifty years after Crusoe, the publication of Adam Smiths Wealth of Nations, marked the formal and permanent separation of economics/politics from ethics/ jurisprudence.

All of Crusoes moral and religious reflections are now read (outside specialist academic circles) as idiosyncrasies of the individual, a part of the charm of his character. Most modern Christians, and especially Christians of the Dissenting Non-Conformist Protestant tradition to which Defoe belonged, do not, as Crusoe did, rely upon Providence and their own industry, they rely upon their own industry exclusively, appealing to God only when they are unable to help themselves, and after they are helped, they are oblivious again – precisely the loss of grace Crusoe dreaded on seeing the human footprint. That loss was inevitable. For the reality is that the economic surplus that Crusoe achieves on his island in the state of nature (i.e. alone) is an impossibility: it can only be achieved in the ‘state of society’ (the conflict of each against all). This reality is represented in this realistic novel by (1) the ‘capital’ with which Crusoe starts his enterprise, a fact which, as we noted, the myth simply denies; and (2) Crusoe’s re-joining the economic mainland, his returning to England and voyaging Out again to new colonialist ventures, and (3) the revival of his hopes of entering the slave trade.

(Note: Robinson Crusoe Part 2:Economic individualism and secularisation and Part 3: The Muslim castaway: Hayy bin Yaqzan will appear in subsequent issues of The Fountain.