Mehmet Ozay August 15, 2019
Although the title "The Family in Crisis" has been on the agenda in Western industrialized societies, there is no doubt that a similar process has emerged in other societies subject to economic modernization over time. The phenomenon of crisis, which emphasizes the change in the institution of the family, constitutes a reason to mobilize social dynamics.
At this point, Western societies are trying to solve this problem within modernity without compromising modernization. However, instead of relying on tradition in their search for solutions, which would have been possible only because the mechanisms that would have allowed such a reliance have long since disappeared, the West has turned to inventing new types of family structures. Today, pluralistic family landscapes are emerging, including single parents and separated parents, as well as extramarital unions and same-sex cohabitation.
In this context, questions such as "Are we heading in that direction too?" come to mind. It is even possible to say that in some circles, asking this question is considered almost absurd and legitimizes the rapid social change and transformation.
While our experiences of modernization and Westernization reveal how pale our red lines have become, today, when we are faced with family problems, we feel that our power is broken. While we say that education is the beginning of everything, despite significant "achievements!" in the context of institutionalization and quantification of education, we cannot talk about a decrease in the problems in the family institution.
For a long time, attention was drawn to the direct link between the degeneration-oriented efforts of state policies directed by political elites and media elements and the damage to the family institution. On the other hand, despite the presence of conservative circles in the government, the fact that the problems in the family have increased, let alone been overcome, is remarkable in terms of revealing the sterilization in terms of solutions.
The existence of a Muslim identity that has been eroded in the context of the recent historical process cannot be denied. The phenomenon of internalization that this process has left on the Muslim masses and the presence of corrosive elements in the targeting mechanisms through covert and overt means drag the Muslim masses into a vicious circle. Relationships oscillating between rejection and acceptance spill over into the daily lives of individuals as well as into higher political discourse and actions.
The dissolution of the family institution can be considered as the degeneration of Islamic sensitivities, or it can be conceptualized as the "monopolization of relativism". The processes of modernization, such as education, urbanization, the capitalist economic model and individualism, have internalized almost every individual's acceptance of relativism as a prerequisite.
The Muslim individual, accustomed to looking at life from this perspective, makes an effort to adapt to life by transforming his habits into constructive elements through his intentional/unintentional actions. This is one of the dilemmas of the Muslim individual. On the one hand, he builds his habits with his own hand, and on the other hand, he has to make an effort to overcome these habits.
It seems that even though the masses give the impression that they are uncomfortable with this two-way process, the fact that the crisis in the family is becoming chronic instead of being resolved is accompanied by the processes of legitimizing the processes of socialization of the Muslim masses within the framework of modern institutions, even though it constitutes a contradiction.
Open Civilization. August 2019, Year 2 - Issue 16, p. 44. Ibn Haldun University Monthly Newspaper.
English and Indonesian versions translated with DeepL AI
