This research examines the problem of censorship in the Libyan context from a historical and ideological standpoint. Libyan cinema has not gotten as much academic attention as Middle Eastern nations like Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine. In addition to providing a historical overview of Libyan cinema, this study carefully investigates the settings that influenced Libyan national cinema from the perspectives of people who work in this industry there. To learn more about the problems with censorship in Libyan cinema before and (...) after 2011, 25 individuals were interviewed informally between July 2018 and February 2019. Twenty-five people were the maximum because many were reluctant to give interviews due to safety concerns, which participants also mentioned. Data analysis was done using Nvivo 14. The data gathered identified two problems—safety and censorship—that have long plagued Libyan cinema. All panelists agreed that the Libyan film industry needs to advance in governing authorities, censorship, inventiveness, and how films engage with society's members. (shrink)

The concubines, with whom the sultans lived a family life, were classified according to a certain hierarchy in the Harem. The first wives of the sultan and those who gave birth were called Kadınefendi. The other wives with a lower status than the Kadınefendi wives were called Ikbal Hanımefendi. According to Islamic law, marriage with a concubine is not like a marriage with a free woman. If a marriage is desired, the concubine must be freed. Until the 19th century, sultans (...) did not marry their concubines for a few exceptions. In the 19th century, the legal status of concubines in the Ottoman Empire became controversial. The countries of origine changed when the Ottoman Empire was unable to conquer new territory. Consequently, the enslavement procedure of prisoners of war disappeared. Instead, Caucasian immigrants, who had to leave their homeland mainly due to the Russian attacks, gave their daughters to the Ottoman palace so that they would not suffer misery and could reach important positions in the future. Among these were orphans from poor families as well as those from noble Caucasian dynasties. Even though the young women in the palace were called concubines, at least some of them were free/Muslim persons. This meant, that they could not be enslaved according to Islamic law. Although there was no problem for those who served in the palace, a remarkable situation emerged for the would-be spouses of the sultan. Could a woman from a free and Muslim family be the sultan's wife without a marriage bond? Was the limitation of the Kadınefendi numbers to four (in times of Sultan Abdülaziz) due to the Islamic law principle, that a man could marry maximum four wives? Was there a marriage ceremony (nikāh) for Kadınefendi wives? What was the situation of the Ikbal? Satisfactory answers to these questions have not been given yet. However, there are no official records it was claimed that lately sultans married especially their concubines who were Abkhaz descendants and included them among their wives in this way, because they were free and Muslims. Thus, the matter whether Sultan Abdülhamid II's wives were concubines or wedded became the subject of some research today. Memoires claim that almost all of Sultan Abdülhamid's wives were free and of Muslim origin. According to this, it was said that the wives of Sultan Abdülhamid could not have the status of the concubine and that their relationship should have been by marriage. On the other hand, considering that a maximum of four women can be married according to Islamic law, the marriage of the Sultan, who had thirteen wives, raised juristic questions. This problem was most clearly seen in the inheritance case filed by his heirs after the death of Sultan Abdülhamid. In this case, where it was claimed that Sultan Abdülhamid was married to nine wives, no objection was made to that claim. In this study, information about the wives of Sultan Abdülhamid and their legal status was tried to be determined through the documents related to their salaries during the 2nd Constitutional Era. Besides, the issue of nine wedded women, which emerged in the case of Sultan Abdülhamid's inheritance, was evaluated in terms of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). Sultan Abdülhamid was never accused of marriages contrary to Islamic law by his opponents during and after his reign. From this point of view, it can be said that there was no situation contrary to Islamic law regarding the Sultan's harem at that time. This might be due to three possibilities: Firstly, some wives have concealed the truth in the court, which is the weakest possibility according to the data obtained. Secondly, the talaq (divorcement) was hidden by Sultan Abdülhamid and his wives were not aware of it. This possibility has been found to be problematic when evaluated in terms of Hanafi fiqh. Thirdly, the practice of al-nikāh al-tanazzuhī (marriage performed in order to avoid from fornication). Considering the correspondence between the state departments in the period starting with the 2nd Constitutional Monarchy and until the Republic, it is clear that the Kadınefendis were regarded as married wives (their number was limited to four), while the Ikbals were regarded as concubines. From this point of view, it is thought that the most plausible possibility is that the Ikbals were regarded as concubines and their marriages were al-nikāh al-tanazzuhī. (shrink)

İttihat ve Terakki Cemiyeti’nin Meşrutiyet’in yeniden ilanı için II. Abdülhamid’e karşı yürüttükleri muhalefete dönemin bazı ulema ve İslamcı aydınlarının da katıldığı bilinmektedir. İslamcıların bu muhalefete katılmalarının en önemli nedeni, ulema sınıfının geleneksel gücünü kaybetmesinin yarattığı endişelerden kaynaklanmış ve buna bağlı olarak da modernleşmeyle beraber devletin giderek laikleşen yapısına bir müdahale olarak düşünülmüştür. İslamcı aydınların muhalefete katılmasıyla beraber hem dindar halk kesiminin Meşrutiyet’e bakışı değişmiş, hem de Abdülhamid karşıtı muhalefet güçlenip artan bir toplumsal desteğe sahip olmuştur. Sultan Abdülhamid’in tahttan indirilmesinden sonra (...) iktidarı ele geçiren İttihatçıların devlet yönetimindeki tecrübesizlikleri ve Meşrutiyetten beklentileri gerçekleşmeyen İslamcı aydınların önceki döneme yönelik eleştirilerini yeniden gözden geçirmelerine yol açmıştır. Bu yeni değerlendirme ve özeleştiriler Abdülhamid dönemini tamamen olumlayan bir çerçevede olmamakla birlikte, hata ve yanılgıların itirafı olmaları açısından önemlidir. Osmanlı tarihinde adı İttihad-ı İslamla nerdeyse özdeşleşmiş bir padişaha İslamcıların hangi gerekçelerle muhalefet ettiği ve bunun hangi argümanlarla savunduğu, kendilerinin sınıfsal bir mirasçısı olarak görülebilecek olan ulema sınıfıyla medreselerin Abdülhamid’le sorunlu ilişkilerinin bu muhalefeti ne derece etkilediği önem arz etmektedir. Bu makalede İslamcıların; Sultan Abdülhamid’e muhalefetinin sebepleri deşilmekte, İttihat ve Terakki deneyimi ve sonraki dönemde yaşadıkları tecrübelerden yola çıkılarak uzun süreli iktidarda kalan bu padişah ile ilgili yanılgı, pişmanlık ve itirafları değerlendirilmektedir. (shrink)

This article focuses on the earlier encounters and uses of electricity, its technology, and its infrastructure to understand how electricity formed a contested terrain of politics among the city’s varying actors, such as state officials, financial investors, and consumers, in late Ottoman Istanbul, roughly between the 1870s and early 1920s. I contend that people used electricity as a political tool in their everyday lives even before they could access it physically. Electricity skepticism during the reign of Sultan Abdülhamid II (1876–1909) (...) increased Istanbul residents’ inclination for an electrified future; the longer the sultan’s prohibitions lasted, the more they fueled this inclination, causing problems about the use of electricity. In contrast to the previous regime’s skepticism about electricity use, the Committee of Union and Progress (1909–18) administrators considered electricity a public service that a larger population could use rather than a source of energy for a small, privileged elite. The first urban-scale power plant was completed in 1914. However, the inability to import technical equipment and raw materials due to political and financial troubles caused by World War I (1914–18) and the Occupation Period (1918–23) hampered electricity production and consumption, causing serious problems in electricity use on public and private scales. Amid the wave of challenges, the city inhabitants witnessed numerous unpleasant encounters with electricity use; some perished in tram accidents, while others became criminals. At a time when much of society viewed electricity as a vital element for progress and economic growth, the prevalence of crowded trams, tram accidents, blackouts, and instances of electricity theft within the Ottoman capital called into question the notion of electricity as a technological promise and public good. Consequently, the initial enthusiasm for electricity’s transformative potential waned due to tensions between expectations and daily realities, resulting in a cautious approach toward technological modernity. (shrink)

The paper consists of three parts. In the first one, I consider the validity of the “civilizational paradigm” in contemporary social sciences and humanities, with special emphasis on philosophy and comparative historiographical studies. In the second one, I juxtapose selected Western approaches to civilization—those of Arnold Toynbee, Fernand Braudel and Corroll Quigley—with the perspective proposed by Ibn Khaldūn, the scholar and thinker widely recognized as the father of social sciences, especially those focused on or at least related to civilizational investigations. (...) In the third part of the article, I raise questions about the prospects of reforming and reviving civilizations which undergo a crisis or experience a twilight phase in their development. Finally, in the context of the idea of Islamization of thought and knowledge, as postulated by Abdulhamid Abusu-layma, I address the question of the relationship between civilization and religion. (shrink)

Relégué à près de trente ans de réclusion après la déposition de son père, Murad V, et l’avènement de son oncle, Abdülhamid II, en 1876, le prince Salahaddin Efendi nous a laissé un corpus impressionnant d’écrits personnels. Cette documentation d’une richesse et d’une nature exceptionnelles rend compte du contexte « familial » de deux hommes vivant en captivité, entourés d’une centaine de femmes. C’est là une rare occasion de se pencher sur cet univers féminin, même à travers des documents éminemment (...) masculins. Presque involontairement, le prince se fait le truchement de bien des sentiments et frustrations émanant des femmes qui l’entourent, à commencer par une de ses concubines, avec laquelle il vivra un véritable enfer sentimental et émotionnel. C’est ainsi que toute la hiérarchie du harem se dévoile, au gré des observations et des sentiments du prince, s’étageant de sa puissante grand’mère, Şevkefza, aux dizaines de modestes esclaves assignées à leur service. (shrink)