The concept of etiquette means peaceful civil life. Different historical periods and social contexts saw different consensus of opinions about the proprieties. Also, from a spatial perspective, the concept of etiquette has various aspects. For instance, when compared with the provincial areas, the city, where the public sphere has the utmost prominence, operates according to different rules. The concept of civilization celebrated by Western view is based on a certain form of etiquette. In this view, the main focus is on the notion of civilized man, which emerged in the 16th century. In this period, the center of good manners was not the city, but the palace. The rules of good manners were exclusive to the elite, the knighthood, and the royal circle. The emergence of the concept of individuation in the Renaissance provided fertile ground for the modern forms of etiquette. The awareness about the proprieties and the consideration for others’ lives and rights gained ground, and the public order assumed greater significance. In the 18th century, the bourgeoisie, as an emerging powerful class, prepared the ground for the extension of the royal etiquette patterns to cover all social strata, and hence for a national etiquette. In this period, the concepts such as individuation, equality, freedom, and rationality increasingly gained significance. These concepts, which constituted the primary rules of modern etiquette, have also been the sign of a transition to a new social and economic model led by the bourgeoisie. The modern cities were the primary spaces for these new patterns of communal living in modern societies, the so-called gesellschaft. This new model gave rise to a hierarchical distinction between the social behavior of the city dweller, which was considered advanced and civilized, and the social behavior of village and town dwellers, which was described as uncivilized. However, the civil life of the modern city gave rise to many problems. The individual has fallen out of the encompassing network of the community, religion, and tradition, and hence has been faced with an excruciating loneliness. The individuation has been completely consolidated by the sharp distinction between the public and private spheres. This has unavoidably led to a constriction in etiquette. The modern city, as a space of isolated and alienated individuals, has also given rise to isolated and closed societies. In addition, the modern city, where the main focus is on the commodity and essential characteristics of the individuals are not taken into account, has determined the class distinctions, and thereby the spatial distinctions. In Islamic societies, however, from the outset the concept of etiquette has gone through different stages in comparison with the West. Several works on the awareness about civilization were carried out many centuries before the West. This awareness is a holistic view specific to Islamic societies from the very beginning, and is not a development of later centuries. The civilization and the etiquette are considered as a given in Islam, as a religion focused on the society as a whole. The ideal conception of public life is originally present, and therefore cannot be sought in the future. The rules of public life according to Islam do not originate from the elite, the sovereign, or a certain central power. The norms that determine the public life is always founded on the Qur’an and the Sunnah. In Islam there are strict principles of the etiquette that is the basis for the civil life. The rules of public life are not based on a conception of society as a fragmented entity of different ethnic or class elements. The individual is responsible for the dissemination of the rules of Islamic etiquette, and is under the protection of communal and social networks. The public policy in Islam is essentially pluralist and allows for the representation of diversity in public sphere. Islamic cities are the places where the Islamic etiquette is embodied, and are based on the Medina experience. Therefore in the Islamic city, the mosque is the center in which the public life is brought to life and the Islamic civil conduct is disseminated. In Islamic cities, the mahallah is the place where Islamic rules of etiquette are embodied, and is traditionally based upon powerful communal relationships, unity, solidarity, and responsible behavior. In contrast with the modern cities, Islamic cities do not have a constricted and divided public life. Through an utterly rich and encompassing public policy, Islamic tradition has consolidated the position of the individual in society.
Primary Language | Turkish |
---|---|
Subjects | Sociology, Religious Studies |
Journal Section | Research Article |
Authors | |
Publication Date | June 15, 2020 |
Submission Date | January 23, 2020 |
Published in Issue | Year 2020 Volume: 56 Issue: 2 |
Diyanet İlmi Dergi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY NC).