writer dr khaled montasser wondered why the islamic martin luther was late to comment on the wall of the mosque, translate the holy quran into the language of the people and the tone of the homeland and bring the religion out of the monopoly of those who trade in faith. perhaps the ‘colleague’ knows, but preferred to remain silent, that the comparison here is not true, islam is not like christianity. what the reformers could have done 600 years ago is not an islamic possibility, nor will it be. martin luther did not translate or change the heavenly words but made changes in the sacred words, and the difference is great. in islam, the text of the holy quran is heavenly, and therefore any words related to the reinterpretation or explanation of its texts, contrary to what has already ‘settled’ will be a waste of time. all the attempts at development and renewal that have been advocated by those interested in studying the qur’an, such as mohammad shahrour, will be ignored. therefore, the solution is not in the development of what is valid for all time and place, but that this religion should be given its right prestige, and be a religion between man and his creator, without intermediaries. there is no priesthood in islam, it is a religion revealed by god to the worlds, in other words the creator of the worlds of all living beings and governments and clerics have nothing to do with that, so give what is god’s to god and what belongs to the civil state to the civil state. this introduction had to be made before going into the subject of women in islamic history and in the modern era, after the storm kicked by the tunisian leadership to give women the rights that the majority of muslim countries refuse to recognize. it is arbitrary to say that women, throughout our ancient and modern history, have not been subjected to the worst forms of exploitation, abuse, violence and deprivation of all their rights, such as marriage to whom they want, education and the right to work, in addition to suffering from unequal wages and promotion, and injustice in courtrooms if they wanted their most basic rights in alimony and care of children. only the turkish women, with great efforts exerted by one individual, have achieved full equality, although they continue to suffer in the countryside. ataturk’s reforms, however, were matchless, enormous and cannot be found in the rest of the islamic world, except in tunisia, though they are limited. the reforms of the turkish leader mustafa kemal introduced women to the public life with the proclamation of the turkish republic on oct 29, 1923, and this resulted in all ties with the ottoman empire or the caliphate being severed. in march 1924, the girls began to receive education on par with their male counterparts and various laws were enacted after that, which opened the door for women to vote. in february 1936, 17 women were elected to the house of representatives and obtained their rights before the famous european countries such as france and switzerland. mufidah elhan was the first mayor, and in 1971, turkan akyol was appointed the first female minister. in 1993, tansu ciller became the first prime minister, and for more than 70 years, 236 women have been able to enter the parliament. in february 1926, the arrangements for polygamy and divorce by men were abolished and the turkish civil code, known as the right of women to divorce, guardianship and disposition of their property, was ratified. in 1930, turkish women were granted the right to maternity leave, which is one of the most important problems faced by women in underdeveloped countries. in 1965, the birth control law, which left freedom to distribute and sell contraception, the right for abortion when necessary, was applied. in 1966, turkey ratified the international labor organization (ilo) convention, which provided for equal pay for men and women. before going into the issue of the status of women in tunisia, we conclude this part of the article by saying that turkey’s industrial, cultural and agricultural progress in almost every area has not happened arbitrarily or randomly but was made possible by 40 million women. it is very difficult to imagine the progress of modern turkey without the participation of women and their vital contribution, supported by all reforms and laws, which have been in their favor for 80 years. if the government of president recep tayyip erdogan today plans to turn his back on women’s laws, the economy will collapse. there will be no industrial progress, no real agricultural and humanitarian development, no national security and no respectable international presence. there is no dignity if women are not treated as equal to men.

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