Turkey has a Fatawa Department
Eight clerics answer questions, four men working from the main building, and four women from an adjacent building.
Will I be committing adultery if I make love to a blown up doll? A young man asked by phone. The cleric dealing with the question suggests that the caller marry instead, so as not to risk the psychological damage.
“We are here not to judge the caller but to provide him guidance and information to help him make the right decision,” said the cleric. This young man said he did not have money to get married. But he was advised to fast or eat less to tame his bodily appetites.”
“Until when can I have abortion during my pregnancy?” a young woman asks. “We are against abortion in principle, but the Koran is a book of common sense and logic that allows interference to pregnancy if there is a medical complication the mother’s life.”
(In
The New York Times, December 3, 2006)