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the Message Continues ... 6/94
Newsletter for June 2009
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Muslim women reclaiming their rights
by John L. Esposito
"In the centuries after the death
of Muhammad, women played a small but significant role as
transmitters of hadith (prophetic traditions) and in the
development of Sufism (Islamic mysticism). Gradually, however,
women's religious role and practice, particularly their access
to education and the mosque, were severely restricted. Male
religious scholars cited a variety of reasons, from moral
degeneration in society to women's bringing temptation and
social discord, to restrict both their presence in public life
and their access to education and the mosque."
--John L. Esposito
Like the status of women in all the World's religions, in Islam
and Muslim societies patriarchy played and in many cases
continues to influence the status and roles of women. The place
of women in the formative period of Islam reflected Qur'anic
concerns for the status and rights of women as well as the
patriarchal structure of the societies in which Islamic law was
developed and elaborated. The status of women and the family in
Islamic law was the product of Arab culture, Qur'anic reforms,
and foreign ideas and values assimilated from conquered peoples.
While the Qur'an introduced substantial reforms, providing new
regulations and modifying local custom and practice, at the same
time, much of the traditional pre-Islamic social structure with
its extended family, the paramount position of males, the roles
and responsibilities of its members, and family values was
incorporated.
A new source of women's empowerment today has become active
participation in the mosque and use of Islam's tradition to
reclaim their rights in Islam. Reformers today emphasize that
just as women during the time of the Prophet prayed in the
mosque, so too today they actively exercise that right. In the
centuries after the death of Muhammad, women played a small but
significant role as transmitters of hadith (prophetic
traditions) and in the development of Sufism (Islamic
mysticism). Gradually, however, women's religious role and
practice, particularly their access to education and the mosque,
were severely restricted. Male religious scholars cited a
variety of reasons, from moral degeneration in society to
women's bringing temptation and social discord, to restrict both
their presence in public life and their access to education and
the mosque.
Today, in many Muslim countries and communities, particularly
those that have been regarded as among the more modernized, such
as Egypt, Jordan, Malaysia, and in America, women lead and
participate in Quran study and recitation groups as well as
mosque-based educational and social services. In countries like
Iran, women serve as prayer leaders (Imams) for congregational
prayers; however, they are only permitted to lead groups of
women. Female reformers look to early Islam for examples of
women noted for their learning, leadership, and piety to
strengthen the rationales for women's contemporary role in
public activities. Strong public female figures during the
Prophet's time include Khadija, Muhammad's first wife of
twenty-five years, who owned her own business in which Muhammad
had been employed and played a formative and significant role in
the birth of the Muslim community. After Khadija's death,
Muhammad's wife Aisha was very prominent as a major source of
religious knowledge, an authority in history, medicine and
rhetoric.
Though patriarchy, legitimated in the past by religion, remains
very much alive as an ideology and value system, in many Muslim
countries it is progressively challenged by women, also in the
name of religion as well as economic realities. Rather than
breaking with tradition, female reformers argue that their
religious activism today reclaims an ideal "forgotten" by later
generations. As a result of this new discourse, increasing
numbers of women have an alternative paradigm that enables them
to broaden their expectations both inside and outside the home.
Today, the status and roles of women vary considerably,
influenced as much by literacy, education, and economic
development as by religion. Some women wear stylish Islamic
dress, some are veiled and some wear Western fashions. While in
some sex-segregated countries educated Muslim women are not
visible in the work place, in other countries women work as
engineers, doctors, scientists, teachers, and lawyers alongside
their male colleagues. The veil has become a particularly
charged symbol; yet even the wearing of the veil has diverse
meaning for wearers and observers. A modern Muslim woman isn't
necessarily wearing Western clothes and a veiled woman isn't
necessarily oppressed.
The complexity of women's status is illustrated by many
country-specific contradictions.
While women cannot vote in Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan, in
almost every other Muslim country, they do vote and run for
political office, serve in parliaments and as head of state or
vice president in Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia and
Bangladesh.
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Saudi women own 70% of the savings in Saudi banks and own 61% of
private firms in the Kingdom; they own much of the real estate
in Riyadh and Jeddah, and can own and manage their own
businesses, but they are sexually segregated, restricted to
"appropriate" professions and cannot drive a car.
In nearby Kuwait, women freely function in society, hold
responsible positions in many areas, but, despite getting the
right to vote in 2005, only this year won seats (4) in
parliamentary elections.
In modern-day Egypt women could not until recently serve as
judges, but in Morocco more than 20% of judges are women.
In Afghanistan and in some areas of Pakistan, the Taliban in the
name of Islam, have forced professional women to give up their
jobs and prohibited girls from attending school. In Iran, where
women must cover their hair and wear long-sleeved, ankle-length
outfits in public, they constitute the majority of university
students, hold professional positions, and serve in parliament.
A woman is Vice President in this Islamic Republic.
In some parts of the world, women's basic literacy and education
reflects serious inequality: in Yemen women's literacy is only
28% vs. 70% for men; in Pakistan, it is 28% vs. 53% for men.
Percentages of women pursuing post-secondary educations dip as
low as 8% and 13% in Morocco and Pakistan respectively
(comparable to 3.7% in Brazil, or 11% in the Czech Republic).
But these figures do not represent the entire Muslim world;
women's literacy rates in Iran and Saudi Arabia are 70% and as
high as 85% in Jordan and Malaysia. In education, significant
percentages of women in Iran (52%), Egypt (34%), Saudi Arabia
(32%), and Lebanon (37%) have post-secondary educations. In the
UAE, as in Iran, the majority of university students are women.
What about Muslim attitudes today regarding women's rights.
Majorities in some of the most conservative Muslim societies do
support equal rights. Majorities in virtually every country
surveyed say women should have the same legal rights as men: to
vote without influence from family members, to work at any job
for which they qualify, and to serve in the highest levels of
government. In fact, majorities of both men and women in dozens
of Muslim countries around the world believe women should have
the:
--same legal rights as men : 61% of Saudis, 85% of Iranians and
90% range in Indonesia, Turkey, Bangladesh and Lebanon say that
men and women should have the same legal rights.
--right to work outside the home in any job for which a woman
qualifies (90% in Malaysia, 86% in Turkey, 85% in Egypt and 69%
in Saudi Arabia)
--right to vote without interference from family members (80% in
Indonesia, 89% in Iran, 67% in Pakistan, 90% in Bangladesh, 76%
in Jordan, 93% in Turkey and 56% in Saudi Arabia)
None of these examples should make anyone complacent about the
condition of many women in Muslim (or Western) societies.
Patriarchy and its legacy, legitimated in the name of religion,
remains alive in many countries although it is also
progressively challenged in the name of religion.
Source: Middle East Online
John L. Esposito is University Professor and Founding Director
of the Centre for Muslim-Christian Understanding. He is author
of several books and co-author of Who Speaks for Islam? What a
Billion Muslims Really Think.
courtesy: IslamiCity.com
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