:: this was posted by thabet at 15:49

Wednesday, July 02, 2003

 

Islam, Women and Rights

Sister al-Muhajabah posts on the situation in Saudi Arabia with respect to "women's rights", and how women there are demanding some positive change. A quote from the article:

"Rights are not given. We have to ask for them," computer programmer Alia Banaja said on the two-hour program."

"We are handicapped in terms of personal freedom. We even need permission from a male guardian to get our identification papers, pediatrician Suad Jaber said on the program, "Saudi Women Speak Out.""

I wrote this in her comments section. I have reproduced it here, with some additions and minor changes for clarification.

In relation to Saudi, it is to be noted that change for the better will only come from within. The idea being pushed around today, especially some of our more "gung-ho" neighbours on this planet who live across the pond from the UK, that 'liberalism' (I use the word here tentatively, because an association is always made between 'liberalism' and certain political or ideological groups and causes) can be imposed from without is ludicrous. It is doomed to fail. Euope overcame religious and social intolerance from within. The same must really occur in Saudi, Iran, Afghanistan and so on. The whip, pistol and boots of the totalitarian regimes in our lands must not be replaced by the same artefacts of oppression, with the only change being the insignias. We've been there already, lest we forget history.

There is a very easy solution, in my humble opinion, to the "Women's rights" issue in Islamic countries and within Islam in general.

Simply give women the right, or even push for them, to train up to the the level of highly-qualified `ulema. There is a tendency to restrict women's education in modern Islam to the Qur'an (with a commentry of course - don't want to give them dangerous ideas of interpretation now do we!), some Ahadith (again with comments) and a few essentials of Fiqh (e.g. housekeeping, family-relationships etc.). The restriction on, for example, women judges seems simply a by-product of the societies which have traditionally housed Islamic culture.

It is better to ground them in the vast corpus of Islamic literature (for unlike, say Christianity, Islamic literature is a lot more in-depth simply because of the nature of the two dogmas), including the speculative legal theories and the massive amount of work in the moral-ethical field. Then simply let them excercise creativity in expressing their knowledge. Being Muslims, their efforts will, insha'Allah, be in correspondence with the "spirit of Islam".

Allowing this sort of moral-intellectual endeavour from Muslim women would also test the limits of the common (Muslim) notion of "women and Islam" I see trotted out by men (always men!) everywhere, from the TV to collections of fatawa to those pink pamphlets handed outside a mosque or on a da'wah table (you know the sort; they are always entitled "Women and Islam - The Truth" or "Women - More Secure in Islam". I should add that the title header of this post bears an uncanny resemblance to a leaflet I once saw!).

This would rebutt the, often condescending and hypocritical, prattle from the secular humanist male `ulema in the 'West' - as well helping them to assert themselves in their own communities. Don't forget these efforts would not be lost - not only do we hope that God grants them blessings in the Next Life for their efforts, but in this world their efforts would be fruitful. For women are the Ummah - they are one-half of it and give birth to the other half. And education, not just 'intellectual', but moral and ethical instruction (that is education as a life process) always begins and ends in the home.

The irony of this effort would be that the ones to defend the 'old-fashioned' outlook (though who am I to say that women do not feel comfortable with "old-fashioned"?) would probably be women.

But God knows best!