GS11: Religion in culture and society - Assignment

Submitted to: A/P Geoffrey Benjamin

Submitted by: Lim Ching Wu Leslie (Tutorial Group T3)
Date: 15 March 2002

Rights of Muslim Women

The September 11th event has drawn the world’s attention to Islam, and in
particular, the lives of Afghan Muslims under the Taliban rule. In this essay, I
will discuss the oppression of Muslim women during the austere and
puritanical Taliban regime, their lives after the fall of the Taliban and the rights
of Muslim women in other parts of the world. I have chosen this approach to
discuss the rights of Muslim women as I see great differences between the
various interpretations of Islamic law with regards to Muslim women. This is
especially so when one compares the Taliban’s view of women’s rights to the
rights of Muslim women in the rest of the Islamic world. I will thus give
examples of suppression of Muslim women living under the Taliban rule, so
as to illustrate the differences in the rights of these women, and of those living
in other parts of the world. This will also enable me to discuss the topic
through current situations, rather than simply giving a normative account of
what Muslim women’s rights should be. [This is a good start!]

The fall of the Taliban government marked the [relative?] liberation of Muslim
women in Afghanistan. This is as the Taliban, a fundamentalist Islamic militia,
had targeted women’s rights as the first priority since first coming into power
in 1992. The Taliban cited the Shari’aI as their authority on, as well as basis of
laws passed with regard to Muslim women. Under the iron curtain of the
Taliban, women were deprived of full participation in the social, economic,
political and cultural aspects of life.

Women were deprived of their basic rights to be human. 1 [If using endnotes,
format them as such, using the ‘Insert footnote’ command. Also, why are you
using both footnotes and endnotes?] Women were forced to wear burqasII.
Brightly coloured clothing and cosmetics were banned as women are not
allowed to attract males. Women were also banned from wearing shoes with
heels as the clicking sounds of their feet were thought to corrupt males.
Besides restriction on women’s physical appearances, women were also
banned from shaking hands with men who were not relatives, laughing loudly
and raising their voices in public. These were thought to lure men into
corruption. It was also compulsory to paint all windows of their homes2 and
they were disallowed to appear in the balconies of their houses. Basically,
women were restricted from communicating with the public when they were at
home.

Women were also deprived of their rights to travel. Their activities were
restricted to their homes only, unless they were accompanied by a mahram (a
close male relative such as father, brother or husband) in public.1 A woman
I
Shari’a is the sacred law of Islam. The word originally meant ‘the way to a watering place’,
but came to be used of the path of God’s commandments. It is derived from four main source:
Qur’an, sunna, ijma and qiyas.

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was stoned to death for not traveling with a male relative.3 As riding on
bicycles and motorcycles were totally banned, they were allowed to ride in a
taxi only when accompanied by a mahram. They had to travel in public buses
designated for “females only”. The girls in a state orphanage in Kabul were
not allowed outside since September 1996 till the time of report in September
1997.4

Women were deprived of the right to work. There was a complete ban on
women working outside their home. Prior to the Taliban ruling, 50%, 70% and
40% of the women population were employed as civilian government workers,
school teachers and doctors in Kabul respectively.5 [Badly put: 40% of Afghan
women were not doctors!] Thousands were laid off in April 2000, and they
were not paid their monthly wages before the layoff.6 This posed a great
threat to the survival of women who were already living in penury.

Women were deprived of the right to health. They were banned from seeking
medical attention from male doctors. On 27 April 2000, a dentist was whipped
for attending to a female patient. Moreover, only a few female doctors and
nurses were allowed to work in hospitals in Kabul. Thus, their access to
medical care was very limited. In certain hospitals where doctors were
allowed to see female patients, they were disallowed treatment if the women
were not accompanied by mahram.7 This was a serious problem for an
estimated number of 30,000 widows in Kabul, who did not have male relatives
to accompany them.

Women were deprived of the right to education. Women were banned from
studying at any educational institution and all girls’ schools were closed down.
In Kabul University, although there were fourteen facilities faculties, all the
students were male.8 Girls’ schools, such as the Kabul Marim Girls’ School,
were converted into seminaries.9

Women were deprived of the right to recreation. All women’s sporting and
recreational facilities were banned. They were also banned from attending
social gatherings, appearing on television and radio.

This list of rights Afghan Muslim women were deprived of goes on and on.
They faced grave consequences for failing to abide these laws. Public
whipping, beating, verbal abuse and even death were the punishments given
to women guilty of these crimes. [Since, as you already implied, these actions
were virtually unique even for the Muslim world, you still need to link these
abuses with religion, for the purposes of this essay. Which particular variety of
Islam was behind this, and how did it come to be actually practised?]

In the shadows of the carnage of war lies a new hope for Muslim women in
Afghanistan. Afghan women showed their faces in public for the first time in
years. And those who stuck with the traditional costume did it by choice.
Feminists and human rights activists are working towards restoring the rights

II
Burqa is a voluminous garment which completely shrouds the body under thick layers of
fabric, leaving only a small mesh opening for breathing and seeing.

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of Afghan women. One crucial step taken is the appointment of two women,
Sima Samar and Suhaila Seddiq, into the interim government. In a speech at
Georgetown University, President Ahmad Karzai, said: "If anybody wants to
be president, she is welcome!" These words signified the remaking of Afghan
Muslim women’s rights.

The practice of Islam differs in Muslim communities throughout the world. The
interpretations of Islamic holy texts, such as the Qur’an, Shari’a and Hadith,
vary between these communities. It would be a difficult task to investigate the
Islamic ideal rights of women in these texts. Therefore, I will continue my
discussion by citing the practice of women’s rights in parts of the Muslim world
instead of rebutting the Taliban’s interpretations.

Iranian Muslim women suffer similar [but far less drastic] fates as their Afghan
counterparts. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, fundamentalists, led by
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, seized control. The measure of success of the
Islamic Revolution was the depth of suppression of women’s rights and
activities.10 Khomeini and his followers had crafted laws and policies based on
women-hating principles. These strict laws and policies are still in effect.
Women who do not cover their hair and body and/or use cosmetics face a
wide range of punishments. Examples of punishments include verbal
reprimands, lashes with a whip, even imprisonment ranging from a month to a
year.11 In Tehran, witnesses reported that approximately ten young women
were arrested and placed into a patrol car for improper veiling or wearing
clothing that did not conform to Islamic regulations.12 An international study
showed that in urban areas, women make-up only 9.5 percent of the
workforce, and 8.8 percent in rural areas.13 There is discrimination in
employment and promotion against women. The discussion of women’s
issues and rights outside the interpretation of Shari’a is illegal.14 Advocates of
women’s rights are subjected to imprisonment and lashing for violations.15

Based on a survey by Central Bureau of Statistics in 1990, the 200 million

Muslims (87.3% of the country’s population) in Indonesia, is the biggest
Muslim community in the world.16 There is a stark contrast in Muslim women’s
rights between Indonesian women and Arab women. This is due to the fact
that Indonesia is not an Islamic state. Indonesian Muslim women are
educated to their ability. A male relative need not accompany them when they
are outside.17 In cites, women form the backbone of the labour-intensive
manufacturing sector. They can be found in the employ of private firms as well
as working in the fields of rural areas. Perhaps the best evidence of protected
women’s rights is that the president of Indonesia, Megawati Sukarnoputri, is a
Muslim woman. [Some might say that her Islam is just nominal.]

In the Britain and America, the number of women converts outnumbers the
men. Statistics show that there is an estimated number of 10 000 to 20 000
women converts in Britain.18 [This is a fascinating statistic, and needs some
discussion. But it also points to an important feature: that most developments
in Islam are now coming from the ‘West’.] The egalitarian characteristic of
Islam appeals to them. These women are able to believe in Islam without
being deprived any of their rights. An example that manifests their rights is the

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existence of Islamic schools in Britain. Muslim girls in Islamic High School for
Girls (Manchester, England), are given complete education that empowers
them with both academic and religious knowledge.19 In America, Muslim
women are treated well. They are also mostly well educated and not forced
into marriage against their will.20 However, some Muslim women are
discriminated against and excluded from certain aspects of Muslim life. As
Muslims are a minority in America, most Muslims in America are reluctant to
address the problems of women in fear that the enemies of Islam will use this
information against them. [Muslims now [probably outnumber Jews in
America, however.] The legal system of America is formulated to protect the
rights of those abuse Therefore, Muslim women follow a similar agenda to the
American women’s movement in the fight for their rights.

Islam is a religion with variations in different parts of the world. One rationale
for the difference in Muslim women’s rights in the Muslim world is that not all
Muslims study the holy texts in Arabic. Some meanings of the translated texts
may be different from original texts. The approaches in determining women’s
rights from these texts differ too. One may claim that a good Muslim should
follow strictly to the ideology stated in the holy texts and anything else other
than that should be banned. However, one can rebut that only what the holy
texts have classified as inappropriate should be banned. [You should give
examples of actual Muslim arguments to these differing effects.]

In order to advocate the practice of women’s rights in world, the media’s

coverage has always [which media?] been hostile in issues concerning the
status of women. This is especially true with regards to Islam. There is a great
misunderstanding and distortion on rights of Muslim women. This is due to the
lack of understanding on the religion and the misbehavior of some Muslims
whose actions were taken to represent the teachings of Islam. Contrary to
mass belief, Islam is actually the fastest growing religion in the world, with the
majority of the converts being women.22 Therefore, I think that the general
view of women being oppressed under Islamic law may be due to our
prejudice and ignorance to Islam. [This doesn’t necessarily follow. There is a
well-known phenomenon labelled ‘The fear of freedom’ (which some have
applied, for example, to the lack of overt politics in Singapore). Some
feminists might argue that conscientisation is lacking in these women.]

The Islamic law is described as ‘the epitome of Islamic thought, the most
typical manifestation of the Islamic way of life, the core and kernel of Islam
itself’. However in theory, man-made regulations are appropriate in matters,
which God had left ‘legally indifferent’. 23 As Islam expands worldwide in
different cultures and ethnicity, I feel that it is inappropriate to have a unified
set of rights for Muslim women. The Muslim community should try to achieve
a balance between Islamic practices and human rights when interpreting the
law and codes of conduct for Muslim women. The Muslim women’s rights
should be seen as a subset of the world women’s rights.

In most places of the world, it is traditional culture that is depriving women of

their rights, not the [!] religion. [Here, you seem to be transgressing your own
initial warnings about avoiding normative generalisations.] With increasing

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concern from the world, international tension and modernisation, I think there
will be moderation in Islamic laws on women. More Muslim women will soon
be able to enjoy their rights that Allah has bestowed upon them. [This is a
clearly normative declaration!]

References

1. Para. 3 to 8: Afghan Women under the Tyranny of the Fundamentalists.

Some of the restrictions imposed by Taliban on women in Afghanistan.
<http://rawasongs.fancymarketing.net/rules.htm>
2. The Washington Post, 19 Mar 1997.
3. Associated Press, 29 Mar 1997; Reuters, 6 Dec 1996; Reuters, 16 Jan
1997.
4. Oral communication from Jan Goodwin, journalist, who visited
Afghanistan in September 1997.
5. Cooper, Kenneth J. Kabul Women under Virtual House Arrest. The
Washington Post, 7 Oct 1996; CNN, 9 Mar 1997.
6. Agence France Presse (AFP), 13 Apr 2000.
7. AFP, 25 Jun 1998.
8. News Network International, 16 Apr 2000.
9. Payam-e-Zan, No. 51, June 1999.
10. Hughes, Donna M. Women in Iran – A Look at President Khatami’s First
Year in Office. Z Magazine, Oct 1998.
11. AFP, 20 Feb 1998.
12. AFP, 30 Nov 1997.
13. Abrar, 2 Dec 1997.
14. Laila al-Marayati. Discourse needed on Islam interpretation of rights. Los
Angeles Times, 16 May 1998.
15. Iran Zamin News Agency, 13 Aug 1998.
16. International Christian Concern. Challenges to Islamic Community about
the Danger of Christianization. Rahmat Islam Terhadap Orang Kafir.
<http://www.persecution.org/concern/2001/07/p4.html>
17. Achmad Sukarsono. Indonesian Muslim Want Freedoms to Stay.
Reuters, 16 Oct 2001.
18. Berrington, Lucy. Why British Women are Turning to Islam. The Times, 9
Nov 1993.
19. Newsweek International. 11 Mar Issue.
20. Myths About American Muslim Families. University of Illinois.
21. Hathout, Samer. Islam for Today. Challenges Facing American Muslim
Women. <http://www.islamfortoday.com/americanmuslimwomen.htm>
22. Serving In Missions. Islam – The Fastest-Growing Religion on Earth?
<http://www.sim.org/SIMNOW_World_Religions.asp>
23. Anderson, Norman. 1982. Islam. Lion handbook, pp. 307-334. The Law
of Islam.

Excellent, nothwithstanding my few critical comments. On the whole, you are

among the few students who have understood how to go about producing an
essay.