Author: Akbar S. Ahmed
Publication: The Globalist
Date:March 7, 2003
URL: http://www.theglobalist.com/DBWeb/StoryId.aspx?StoryId=2966
The world is paying more attention
than ever before to Muslim countries. However, the treatment of women in
some of these countries has been cause for outright shock. In many ways,
the present treatment of women in those countries reflects tribal - rather
than Islamic - values. In this Globalist Interview, Professor Akbar Ahmed
- Chair of Islamic Studies at American University - offers new perspectives.
Q.: Why are women essentially shut
out from public life in many Islamic countries?
A.: It may be counter-intuitive
to note that, historically speaking, women in Islam are probably the most
liberated. They also have more rights than in any other world civilization
- except for perhaps modern Western civilization.
Compared to early Christian civilization,
Hindu civilization or Chinese civilization - 7th century women in Islam
were freer and had more rights. They could divorce, inherit property, were
noted poetesses - and even led armies.
It is also important to recall that
the first person ever to convert to Islam was Khadija, the Prophet's wife.
She was a merchant, and had been a widow.
She actually proposed to the Prophet
- and once he began to receive his revelations stood by him like a rock.
She never doubted him - and inspired him through thick and thin. This one
event establishes that women have a major role in Islam - in business as
well as in society at large.
Q.: Any more evidence for an active
role for Muslim women in history?
A.: Take my part of the world,
South Asia. There, the Mughals - who were the great Muslim rulers in South
Asia - reached the apex, the high point of Muslim culture. With the creation
of the Taj Mahal, one of the most impressive buildings in human history,
they brought about one of the wonders of the world.
And it is worth remembering that
the Taj is named for, and dedicated to, a woman: Mumtaz Mahal, the wife
of Shah Jehan from 1612 until her death in 1630.
And at that time, Mughal women were
writers, painters and archers - and they were with their men in battle.
Read the memoirs of Babar, the Mughal dynasty's first emperor. Also read
Gul Badan Begum who was the matriarch of the clan and what she writes about
the men of the family - and the role women were playing at that time in
society and politics.
Nur Jehan, Empress of India - ran
the empire for all practical purposes in the early 17th century. These
were extraordinary women - with great character, courage and compassion.
But then, the role and position of women in society changed dramatically.
Q.: What caused the change in the
role of women in Muslim society?
A.: When European colonization
arrived in the Middle East and South Asia, most of the Muslim women were
put into seclusion. They were locked behind walls. They were put into shawls
called burkhas. This occurred because men no longer felt secure.
The men were not confident. They
were vulnerable - and the only response they thought they could have to
this changed world was to lock up their women. Why did they do so? Because
women symbolized their honor and dignity. It was a defensive response.
And this, in turn, created a kind
of ignorance in society where men started to deny women the right to property,
inheritance and education. A kind of perversion of Islam took place. And
we are seeing some of the aftermath of that today.
Q.: Is the position of women in
the Muslim world always sub-par today?
A.: No. Let us not paint in black
and white. Let us not forget that in Muslim lands today, we have a woman
president in Indonesia - and we have had female prime ministers in Pakistan
and Bangladesh.
In Central Asia, there are several
female deputy prime ministers. In Iran, the vice president is a woman.
So women are part of the democratic process. They are very much aware of
their political rights - and aware of the need to assert themselves.
Q.: But this does not seem to reflect
the position of women at, say, the village level.
A.: That is true. Let's consider
tribal or rural society. Let's look at village life in Pakistan. A while
ago, the world press reported a story about a terrible incident. Absolutely
barbaric men - supposedly representing the best of custom and supposedly
defending their village's honor - ordered the raping of a woman.
The woman was said to belong to
a lower caste tribe - and her brother had been seen talking to a woman
from the upper caste tribe. The elders first sodomized the boy and then
raped the woman. That woman, however, was their kids' teacher, instructing
them in the Quran.
For me, all the paradoxes and the
contradictions of globalization and post-modern life are captured dramatically
in this one story.
Q.: What does this incident tell
us?
A.: First of all, we have a pious
woman who is teaching the Quran to children - and who was raped on the
orders of the parents. Then she was paraded naked. That, in turn, represents
an incredible breakdown of Islam itself at that level of society.
Traditionally, Muslim elders view
it as their task to defend the honor of the defenseless, especially women.
In Islam, the first concern is always about justice and dignity. Every
individual is entitled to justice and dignity.
There was no one protecting this
woman. Even government appeared paralyzed. And remember, this was the time
of president Pervez Musharraf's military rule when respect for law and
order was taken for granted.
Q.: So, it's really a breakdown
in tribal, not Muslim, logic?
A.: Yes. Even on the very terms
of the tribe itself, there is a terrible breakdown. The honor of a woman
is very highly regarded in the tribe. So here we are seeing the very honor
of a woman being dishonored by the tribe itself. It is a truly perverted
interpretation of honor and dignity.
Q.: And what should men in Muslim
countries do?
A.: Muslim men should strive to
do their part to overcome their strident sense of inferiority. They can
no longer lock up women and deny them their rights - as they are wont to
doing. After all, the original excuse for that dubious behavior was the
onset of Western colonial rule in those societies.
But colonialism is long gone. These
Muslim countries are all independent now. It's high time that men adjusted
to that changed reality - and stopped denying women, or restricting them
in realizing their potential. Muslim men do not have any legitimate excuses.
As good Muslims, they should remember what the Prophet said about the best
path to Paradise.
When a Muslim asked the Prophet
which was the shortcut to Paradise he replied: "under the feet of the mother"
(meaning you must serve her). He gave this reply three times. Only the
fourth time did he mention the father.
