The Decline of Women's Rights in the Muslim World - Essay Example

The Rights of Woman in Islam "Their Lord responded to them: "I never fail to reward any worker among you for any work you do, be you MALE OR FEMALE, YOU ARE EQUAL TO ONE ANOTHER........." (Quran 3:195). Though the Quran clearly states the equality which exists between men and women in the eyes of God, the rights of women in Islam are becoming more and more of a human rights issue. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the rights afforded to women in the most highly populated but also the most controversial religion in the world. Most of the Middle East, Africa and India are in fact of Islamic persuasion. Just like with any religion, there are those who follow the religion casually simply because it is the religion of their ancestors. There are others, however, that follow the teachings of Islam to literal extremes, such that they are willing to die for its causes. Certainly, the world has seen the latter of the two in the news more than the predominantly peaceful observers of the religion. One of the most questionable practices of Islam is the requiring of women to cover their bodies head to toe as to not attract a man’s attention, thus causing him to break one of Allah’s laws. This practice is most usually not just done to behave in a religiously moral manner, but has actually become mandatory by law in many Islamic countries. Women who do not practice this tradition are often punished harshly. Similarly, the Islamic forms of government enforce the death penalty on women who have, in their eyes, committed adultery. The punishment for this can include the horrific and agonizing practice of being stoned to death. With this, the extremists of Islam who have managed to reform governments into Islamic practices and enforcement with a desire to make an example of anyone who contradicts the Islamic way and its government. The government-supported Islamic regimes do not allow for any sort of deviation or differing opinion in regards to faith. Today, marriage within the Islamic faith is solidified by a contract. Though the marriage contract stipulates the need for an exchange of good treatment between a husband and wife, the governments which make Islamic principle law allow for few rights of woman and total right to men. It is also not unheard of for a woman who has committed adultery to be sent away to what are known as ‘rape camps’. Within the past few years, groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have declared rape a war crime and certainly the hosting of rape camps. One of the perks to being male and Islamic is the acceptance of polygamy. Men in Islam can have multiple wives, but the inverse is not true. Additionally, the Islamic faith encourages along the extremely devout men because it is taught that if men are true followers of Allah, they will be given a number of virgins in heaven as a reward. This is intrinsically misogynistic and only serves to teach that women are objects or trophies and not in their own right human beings. Some countries which intertwine the religion of Islam into their government actually forbid a woman from driving a car or even for walking outside of her home alone and unaccompanied by a man. Women are not permitted to wear makeup or adorn themselves in any way which could be construed as making one’s self attractive to men. In the event of a divorce which is usually permitted for the men, the children always go to the father as women are not considered to be much more than a vessel for creating offspring and a warm body to have lawful intercourse with. The practice of female circumcision has also been a human rights and women’s rights topic, pertaining to Islam. Though Islam does not actually teach fundamentally that this practice is necessary or even a good idea, it is still utilized in some of the more rigid Muslim families. The idea behind it is to remove a woman’s ability to experience sexual pleasure, thereby robbing her of a sex drive and keeping her from possibly becoming sexually involved with a man other that her husband. This is not as widely practiced as it used to be, but it is not a practice unheard of in some parts of the world. Some European countries with large Muslim refugee population are now having to deal with this problem as well. Even where these differences are acknowledged, scholars and other commentators vary as to whether they are just and whether they are a correct interpretation of religious imperatives. Conservatives argue that differences between men and women are due to different status and responsibilities such as the ideology that men are in charge of the family as sat forth by God. Additionally, men are typically the bread winners in Middle Eastern countries and therefore are revered as more important than women. Women are given the responsibility of cleaning the home and raising the children and are expected to stay within these roles. The Middle Eastern nations are fundamentally positioned in an opposite social structure to the one employed by the west. The social dynamics of the theories of Muslim practice are part of the reason why the Middle Eastern nations feel at odds with Western nations. While the Muslim doctrine imposes a patriarchal and reprehensible social response to women over men, it also dictates that those who are not living a life of Islam, are living a life in opposition to God. The doctrine of Islam is entirely a means to an end, based on how those means are followed or believed. In other words, the promise of an afterlife full of pleasures beyond human comprehension is the trophy for religious rigidity and commitment to Islam. Another aspect of the Islamic faith is its staying power and its committed followers. It would be easy to minimize oppression or harm stemming from religious motivations if Islam were a small cult that has only newly surfaced within a matter of a few decades. An example of this is Scientology which is not only new but is only composed of a small congregation spread out. Islam, however, may have been born with the prophet Muhammad, but it was theoretically routed in Biblical principle, therefore making it appear to be more appealing and credible. If one were to contest the reality of Islam’s transcendent promises, one would surely be counter contested due to the Biblical principles of Islam illustrating a religion with a solid foundation and a believable doctrine. Additionally, Islam is populated by more individuals than Christianity or Judaism, making it virtually impossible to identify as flawed or negative due to its placement of women. The core of Islamic faith teaches that ultimately there is an assumed equality between women and men but in a way which dictates an absence of ‘sameness’. This goes back to the responsibilities and expectations placed on followers of Islam, whether man or woman. Though both may be recognized as deserving equality, the man in Islam is granted the position of authority over women. Certainly like any religion, Islam has been spliced by human ideology which is never with selfish or humanistic motivation. Certainly, through the centuries, humans have made these alterations in order to suit their own personal desires or purposes. It should be noted that Christianity had poor attitudes towards women throughout its history, periods of modernization and reform were responsible for the increase in women’s rights, and that many conservative Christians still today feel that women should be relegated to the realm of child-rearing and house-keeping. With the mention of this, it should also be mentioned that during the original rise of Islam, the conditions for women were vastly improved over previous pre-Islamic times in Middle Eastern countries. Woman were used for breeding without agreements such as marriage, they were used as “prizes” in times of war, and the birth of a daughter was viewed as a terrible thing. The infanticide of daughters was a common and tragic event during pre-Islamic eras in the Middle East. The verse from the Quran mentioned at the beginning of this essay was the starting point for changes in attitudes towards women. However, after its initial surge of rights for women, many of the attitudes towards women began to be resurrected. There was also a similar surge in women’s rights in Islamic countries that paralleled the surge in Western women’s rights. The feminists of Islam tended to be upper-class women who viewed the Western feminist movement as inspiration for their own. However, after having dealt with the effects of colonialism, many African and Middle Eastern countries were less than open to Western ideologies, and thus the feminists of Islam began to look less and less to Western feminism for inspiration. The traditional veil worn by Islamic women is often viewed as being oppressive by Western feminists. What they do not realise is that the Islamic women and feminists view the veil as an expression of their own culture and a refusal to accept Western standards as their own standards. By wearing the veil, these women are refusing to accept the attitudes of Western-centric thinking and can be viewed as a metaphorical denouncement of colonial attitudes. The rejection of Western values stemming in part from distrust of Western values due to colonialism is also in part a reaction to the modernisation of Islam. Many Muslims living in Western countries have taken the route of other Westerners and their views of religion and have embraced a less literal interpretation of the Quran. Upon examining the Christian bible, there are many instances where a literal interpretation would lead to the sort of violence against women that is such a concern in Islamic countries. Many Islamic countries have viewed the less literal interpretation of the Quran as more of the same of the attitudes found in colonisation. This is part of the difficulties found in finding a balance between the literal and often times violent interpretation of Islam and the less literal and more accepting of non-Islamic ideas that serves as a less violent version of the religion. This is the true dilemma for many Muslims in the world today. Obviously there is going to be an outcry against practices such as female circumcision and the stoning of women for adultery or even alleged adultery. While there is no excuse for some of the violent and barbaric practices detailed in this paper, there needs to be a realization that this literal interpretation that brings about this sort of violence is in part a reaction against Western values that do not respect or allow any of the practices of Islam to be considered acceptable. As mentioned, many Islamic feminists have found their own way to be feminists y wearing the veil, thus redefining and bringing new meaning to the word “feminism” in the first place. The struggle between modernisation and literal interpretations of the Quran is a struggle to find a balance between the excision of outdated ideas and practices such as female circumcision and finding a way to keep Islam from being completely Westernised by keeping true to various aspects of Islam that are not truly barbaric or have adverse affects for women, such as the wearing of the veil. Women have been put in a difficult position by being at the center of much of the controversy surrounding Islam, and it will be women that will be forced to lead the way in a new Islamic feminism that will find a balance between modernisation and Islam. 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