Islam and Modernity - Assignment Example

? The Emancipation of Woman and the New Woman - Analysis Empowerment of women is an issue that has raised concern and drawn the society’s attention over the ages, across nations, across religions and across different social strata. Time and again, the cause has been upheld and championed by various literary figures of the modern world, with an intention to bring about a positive change in the existing state of affairs. Qasim Amin (1863-1908), Islamic by religion and Egyptian by birth, was one of the champions for the cause of women empowerment and upliftment in the status of women in the Islamic society of his times. The given document is a collection of excerpts from two of his major works in this field- Tahrir al-mar’a(The Liberation of Woman, 1899) and al-Mar’a al-jadida (The New Woman, 1900). Both the books have successfully drawn the attention of the readers towards the traditionally depraved condition of the Muslim women in Egypt and presented an appeal to the Egyptian intellectual class to initiate an improvement in their status and assign them equality with men in terms of political, social and economic rights. Historical and Political Context The author feels that it is his moral obligation as an author to communicate to the society his liberal views about the emancipation of women in the Egyptian society. Looking at the erstwhile scenario, he feels that the upliftment of the status of the women in society is not only desirable but also essential and integral to the positive growth and development of his future generations. So he considers it high time that his thoughts broke free from the shackles of passive reflection and found concrete expression in his literary works. However the author fears that this honest expression of his sincere views might be termed as “heresy” by the religious fanatics. He then highlights the point that whenever a new ideology is introduced to the society, it meets resistance from several traditional ideologies already prevailing in the society. It is a well-known fact that the path of change is always obstructed by tradition resulting in endless debates, disputes and struggles. The same is evident in the recent and past history of all nations. But of late, the scenario has changed and somewhat improved in the Western countries owing to the growing impact of technology and diminishing geographical boundaries resulting in a warmer approach towards new innovations and an openness to change. But despite all these formative changes on the global platform, unfortunately, the scenario in the Islamic countries remains the same. These countries seem somewhat immune to the new changes and events prevailing in their surrounding world. The author claims that this could be attributed to the fact that in addition to a hostility to change propagated by tradition, the people in these countries exhibit a kind of intellectual lethargy which inhibits the growth of their minds. This intellectual lethargy dissuades them from pondering over new ideas and persuades them to seek a convenient refuge under the dead and decaying customs and traditions, in order to circumvent the discomfort of speculation. The outcome is that any idea or opinion that seems to be going against the flow of tradition is labelled as “heresy” or defiance of religion. Going by this logic, the author’s views on woman empowerment can also be classified as heresy. But here the author clarifies that his work is presented as a revolt against not religion, but tradition. It is intended to defy not Islam, but the rigid and stifling traditions that need to be either mended or discarded. Detailed Analysis Having declared at the outset that he does not conform to the Islamic traditions, the author wonders why the Muslims are so keen on sticking to their traditions whichideally should be done away with. They fail to realise that in their attempt to conform to their traditions they are actually working against the laws of Nature- God’s laws of creation- the Law of Change. They seem to undermine the fact that change is the only constant and that change is a synonym of life. With the passage of time the old should inevitably be discarded to yield place for the new. Change stands for progress, mobility and dynamism. Change is a doctrine created by God, whereas traditions are man-made phenomena. Traditions define the behavioural and cultural patterns of a country or rather a way of living during a specific time span and at a specific place. Hence traditions vary across geographical borders and across historical eras. Advanced science and technology, enhanced exchange of ideas and a sprawling communication network have led to a marked transition in the global traditions from the early ages through the middle ages to the modern times. However this transition can be witnessed only in the Western nations, whereas Egypt still remains aloof. The difference in the nations’ attitude towards change reflects a proportionate difference in the intellectual make up of heir inhabitants. While the former are intellectually mature and civilised, the latter exhibit a matchinglevel of ignorance and barbarism. Subsequently the author draws a relationship between the tradition of a nation and its level of civilisation. The reverence for adhering to tradition indicates the intellectual level of the people. He underlines the fact that tradition is the most powerful and influential component of any society. It overrides all laws of the nation and even religion. Though initially aimed at improving the state of affairs in the society, tradition sooner or later metamorphoses into an instrument of corruption in the hands of the affluent and the powerful. At times religion too is reduced to the stature of a toy in the hands of the rulers who often twist and mould religion to maintain conformity to tradition. The author firmly believes that the status of women is indicative of the status of progress and level of civilisation of a nation. In the prehistoric societies, women were assigned the status of slaves. The story was the same across borders: the Greeks and Romans regarded a woman as a slave to be reigned over by the male members of the family; the Arabs treated her as an owned commodity used for their gratification; the Asians labelled her as a creature devoid of soul. But with the passage of time, the traditions changed, the outlook of people changed and so did their attitude towards women. Today the women in Western countries are striving for excellence in all fields commanding respect, freedom and equality in all spheres of life. But unfortunately, for their Muslim counterparts, the story remains unchanged. Despite all changes in political, social and economic front, one can witness this wide discrepancy in the status of the fairer sex in the West and in Egypt. The Europeans attribute this to their religion which they consider superior to all others. However this is not true since Christianity lays down no such doctrines regarding the rights of women. Rather Christianity has itself been repeatedly moulded by the local traditions of the countries where it spread. Had religion been more powerful than tradition, the Muslim woman would have been the epitome of the “free woman”. There is no law in the books of Islam that accounts for the low status of Muslim women. On the contrary, the Islamic legal system, the shari’a was the first to propagate equality of men and women before law as well as equal rights during legal and business transactions. Moreover it exonerated women of the burden of incurring household and child-rearing expenses. The same applies to the Islamic laws pertaining to divorce. Hence the existing status of women in Egypt is quite contrary to the laws of Islam and can be attributed to the unhealthy customs and traditions inherited from the countries in which Islam was introduced. Anomaly in the political structure is the root cause of majority of the evils that have permeated into the Egyptian societies over the ages. Force was the only law these societies were familiar with. Force and fear were the prime instruments used by the autocratic rulers to reign over their subjects. The concentration of power in the hands of a few eventually led to abuse of power and corruption. The corruption, like a contagious disease, spread from the rulers to their subordinates who again propagated the corruption and despotism. The dominant pattern of these despotic governments was the subjugation of the less powerful by the more powerful. Eventually the whole moral fabric became corrupt and started influencing the relationship between the men and women. Man being physically superior, began exercising his power and authority over woman. Woman became a subject of man’s contempt and an object for his amusement. Her rights were crushed and her world was restricted within the four walls of her home. She was heading towards unending ignorance and seclusion. Conclusion Off late, the status of women in Egypt has improved by leaps and bounds owing to the intellectual development of the men. The women now enjoy equal rights and equal respect as men of the society. They now keep a pace with men in all walks of life and participate in matters whether private or public, social or economic. But still there remains a scope for further change and improvement since the still-existing practice of veiling and limited socialisation are restricting the progress of women. We all should look forward to the day when each one of these meaningless restrictions will be uprooted and the woman can freely participate in the working of the nation. Only then can we call the woman “free” in the true sense of the term. Read More