Women's Rights in Iraq - Essay Example

I. Introduction At some point in the nineteenth century Arab societies endured an awaking process, which involved the population of the Jews residing in the countries. This development showed itself in the replication of western frameworks of culture, education, arts and sciences, in addition to the modernization of ways of life. Even though the process was gradual, the lives of women in the Middle East, particularly Iraq, including Jewish women, were substantially affected by this new beginning (Wolfowitz, 2004). This revitalization of Babylonian Jewry started with the construction of the Alliance Israelite Schools in Baghdad, which was intended for boys in 1864 and then eventually for girls in 1893. Girl’s school initiated a series of modifications and deep-seated progress in the lifestyle of literate urban Jewish women throughout the earlier part of the twentieth century. These encouraging changes integrated Jewish women, primarily in the central urban cities; nevertheless, they did not revolutionize the social status of Jewish women as a self-aware, united, and completely formed group (Sehayek, 2004). Moreover, these women fell short to interpret their personal accomplishments into a well worked out and important social occurrence, nor could they change the standpoint of male society surrounding them, or gain acknowledgment as an independent and equal social entity (ibid). The modifications in the life of Babylonian Jewish women should be investigated against the perspective of the subordinate and restricted status of their Muslim, or non-Jewish counterparts. One must take into account the factors that affected their lives and formed their self-identity, namely the domestic tradition and customs and social conditions of the Jewish and non-Jewish context (Reinhart, 2004). There is a dearth in literature discussing about the lives of Iraqi Jewish women. This was because of their imprisonment to domestic responsibilities or household chores, and to insufficient familiarization to the outside world. Travel brochures and journals relate extremely insignificant information about the rights and status of women in the Middle East, and even less about Jewish women. By bringing together information that rests scattered in books, several newspapers and key documents, one must attempt to structure the social and cultural development undertaken by the Jewish female groups in Iraq (ibid). Since the beginning of the history of the people of Israel, the representation of Jewish women was formed in harmony with holy laws, and a time-honored legislation, policy making processes and customs institutionalized by Jewish erudite. Further, in Iraq undoubtedly the pressure of the Arab-Muslim society and the social standing of the Muslin woman had a tremendous impact on the Jewish women (Sehayek, 2004). II. The Muslim Women: Their Plight to Liberation The status of Muslim women was principally dictated by the Qur’an and by its translations and interpretations. Chauvinism or male dominance was drawn from a passage in Qur’an, which says, “Men have the advantage over women” (Sehayek, 2004, 1). This passage was interpreted to imply that men are more advantaged or honored than women, and that women’s responsibility is to abide by their rules, since men are to pay mahar or the dowry and other expenditures upon marriage. As a matter of fact, this interpretation equates the Muslim woman to a purchased property or commodity. The Qur’an likewise determines that the privilege of men over women comes from the will of God, as the verse states: “Men’s supervision over women is decided by the will of God that has favored one over the other” (ibid, 1). Critiques expanded this definition and finalized from the remaining of this verse that men dominate women, and are given sanction to physically punish their wives: “If disobedience is suspected distance them [your wives] from your bedrooms and whip them” (Sehayek, 2004, 1). The character of intimate relationships with women was based on the passage: “Your women are your ploughing ground; plough them at your will (ibid, 2),” which as critiques claim indicated that women are a fertile soil for reproduction: “plough as much as you desire, standing up, sitting down and or lying down, through the front or the rear (ibid, 2)”. This premise was justified by the passage: “God desires to be lenient on you because a man was created weak (ibid, 2),” which means that man was conceived fragile and intolerant towards women and lust. Constructing man’s status and dominance in the Muslim society was not adequate for the Qur’an; it as well as restricted women in several regions. For instance, the Prophet of Islam demanded that women of the Muslim heritage detached themselves from the traditions of the pre-Islamic Jihalia era, and ordered them: “Remain in your homes and do not make yourselves up as in the Jihalia days (Reinhart, 2004, 766)”. The critiques broadened this interpretation to translate that women should not expose their faces, and must cover themselves in front of outsiders. The evidence passage for this custom was extracted from Marium 19:17: “She took the veil and hid her face from the stranger (ibid, 766)”. From the aforementioned, several tasks and responsibilities of the Muslim woman are made definite; she must provide complete submission to her husband; she should be imprisoned to the home and cannot abandon home without her husband’s permission; and is prohibited to converse with other men unless through a mediator. Much worse is the convenience with which a man can divorce his wife. In several Muslim societies, such as Shi’ite Iran (Sehayek, 2004), women are regarded to be of greatest corruption, second to a corpse. In 1872, an Arab scholar objected to the despondent status of Muslim women through pushing for that the belittling attitude towards women has damaged them. They turned out to be their husband’s labeled slaves; husbands physically and verbally abused, and humiliated them. Nevertheless, the scholar’s proposals for upgrading women’s status were not exceptionally intense. He suggested promoting women’s education drastically, but prescribed offering only limited instruction, which would improve their intellect, but not to an extent that would give impetus to boosted freedom, and cause them to abandon their responsibilities to home and family, for fear that they would stop to obey their patrons. In 1910, scholar Jamil al-Zahawee, was discharged from his position as a professor of law in Baghdad because he rebelled against the divorce laws of Islam and the custom of wearing a veil (ibid). During the earlier part of the twentieth century there were merely a few major changes in the position of women in spite of the mounting population of schools for girls and the progress in women’s education. The Muslim Arab woman lingered on materially and socially mediocre, and prejudice against her was manifested in all dimensions. For example, if a wife violated her husband and abandoned him, the husband was permitted to return her home with the assistance of the police and even incarcerate her in bait al-ta’a or the house of obedience (Reinhart, 2004). It was just in 1960 that the removal of this law debated in Egypt. The tradition of confining Muslim women and detaching them from the company of men who were not family members persisted regardless of the minor adjustments that took place as women became educated. Social life focused on the men. Women were maintained outside the social and public domains. This condition had increasing repercussions on the family life of the Jewish population (Ettinger, 1970). III. The Impact of Domestic Customs and Lifestyle on the Jews The greater part of Iraqi Jews resided in a Muslim community, which also backed up an Arab Christian marginal group. They were mainly influenced by the Muslim Sunnis. Near to 90% of Iraqi Jews resided in the large urban areas, primarily in Baghdad, and they took on the customs of the urban population of Islam, specifically the customs of imprisoning the woman to household responsibilities without any interaction to the external “kingdom of males” (Sehayek, 2004, 2). Though women of the Jewish population were secluded from the company of men similar to their Muslim counterparts, within the context of their home and families they were freer and they took pleasure on a more significant position than the Muslim women. Because of the interaction with tourists, traders and other strangers from western countries who arrived in Iraq in the advent of the nineteenth century, in addition to the mentors of the Alliance Schools, the Jewish community in Iraq sensed the pressure of western culture, and created a conscious attempt to duplicate it (Reinhart, 2004). Furthermore, interaction with the immature Iraqi Jews who transferred to the west, particularly to United States, at the apex of the nineteenth century also carried broadminded attitudes towards women (ibid). Because of these factors and several others, Jewish women’s liberation started earlier than that of the Muslim women. The women of Jewish heritage in Baghdad were the predecessors of modernization in Iraqi Jewish society, and their female siblings in the other large cities eventually learned from them (ibid). The reality that Muslim women were behind Jewish women in terms of emancipation hampered the general course of modernization. Hence, young Jewish women discovered it hard to initiate changes in their social existence and position. This condition began to change by the final stages of World War I and the British occupation of Iraq. During that period, the course of modernization sped up and modernization finally began, along with the start of secularization among younger Jewish generations, specifically the literate class. Even though, the standpoint towards women lingered on superficially conservative, Jewish women were previously enjoying a degree of freedom within their domestic domain, much akin to the women of Europe (Wolfowitz, 2004). “The Jewish women enjoyed a respectable status at home, and she indeed was required to take care of herself and to be meticulous about her dress. Her splendor should be in her neat, simple, clean and modest clothing. Her dress should cover her body from head to toe: so that no flesh would be visible apart from her face, neck and the palms of her hands (Sehayek, 2004, 2)”. The requirement to wrap the body was so strict that she was disallowed from taking out her socks in her home, even on blistering days or in old age (ibid). Writer David Sassoon (1955) emphasized in his book entitled Masa Bavel or Travel in Babylon that in premature days, girls are arranged for marriage at the age of nine and boys at fifteen. Benjamin the Second, who travelled in Baghdad in the middle part of the nineteenth century, disclosed the practice of marrying daughters at the age of eight to ten, and sons at the age of eighteen to twenty. He furthered that the government decreed establishing a three-pronged structure for the age of marriage: daughters of the noble or wealthy class should not be married before the age of ten; daughters of the middle class are prohibited to marry before they get to the age of eleven; and daughters of the lowest class or the poor are not permitted to marry before they get to the age of twelve; the inferior the economic stage of the family the higher the marrying age. He continued to explain: “And if the maiden does not get married until the age of fifteen she has no hope of marriage, because she would be considered an old maid… also a widow is likely to remain without a man until she dies… (105)” It was moreover revealed to him: “there are about 400-500 Jewish widows in the city of Baghdad with no hope of getting married… (Sassoon, 1955, 105)” IV. The Gradual Emancipation Because of the fortunate spread of modern education from the West in the latter part of the nineteenth century, the status of Jewish women gradually but persistently improved. It started with the construction of the Alliance Boys School of Baghdad in 1864, from which a group of educated graduates instigated changes for their female colleagues, specifically in the sectors of education and culture. In 1893, these educated graduates launched the first Alliance Girls School in Baghdad; with its inauguration, the enhancements in the condition and position of Jewish women were advanced (Sehayek, 2004). With the launching of the British directive, it was impossible to stop Western influence. Slow but sure reforms impacted lifestyles and clothing, specifically the removal of the veil. In 1929, Ya’acov Galyly (1929) claimed: “Like local women, the Hebrew woman in Baghdad is still wearing a veil to cover her face and an abaya, when she leaves home. The married woman wears an izar, an overcoat which covers her entire body…(6)” On the contrary, Abraham Rozen (1932) stated in 1932: “… during the last ten years young Jewish girls stopped covering their faces like their Muslim neighbors and their female ancestors. However, many women, especially from the lower classes, have not abandoned this custom. But, they belong to the minority… (6)” The deep-seated impact of modernization gave impetus for Baghdadi Jewish women to remove their customary attire. With the British command, Jewish men started to recognize women who espoused outside western traditions in fashion and etiquette, and eventually women were demanded to become accustomed to other western customs and behaviors (Reinhart, 2004). References Coke, R. (1925). The Heart of the Middle East. Great Britain . Ettinger, A. (1970). The Expedition to Mesopotamia. Ha-Or1 , 2. Galyly, Y. (1929). Letters from Baghdad. Ha-Aretz , 6. Moller-Lanstet, A. (1981). History of Womens Fashion in Baghdad. In S. Moreh, Studies on the History of the Iraqi Jewry and their Culture (pp. 203-227). Yehuda: Merkaz Moreshet Yahdut Bavel. Reinhart, A. K. (2004). Reconstruction and Constitution Building in Iraq. Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law , 765+. Rozen, A. (1932). A Letter from Baghdad. Ba-maaleh , 6. Sassoon, D. (1955). Travel in Babylonia. Jerusalem. Sehayek, S. (2004). Changes in the Social Status of Urban Jewish Women in Iraq as the Nineteenth Century Turned. Women in Judaism , 1+. Wolfowitz, P. (2004). Women in the New Iraq. U.S. Department of Defense Speeches , 1+. Read More