ISLAM AND POLITICS

Women in Islam: Are they Really Oppressed and Degraded?

The issue of women in Islam is a topic much misunderstood and distorted due partly to the influence of stereotypes. Negative perception of the East as described by Edward Said in Orientalism, sometimes leads Western feminists to have a negative perception about women in Islam. As Leila Ahmed (1982: 522) points out, "Just as Americans know that Arabs are backward, they know also with the same flawless certainty that Muslim women are terribly oppressed and degraded". Therefore, there is an assumption that subordination and oppression of women in Islam are because of the primary source of Islamic religion, namely the Quran.

The status of women in Islam can be properly understood only when we know their status during the pre-Islamic period. What was the status of women in pre-Islamic society? Was it better or worse than in the Islamic period?

It is a well-known fact that the condition of women in general before Islam was dismal. According to Jawad (1998: 1), the history of human civilisations testifies that a woman, who gives birth to man as mother, was humiliated, treated harshly and reduced to the position of being 'a maid' rather than a dignified woman. Furthermore, women were viewed as the embodiment of sin, misfortune, disgrace and shame, and they had no rights or position in society whatsoever. These inhuman practices were prevalent at the time in most ancient society.

In the Arabian Peninsula, the situation of women prior to Islam was markedly worse. Women in this time of ignorance before Islam (Jahiliyya) were in subjugation either to their kinsmen or their husbands. They were considered a chattel to be possessed, to be bought, to be sold or to be inherited. The Arabs in jahiliyya used to bury their daughters alive.

Thus in the pre-Islamic period, we can presumably say that a woman was classed, not as a person but as a thing, divisible like property; she was an object of scorn and contempt. Thus, with the advent of Islam, is there any improvement of women status in Islam?

Quran has much to say about the position of women in Islam; there is even a chapter of the Quran which is named the Women (an-Nisa). The familiar concept of women in the Quran is the concept of equality. The equality, responsibility and accountability for both man and women are a well-developed theme in the Quran. Understanding the equality between men and women in the sight of God is not limited to purely spiritual, religious issues, but is the basis for equality in all temporal aspect of human life.

According to the Quran, men and women have the same spiritual human nature. The Quran states that both sexes were deliberate and independent and there is no mention of Eve being created out of Adam?s rib or anything else, even the issue of which sex was created first is not specified.

The Quran, in more than one verse, specifies that whoever does good deeds, and is a believer whether male or female, will be given an abundant reward by God.

In addition, there is no restriction in Islamic law that says a woman cannot work nor have a profession. In fact, in truly Islamic society, there must be women physicians, women nurses, women teachers and so forth.

Thus it is clear that woman?s position was improved when Islam came. The principal aim of the Quran was the removal of certain abuses to which woman was subjected. As Fazlur Rahman (1985: 282) writes "there is no evidence that a woman was regarded as below a man in any essential human sense".

However, there are some verses in the Quran which talk about men?s superiority. For example: ?Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means (4:34)?.

Commenting on these verses above, feminist-Muslim modernists such as Fatima Mernissi, Amina Wadud and Ali Engineer, suggest that the Quranic verses above should be reinterpreted based on the modern era. Because the Quran was revealed in the light of history and against an Arabian social-historical background, according to Rahman (1982: 6), we must understand the import or problem to which it was the answer. This means that interpretation of the Quran, including the Quranic verses on men?s superiority, should consider the context of any text in the Quran. This includes the general context of Islam, its teaching and its worldview. In Wadud?s words, to comprehensively understand how Quran describes women's status, Muslims should interpret all Quranic verses which contains any reference to women, and analyse them.

If principally the Quran tries to promote and improve the status of women in its era, and women enjoyed their position in early Islamic era, why does the stereotypical image of Muslim women as veiled, downtrodden and subservient occur in Modern era? It is hard to answer this question; however, it is important to note that besides our need to reinterpret the Holy Text, which was suggested by feminist-Muslim modernists, it is better to consider what Kabbani (1989: 16) said: "...in Islamic Society, as in the West, the oppression of women is usually more the result of poverty and lack of education and other opportunities, than of religion".

Finally, muslim women in all Muslim societies should be aware that the Quran treats women as equal to men in all essential rights and duties. God makes no distinction between man and women. They are to be equally rewarded or punished for their deeds. Thus, status of women in Muslim society, whether they oppressed or well treated, is mostly dependent on Muslim women themselves. Kabbani is wise to encourage consideration of factors other than religion where women in Islamic societies appear to be oppressed.

posted by Alin at 6:48 AM