Muslim Women and Social Justice - A WOW! e-Brief

 

WOMEN IN MUSLIM COMMUNITIES: OVERVIEW

The image we often have in the West of Muslim women is of a veiled, submissive woman who is confined to her home and under the control of a husband, father or brother. We envision someone without opinions or voice.

 

While some Muslim women do experience severe discrimination, this often stems more from local culture than from religious belief. The vast reach of Islam through many countries and regions has created a religion and religious culture that is very diverse and complex—and about which it is difficult to generalize. Estimates of the total number of Muslims in the world vary greatly. According to CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations), there are approximately 1.2 billion people of Islamic faith worldwide. This is about 22 percent of the world’s population, making Islam the second largest religion in the world.

 

Scholars and other religious leaders offer varied interpretations of Islam as it relates to religious practice in daily life. As with most other religions, women’s status and role within this religious community is influenced by religious texts, but also to a large extent by history and cultures of the Islamic world.

 

The challenges and gender discrimination that Muslim women living in Muslim societies encounter are in many ways similar to those of women in other societies. Among them are poverty and illiteracy, which affect the role women have within their communities and households. For example, women may lack decision-making authority and therefore have a limited voice in issues concerning children, education and finances, but this is not necessarily based on Islam. Other challenges are more specific to Islamic life and are described below.

 

World Neighbors programs work to lessen gender inequity and improve the ability of women of all religions and cultures to participate equally with men in decision making and to benefit equally from community resources.

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Islamic Beliefs and Texts

The sacred text of Islam is the Qur’an (Koran) and is considered by Muslims to contain the revelations of God to Muhammad (570-632 BCE), God’s final prophet. As with the Bible for Christians, interpretations of the Qur’an vary greatly from area to area, between different groups and among different scholars and interpreters.

 

In addition to the Qur’an, the words and deeds of Islamic prophet Muhammad are considered another source for religious belief and practice. Sunni Muslims also observe the Five Pillars of Islam, which represent duties that unite Muslims together in community. The Shi’a Muslims follow a set of eight ritual practices that evidence some similarities to the Five Pillars. In some cultures and countries, sharia, or Islamic law, also guides many aspects of daily life.

 

The Influence of History and Culture

Because Islam is so widespread and found in numerous countries, the form that it takes in a particular location is influenced both by a region’s culture and history. It can also vary by social class and the particular sect of Islam that is practiced. Many of the practices that others may criticize and point to as religious practices are in fact historical ones that predate the rise of Islam. Many of these were even practiced by early Christians and Jews in the same regions.

An example of the interaction between religion and culture is female genital mutilation, also called female genital cutting or female circumcision, which existed in some African societies prior to the introduction of Islam. It is therefore mentioned in the Qur’an, but scholars and women’s activists still debate whether or not Muhammad condoned or discouraged the practice. Most agree that it is not endorsed in the Qur’an, and it is not practiced by most Muslims.

 

Other examples, including child marriage and polygamy, also existed prior to the spread of Islam. While polygamy is generally understood to be permitted in Islam, it has very strict rules that are supposed to govern its practice. These include its practice only by men (not women), who are allowed to marry up to four women, but only if they can provide sufficient and equal financial and emotional support for each wife. In reality, only 1 percent to 3 percent of Islamic marriages are polygamous and it is even outlawed in some Islamic countries.

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Islam also provides strict rules regarding widow inheritance, a practice in which a widowed woman remarries within the family of her late husband, usually a brother or close male relative. In reality, however, the rules dictated in the Qur’an concerning the requirement of the widow’s consent or her exercise of choice in her inheritor are often not followed. Child marriage, polygamy and widow inheritance all contribute to health concerns (among others), and put women and girls at higher risk for such diseases as HIV/AIDS (for more information see, for example, WOW!’s e-brief on child marriage – http://www.workofwomen.org/2007-06-1-Overview.php).

 

Though divorce is strongly discouraged in the Qur’an, high rates of divorce for Muslim women in some rural communities also affect women both economically and socially. The shariah allows either men or women to petition for divorce, though in practice it tends to be easier for men to do so. According to Sunni Islamic law, men can initiate divorce through talaq or triple talaq, a process by which men need only state their decision to divorce three times. Interpretations vary about whether time needs to pass between each pronouncement, whether outside mediation or counseling is required and whether statements must be made before witnesses. In any case, because of the division of responsibilities and differences in access to resources, divorced women are in far worse situations economically than are divorced men.

 

Islamic law prohibits interest on loans, which poses another challenge for women in terms of access to credit. In some areas, in order to receive a loan, women must get a license from their husbands permitting them to do so. In urban areas, men of moderate and upper levels of income have the option of working with lenders in complex arrangements by which they get credit and pay extra fees that are not technically interest. However, this avenue is rarely open in rural areas or for women. The lack of available interest-free credit can often limit possible income-generating activities.

 

Violence against women is a widespread problem in Muslim communities, as it is in other communities. In the Qur’an, husbands are allowed to use physical violence against their wives under very limited circumstances. But violence is far more widespread than even those permitted occasions when it is used as a “last option” to control bad behavior. Because women’s sexuality is also very controlled both culturally and in the Qur’an, the practice of honor killings of women continues to be a problem in parts of the Muslim world. While most Islamic scholars maintain that rape is condemned in the Qur’an and there is no shame for the victim of such a crime, in practice few rapes are reported and they are extremely difficult to prosecute because of laws requiring witnesses.

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The mandating of the veil for women (or banning of it in some Western settings) by some governments is an area of great controversy, even within Muslim societies. There are some scholars of Islam who believe that the Qur’an requires it for women; others focus more on the expectation of modesty that is required of both men and women and believe that a veil, along with other bodily coverings, is voluntary and only appropriate in certain cultural settings, depending on local customs. The veil is also often associated more with poor women who have not been able to access education.

 

Finally, purdah, or practices that prevent men from seeing women, is strongly rooted in history and culture rather than Islam as a religion. Although the Afghan Taliban instituted women’s physical seclusion and the use of the burqa, a garment that completely covers a woman’s body and face (though sometimes leaving the eyes exposed), most Muslim societies do not require or promote it.

 

Illiteracy and Poverty

Statistics show that women living in Muslim countries have low literacy rates. For example, a 2005 study conducted in India found that Muslim women had a 22 percent literacy rate, which was lower than the national average (25 percent). The lack of social opportunity, education and widespread poverty are pressing issues for women in a number of communities, and this can lead to women being taken advantage of and denied basic rights such as educating their children, clean water and sanitation. Educating women can increase their socio-economic and political status.

 

The religion of Islam, however, states that both sexes should aspire to seek knowledge and education. In addition to affecting a woman’s quality of life, as well as that of her children’s, illiteracy can also contribute to a lack of understanding of the teachings of Islam and the Qur'an. In fact, many Islamic women activists note the importance of education in helping women gain a voice in decision making. Because political and social interpretations of Islamic belief and practice can be very conservative and harmful with regards to women’s rights and status, they believe that literacy and education for both women and men are important in order to prevent the misuse of Islamic texts to support discrimination.

 

In Islam, men have a moral and legal obligation to ensure the care and maintenance of their families. A woman has the right to any property or business she may own or inherit as well as to any money she earns. Because it is a husband’s duty to provide for the family, any personal assets a woman has are therefore her own. However, many women are unaware of these rights due to illiteracy. Grassroots level education is a key factor in alleviating discrimination through the empowerment of women.

 

The Strength of Community Cohesion

Due in part to its richness of meanings, Islam has become a widespread religion practiced in areas all over the world by all sorts of people. Islam is growing worldwide by almost 3 percent a year.

 

Islam places a great deal of emphasis and importance on establishing harmony among communities, helping community members and creating social networks. For example, a common cultural practice is for family or community members to take in and care for orphans, both with and without blood ties.

 

Women can, and do, bring significant strengths to Muslim communities. In Islam, social cohesiveness, extended family and community are greatly emphasized. This sense of community adds to village efforts to promote development and find solutions to problems. When it is present, it can become a strong foundation for community development.

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This issue brief was researched by Feran Morgret, WOW! summer intern, who also conducted interviews and wrote early drafts. We would like to acknowledge the contributions made by Nina Hernidiah, program officer in World Neighbors Indonesia; Mwanakombo  Noordin, doctoral student; and World Neighbors headquarters staff Natalie Elwell, Heather Janbay and Peter Gubbels.

Photo credits for this page (from top to bottom):

1. Photo source: www.milligazette.com

2. Photo by Natalie Elwell / World Neighbors

3. Photo copyright and courtesy of Christian Lagat

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A WOW! e-Brief

Work of Women @ World Neighbors

September 2007

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