Muslim Women and Social Justice - A WOW! e-Brief
WORLD NEIGHBORS WORK WITH MUSLIM COMMUNITIES
World Neighbors works in many areas where Muslim communities exist, including villages in the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Nepal, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Kenya and Tanzania.
World Neighbors works at the community level partnering with villages to assess needs, identify problems and determine solutions. Some activities include food and fuel production, natural resource management, savings and credit groups, family planning, community health and child nutrition. Activities used vary from program to program based on a particular area’s needs, but always integrate gender equity and promote women’s voices in decision-making.
The gap between what the Qur’an offers as guidance for its followers and what communities understand as practice is regularly seen by Nina Hernidiah, World Neighbors program officer in Indonesia. “The big challenge for Muslim women in our area is related to decision making in their families. Most Muslims believe that the father or the husband has the right to decide everything regarding the family. If the wife doesn’t agree with the decision, people think she is mistaken and say she is a bad wife. But they forget that the Qur’an states that marriages should be based on the principles of justice, kindness and shared decisions between the husband and wife.”
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Hernidiah notes that this lack of understanding of the Qur’an happens in both rural and urban areas, but that women in urban settings often have more access to information and as a result have more opportunity to learn and discuss decisions and concerns with their fathers or husbands.
World Neighbors integrates gender equity work throughout our programming. The goal is to generate awareness, develop and strengthen positive relations between men and women and establish strong community values. This is accomplished by promoting an open dialogue between community members, both men and women.
Women’s involvement benefits the entire family. As gender equity is achieved, women begin to participate more in family issues and decision-making on issues like education for children, the age of marriage and the number of children to have. When women achieve literacy they become more aware of their position and their rights and have the confidence to act on that knowledge.
Helping to raise women’s basic awareness of the rights of Muslim women and addressing gender equity is also a way that World Neighbors works with Muslim women. "We discuss what gender is, what occurs in our area related to gender and what we can do to change it," explains Hernidiah, describing some of the groups that she and local partners of World Neighbors have helped to facilitate in Indonesia.
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In West Africa, World Neighbors area representative Fatoumata Batta has noted that Muslim women in the communities she works in often don’t become involved in programs when they are first begun. To change this, Batta has begun initiating contact with Muslim community leaders, working to win their support for women’s involvement, and to show how equal participation of women benefits the entire community.
An example of ways that World Neighbors has tailored programs to respond to village needs is the existence of interest-free credit programs in Tanzania. This is a huge step, providing communities, especially women, an initial opportunity to becoming financially self-sustaining. As interest is prohibited, these credit programs offer individuals access to small loans that are compatible with Islamic practice.
Another example is World Neighbors work with local partners on non-formal education for girls. In the village of Amauja, in Bihar, India, our partner runs a school for Dalit and Muslim girls. In a village where the literacy rate is less than 10 percent and girls are not sent to formal school, girls like 14-year-old Raziya study English, math, health and hygiene, Hindi, child development and the philosophy and history of India. Before this educational option was available, only the boys in Raziya's family went to school.
Now, Raziya is one of 30 girls in her class and she wants to be a teacher, just like her teacher and mentor, Kamini Rani. Raziya loves school and has dreams for the future. She says that what her community needs are more schools and skill training so that teenagers can be educated and can earn money to help their families. She also mentions her wish for a toilet at the school, which would make it easier for the girls. (Raziya is pictured in the foreground, with Kamini standing behind her.) An important aspect of World Neighbors approach is the additional work partners do with families. Without their support and involvement, the girls would not be able to attend school. Parents participate in monthly meetings to talk about the progress that the girls are making in school, and to discuss other social issues like early marriage, family communication and gender discrimination.
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World Neighbors work in Muslim communities is one example of the way that we strive to build on the strengths and resources that communities already have, and partner with them, when appropriate, to question and find good solutions to challenges. It is a process that takes a commitment to time and involvement, and to gradually shifting roles as villagers gain more skills and confidence. This process is also an important path to social change that benefits poor and isolated people.
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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 by Natalie Elwell / World Neighbors
2. Photo by Linda Jo Stern / World Neighbors
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Women in Muslim Communities: An Overview
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A WOW! e-Brief
Work of Women @ World Neighbors
September 2007
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