The role and perception of women in Islam is a concept with multiple personalities and interpretations. The only truly accurate concept is dictated in the Quran, the word of God, as believed by Muslims, and the hadith, sayings of Prophet Muhammad. The abominable images and facts fed into Western, corporate media expose the gross mistreatment of women in so-called Islamic countries. An appalling aberration by the media is that they fail to distinctly state that the images of oppressions are the product of corrupted, patriarchal regimes and governments. This renders the uncritical consumers of American corporate media unaided in discerning fact from fiction.
To understand the role of women in the religion, it is necessary to understand how both genders have been defined in Islam. In the second Sura, or chapter, of the Quran, God recounts the story of Eve and Adam. After consuming from the forbidden tree, they each repented to God for their own acts and were forgiven. The Quran does not include any allusion to Eve having tempted Adam into disobeying God and being responsible for their downfall. The significance is that both woman and man were held equally accountable. In addition, the Quran states, \[God] shall not lose sight of the labor [of] any of you who labors in [God's] way, be it man or woman; each of you is equal to the other."" There, in the written words of God, it articulates the gender equality in Islam.
Islamic Awareness Week: Demystifying the Faith
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The most popular, and visible, controversy about women and Islam is the subject of attire. In the Quran it is stated that women should protect their modesty and refrain from showing their zeenah, charms or beauty to men. When in public, their modest dress will grant them recognition as decent women and prevent harassment. The principle in these verses is that of modesty and respect between men and women. More importantly, the inherent meaning is that it should also grant women a right to be respected and protected from harassment. Many Muslim American women who cover explain the act as liberating and powerful. They interpret this as a privilege to be identified as Islamic and have all the respect and honor that comes with such an identity.
In the Quran it is stated that there is ""no compulsion in religion."" God gave humans a brain and heart so that we could think and make decisions for ourselves. Thus, both women and men have the liberty and free will to make choices as they wish, regarding anything and everything, with the understanding of what God has advised and the consequences of those decisions.
Why is it then that the public perception of Muslim women, regardless of where they reside, is of exploited, helpless people whose cloaks are the nooses of their beliefs? Because that is the image corporate media have painted about Muslims and their religion. Of course the women of Afghanistan are oppressed, but not because of their religion. The restrictions and consequences the Taliban have placed on females is a direct affront to their right and role in Islam as many Muslims interpret it. It is an obscene product of chauvinistic tyranny against Afghan women.
Sexism exists all over the world, whether in Muslim-populated countries or elsewhere. Women have not been given the equal treatment they deserve, even in First World nations such as the United States. Though all the different examples of oppression are not the same, there is a similar underlying concept of gender inequality.
In a recent visit to UW-Madison, Belquis Ahmadi, an Afghan women's rights advocate, shared the history of Afghanistan and the way women fit into that history. Before the Taliban stole power, she and many other well-educated women were fighting for women's equality. She continues to pursue that work even after fleeing the country. According to Ahmadi, she and other Afghan women's rights activists have not been included in the conferences for negotiating a government in a post-Taliban era, which are being held all over the world. The United States and the United Nations have distributed invitations to these conferences. The very groups that are quick to cry out against the Taliban because of their mistreatment of women are the same groups refusing to allow women to participate in global political activity.
The national press relays the information of these corrupt leaders and takes their exploited version of Islam as what is commonly practiced. Only after all these information tirades do these ""news"" sources tap Muslims to share their perspective. There is a responsibility to consumers of the media to look beyond what they see to recognize the difference between a religion and the acts of corrupt men who pervert the concept of religion as a weapon against women.
