A Muslim Woman's Day Reflection: We Do Not Require your Savior

March 24, 2017



Dear Western World,


The notion of being smugly superior lies in an ability to claim the, "Saving of our Grace." It must be understood that within Islam lies an ability for women to lead self-determined, and, fulfilling lives.  Though many Muslims and the countries that we reside in have not delivered, we prefer not to feign away from the problem, and, are well able to address the problem ourselves.  Muslim women are well-bodied and able to reclaim their history.  We do not require assistance in looking to our foundations and request that progression and ownership in the addressing of your own problems be made.

Suppression that is cultural or historical has little basis in the Quran and is inconsistent with the teachings of our Prophet Muhammad who was a feminist.  He was radical in his times for his principled reasoning as to the equality of women and men and active steps were taken to improve the status and role of women in Arabia during his own lifetime.  In his (PBUH) Last Sermon delivered we are told, “You have certain rights over women but they have certain rights over you.” Women, he said, are your “partners and helpers.” In one of his sayings, Muhammad says, “The best men are those who are best to their wives. " His very example in the relationships that he held within marriage were also to strong women who took on leadership roles during their lifetimes.

Moreover, women in seventh century Arabia had rights not extended to most women in the West until more recent centuries.   This was referenced by a Professor Jamila Hussain of the University of Technology, Sydney, whom upon tracing women's rights within history, decided to convert to Islam.  Additionally, the cultural norm of burying baby girls alive  due to it being seen as a financial burden on the family was strongly outlawed.   Rights of divorce and inheritance were given and clearly stipulated in the Quran. For those reasons, if a women failed to marry the choice of starvation and prostitution no longer became and option.

Muslim feminism has given the opportunity for several female heads of state, prime ministers, and state secretaries such as Lala Shovkat of Azerbaijan, Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan, Mame Madior Boye of Senegal, Tansu Çiller of Turkey, Kaqusha Jashari of Kosovo, and Megawati Sukarnoputri of Indonesia. In Bangladesh, Khaleda Zia was elected the country's first female prime minister in 1991, and served as prime minister until 2009, when she was replaced by Sheikh Hasina.

Western discourse has consistently argued that the hijab is not a symbol of freedom, but one of oppression.  However, research suggests that contrary to western notions, when Muslim women choose to wear the hijab as a way of showing self-control, power and agency. Often it is worn as a way of promoting their own feminist ideals by challenging men in taking control of the way in which they are viewed as, "sexualized objects." Sometimes it is simply worn as an act of worship for one's own spiritual quest.  It becomes oppression when the choice to wear is not their own.  It can also be said that there is nothing liberating in wearing next to nothing.  Nor is there compulsion within the religion of Islam.

The United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that over three-quarters of the 4 million refugees from Syria are actually women and children. But protecting the most vulnerable is not on the list of priorities for  conservatives within the U.S.A.

By telling us that Muslim women need saving is an indictment of a mindset that has justified all manner of foreign interference, including military invasion, in the name of rescuing women from Islam.  A moral crusade to rescue oppressed Muslim women has justified all manner of intervention from the legal to the military and reduced Muslim women to a stereotyped cultural icon that has been alienated.

Nor, can the defending of the rights of Muslim women abroad as being offered as a rationale for military intervention be reconciled with the increase of hate crimes committed within the U.S.A.  As it currently stands, Muslim women are being assaulted both verbally and physically as well as being held back from positions of power and in progression within this society.  We are told foreign names, in particular, Muslim names are less employable.  Political views that are also held will be used and targeted against us on the very same foreign soil that is somehow projected in the Media as the very same being that is protecting us.  Ironically,  women in some Muslims countries make up a bigger percentage of engineering and medical faculties than women do in the U.S.A. For her part, Malala who was oppressed by the talibanization of Pakistan is now speaking against U.S. policy.

A statistic compiled by the World Health  organization (WHO) reveals 1 in 3 (33%) women are survivors of sexual violence or intimate partner violence.  This figure is actually low when encompassing all forms of sexual violence, including physical sexual harassment and, what many would consider, innocuous assault.  Those things do fall on the sexual assault spectrum, and they are traumatizing to varying degrees depending on the situation and individual. Bottom line, they are unwanted, nonconsensual sexual contact and it is not just Muslim women that need rescuing.  Women of colored minorities are reportedly missing within the U.S.A and incidences are on the rise.  When will the injustice against all women be a focal point and when will all women work for the sake of each other?  A Woman's March was held globally and conservative males in the U.S.A. are determining the rights to be held by women in the workplace environment.  Oppression is oppression and we need to see the end of all injustice and harm. Muhammad Ali Jinnah once said this quote and it still stands today:

“No nation can rise to the height of glory unless your women are side by side with you. We are victims of evil customs. It is a crime against humanity that our women are shut up within the four walls of the houses as prisoners. There is no sanction anywhere for the deplorable condition in which our women have to live.”

Sincerely,

#MuslimWomenAgainstOppression