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GS11: Religion in culture and society - AssignmentSubmitted to: A/P Geoffrey BenjaminSubmitted by: Lim Ching Wu Leslie (Tutorial Group T3)Date: 15 March 2002Rights of Muslim WomenThe September 11
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event has drawn the world’s attention to Islam, and inparticular, the lives of Afghan Muslims under the Taliban rule. In this essay, Iwill discuss the oppression of Muslim women during the austere andpuritanical Taliban regime, their lives after the fall of the Taliban and the rightsof Muslim women in other parts of the world. I have chosen this approach todiscuss the rights of Muslim women as I see great differences between thevarious interpretations of Islamic law with regards to Muslim women. This isespecially so when one compares the Taliban’s view of women’s rights to therights of Muslim women in the rest of the Islamic world. I will thus giveexamples of suppression of Muslim women living under the Taliban rule, soas to illustrate the differences in the rights of these women, and of those livingin other parts of the world. This will also enable me to discuss the topicthrough current situations, rather than simply giving a normative account ofwhat Muslim women’s rights should be. [This
 
is a good start!]The fall of the Taliban government marked the [relative?] liberation of Muslimwomen in Afghanistan. This is as the Taliban, a fundamentalist Islamic militia,had targeted women’s rights as the first priority since first coming into powerin 1992. The Taliban cited the Shari’a
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as their authority on, as well as basis oflaws passed with regard to Muslim women. Under the iron curtain of theTaliban, women were deprived of full participation in the social, economic,political and cultural aspects of life.Women were deprived of their basic rights to be human.
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[If using endnotes,
format 
them as such, using the ‘Insert footnote’ command. Also, why are youusing both footnotes and endnotes?] Women were forced to wear burqas
II.
Brightly coloured clothing and cosmetics were banned as women are notallowed to attract males. Women were also banned from wearing shoes withheels as the clicking sounds of their feet were thought to corrupt males.Besides restriction on women’s physical appearances, women were alsobanned from shaking hands with men who were not relatives, laughing loudlyand raising their voices in public. These were thought to lure men intocorruption. It was also compulsory to paint all windows of their homes
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andthey were disallowed to appear in the balconies of their houses. Basically,women were restricted from communicating with the public when they were athome.Women were also deprived of their rights to travel. Their activities wererestricted to their homes only, unless they were accompanied by a mahram (aclose male relative such as father, brother or husband) in public.
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A woman
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Shari’a is the sacred law of Islam. The word originally meant ‘the way to a watering place’,but came to be used of the path of God’s commandments. It is derived from four main source:Qur’an,
sunna 
,
ijma 
and
qiyas 
.
 
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was stoned to death for not traveling with a male relative.
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As riding onbicycles and motorcycles were totally banned, they were allowed to ride in ataxi only when accompanied by a mahram. They had to travel in public busesdesignated for “females only”. The girls in a state orphanage in Kabul werenot allowed outside since September 1996 till the time of report in September1997.
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 Women were deprived of the right to work. There was a complete ban onwomen working outside their home. Prior to the Taliban ruling, 50%, 70% and40% of the women population were employed as civilian government workers,school teachers and doctors in Kabul respectively.
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[Badly put: 40% of Afghanwomen were
not 
doctors!]
 
Thousands were laid off in April 2000, and theywere not paid their monthly wages before the layoff.
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This posed a greatthreat to the survival of women who were already living in penury.Women were deprived of the right to health. They were banned from seekingmedical attention from male doctors. On 27 April 2000, a dentist was whippedfor attending to a female patient. Moreover, only a few female doctors andnurses were allowed to work in hospitals in Kabul. Thus, their access tomedical care was very limited. In certain hospitals where doctors wereallowed to see female patients, they were disallowed treatment if the womenwere not accompanied by mahram.
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This was a serious problem for anestimated number of 30,000 widows in Kabul, who did not have male relativesto accompany them.Women were deprived of the right to education. Women were banned fromstudying at any educational institution and all girls’ schools were closed down.In Kabul University, although there were fourteen facilities faculties, all thestudents were male.
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Girls’ schools, such as the Kabul Marim Girls’ School,were converted into seminaries.
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 Women were deprived of the right to recreation. All women’s sporting andrecreational facilities were banned. They were also banned from attendingsocial gatherings, appearing on television and radio.This list of rights Afghan Muslim women were deprived of goes on and on.They faced grave consequences for failing to abide these laws. Publicwhipping, beating, verbal abuse and even death were the punishments givento women guilty of these crimes. [Sin
 
ce, as you already implied, these actionswere virtually unique even for the Muslim world, you still need to link theseabuses with
religion 
, for the purposes of this essay. Which
particular 
variety ofIslam was behind this, and how did it come to be actually
practised 
?]In the shadows of the carnage of war lies a new hope for Muslim women inAfghanistan. Afghan women showed their faces in public for the first time inyears. And those who stuck with the traditional costume did it by choice.Feminists and human rights activists are working towards restoring the rights
II
Burqa is a voluminous garment which completely shrouds the body under thick layers offabric, leaving only a small mesh opening for breathing and seeing.
 
 
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of Afghan women. One crucial step taken is the appointment of two women,Sima Samar and Suhaila Seddiq, into the interim government. In a speech atGeorgetown University, President Ahmad Karzai, said: "If anybody wants tobe president,
she 
is welcome!" These words signified the remaking of AfghanMuslim women’s rights.The practice of Islam differs in Muslim communities throughout the world. Theinterpretations of Islamic holy texts, such as the Qur’an, Shari’a and Hadith,vary between these communities. It would be a difficult task to investigate theIslamic ideal rights of women in these texts. Therefore, I will continue mydiscussion by citing the practice of women’s rights in parts of the Muslim worldinstead of rebutting the Taliban’s interpretations.Iranian Muslim women suffer similar [but far less drastic] fates as their Afghancounterparts. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, fundamentalists, led byAyatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, seized control. The measure of success of theIslamic Revolution was the depth of suppression of women’s rights andactivities.
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Khomeini and his followers had crafted laws and policies based onwomen-hating principles. These strict laws and policies are still in effect.Women who do not cover their hair and body and/or use cosmetics face awide range of punishments. Examples of punishments include verbalreprimands, lashes with a whip, even imprisonment ranging from a month to ayear.
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In Tehran, witnesses reported that approximately ten young womenwere arrested and placed into a patrol car for improper veiling or wearingclothing that did not conform to Islamic regulations.
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An international studyshowed that in urban areas, women make-up only 9.5 percent of theworkforce, and 8.8 percent in rural areas.
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There is discrimination inemployment and promotion against women. The discussion of women’sissues and rights outside the interpretation of Shari’a is illegal.
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Advocates ofwomen’s rights are subjected to imprisonment and lashing for violations.
15
 Based on a survey by Central Bureau of Statistics in 1990, the 200 millionMuslims (87.3% of the country’s population) in Indonesia, is the biggestMuslim community in the world.
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There is a stark contrast in Muslim women’srights between Indonesian women and Arab women. This is due to the factthat Indonesia is not an Islamic state. Indonesian Muslim women areeducated to their ability. A male relative need not accompany them when theyare outside.
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In cites, women form the backbone of the labour-intensivemanufacturing sector. They can be found in the employ of private firms as wellas working in the fields of rural areas. Perhaps the best evidence of protectedwomen’s rights is that the president of Indonesia, Megawati Sukarnoputri, is aMuslim woman. [Some might say that her Islam is just nominal.]In the Britain and America, the number of women converts outnumbers themen. Statistics show that there is an estimated number of 10 000 to 20 000women converts in Britain.
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[This is a fascinating statistic, and needs somediscussion. But it also points to an important feature: that most
developments 
 in Islam are now coming from the ‘West’.] The egalitarian characteristic ofIslam appeals to them. These women are able to believe in Islam withoutbeing deprived any of their rights. An example that manifests their rights is the
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