Islamic Womens’ Rights Essay

Islam since its opening has maintained the claim of universality a message and a course of life applicable and appropriate to all peoples in all places and sentences. straight off more(prenominal) clearly than at any other point in the history of the Islamic tradition, this claim seems to be manifested through the presence of Islamic communities literally crosswise the world. The Islamic population is estimated in the range of ace billion, approximately half of whom argon women representing a great range of cultures, racial-ethnic identifications, interests, attitudes, and aspirations. sequence it may be rather daunting to attempt to generalize near Moslem women, it is nonetheless true that certain themes emerge with some system when one looks across the Islamic world. Muslims battle with and attempt to reconcile the certification of their heritage with the challenges of the modern world and the ongoing legacy of Western imperialism. Muslim women in all societies are k ey to these discussions, both subjects and objects in a very important and continuing debate about what it means to be a Islamic woman.Womens rights (both Islamic and constitutional) are under eternal debate, as are matters of seclusion and segregation, the descent of womens circumstances to fundamentalist religious pressures, and the role of women in political struggles for independence and economic promotion. slightly countries such(prenominal) as Egypt have stressed the grandness of womens command for the better part of the century. Others like Saudi Arabia have tho latterly begun to pass toward this goal.It is clear that oerall there is increased attention to the importance of education for Muslim females both as a right and a value in and of itself, and as an essential ingredient in the advancement of nations. As in many another(prenominal) a(prenominal) areas, it is also clear that enormous differences outlive educationally for women in urban and in rural areas, a w ave-particle duality that at least in the short run probably impart become even more pronounced (Carroll 85). There is also the study concern of womens employment in Muslim countries and the debate over which occupations are considered proper for women to pursue.In many countries shortages in the labor pressure are making it imperative for women to work, but the tide of traditionalism tends to assuage strongly in limiting those opportunities. In many countries increasing numbers game of women are engaged as wage earners, but they are express primarily to such occupations as teaching and medicine (Hussein and Radwan 12). The oil wealthiness of the Gulf states had led both to better education and to more work opportunities, although the conservative Islamic ethos has severely complicated the situation.Kuwait offers the greatest opportunities for womens employment, and Bahrain with its economic diversification is opening new doors for female employment (Hussein and Radwan 12). W hether because of or despite Islam or regimen policies, women across the Islamic world are becoming more economically active. This does non necessarily mean, of course, that they are press for increased work opportunities. Many women would prefer not to work, doing so only because of economic necessities and happy that the extra money earned means a more comfortable life for their families.Enhanced professional opportunity for women is not without its down side. Women in a number of cultures have come to understand that along with the societal and familial strains that occur when women work outside the family (including perceptions that men cannot support their families) is the reality of women taking on added responsibilities without the expectation that they go out be able to do less in other areas of their lives. And the relationship of economically and politically active women to the advancement of the state adds further strains for many women (Mintjes 17).In Iraq, for exa mple, womens liberation and enough integration into society is a part of the Bath party platform. But reforms in ain status laws lag behind the political rhetoric, adding to the burdens of women (Sanasarian 124-125). This is generally true across the Islamic world, and it means that these burdens will continue as long as there is no real resolve in the tension mingled with needing women for national development and not being able to accord them full status in society because of socio-religious restrictions (Rassam 99).The other issue is, undoubtedly, the question of womens dress which is one of the near pressing concerns of Islamic societies today. Sometimes the regimen in allegiance with the religious establishment and seeking its support insists on women wearing appropriate covering. In other instances governments are making all(prenominal) attempt to discourage the wearing of Islamic dress precisely because they consternation the rising power of extremist fundamentalism (Y eganeh 26-27).Today controversy over the governments ban on students wearing Islamic dress at the universities has become a major ideological and political issue. Islamic conservatives regularize that the Quran dictates the wearing of the turban, preferably with a kind of long short overcoat covering the body to the feet. The governments supreme educational council has recommended disciplinary action for any female students appearing in such dress. The debate has become a major one in the struggle between secularist ideology and Islamic revivalism in that country (Bahry 502).Besides, the question of have got control is a matter of major concern to many Muslim families. While a few of the ulama, if supported by state efforts, are saying that there is Islamic sanction for some preventive measures, the mass oppose any such control as un-Islamic. When young Iraki men and boys were being killed in the war with Iran, the government waged a turn tail stressing the role of women as mo thers. Contraceptives were no longer allowed at the same time that men were encouraged to take second wives for the purpose of having more children. clear there are differences in mens and womens attitudes on the issue of birth control. In Tunisia, for example, where legislation concerning women is generally seen to be more progressive than in many other countries, a survey showed that removed more women than men favored the use of contraceptives. Where official policy does not support the possibility of contraception more subtle measures are sometimes used. In Bahrain housing projects limit the number of bedrooms so that they are addressable only to families with two children (Bahry 509- 511).Finally, a word needs to be give tongue to about Muslim women and the rise of feminism. It cannot perhaps be emphasized alike strongly that whatever stand Islamic women may take on issues of education, employment, and equal opportunities in society, they have serious reservations about wha t they understand to be feminism in the Western context. For the most part they find it too individualistic, too removed from genuine cooperation between males and females, and too much trussed to forms of Western colonialism and imperialism.Sexual behavior that may go down an American womens liberationist as liberated, said one young Tunisian woman, may strike me as just another form of slavery, and a rather neurotic form at that (Megademeni 10). Muslim women and men together are electrostatic very much in the process of working out slip substance in which to affirm their Islamic identity as members of societies and nations moving into a new century. The issues they face will not be quickly or easily resolved.Women are not only faced by a number of conflicting pressures and claims on their allegiance, but find themselves speaking to a number of divers(prenominal) audiences their husbands and families, their Islamic sisters, their Western critics, the clerics or government a gencies answerable for determining many of the circumstances of their lives, themselves. There is little question that many women across the Islamic world are becoming increasingly apprised of the rights that belong to them within the Islamic system, as well as of themselves as key players in the movements that will continue to redefine the Islamic way of life.The responses they give to their own changing circumstances may vary with the different situations to which they are called to respond, and they may change fairly dramatically in the coterminous few years. But it is clear that whatever solutions are found to the issues that they face, for most women they will be discovered in conversation with other females as well as males in the Muslim community, and they will be in one form or another Islamic solutions.Works Cited Bahry, Louay. The newborn Saudi Woman Modernizing in an Islamic Framework. Middle East Journal. Vol. 34 4, 2002. Carroll, Lucy. Nizan-I-Islam Processes an C onflicts in Pakistans Programme of Islamisation, with Special Reference to the Position of Women. In Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics. Vol. 20 1992. Hussein, Freda and Radwan, Kamelia. The Islamic diversity and Women avocation for the Quranic Model. Freda Hussein, ed. , Muslim Women. parvenue York St. Martins Press, 1994. Megademeni, Negiba.Muslim Women Developing a conjecture of Islamic Feminism. Unitarian Universalist World. Vol.16 8, August 15, 1995. Mintjes, H. The Doctor and the Ladies A New Debate on Women and Islam in Pakistan. al-Mushir. Vol. 25 1993. Rassam, Amal. Revolution Within the Revolution? Women and the State in Iraq. Iraq The Contemporary State. New York St.Martins Press, 2002. Sanasarian, Eliz. The Womens Rights gesture in Iran. New York Praeger, 2001. Yeganeh, Nahid. Womens Struggles in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Azar Tabari and Nahid Yeganeh, eds. , In the Shadow of Islam The Womens Movement in Iran. London Zed Press, 1982.