Muslim women have often been stereotyped in westernized civilizations as heavily veiled women who do no more than tend to their household and children. According to Camilla Fawzi El-Sohl’s book titled Muslim women’s choices: religious belief and social reality, this is simply not true anymore as it pertains to the contemporary Muslim women. This concept of the Muslim women may have been true in the past or even true of certain groups in certain Muslim societies but it has little relevance to understanding the everyday lives of these Muslim women. Indonesia, with a population of over 238 million has the largest population of Muslims. Muslim women on the many islands of Indonesia have been scrutinized in the media and other westernized arenas. To fully understand the concept of the modern day Muslim women, you would have to analyze the history of Indonesia, the history of Islam, and the gender relations as it pertains to Islam. After examining those aspects, looking further into how Muslim women are viewed in society and westernized societies and also their own specified role in society can give a deeper overview of the misconceptions perpetuated today. Finally, paralleling these concepts in Indonesia with those of American Muslim women can fully advocate for ideas of Muslim women in the world. Adequate understanding of these aspects can further delve into the ways of Muslim women and their effects on their country.
Indonesia, according to Wikipedia, is officially called the Republic of Indonesia and is a country Southeast Asia an Oceania. Indonesia is comprised of 17, 508 islands and thirty three provinces. It is the world’s most populous country with over 238 million people and governs under a Republic, with an elected legislat...
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...ve as many rights as men but because the women do not have equal opportunities does not mean that they are living under means that are uncomfortable or wrong to them. The westernized depiction of these women leads us to believe these views and though there is an ideology of an Ideal” Islamic women” (El-Sohl) they are not living in a completely controlled lifestyle and there is some flexibility.
Works Cited
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Karim, Jamillah Asira. 2009. “American Muslim women: negotiating race, class, and gender within the Ummah”. New York and London: New York Univeristy Press.
“Indonesia”. Wikipedia. Retrieved June 13, 2011 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia).
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Muslim dress for females, as Emma Tarlo explains, is a matter of individual choice. Tied up in issues relating to belief, freedom, modesty, traditional diversity and beauty, British Muslim females are articulating themselves yet not without some setbacks along the way. View from within and outside the Muslim religion is mixed and sometimes, passionate, though Emma Tarlo is determined to expose long held beliefs that Muslim women are not free to make their own decisions. She shows that Muslim women are no different from women of any other religion, and orthodoxy is not exclusive to the Muslim religion yet it is stigmatised much more than any other.
The first religion and its views on women that will be discussed in this essay is Islam. Islam is a religions founded in Saudi Arabia almost two thousand years ago, by the prophet Muhammad. In fact, Muhammad dedicated much attention towards women in the Koran, the holy book of Islam. However, even though much was dedicated to women in the Koran, it was not dedicated to them in the sense of equality. Women in Islamic culture were apparently much lower on the totem pole than men, "The men are made responsible for the women, since God endowed them with certain qualities, and made them the bread earners...If you experience opposition from the women, you shall first talk to them, then [you may use such negative incentives as] deserting them in bed, then you may beat them (129)." Excerpt...
Deeb, Mary-Jane. Freedom House. Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa-Oman, 2010. http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=179 (accessed August 14, 2010)
Abu-Lughod, Lila. "Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological Reflections On Cultural Relativism And Its Others." American Anthropologist 104.3 (2002): 783-790. Print.
E. Anway, Carol, L (Dec 95) Daughters Of Another Path: Experiences Of American Women Choosing Islam. Missouri: Yawna Publications.
As an Arab American, a Muslim and a woman writer, Mohja Kahf challenges the stereotypes and misrepresentation of Arab and Muslim women. Her style is always marked by humor, sarcasm, anger and confrontation. “The Marvelous Women,” “The Woman Dear to Herself,” “Hijab Scene #7” and “Hijab Scene #5” are examples of Kahf’s anger of stereotypes about Muslim women and her attempts to fight in order to eradicate them, in addition to her encouragement to women who help her and fight for their rights.
Okin states that a culture “endorses and facilitates the control of men over women in various ways of life” (12). There are several rituals, matrimonial cultures, and property ownership that make it nearly impossible for women to live independently. Although certain cultures have myths that justify control over women, or “to blame and punish them for men’s difficulty in controlling their own sexual impulses,” (14) several global cultures do not suppress women. Okin does not provide readers with the women’s perspective on their supposable suppression through their culture. An example of how Okin’s claim is incorrect pertains to Middle Eastern women that participate in Islamic culture. Women are required to wear the Muslim headdress, also known as the hijab. Although most individuals would assume that women wearing the hijab are oppressed, treated poorer than Muslim men, and are a symbol of modesty, when in fact the Muslim women wear the hijab to affirm personal identity. Leila Ahmed, author of the Veil debate- Again, interviewed different American Muslim college students regarding whether they personally believe the hijab is required in the Qur’an or not and their personal feelings towards it. A particular opinion from a woman states that wearing the hijab “is a way of affirming my community and identity,” (153) and another women states, “I believe it’s a choice not an obligation. I wear it for the same reason that
In discussing the role of women in contemporary society there are three main areas that can be addressed. The perceptions of woman within contemporary Muslim societies. The status, position and role of woman in the Qur'an and in early Islam
Women who have the misfortune of living in predominately Muslim societies often are confronted with adversities concerning their rights in marriage, divorce, education, and seclusion. Consequently, many Westerners seeing a lack of equality towards women in these societies consider it as a confirmation of their own misconceptions about Islam itself. Islam is often rejected as being an intolerant and violent religion that discriminates against and subjugates women, treating them as second-class citizens. From a Muslim’s perspective, Islam’s stance on women can be approached by two opposing views. Scholars amongst the Muslim apologists have claimed, “The verses in the Qur’an represented Muhammad's intention to improve a debased condition of women that prevailed during the Jahiliya, the time of ignorance before Islam came into being.” (Doumato, 177) If inequalities still exist between men and women, they cannot be attributed to Islam, but are a result of the misinterpretation of Islam’s true meaning. Others have entirely denied the notion of inequality between men and women in Islam, claiming that the alleged inequalities “are merely perceived as such by foreign observers who confuse seclusion and sex difference with inequality.” (Ibid.) Many Muslim apologists defend the Koran as noble for the very fact that it raises women to an equal status of men despite their inferiority.
The role and place of Women in Islam has changed drastically, in a positive way, over the past millennium: the changes can be greatly attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, and the Qur’an. To understand the changes in women’s rights and freedoms, one must understand their role and place before Islam was created, which happened in the Arabia Peninsula, now Saudi Arabia (Angha). Before Islam was formed women lacked many of the basic human rights, and they were treated as more of a burden in their culture then someone who should be respected, but that is not the case today. Though women in Islam have gained many rights, there is still some controversy over whether or not women are still being oppressed and treated like second class citizens compared
These rights are equal to those of a man but they are not necessarily identical. Equality and sameness are two different things. This difference is understandable because man and woman are not identical but they are created equals. The distinction between equality and sameness is of paramount importance. With this distinction in mind, there is no room to imagine that woman is inferior to man, just because her rights are not identical. Had her status been identical with his, she would have been simply a duplicate of him, which she is not. The fact that Islam gives her equal rights - but not identical rights- shows that it takes her into consideration, acknowledges her, and recognizes her independent personality and role.