Do Muslim Women Need Saving?

Imagine being treated like you have little to no value at all because you dress differently or have different rights. A lot of Muslim women experience this on a daily basis. People in public stare or criticize them simply because they are different. Years ago, Muslim women had almost no rights. Although they have gained certain rights and responsibilities, many people still treat them with little respect. Muslim women’s rights have changed in many ways, including the way they are allowed dress, who and when they can marry, and their independence in general.

This furthers the gap between the notion that most non-Islamic people have around the world, which relates to the aspect of vainglory, because in the US, like many countries around the world, women are seen as political figures, physicians, and have simple freedoms. Compared to other ares of the world that contain a predominantly Islamic ethnicity, the rights of women less restricted as they are in Afghanistan. In the US and other countries that allow freedom of religion and expression, the burka is completely optional based on the individuals preference. In order for the Taliban to gain power, they had to convince the public that they were in the best interests of women and not only men. However, the truth is that the Taliban regime has cruelly reduced women and children to poverty, worsened their health by denying them adequate healthcare, and deprived them of their right to an education. In some cases they are denied the right to practice their religion. As a result of these measures, the Taliban was ensuring that women would continue to sink deeper into poverty and deprivation of rights. This would ensure that their future would consist of them having limited skills needed to be considered a civilized individual in modern day

“Life is full of unhappiness and most of it caused by women (Harik and Marston 11)”. For women in the Middle East life is faced with great and unequal odds, as their human rights are limited, due to Islamic beliefs and that of patriarchy. From their daily actions at home to their physical appearance, Middle Eastern women are portrayed as quiet, faceless women veiled from head to toe. While this image is just another stereotype, women in the middle do face many obstacles and challenges of creating their own identity as they are frequently denied a voice in their rights. Living in a society dominated by men life is not, but regardless women in the Middle East, predominantly Muslims, continue to fight for

Abayas, shailas, burkas, and chadors: all are forms of veiling in the Middle East, and all are perceived as symbols of oppression and patriarchy by the West. The veil worn by a Middle Eastern woman is striking and beautiful in its simplicity and elegance. The hijab, the most common form of veiling, leaves only the face visible with the neck and hair completely covered. Onlookers are in awe at the mystery and symbolism associated with the many veils created out of fine, exotic silk. But such notions of oppression and patriarchy often associated with veiling are not only inherently biased and ironic – it would be interesting to explore the symbolism behind a mini-skirt or a pair of five-inch heels, no? – but they are also inaccurate. Although veiling has most definitely been used in the Middle East as a “mechanism in the service of patriarchy, a means of regulating and controlling women’s lives” (Hoodfar, 5), it has also been used as a mode for rebellion and self-expression. Marjane Satrapi, an Iranian woman who grew up during the Islamic revolution, resisted the regime and the universalizing nature of the veil in the hope that she could maintain her individual identity whilst communicating her political ideologies. By examining the way in which the veil is represented in Satrapi’s graphic memoir, Persepolis, while also considering the history of veiling in Iran, it will become evident that the veil is not just a political tool used by male chauvinists; it also presents an

In recent years, America’s attention has been gripped by stories of women who have escaped from the Middle East. Each has a unique story, but they all have the same themes of oppression, abuse, and domination. Americans rushed onto the scene ready to “save” Middle Eastern women and many of the activists are now been highly praised for the influence they made in the region. Others, however, have come to question whether the Muslim women in the Middle East really needed the U.S. to rescue them from Islam. *Insert Thesis*

unequally in marriage, in court, and in society. Difficulty through marriage for Muslim women can come from age, divorce, and having to be subservient to their husbands. Not only is there difficulty in marriage, but also in the unequal treatment in the islamic justice systems, such as when “evidence given by a female witness counts for half that given by a man” (Dargie 22). Although the societies of major Islamic countries differ, it is clear that women are not represented equally to men in any of them, for example having to dress and act certain ways so as not to attract any attention from men. However, there are Islamic women who are willing to change how their religion views females by speaking out and encouraging others to do the same.

There are many political, religious, and cultural factors that shape the lives of Islamic women many of them are completely different than factors in the lives of American women. Islam is one of the world’s fastest growing religions; however, Brooks argues that “Islam’s holiest texts have been misused to justify the repression of women, and how male pride and power have warped the original message of this once liberating faith.” The book also shows these factors have slowly been taking away women’s rights, rather than furthering them.

Years leading to the Soviet invasion and during the Soviet rule in Afghanistan many women started to unveil. The extreme form of veiling was slowly decreasing among Afghans living in the urban cities. Nelofer Pazera in her memoir writes that one of the effects of secularization was unveiling of women, since veil was considered as a sign of backwardness. “A Quit Revolution” by Leila Ahmad examines the role of hijab resurgence both in Middle East and America. Ahmed’s book provides much more than a history of hijab resurgence; it provides a scope of politics and women’s personal agency. Ahmed argues that the British colonial presence in Egypt was a primary reason for unveiling movement. British presence created a conflict between those who welcomed

politicians continue to make baseless links between terrorism and Muslim women's dress” . Through these statements the audience becomes aware of hardships faced and is persuaded to support them, illustrated in “Anyone who is actually concerned about the role and status of Muslim women would do will to listen to Muslim women rather than assume they can speak on their behalf”. Through this statements Ruby Hamad’s article helps to increase the awareness of adversities faced by Muslim women, as creates a positive and supportive view of the Muslim

“Mariam had never before worn a burqa. Rasheed had to help her put it on... The loss of peripheral vision was unnerving, and she did not like the suffocating way the pleated cloth kept pressing against her mouth” (65). The women of Afghanistan are forced to wear long veils that cut off their peripheral

he second article being looked at is ‘Muslim Women’s Quest for Equality: Between Islamic Law and Feminism’ by author Ziba Mir-Hosseini. This article looks at the plight of women in both the Middle East and Southwest Asia and looks the the distinction between sharia law and fiqh. Mir-Hosseini argues that Muslim women will be treated as second class citizens as long as patriarchy is justified and upheld in the name of Islam (pg.629). Both the invasion of Iran and Afghanistan were justified on the basis that Muslims were in need of “freedom” and “democracy”. By doing this is has brought upon many internal and external struggles. Muslims in these countries see the “neo imperialist intervention as a direct assault on their religion” (pg. 631). Further giving more reason to legitimize the power of radical Islamists such as Al-Qaeda.

In multiple countries, scenarios, and for many generations, women have lost the ability to make their own decisions. The disempowerment of women involves factors that influence every aspect of their lives-- deep oppression, victimization, or sometimes violence. Women's rights in mostly Arab countries are among the worst in the world, but it's more; it’s the emotional trauma that stems from the oppression. Although the main plot of Fadia Faqir's novel Pillar's of Salt rests on the idea of feminist values, an examination of the prevalent patriarchal hold men in the novel have on Muslim women, demonstrated through the author's use of poignant language and powerful imagery, shows readers through Maha and Um Saad the negative effect oppression

While this remains to be true, our desires for these women could mistakenly be much different from their desires for themselves; different cultures have different yearnings about justice. LILA ABU-LUGHOD articulates this idea in her fieldwork, she found that these women do not envy the women that make up the Western societies, “they will never cry for themselves, for they are down under yoke of centuries of oppression (Van Sommer & Zwener 1907:15/2002:789). Their true envy is the oppression they have suffered in terms of the militarism and poverty their country suffers. In relevance to this issue, after the liberation of the Talibans, the Muslim women did not remove their ‘forced’ identities as people. The fact that their Burqa was not removed resembles that they are a product of their own environment, they are proud to symbolize who they are in terms of the symbolic separation of men and women.

Colonial feminism is used to justify certain actions by an invading colony or country by having a concern over the female population. In my opinion, it is a devious way of deceiving people while pressing forward their foreign interests. Colonial administration, in Afghanistan, states that the burqa signifies a lack of women’s right and equality and also men’s subjugation over women. What Western fail to see is this piece of garment is an important part of Afghan women’s culture. It shows their undoubted devotion to their faith and also follows their society’s values of decency. Other examples of changes to local customs in history include the intermediation of widows sacrificing themselves at their husband’s funeral and child marriages in South Asia during British colonialism.

Leila Ahmed born in 1940 is the first professor of Women’s Studies in Religion at Harvard University. As an Egyptian-American scholar on Islamic feminism and Islam, Ahmed has published a number of highly informative works addressing the complexities of feminism in Muslim life. Ahmed’s previous works include Women and Gender in Islam. (1993) explores the role women and gender play from the Pre-Islamic Era in the Middle East through to the modern world that we know today. The issue of veiling is an ongoing debate and one in which invokes a great emotion among many people. Her latest work explores the history of the fall and rise of the Muslim veil in the erudite study ‘A Quiet Revolution’. The study logically details the changing attitudes to veiling in Egypt in the 1940’s and 50’s through to its resurgence in the 1970’s and then its impact in the US post 9/11. Written from Ahmed’s own perspective as a feminist and as a non-wearer of the veil at a time when it was seen as quite natural not to wear a hijab. The reason for the study arises from Ahmed’s move to Cambridge in the US and her amazement at seeing a public gathering of Muslim women of which “were in hijab [which] was still exceedingly rare.” (1).