Save Muslim Women

The Constitution that was created in Afghanistan during the 1920’s, stated equal rights for women and men. In fact, during the year of 1959, new policies created educational and career opportunities and voluntary removal of having to wear the burka. Women’s roles become similarly equivalent to male roles; they had the opportunity to acquire knowledge from universities, and were provided jobs in industrial, business, and entertainment settings. The atrocities that came about during the Mujaheddin and Taliban control were unheard of years prior, when women lived in peace and prosperity

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.

“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

The Taliban is an Islamic fundamentalist political movement which came to power as Afghanistan’s government in 1996 but was overthrown by the U.S. after 9-11 in 2001. The official government put into power by the U.S. after the Taliban overthrow was headed by President Hamid Karzai, but he and his government mostly only had power in Kabul and Kandahar, urban cities. After the Taliban, the misogynistic Mujahedeen regained power in many rural parts of Afghanistan, where they forced women to stay indoors and constantly wear the burqa. Although the Mujahedeen oppose the Taliban, the two organizations are similar in many ways when it comes to women’s rights. The Taliban enforced Sharia law, which is strict Islamic law, according to the Taliban members’ interpretation of the Quran. According to this law, women have little to no rights. Women under the Taliban could never leave their houses unless they had a permit because of an emergency, and even then they had to be accompanied by a close male relative. Women were also forbidden from school and work. This was devastating for many women who didn’t have husbands supporting the family. Countless families were left completely impoverished with no income. On top of that, women were forced to wear the burqa, a garment that completely covers the body except a small screen for the eyes. Even though they had just lost their salary, and did not have enough money for food, numerous women had to buy these garments

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.

Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others, many American political makers attempt to interfere with women in the Muslim culture, because they see them as things that need to be saved. American society focuses purely on their cultural and moral differences, instead of the marvelous beliefs and lives they lead. Abu-Lughod argues that instead, the American government needs to focus and learn to appreciate these differences among women around the world. She also states, “When you save someone, you imply that you are saving her from something” (Ab-Lughod, 2002, pg.788). Again, this is crushing the spirits of strong, independent women; implying they are objects that need to be protected. This is a great example of how the American government is trying to mitigate the rights and choices of

In 2001 women declared a separate entity from her male guardian. In 2002 women started receiving secular education. In 2011 women received the right to vote. All women are well educated and now have the right to vote, but they are still subject to male dominance under extremist view of Islamic law. They still have to be escorted by a male guardian in public. Women are not allowed to interact with men they aren’t related to. The main problem they fact today is sexual exploitation from being sold into prostitution or human tracking for cheap labor in poor working conditions. It’s almost as if they went backwards all the rights women had well before western countries, has been taken away and now they desire to gain them

Since the beginning of time, women have had to fight rigorously for basic human rights. In the western stratosphere, those human rights were achieved in the early 20th century, but in a lot of eastern countries the battle for the women is just beginning, or worse hasn't even started. Women in Afghanistan have been subject to heinous circumstances, even though their religion, Islam "demanded that men and women be equal before God,"(Qazi). Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner offers a very insightful view of the governing politics of Afghanistan pre-Taliban regime and during the Taliban regime, and the differing situation of women in both those eras. Based on the book and outside research, it is evident that the situation of women in

Today in the post –Taliban era, women still struggle with their rights. Resolutions were produced and rights for women have advanced since September 11th but in order to move forward, much work needs to be done. Hundreds of years of repression for Afghan women will take a lot longer than a few years to actually revolutionize. There is violence towards women that are not practicing traditions customs and fear retaliations from the Taliban. Customs are difficult to change as well as government policies. (Bora Laskin Law). In Afghanistan, religious and cultural values, politics, and an uncertain acting government have played a major part in the struggle for women’s rights.

Lila Abu-Lughod is an American anthropologist whose work is focused around descriptive ethnography and mostly based in Egypt. Her work aims to tackled three main issues: the relationship between cultural forms and power; the politics of knowledge and representation; and the dynamics of gender and the question of women’s rights in the Middle East (Columbia). Lughod in her book Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? sets out to get rid of stereotypes that muslim women because of frequent ‘honor killings’ and the practice of veiling need to be rescued. She coins the term for the exploration of saving muslim women ‘Islamland.’ There is the perpetuating stereotype and dominant narrative that muslim women need saving and islam is a threatening

However, the most western women think that Muslim women need to get free from their cultural barriers, which is not the reality. Women in Islam just need an equality, and they need to learn their religions, so no one can tell them what is right for them. In the book “Do Muslim Women Need Saving?” discuss the idea that world thinks that Muslin women need savings from their partners in order to live freely and able to access their rights, but this is not what Muslim women recommends. Muslim women are a source of strength to fight for injustice and not the cause of it. Women in Islam does not ask for rescue from their religion, but to get the respect and understanding while staying in her religion and

The rise and expansion of Islam has had a significant impact on the role and rights of women throughout history. Since its origin in the seventh century until modern times, the Muslim faith has somewhat broadened, but has mostly restricted women’s rights in numerous Islamic communities. The history of Muslim women is complex, as it involves many advances and declines in numerous locations, such as Egypt, Afghanistan, and Iran, concerning several subjects, including both civil and social rights. Thus, in general, the rights of Islamic women did not improve significantly over time, instead, conditions remained the same or became worse for women as Islam evolved and spread as a world religion.

last twenty years, progress has been made in many countries which has helped elevate the

Although Western feminism started in the 1900s, yet, it didn’t reach the Islamic world until most recently, a couple of hundred years later than the West. Despite the fact that both of the feminism movements come from totally different back grounds, and they are affected by different history and culture, still, both of them aimed for women’s best interests. Muslim women were profoundly feeling aggrieved by the discrimination they have against them. They stereotypical reputation about them in the West, and their presentation in the Western media didn’t help either. They started and supported a new fight to regain themselves the equal status they were granted by Islam centuries ago. Muslim women didn’t like to be looked at as being backward and oppressed by men in a male-dominant world. According to the feminist historian Margot Badran, “Islamic feminism is a feminist discourse and practice articulated within an Islamic paradigm. Islamic feminism, which derives its understanding and mandate from the Qur 'an, seeks rights and justice for women, and for men, in the totality of their existence.” (Badran, 2001)