Sydney Smith Professor Morrison Religion 2208—Islam 12 November 2016 The Rise of Sexual Slavery and the Islamic State Over the past decade, armed conflict has escalated Iraq and Syria; subsequently, violence against women has become prevalent among members of the Islamic State. High-ranking officials have normalized the systematic enslavement of thousands of women and have revitalized the practice of sexual slavery in the region. In her essay, “Redeeming Slavery,” Kecia Ali attributes this phenomenon to the Islamic State’s attempted renewal of religious sentiments; even though she disputes claims that this practice represents a correct interpretation of Islamic beliefs, Ali argues that the widespread normalization of sexual slavery is at least portrayed by leaders as a return to the original beliefs and practices of early Muslim authorities. Jessica Stern, in her essay, “Response to Kecia Ali,” agrees with Ali that religious scholars ought not attempt to judge IS’s actions as Islamic or un-Islamic; however, she fundamentally disagrees about the nature and origin of the militant group’s practice of modern slavery. Stern instead attributes it to political expediency and practicality, emphasizing that the allure of sex serves as an important recruitment tool for the group. Though they disagree about the nature of the Islamic State’s relationship to slavery, Ali and Stern both agree that the attempt to situate IS on a rigid binary of Islamic or un-Islamic is problematic and
“O Messenger, announce that which has been revealed to you from your Lord, and if you do not, then you have not conveyed His message. And Allah will protect you from the people. Indeed, Allah does not guide the disbelieving people.” (Quran 5:67) Prophet Muhammad PBUH, was born to a branch of Quraish family. He was born to Abdullah Ibn Abd Al-Muttalib and Amna Bint Wahab in the year 570 C. He received his “call” which is the message from God carried by the angel Gabriel to deliver the truth about God to his people. Prophet Muhammad PBUH, died in the year 632 C due to fever after that the Umma was in the hands of the Caliphate, which was then passed
“Women and Gender in Islam” by Leila Ahmed was published in 1992, at a time when research on Arab women was a young, newly emerging field of study. Leila Ahmed is an Egyptian American writer and feminist. Her text “Women and Gender in Islam” targets proclaimed feminists, both western and non-western, as the intended audience. The text is involved with the discourse of gender, the discourses of women, the discourses of feminist, and colonial and post-colonial discourses.
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*
Women’s rights in the Middle East have always been a controversial issue. Although the rights of women have changed over the years, they have never really been equal to the rights of a man. This poses a threat on Iran because women have very limited options when it comes to labor, marriage and other aspects of their culture. I believe that equal treatment for women and men is a fundamental principal of international human rights standards. Yet, in some places like Iran, discriminatory practices against women are not only prevalent, but in some cases, required by law. In this essay I will explain to you the every day life of an every day Islamic woman living in Iran. You will be astonished by what these women
In the Frontline documentary, “The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan” examines how Afghanistan struggle with child sexual slavery and human trafficking of young boy’s ages 5-15 for social and sexual entertainment that was once considered an ancient custom during the early 1800 called Bacha Bazi was subsequently banned under Taliban rule. Although is purported to be a widespread problem inducted by military commanders and wealthy men for power or economic gain as tradition, it is actually modern day pedophilia and child abuse. The Afghan criminal justice system makes it impossible to convict against these serious crimes primarily because quasi-legal regulation does not have legally binding weight since Islamic laws restrict human right freedoms,
Evelyn Alsultany takes a different approach to the oppression of Muslim women that the U.S. portrayed in the media to fuel the War on Terror and analyses that the U.S. portrayed Islam as backwards and an uncivilized culture. Alsultany analyzes published stories and news shows on CNN, NBC, CBS, and Fox after the 9/11 attacks and concludes that these news stations used women’s oppression and linked it with terrorist attacks because they conveyed that Muslim men hated the West’s cultural ideals of women being free and wanted to impose Islam on the West. The media portrays women’s veiled oppression, female genital mutilation, honour killings, and women being beaten as they did not dress properly as the nature of Islam’s backwardness and
“Majority of the media’s reports, headlines acts of brutality towards women and non-Islāmic people. This gives the general public a negative impression, thus creating hostility towards immigrants of Middle-Eastern origin (Leuven).” This also inspires Imperial feminists to attempt to liberate these veiled women by writing and sharing information about oppressed Islamic women. In the process of doing so, these feminists get an opportunity to vent at their societies, and create a victimized label for women in burkas. “Imperial feminists contribute to the negative Muslim stereotype that contributes to segregation, and provoke epistemic violence through the construction of information, and the development of certain notions and identities (Lisa K.
“Segu is a garden where cunning grows. Segu is built on treachery. Speak of Segu outside Segu, but do not speak of Segu in Segu” (Conde 3). These are the symbolic opening words to the novel Segu by Maryse Conde. The kingdom of Segu in the eighteenth and nineteenth century represents the rise and fall of many kingdoms in the pre-colonial Africa. Therefore, Segu indirectly represents the enduring struggles, triumphs, and defeats of people who are of African decent in numerous countries around the world. There are three major historical concepts that are the focus of this book. One is the spread of the Islamic religion. Another is the slave trade, and the last is the new trade in the nineteenth
Religion goes hand in hand with culture, and in the Muslim countries this is very apparent. The cultural importance of men over women may have stemmed from religion, however it was further recognized when imperialist countries introduced capitalism and class divides. “Islam must combat the wrenching impact of alien forces whose influence in economic, political, and cultural permutations continues to prevail” (Stowasser 1994, 5). Now, instead of an agrarian state where both men and women had their place, difficulties have formed due to the rise in education and awareness that women can and do have a place in society beyond domestic living Though women are not equal to men anywhere around the
Instead, from its onset, Islam spread as a conquering power and remained that way for some time. Explaining it this way, the reader gets a sense of the psychology behind Islam and why, besides being a religious task, spreading Islam is such a goal. By showing the issues Islam faces today in the context of past Islamic traditions, Lewis paints a much clearer picture of the skewed view today’s radicals have and the way they use history to manipulate. He examines influential Muslim voices like Saddam Hussein and Usama Bin Laden, who have used history to give Islam victim status or to claim the continuance of a predecessor’s mission to not only justify terrorist activities, but also to recruit followers. He tells the history of Bin Laden’s statement referring to the “humiliation and disgrace” Islam supposedly has suffered. What Bin Laden was referring to was the defeat of the Ottoman sultanate in 1918 and the imperial presence of Westerners on sacred Muslim lands. Lewis explains the offense many Muslims take to the desecration of their holy lands by foreigners. He describes how the discovery and exploitation of oil in the Holy Land of the Hijaz has exacerbated the growing resentment many Muslims
When we hear the word slavery our mind paints a picture of colonial America down in the South with big plantation houses harvesting wheat, with workers being unpaid and unfairly treated. At this time in our county we were struggling with the idea of equality for all. America has come a long way from those days but not with out a fight. Abraham Lincoln, the Civil Rights moment and free and public education has been addressed. Today, we face a new conflicts and a different type of slavery. Slavery and sex trafficking is occurring not just abroad but at home as well. In 2004, “800,000 to 9000,000 men women and children are trafficked across international borders every year, including 18,000 to 20,000 in the US. Worldwide slavery is in the
In today’s society women are given ample opportunity just as much as men. In some countries, such as middle-eastern nations that is not the case. Muslim women are often perceived to be submissive to Muslim men and unequal. Mohammed never taught for women to be treated as lower class citizens. Nonetheless, the blame is pointed towards the religion of Islam. The Islamic religion began as all monotheist religions representing a belief in one God and moral standards. In the following essay I will discuss and elaborate what Mohammed taught, how women lived in early Islamic society, and what it has become.
Some governments use Islam to take full control of their people and use it as a reason for their actions. Not only do some Islamic governments misuse their power, but women are a minority in Islamic societies. The autobiography and pictographic novel, Persepolis, describes the change from the Shah’s regime to the Islamic fundamentalist regime and its oppressive and abusive rule. During the fundamentalist regime the war between Iran and Iraq in the 1980s is portrayed from Marjane Satrapi’s experiences during the time in which she lived in Iran. In contrast to the fundamentalist government, Mohammed, the founder of Islam, opposed oppressive governments and believed that women should have a higher social status. The Islam depicted in Persepolis differs to Mohammed’s original vision of Islam by giving women a worse social status and having a government that abuses its power.
Outline the problem: Women’s situation is possible and necessary to change, because women are not subordinate to a man by nature. But the Arab society does this to women and nothing has changed over the last few decades so it seems if it would natural and self-evident to men to use women. The growing number of women 's movements have shown the need for change. The change should be focusing on the entrenched social convection, which departed from the times of Islam teachings.
“examining the dynamics of Islamic feminism and its potential in the Muslim world. It is difficult and perhaps futile to put the emerging feminist voices in Islam into neat categories and to try to generate a definition that reflects the diversity of