Advances by Women in the Muslim World | Middle East And North Africa

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ADVANCES BY MUSLIM WOMEN

Iranian students
In countries around the Mediterranean there has been a huge migration for the countryside to the cities. As a result many opportunities have opened for women who in the past that were denied them before. More or more women are getting an education, getting university degrees and working as doctors and lawyers. At many universities in the Muslim world, female enrollment is 40 percent or more, compared to below 20 percent in the 1960s.

Women have served as the leaders of the Muslim countries of Pakistan, Turkey, Bangladesh and Indonesia. The minister of economy and planning in United Arab Emirates in the mid 2000s was woman as was the Pakistani ambassador to Britain. Ten wives of Arab world leaders, including Queen Rania of Jordan and Suzanne Mubarak of Egypt, participated on an Arab women’ summit that called for “legal and legislative reforms that achieve equality and justice for women.”

The Moroccan feminist writer Fatima Mernissi wrote that “women dreamed of trespassing all the time. The world beyond the gate was their obsession.” To escape she said she dreamed of traveling to some faraway place, indulged in forbidden things such as cigarettes and embroidering designs of birds flying away. Some women express their freedom by smoking sheesha. Others like to tell stupid men jokes. One goes a woman gave birth two twin sons. When the first one came out the father was very happy. When the second arrived he was beside himself with anger and started yelling at his wife, “Whose baby is this?”

Female Muslim writer Leila Aboulela wrote in the Washington Post, “In the past men could get away with flouting many conventions simply because they were men, But one of the results of the great education for Muslim women is they now refuse to turn a blind eye and instead insist that prohibitions that apply to them must apply to their brothers and husbands.”

Websites and Resources: Islam IslamOnline islamonline.net ; Institute for Social Policy and Understanding ispu.org; Islam.com islam.com ; Islamic City islamicity.com ; BBC article bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam ; University of Southern California Compendium of Muslim Texts web.archive.org ; Encyclopædia Britannica article on Islam britannica.com ; Islam at Project Gutenberg gutenberg.org ; Muslims: PBS Frontline documentary pbs.org frontline

Advances by Women in the Arab Gulf

Alainna Liloia wrote in The Conversation: Arab women, long relegated to the private sphere by law and social custom, are gaining new access to public life. All countries of the Arab Gulf now have workforce “nationalization policies” that aim to reduce dependency on migrant labor by getting more women into the workforce. Saudi Arabia set a goal of 30 percent female labor participation by 2030. In Kuwait, female citizens outnumber male citizens in the workforce. And across the Gulf, women outnumber men in higher education enrollment. [Source: Alainna Liloia, Ph.D. Student, University of Arizona, The Conversation, July 12, 2021]

Women are making political inroads in the region, too. In Qatar, four women have been appointed to ministerial positions since 2003. Eleven women have held cabinet positions in Kuwait since 2005, including health minister, transportation minister and finance minister. Even Saudi Arabia, which notoriously restricts women’s rights, reformed the guardianship system that grants authority over women to their male relatives. Since August 2019, women may obtain passports, travel abroad and register marriages and births on their own.

Many Qatari women I’ve interviewed say they struggle to balance the conflicting expectations between domestic responsibilities and emerging professional opportunities. Sheikha, an unmarried Qatari in her late 20s who works as an academic adviser, told me she often wonders: “I have a job and future plans. Why should I marry?” “I don’t want to say that marriage erases the dreams,” she said, “but sometimes with the family commitment you can’t do it.” [Source: Alainna Liloia, Ph.D. Student, University of Arizona, The Conversation, July 12, 2021]

Modernity and Feminism in the Muslim World

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Gaza students
The arrival of colonialism in the Arab-Muslim world helped to free women to some extent. The Moroccan feminist writer Fatima Mernissi wrote that her mother told her, “The French do not imprison their wives behind walls...They let them run wild in the local souk (market), and everyone has fun, and still the work gets done. In fact, so much work gets done that they can afford to equip strong armies and come down here to shoot at us.”

After the Arab countries won independence, even in the most conservative societies, large numbers of girls began attending school for the first time. In many schools there were almost as many girls as boys. In some places mothers attended primary school with the children.

Economic opportunities improved. More kinds of work were open to women. In the countryside, as the men migrated to cities, women took over more responsibility at home and took over farms and livestock. However many of the jobs available to them were not great: al lot of these were servant jobs in the cities for young unmarried girls from the countryside. Over time as women became better educated they became doctors, lawyers and social workers.

As time wnet on women were segregated less and more visible on the streets; fewer were wearing the veil. Girls were marrying later. Laws were enacted that gave women more rights. These laws however were not widely enforced and the old customs endured, especially in the countryside.

A 2007 Gallup survey of 10,000 Muslims in ten predominately Muslim countries, found most women in these countries believed sharia (Islamic law) should be the source of national laws, but strongly believed in equal rights for women. Analysts from the West find it difficult to understand how to embrace customs like Hijab and the the veil and demand equal rights at the same time.

Muslim Women Working and Playing Sports

When asked if women allowed to work, leaving their children at home, the late Dr. Mahmood Abu Saud, a well-known Islamic scholar, said: “There is no prohibition for women to work. If they have children, it is the responsibility of both parents to look after them. However, it is biologically the mother who should cater to the needs of the child in his early age. Whether she can leave him at home during her working hours or not, is a matter of circumstances and age of the child. What is essential is consideration of the interest of the child as the first priority. [Source: “Sexuality in Islam” by Heba G. Kotb M.D., A dissertation presented to Maimonides University, 2004]

Shahid Athar, a well known Muslim American psychiatrist at the Islamic Center in Toledo, Ohio, said in 1992: “Not a good idea. This deprives children of her mother's love and presence, both of which are badly needed.

When asked if Muslim girls allowed to play sports, Abu Saud said, “Yes, of course. In public, she must be covered, and if she plays with boys, there should be no touching. Shahid Athar said: “Yes, only with girls.

The late Dr. Mahmood Abu Saud, a well-known Islamic scholar, said: “Islam is not patriarchal or sexist; it is YOUR society, which are both. The Prophet (PBUH) used to talk to women directly, facing them. He, and the caliphs after him, used to address them, answer their questions and sell to and buy from them. Both men and women are required to cast down their eyesight and be modest. By instincts men are more attracted to the woman's body than vice versa, and that is why she must cover up. However, man, being obligated to earn the living of the family and to protect it, has to work and mix with others, such that covering up would not be practical.

Obstacles to Women Advancing in the Arab Gulf

Alainna Liloia wrote in The Conversation: “But Arab Muslim women in the Middle East still face substantial social and legal inequalities. There are, of course, more gender-equal interpretations of the Qur’an. Islam itself does not require repressing women. But Gulf rulers still need the support of conservative citizens and influential religious leaders, too. And these sectors of the population have repeatedly raised fears of Westernization threatening local language, dress styles, food and cultural traditions. [Source: Alainna Liloia, Ph.D. Student, University of Arizona, The Conversation, July 12, 2021]

Throughout history male leaders in the Gulf have associated patriarchal gender roles with religious purity. And clerics, who have significant social and political influence in the region, enforce conservative readings of Islamic law that subordinate women. For example, women in all of the Gulf states must receive the approval of a male guardian to marry. In Qatar, single women under 25 require permission to travel abroad, and Qatari men can argue in court to stop their wives from traveling. In Saudi Arabia, men can file a “disobedience” complaint against female relatives for leaving the house without permission. In Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, a man can stop his wife from working if he feels her employment interferes with her domestic responsibilities or religious conduct.

“As a result, women in Gulf countries find themselves caught between two contradictory agendas for the 21st century. Qatari women tend to face significant social pressure to settle down and have children by a certain age and to make sure their education and career goals do not get in the way of domestic responsibilities. Not all the pressure is external. Many women I met hold conservative views on marriage and the family, too. “I started work when my last daughter got married,” Amina Al-Ansari, an associate professor at Qatar University, told me. “Before that, I took care of the house and kids.” Al-Ansari, like all 15 Qatari women I interviewed, believes caring for the family is a woman’s religious duty.

How Women Are Making Advances in the Arab Gulf

Alainna Liloia wrote in The Conversation: “In recent years, Arab Gulf women have also fought hard for their rights. Saudi women successfully campaigned for the right to drive, which was granted in 2018. In Kuwait, activists are now pushing for better protections against domestic violence. [Source: Alainna Liloia, Ph.D. Student, University of Arizona, The Conversation, July 12, 2021]

“One way Gulf rulers manage this tension, I’ve found, is by promoting Qur’anic interpretations that relegate women to traditional roles like bearing and raising children and caring for their families. Celebrating women’s domesticity is an easy way to signal their government’s commitment to what they consider Islamic values.

“In Qatar, for example, the National Vision 2030 — an economic and social development blueprint — states that “Qatar has maintained its cultural and traditional values as an Arab and Islamic nation that considers the family to be the main pillar of society.And the Qataris propping up this pillar are women. “Through their nurturing of language, codes of ethics, behavioural patterns, value systems and religious beliefs, women play an indispensable role in upholding traditional familial and cultural values,” reads a government document building on the proposals laid out in the National Vision 2030.

Conservative Qataris also view women working or studying in a gender-mixed environment as a violation of Islamic values and a sign of Westernization. That’s why Amal Al-Shammari, a 32-year-old Qatari who now runs a cultural association for expatriates and tourists called Embrace Doha, attended Qatar University — the country’s only gender-segregated university. “My parents wanted me to go there to keep a good reputation. Guys assume you have lots of relationships if you go to gender-mixed universities,” she told me. “My parents wanted me to stay with the conservative way.”

Women’s Reforms in Saudi Arabia

Saudi women can now drive

Kristine Beckerle wrote in Newsweek, “Women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia have called on the government for years to abolish the male guardianship system. The government has made some changes—encouraging women to work, increasing education opportunities, passing a law in 2013 against domestic violence. When Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman unveiled Vision2030, the country’s wide-ranging plan for its future, many hoped more change would follow. [Source: Kristine Beckerle, Newsweek, July 31, 2016]

“Yet, in today’s Saudi Arabia, women continue to be boxed in. The male guardianship system not only hampers the ability of half of Saudi Arabia’s population to show their country just how much they could contribute, but also undermines the Saudi government’s own dreams for the country’s future.

Vision2030 wants to enable women to contribute to the economy. The government encourages women to work, but doesn’t penalize employers who won’t hire a woman without a male guardian’s permission. The state pays for women to study abroad on government scholarships, but officially requires male guardian’s permission before they can go and a male relative to accompany them while abroad. I spoke with women who were prevented from attending conferences for work or higher education abroad because they were fighting with their husband, or their father disagreed.

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons except driving woman, DMV.org

Text Sources: Internet Islamic History Sourcebook: sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Arab News, Jeddah; “Islam, a Short History” by Karen Armstrong; “A History of the Arab Peoples” by Albert Hourani (Faber and Faber, 1991); “World Religions” edited by Geoffrey Parrinder (Facts on File Publications, New York); “Encyclopedia of the World’s Religions” edited by R.C. Zaehner (Barnes & Noble Books, 1959); Metropolitan Museum of Art, Encyclopedia.com, National Geographic, BBC, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Library of Congress and various books and other publications.

Last updated April 2024