Wizdom
10-10-04, 18:29
Arab women: Potential Trojan horse?
By Tojan al-Faisal
Sunday 10 October 2004, 17:35 Makka Time, 14:35 GMT
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To say that only women's struggle for their rights has succeeded, unlike other political struggles for human and citizens' vital rights, is self-deception.
Given the fact that we are veteran women's rights activists, we do not want women and Arab societies to be brainwashed and their intelligence insulted.
The battle is for a complete set of rights, not just women's or men's rights. It is a clash between an authoritative group and a suppressed group.
In other words, the fight is against political oppression.
When we study the history of mankind since the early ages, we would conclude that women's political and religious authority had always caused men to rebel against female "theocracy" which eventually put an end to the "women-dominated" age and gave rise to the male "theocracy". Thus the battle goes on.
This article is not an attempt to label the relation between men and women as a hostile one, but an attempt to highlight the nature of struggles which dominated history, and involved dimensions that even those who participated in these struggles never grasped.
Researching history of struggles for the rights of women should not be based only on extinct religions, history or heritage, more so when we are talking about the rights of Arab Muslim women.
"Arab women should realise that any right they win will
strengthen them to win the rights of their nation, and not turn them into a Trojan horse that gives birth to invaders"
True, to be a believer does not necessarily imply a clash between one's ability to analytically approach religion across history from different social and political perspectives.
Islam has definite political and women's rights. Those rights differ from the ones that existed in the Arabian peninsula before Islam, and are also at odds with human-rights definitions laid down by Makka theocrats (Makka was the richest and most famous city in Arabia before Islam. Islam started in it, and faced fierce resistance from the city's affluent elites).
Like all reform bids, divine or human, and like any movement rising against the authority;calling up supporters, mainly from the oppressed, would be the first move, as was the case with Prophet Muhammad and prophets before him like Jesus.
If we analyse the very early stages of Islam in Makka, we will find that the call (Islam) which reclaimed the rights of poor people from Makka's infidel leaders found favour among a certain section that belonged to the ruling class: women.
Khadija (the first wife of Prophet Muhammad) was the also the first to believe in Muhammadas message (she was the richest woman in Makka).
Khadija's belief implies indications neglected by many researchers, who did not pay attention to the signficance of the first Muslim's gender.
Being an extraordinary woman, she was able to avoid the state of social and political isolation that women suffered in Makka.
The proof of that is her subsequent dedication to Muhammad's message, as her work went beyond the role as the Prophet's wife and became one as Muhammad's companion (Muhammad's companions were a group of first Muslims credited with helping the Prophet in spreading Islam).
Another example is Asmaa bint Abi Bakr. History proved that she was not merely the daughter of one of the greatest companions, but was a gritty political activist who gave Umayyad rulers a hard time. (Umayyad was a Muslim
dynasty that ruled from 661 to 750).
Realising the importance of women who could be active not just among themselves but also among others, Prophet Muhammad did not accept the pledge of allegiance by Yathrib's men unless the city's women were also incorporated in the process (Yathrib is the city to which the Prophet had moved to avoid the Makka leaders' harassment).
Thus, in Islam, the process of abolishing tribal casteism went hand in hand with the process of removing the discrepancies in the rights and duties of men and women in order to put women and men on the same level as humans.
Women's rights in Islam have resulted in social and political changes that distinguished the Islamic era from the pre-Islamic period.
These changes were demonstrated by granting women their rights, abolishing class divisions and working towards a sustainable development formula, especially after the failure of compulsory and hasty development plans.
The persistence of such a reformist approach makes Islam a religion for all times. This fact cannot be denied even after the rise of selfish theocrats during the rein of the Umayyads, whose rule was marked with self-seeking and politically motivated fatwas (religious rulings).
Although some oppressive Arab regimes and Islamists have agreed that politicised Islam is the main opposition in the Arab world, the historical alliances they formed between themselves are too obvious to overlook.
This alliance is inevitable because they both adopt the same stratigies; both reject dialogue and refuse to share power and privileges with others.
Women have been the weakest community for well-known historical reasons, and the political powers of the day have always abandoned them to the religious powers, so that political power will remain the province of men.
This gave religious leaders the chance to rule over women in society. In other words, both the political and religious powers remain male dominated.
"Women's rights in Islam have resulted in social and political changes that distinguished the Islamic era from the pre-Islamic period"
The current disengagement between Arab regimes and the clergy could not be trusted, because it is imposed by foreign powers.
The present zeal for excessive modification of women-related laws has actually neutralised popular support for those reforms.
Also, those reforms do not give a fair indication of genuine governmental concern for human rights, because very often the same governments indulge in far more serious violations of other human rights, and these pro-women reforms are
seen as nothing but an attempt to cover these greater sins.
Human rights are indivisible. The history of mankind is the history of defending those rights. Anyone who tries to violate those rights is an enemy of mankind, regardless of the identity of the violator – be it an occupier, a repressive government or a corrupt legislator.
I am not against women's rights per se. But while fighting for our rights, the ongoing discrimination between male and female rights should not prevent us from winning other human rights as well.
What we should really be doing is to stand up against governments' collusion with the US and the West in general.
While doing this, we should be careful not to forfeit the whole array of human rights for partial rights of a certain section of the oppressed society, in this case women.
Arab women should realise that any right they win will
strengthen them to win the rights of their nation, and not turn them into a Trojan horse that gives birth to invaders.
By Tojan al-Faisal
Sunday 10 October 2004, 17:35 Makka Time, 14:35 GMT
Tools:
Email Article
Print Article
Send Your Feedback
To say that only women's struggle for their rights has succeeded, unlike other political struggles for human and citizens' vital rights, is self-deception.
Given the fact that we are veteran women's rights activists, we do not want women and Arab societies to be brainwashed and their intelligence insulted.
The battle is for a complete set of rights, not just women's or men's rights. It is a clash between an authoritative group and a suppressed group.
In other words, the fight is against political oppression.
When we study the history of mankind since the early ages, we would conclude that women's political and religious authority had always caused men to rebel against female "theocracy" which eventually put an end to the "women-dominated" age and gave rise to the male "theocracy". Thus the battle goes on.
This article is not an attempt to label the relation between men and women as a hostile one, but an attempt to highlight the nature of struggles which dominated history, and involved dimensions that even those who participated in these struggles never grasped.
Researching history of struggles for the rights of women should not be based only on extinct religions, history or heritage, more so when we are talking about the rights of Arab Muslim women.
"Arab women should realise that any right they win will
strengthen them to win the rights of their nation, and not turn them into a Trojan horse that gives birth to invaders"
True, to be a believer does not necessarily imply a clash between one's ability to analytically approach religion across history from different social and political perspectives.
Islam has definite political and women's rights. Those rights differ from the ones that existed in the Arabian peninsula before Islam, and are also at odds with human-rights definitions laid down by Makka theocrats (Makka was the richest and most famous city in Arabia before Islam. Islam started in it, and faced fierce resistance from the city's affluent elites).
Like all reform bids, divine or human, and like any movement rising against the authority;calling up supporters, mainly from the oppressed, would be the first move, as was the case with Prophet Muhammad and prophets before him like Jesus.
If we analyse the very early stages of Islam in Makka, we will find that the call (Islam) which reclaimed the rights of poor people from Makka's infidel leaders found favour among a certain section that belonged to the ruling class: women.
Khadija (the first wife of Prophet Muhammad) was the also the first to believe in Muhammadas message (she was the richest woman in Makka).
Khadija's belief implies indications neglected by many researchers, who did not pay attention to the signficance of the first Muslim's gender.
Being an extraordinary woman, she was able to avoid the state of social and political isolation that women suffered in Makka.
The proof of that is her subsequent dedication to Muhammad's message, as her work went beyond the role as the Prophet's wife and became one as Muhammad's companion (Muhammad's companions were a group of first Muslims credited with helping the Prophet in spreading Islam).
Another example is Asmaa bint Abi Bakr. History proved that she was not merely the daughter of one of the greatest companions, but was a gritty political activist who gave Umayyad rulers a hard time. (Umayyad was a Muslim
dynasty that ruled from 661 to 750).
Realising the importance of women who could be active not just among themselves but also among others, Prophet Muhammad did not accept the pledge of allegiance by Yathrib's men unless the city's women were also incorporated in the process (Yathrib is the city to which the Prophet had moved to avoid the Makka leaders' harassment).
Thus, in Islam, the process of abolishing tribal casteism went hand in hand with the process of removing the discrepancies in the rights and duties of men and women in order to put women and men on the same level as humans.
Women's rights in Islam have resulted in social and political changes that distinguished the Islamic era from the pre-Islamic period.
These changes were demonstrated by granting women their rights, abolishing class divisions and working towards a sustainable development formula, especially after the failure of compulsory and hasty development plans.
The persistence of such a reformist approach makes Islam a religion for all times. This fact cannot be denied even after the rise of selfish theocrats during the rein of the Umayyads, whose rule was marked with self-seeking and politically motivated fatwas (religious rulings).
Although some oppressive Arab regimes and Islamists have agreed that politicised Islam is the main opposition in the Arab world, the historical alliances they formed between themselves are too obvious to overlook.
This alliance is inevitable because they both adopt the same stratigies; both reject dialogue and refuse to share power and privileges with others.
Women have been the weakest community for well-known historical reasons, and the political powers of the day have always abandoned them to the religious powers, so that political power will remain the province of men.
This gave religious leaders the chance to rule over women in society. In other words, both the political and religious powers remain male dominated.
"Women's rights in Islam have resulted in social and political changes that distinguished the Islamic era from the pre-Islamic period"
The current disengagement between Arab regimes and the clergy could not be trusted, because it is imposed by foreign powers.
The present zeal for excessive modification of women-related laws has actually neutralised popular support for those reforms.
Also, those reforms do not give a fair indication of genuine governmental concern for human rights, because very often the same governments indulge in far more serious violations of other human rights, and these pro-women reforms are
seen as nothing but an attempt to cover these greater sins.
Human rights are indivisible. The history of mankind is the history of defending those rights. Anyone who tries to violate those rights is an enemy of mankind, regardless of the identity of the violator – be it an occupier, a repressive government or a corrupt legislator.
I am not against women's rights per se. But while fighting for our rights, the ongoing discrimination between male and female rights should not prevent us from winning other human rights as well.
What we should really be doing is to stand up against governments' collusion with the US and the West in general.
While doing this, we should be careful not to forfeit the whole array of human rights for partial rights of a certain section of the oppressed society, in this case women.
Arab women should realise that any right they win will
strengthen them to win the rights of their nation, and not turn them into a Trojan horse that gives birth to invaders.