Toronto
Star
March 26, 2006
During the height
of the Danish cartoon controversy, Canadian media interviewed male
Muslim leaders exclusively, without bothering to seek out leaders among
Muslim women. It's a given that Muslim leaders are men, preferably with
beards.
Haideh Moghissi, a
sociology professor at York University, says that rigid, unforgiving and
sexist voices are considered valid voices by Western media. When a
Muslim woman speaks out or assumes a leadership role, she's called
militant.
Yet the struggle
for sexual equality and leadership among Muslim women is gaining
strength around the world.
Harvard University
recently held a seminar titled "Emerging Forms of Muslim
Women's
Leadership."
Among the
panellists was Sarah Eltantawi, a young Muslim doctoral candidate at the
university and a media commentator on American-Muslim Affairs and Middle
East policy who writes on counterterrorism for Upfront and The New York
Times.
She spoke about
the importance of a dialogue of civilizations as someone who has been
part of U.S.-Islam dialogue in Qatar.
The dialogue
continued at The Union Theological Seminary at Columbia University in
New York where a diverse panel of Muslim women to spoke about
leadership.
Among them were
Aisha al-Adawiya, an African American Muslim who founded the advocacy
organization Women in Islam Inc., and Shqipe Malushi, a Sufi poet and
writer from Kosovo and Nureen Qureshi, a young TV anchor and head hunter
for IT from Mississauga. These women are movers and shakers working at
the grassroots level, creating dialogue and safe spaces
for other Muslim women.
They believe that
if men won't allow Muslim women their rights, then Islam will; all they
have to do is reclaim what was originally given to them by the Prophet
Muhammad.
This populist
women's movement in Islam also has traction in Europe. At an early
celebration of International Women's Day, the International Federation
of Women Against Fundamentalism and for Equality (WAFE ) held a
conference in Paris.
Formed after 9/11,
WAFE asserts that fundamentalism in all faiths has emerged as the
biggest challenge for humanity. The battle for sexual equality and
emancipation can't be separated from the fight against extremism, its
members say.
The conference,
titled "Women's leadership: Indispensable to the struggle against
fundamentalism," was supported by 15 European organizations.
Discussions ranged
from fundamentalism as it exists in many faiths today to the challenges
of female leadership, but the main focus was rise of fundamentalism in
the Muslim world.
The international
solidarity network Women Living Under Muslim Laws has identified
anti-female policies as one of the warning signs of rising
fundamentalism.
Whether it's
abortion bans in U.S., opposition head scarves in Europe or forced
veiling by the Taliban, whether its limiting women's freedom of movement
or their rights to education and work under dictatorial regimes, the
leaders of these movements
are always men, and the victims are always women.
The women,
however, are insistent on making their voices heard.
The speakers at
the Paris gathering were from a variety of religions and countries —
United States, Canada, Australia, France, Britain, Germany, Belgium,
Switzerland, Italy, the Netherlands, Greece, India and Iraq as well as
representatives of the National Council of the Resistance of Iran —
and included members of parliament from several European countries. They
were all of the view that religious fanatics exist in every faith and
that women have been exploited by religious leaders for centuries.
In her opening
remarks, Dame Elizabeth Sydney, chair of the International Federation
Against Fundamentalism and for Equality, said, "Gender equality
brings great many benefits ... it introduces an enormous amount of
talent and energy into society. Under the fundamentalist regime, women
are violently prevented from using their abilities. But the release of
50 per cent of human talent will raise standards for all of us."
In a video
message, Maryam Rajavi of the Iranian Resistance said that Islamic
fundamentalism is the biggest threat to the equality movement and
therefore finding a way to confront the imminent danger of religious
fascism ruling Iran is an urgent imperative.
Asked how to
defeat Islamic fundamentalism and misogyny, Rajavi responded: "You
have to eliminate the male-dominated culture as an inhumane culture,
through women leadership. Accordingly, the establishment of democracy
without the active role of women in society's leadership is impossible
or at best retractable."
Adding their
insights were Prof. Carole Fontaine of Boston's Andover Newton
Theological School who called "fundamentalist patriarchy" a
disease; Sushma Dilip-Pankule, representative of the International
League of Women For Peace and Freedom in India, who pointed out the
major role fundamentalism plays in female infanticide, dowry deaths,
child marriage and sati, all of which continue despite government
restrictions; Anissa Boumedienne, a lawyer, writer, and wife of the late
Algerian President Houari Boumedienne strongly promoted education for
women; Swiss Parliamentary Deputy Salika Wenger, who said that it's
popular for politicians to discuss fundamentalism without doing anything
to fight it; and Hoda Shaker Maarouf Al-Naimi, a professor of political
science in Iraq, who elaborated on "the suffering of Iraqi women in
an atmosphere of fundamentalist domination and in the absence of
tolerance for diverse viewpoints."
Canadian Muslim
women's voices were also heard this past weekend at a conference at
Michigan State University titled "Islam and Gender: Social Change
and Cultural Diversity in Muslim Communities."
Among the
presenters was Jasmin Zine, an assistant professor of sociology at
Wilfred Laurier University. She spoke about identity issues and the
education of Muslim girls in Canada, both in Islamic and public schools
Western media
would do well to keep these women's names on file for the next time they
need a Muslim spokesperson to comment on current
events.
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