Toronto
Star
July 26 2003
You can't hope to build a
better world without improving the individuals. To that end, each of
us must work for our own improvement and at the same time, share a
general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to
aid those to whom we think we can be most useful.'
— Marie Curie
It wasn't tourism that brought women of various faiths and
nationalities to Ottawa last month. It was their passion for building
bridges, not of concrete and steel, but bridges of understanding,
harmony and peace.
More than 400 converged on Parliament Hill for a conference on Diversity
and Islam — Bridging the Gaps, the first initiative of the Canadian
branch of Women Engaging in Bridge Building (WEBB). WEBB is "an
initiative led by women for women the world over, with many bridges to
be built — the first one being a bridge between Muslims and
non-Muslims," explained the organization's founder and head, Dr.
Riffat Hassan, a professor of religious studies at the University of
Louisville, Kentucky. "I use the term `engaging' in our title to
reflect that our development is active and ongoing.
"David
Kilgour, secretary
of state (Asia Pacific), told the conference: "It's appropriate
that this first major event by WEBB, as a new international organization
be held in Canada — we consider ourselves bridge builders. This event
allows us to see the enormous spiritual, cultural and ethical strength
of Islam."
A few weeks before the
conference, Statistics Canada had reported that the number of Muslims in
Canada had doubled in the past decade.
The idea for WEBB was
born in Milan September, 2001, at a conference on "Women Leading
Global Change." One attendee was Louise Kissane, a businesswoman
from Italy.
"I attended a
session by Riffat Hassan titled ` Encountering
the Future,' where she talked about the true face of Islam, focusing on
the events of Sept. 11 and stressing the need for building
bridges," recalled Kissane. "Hers was a message for women of
the world and she was an inspiration to all of us. It was a unique
moment in history and I knew I had met someone who had the ability to
move the world forward."
'Education is imperative for the growth and development of
women '
Dr. Sallama Shaker,
Egyptian ambassador to Canada |
The next day, a group of
enthusiastic women asked Hassan to lead them in a bridge-building
exercise. They pledged their support and WEBB was born. It has chapters
in Canada, Germany, Italy, France, Britain and the United States.
0Kissane became a key
patron of WEBB. "I've lived all my adult life in a Latin country
and wanted to help women in Italy be independent, stand up and to take
pride in themselves," she said.
Laure Capelle, chair of WEBB France, regards WEBB as "a worldwide
family — a web made of women (and like-minded men) willing to promote
peace and justice with respect, love and compassion between people all
over the world."
Alisha Lehman-Wansing, head
of WEBB Germany, wants to realize WEBB's mission to build "a
fraternity (or sisterhood) through a better understanding of each
other's culture, religion and beliefs."
Some of WEBB's primary objectives evolved from work in which Hassan is
already involved:
- Creating change for
women through education and raising
awareness.
- Educating women about
their rights according to their faith, with particular emphasis
initially on Muslim women, to prevent honour killings, abuses of
power and other crimes committed against women in the name of God.
- Establishing a network
for women to enable them to improve their economic conditions.
- Giving a voice to
marginalized women.
Nazreen Ali, president
WEBB Canada, explained why the organization kicked off with a conference
on Islam.
"Recent global
events have focused unprecedented attention on Islam which is the faith
of over 600,000 people in Canada," she said. "The opportunity
now exist
exists to foster
understanding of Islam, the diversity of the Muslim world and
contribution of Muslims to Canada and the world."
Heritage Minister Sheila
Copps stressed unity in diversity. "I want all Canadians to
understand that Islam means peace."
Dr. Sallama Shaker,
Egypt's ambassador to Canada, said: "The rights Muslim women have
today came with a great deal of effort and suffering....Education is
imperative for the growth and development of women globally and we
support WEBB's education mission."
Keynote speaker Karen
Armstrong, author of The Battle For God, set the tone, saying "once
you find God, you are open to all faiths....Only in Canada can I
envision such bridges being built between Muslims and non-Muslims."
She spoke passionately
about the spiritual beauty of Islam and commended WEBB for its vision.
"One of the flaws of world religions is that they didn't listen to
the voices of women....What we need is a new solution, a fresh
approach."
For more on WEBB, visit
http://www.webb-international.org.
I see these so-called sharia laws being used specifically to target
women and curtail their human rights. In some cases, women themselves
interpret sharia to their own detriment. For example, a Muslim woman in
Florida
has sued the state
for suspending her driver's licence after she refused to remove her niqab or face-covering veil for the photo. Florida law states
that
a driver's licence must have a colour, full-faced image of the bearer. My
view of this case is simple: Follow the laws of the land, or choose
to live happily in a place like Saudi Arabia where women aren't allowed to
drive anyway. That, along with other misogynistic injunctions, is the
Saudi interpretation of sharia.
Amina Wadud, a professor of Islamic studies at Commonwealth University
in Virginia, presented a paper last month at the 2nd International Muslim
Leaders Consultation on HIV/AIDS in Kuala Lumpur. Twenty conservative
delegates stormed out of the session and accused Waddud of blasphemy for
saying, "Islam and Muslims exacerbate the spread of AIDS and ...
traditional Islamic theological response can never cure AIDS." She
explained that Muslim women are bound to comply with their husbands'
desire for sex, and can be punished if they do not. This includes women
who know their husbands are HIV positive.
Accused of demonizing Islam, Wadud told reporters she stood by her
comments: "My paper just states opinions that are different
from others. ..." Nevertheless, she withdrew her paper to spare the
chair of the Malaysian AIDS Council further difficulty.
Difference of opinion has long been the hallmark of Islamic
jurisprudence. But today, the willingness to accept a difference of opinion is
increasingly rare.
Sharia is a body of rules and regulations based on the Qur'an and Sunnah
(sayings of the Prophet). To follow the sharia means living a morallyresponsible life. It's ironic that
sharia, which means "the broad
path leading to water," (the idea of water being fluid and flexible),
has been made inflexible and rigid. It's the road of moral, ethical and just
activity
that all Muslims can follow wherever they live. Many Muslims practise
sharia living under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which
is not at odds with sharia as it should be understood and practised. It
doesn't have to be imposed as in Nigeria and Sudan where assertion of
sharia is a political act that reduces women and minorities to
second-class
citizens.
Al-Ghazzali, a renowned 11th-century thinker, held that each Muslim must
have enough knowledge of the sharia to put it into practice in his or
her own life. Other scholars point out sharia cannot exist without ijtehad
(working out principles), ijma (consensus), qiyas (analogy) and, most of
all, aql (reason).
Essentially, the laws of Islam should never be distorted to destroy the morality of Islam. Those who misuse laws in the name of Islam destroy
the moral fabric of society. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has warned
his country against adopting the Taliban version of Islam while
struggling for economic recovery and progress: "We are being called
terrorists, fundamentalists, extremists and intolerant. We have to
decide whether we need Talibanization or progressive Islam."
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