Women and Islam

When I read the WHYS morning agenda from Ros Atkins, he made note of an e-mail received from Ali in Kuwait. Ali asserted that there were not enough positive stories about Islam on the BBC. I agree with him. Unfortunately, Muslims have much in common with Catholics; Irresponsible leaders.

When I began to read the thread, Ali set me off with his response to a comment left by another poster named Steve, "Not everyone wants to live in a religious state, and you're seemingly wanting to impose your way on everyone else, whereas atheists don't impose their beliefs."

Ali replied to Steve, "I too was an atheist once until I found it to be an empty ideology. Unfortunately I have to disagree with your assertion that atheist do not impose their beliefs on others. On the contrary I cannot walk the streets or watch TV in my country without being confronted by the sight of scantily-dressed women."

It was later suggested by Steve that he could simply turn off his television, then came the real zinger from Ali... "Hi again Steve. I agree that I can turn off the TV, but I can't turn off the woman sitting opposite me on the subway." WHOAAAA!!! So I typed up my response and looking back, I hope I didn't come off too strong...

I wrote, "You can't turn off the woman sitting opposite you on the subway??? If you can't handle simply looking at a woman without getting aroused or offended, you should work from home. What do you want? Would you like to force all women to cover up to your standards? Your statement is deranged."

Okay, I'm sorry now that I used the term deranged, but in the US and other western countries, women have been afforded luxuries they cannot obtain with strict Islamic rule. If it weren't for powerful women like Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks and Princess Diana, what would the world be? What if they became anonymous units in a male dominated marriage or polygamist union arranged by relatives?

Great offence wells in my gut when I hear the slightest suggestion that women should sacrifice their public identity or freedom of expression. If someone doesn't like the way another person dresses, tough luck.

As for powerful Muslim women, I will have to confess to typical American ignorance of non-western culture. I'll take this moment to educate myself... I just did a Google search for"influential Muslim women" and the first name I found was Queen Rania of Jordan (Left). I then performed an image search. In every photo I found, the queen seems to dress in a modest, not shamed manner. She actually looks like a westerner.

Are women of royalty excluded from a headscarf or burka or is Queen Raina not a "Real Muslim"? I read she was involved in Global Dignity Day which is based on the United Nations 1948 proclamation, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which asserts “Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.” Pretty profound stuff in my opinion.

Out of admiration for settlers in what seems to be a new frontier, I'll keep looking for influential women in the Muslim world that endorse positive world views. I am troubled by Ali's comments on "the woman sitting opposite" but I am also hopeful that more men see women as strong social contributors that needn't hide from anyone.

I still have responses to Ali's view of positive Islam that I will address at a later date. Especially the one about Athiesm being an "empty ideology".

Tangently yours,

Ken