The Emancipated Woman

[Muslimlearner]

Women of the twenty-first century, no doubt, have a better position in society as compared to many of their predecessors – a few shackles still seem to surround them as a whole. These shackles seem to be quite opaque to many at times. What I mean is liberalization of women is misunderstood. Practices that degrade women’s position are at times mistaken as those that liberate her and vice-versa.

Let’s understand this fact with an example. Women when clothed fully from head to toe are not in any way ‘subjugated’ or ‘degraded’ but are actually ‘liberated’ and ‘protected’ as considered by some societies. Clothing is a means of protection from display of beauty or whatever is alluring to the eyes that they are not meant for. Biologically, women are different from men, their entire body is an object of attraction and its wanton display is an invitation to danger. That is why Islam enjoins men and women to observe modesty and women to clad themselves decently on all parts of their body except the face and hands [Surah An-Nur 24:30-31]. A modest clothing can not only be a symbol of dignity for a woman but also protects her.

The Protected One
Islam has ordained modesty for both men and women fourteen hundred years ago; as a measure of protection and respect. If one has to classify any act as ‘oppressive against women’ then one must be able to prove how this act deprives her of any human rights. The importance of any religious practice or ordainment like observance of veil in Islam, must be evaluated in light of practical implementation. The societies which are predominantly Islamic and in which women most commonly observe veil, for example Saudi Arabia have few rates of rapes or violence against women. In a report which contains response (in the form of legislative measures) to UN General Assembly resolutions of 2002-2003, though many countries adopted several legislative measures, KSA officially reported no cases of violence against women (pg.7, point 23). On the contrary, women in the US are more vulnerable to domestic violence as compared to their Eastern region counterparts. According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, which includes crimes that were not reported to the police, 232,960 women in the U.S. were raped or sexually assaulted in 20061. The Justice Department estimates that one in five women will experience rape or attempted rape during their college years, and that less than five percent of these rapes will be reported.2,3 According to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, women experience about 4.8 million intimate partner-related physical assaults and rapes every year.

Their Rights
Women have the same rights as men do and a system from the creator will definitely give these rights to her as is given to men. Women have the right to life, right to education, economic rights being right to inherit property with their free will and right to own and manage property with free will. Social rights include right to choose or refuse in marriage and right to voice against oppression from any male relative. Legal rights being the right to demand justice from any crime committed against them and the right to voice their opinion in legislative and judicial system. Islam has guaranteed women all these rights in order to establish a civil society. On the contrary, many societies who claim to be civilized had deprived women of these rights for a long period of time. For instance, married women were not given the right to own property until the late nineteenth century in the West.

Their oppression

Modern day subjugation of women is more disguised and is more sinister than ever before. In the name of liberalization of women, societies tend to trivialize their modesty and dignity and thus women become easy prey to sexual assaults. The global community must stand up for justice when it comes to punishment of crimes against women. Crime against women increases as a result of criminals let loose and immodesty on the rise. In a poll conducted, it showed that more than 90% of those who approved capital punishment for certain heinous crimes agreed unanimously. The rest who disagreed when told that the criminals after completing their sentence of life imprisonment got back on their crime, also changed their viewpoint and supported death penalty for the rapists.

Islam gives remedial measures for crimes against women, as well as guidelines to implement them:
Abstinence from illicit relationships:
Islam enjoins modesty and ordains both men and women to abstain from unnecessary inter-mingling of opposite genders. It forbids men and women to engage in any relationship outside marriage.3 According to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, women experience about 4.8 million intimate partner-related physical assaults and rapes every year.. The ‘dating-culture’ has pushed women towards a greater catastrophe, women are now giving the men a stick to beat them with. They are making it easy for their male attackers, by going out alone who they don’t even know about, allowing them to do with them what they please. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala says in the Noble Qur’an (the interpretation of the meaning):

And so are the virtuous women of the believers and the virtuous women of those who received the Scripture before you (lawful for you) when ye give them their marriage portions and live with them in honour, not in fornication, nor taking them as secret concubines. Whoso denieth the faith, his work is vain and he will be among the losers in the Hereafter.
[Surah Al Maeda:5:5]

Modesty in clothing
In her book ‘Violence against women’ by Claire M. Renzetti, Raquel Kennedy Bergen states that ‘women in public must dress with discretion so as not to stimulate interest’ (Good housekeeping magazine 1972-73) or ‘that a woman is more likely to invite attack on the street if she is wearing tight ‘sexy’ clothes.4

Islam enjoins clothing that is not provocative and alluring to the opposite gender, so as not to send signals of interest to the potential attacker.

Law to curb crime
Islam, unlike some major world religions orders death penalty for the rapist. Some may argue it to be barbaric, but one may ask isn’t it a cruel and heinous act to rip a woman’s honor and leave an emotional scar lasting all her life? Is a women’s dignity so low and worthless to allow such a crime to go unpunished or reduce its punishment to a minimal, equal to nothing?

Conclusion
If we are to desire a safe society, protect and honor women as well as make them less vulnerable to domestic violence, it would be necessary to follow these guidelines. No matter how powerful a country’s criminal investigation and preventive strategy may be, it would have only a trifle effect unless it incorporates all these guidelines, in its war against crime.


http://www.muslimlearner.com/the-emancipated-woman/

[cottonrainbow]

Barakah Allah!
Nice post, Muslimlearner!
I believe that most would like us to think that the Muslim woman is oppressed, but we are actually more free than the others. A women's dignity and respect is restored in Islam.