Gender Equality : Women’s Rights and Religion
Exploring Issues, Concepts and Frameworks for the Rising Prominence of Islam in the West
McGill University
December 4th, 2018
In multiculturalist societies within the global north, foreign religious rights and freedoms often conflict with Western principles of women’s rights concerning both marriage and reproduction. The following paper will use Islam as a case study in attempt to examine these ongoing and ever prevalent issues, and in response a suggested framework will be introduced for further action to take place.
The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a fundamental document to society that discusses the essential human rights that should be available to all people, globally, regardless of socio-economic position, race, gender or other immutable characteristics. While its focusses are plenty, the concern of gender equality has become ever more rampant in the past few decades. Article 16 of the Declaration states the following:
“Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution” (UNDR, 1948).
As the document suggests, women are entitled to full freedom and rights under the law, no matter their religion, nationality or race, and every woman should have the capacity for self-determination. Women are entitled to full rights—much like men—during and after marriage. The Declaration came about as a consequence of some of the more heinous events of the mid-20th century, and was organized by a panel of inter-cultural and inter-ethnic stakeholders to ensure a variety of perspectives.
Recent debates in international politics and social life have questioned women’s rights under Islam, particularly with the vast cultural differences between Islamic religions and societies of the West. While Christianity also had some tenets that positioned men as higher than women, this is none more evident than in Islam, where we can argue—at least from the mainstream perspective—that women are indefinitely robbed of self-determination. According to Engineer (2004), women are destined to be mothers and caregivers at home, which strips them of the opportunity to engage in meaningful and impactful political and social discourses.
A telling case study of the erosion of women’s rights under Islam is Turkey. According to Wagner (2016), while we acknowledge that there are cultural differences between religious and ethnic groups that must needs be considered to form a more holistic understanding, there is broad consensus that “Turkey seems to be moving backward” (Wagner, 2016, p. 5). President Erdogan is one of the key figures to blame in this attack on women’s rights under an Islamic state. Islam was not always against women; however, rhetoric and habituation that denied women’s rights seemed to have permeated in the Middle East, where the Qu’ran was interpreted. Different countries that follow this text interpret its script on a scale of varying intensity. While some view the Qu’rans writings with less importance to social life, others take its principles to the most extreme level and emphasize writings such as the following –“preeminence of men and their role as overseers” (Wagner, 2016, p. 9). Severe trust in these foundations results in problematic and rampant domestic violence and hostile control over women in places such as Egypt (Wagner, 2016).
It was during the establishment and religious movement of the Wahhabism, a particular form of Islam, that women began to experience the deterioration of their rights. This forced them to wear the garment known as the hijab and burka, and prohibited them from the common right of driving a car. After the construction and prominence of Wahhabism, women also had to wear an abaya, which is a long cloak that covers most of the body. Iraq was ranked as one of the worst countries for women’s freedoms and rights, and the Muslim Brotherhood—a group that still exerts power of traditionally Islamic regions—says that men should control women (Wagner, 2016).
Indeed, from a Western perspective, it is not difficult to understand how a society that operates based on such extreme beliefs and principles of Islam could pose problems for women’s rights. Wahhabism became resistant to reformation, seeing changes as a product of Western appeasement and as a way of receiving guidance from the Global North (Wagner, 2016). This is simply unacceptable for Muslims under Wahhabism, who adhere strictly to their own traditions, guarding them with utmost intensity. From the vantage point of a Western woman, who enjoys freedom of movement, choice in clothing, choice in marital partner and self-determination and autonomy, it is common to view Muslim women as fundamentally oppressed.
Much of this has to do with the West’s acknowledgment that women should be in charge of their reproductive capacities. For instance, in Western, Euro-centric cultures the notion of women’s rights as predicated upon women being able to achieve self-determination without being distinctly limited to the reproductive capacity. Moreover, they are not viewed merely as ‘baby makers.’ Amnesty International (2018), a widespread human rights organization, mirrors these sentiments by providing Western-style reproduction education and resources to women from less affluent and more gender-oppressive countries, such as those in the Middle East and under Islamic rule.
Amnesty International (2018) suggests there are key elements to women’s rights and ensuring they have reproductive knowledge and resources. They should be given crucial information related to fertility, and should have access to proper contraception. Women should be given the right to choose marriage, along with who they want to marry. Society should not force women to have children, instead individuals should be granted the choice to decide how many they want and when (Amnesty International, 2018). Indeed, within Western society, it is relatively universal to see all these ethics being applied to most modern families and relationships.
According to Gbadomosi (2012), most of what we view as violations of women’s rights, based on their gender status, is precipitated by Sharia law, which is effectively Islamic political law. For Muslims, Sharia law is not manmade but created by God (Gbadomosi, 2012), which—whether this is problematic or not—secures its pre-eminence in Islamic societies. A truly Muslim community may not, for instance, recognize manmade Western laws, which often precipitates the creation of enclaves and ghettoized areas. The pre-eminence and importance of Islamic doctrine and Sharia may be problematic when viewing it from a women’s rights perspective.
We can thus easily perceive Islam as going against women’s rights. According to the Conversation of Women and Religious Leaders, Islamic law has led to violations in women’s rights from an objective standpoint. In Chiang Mai, Thailand, during the critical meeting that discussed women’s rights and the future of women, a key speaker said the following: “Religions have…collaborated with dehumanizing values of cultural, economic and political powers” (Gbadomosi, 2012).
How have they led to the dehumanization of women? That same keynote speaker noted the following. Women have largely been silent when patriarchal governance justifies and make abuse, violence and rape legitimate. Some of the lesser known practices in Islam include female genital mutilation, abortion based on sex (i.e. aborting female fetuses), discrimination against LGBT members as well as rape and incest. Women have not been granted the freedom to talk about their reproductive health, capacity and self-determination, more so they have been forcible restricted from doing so, often resulting in violent fatalities against those that do attempt to voice their rights. Further, they are also considered to be without moral agency and make poor judgments when it comes to right and wrong within Islam in comparison to the actions of men (Gbadomosi, 2012).
In the Islamic tradition, there is sharp partition between the genders, with women expected to take on domestic chores and child rearing, and men to be in control of the socio-political playground. Women’s reproductive capacities are not widely respected under more strict forms of Islam, such as Wahhabism, and women fail to meaningfully become a part of mainstream society. They wear the hijab to protect their bodies from the male gaze and prevent rape (according to Islamic doctrine), which further emphasizes the way this religion views them as inferior.
To provide some further diameter to this discussion, we should also look at the way Christianity has—and still, to some extent does—delineate between genders. Gender discourse in Christianity is much different from gender discourse in Islam, in that women have mostly gained reproductive rights and capacities. On the other hand, traditional Christianity still encourages Christian women to get married (however, they are allowed to choose partners) and have children. It recognizes there are biological and psychological differences between men and women.
Contrarily, there are many things about Islam that scholars do not know because they have been exposed only to the mainstream view of the religion. Gbadomosi (2012) says that Islam allows women to hold and own property, and to do with it as they wish (Gbadomosi, 2012). This may strike some as surprising, since women in the West were not allowed to own property until relatively recently. In Misconceptions about Human Rights and Women’s Rights in Islam (2008), Syed writes that contrary to popular belief, Islam allows women to be autonomous in the areas of business, property and education, however when it comes to rights of the body, dress, and marital principles they are ultimately enslaved(Syed, 2008).
In fact, the author goes so far as to compare Islamic law for women with the UNDR, Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is predominantly Western countries that have a negative view toward Islam. The author holds that before Islam came into power in the Middle East, infanticide for female babies was all too common; it was the Qu’ran that officially abolished the practice, consolidating women’s rights even to be born and exist. Muslim women also have a right to choose a meaningful career when they become of age, with the caveat that this work should be just and appropriate to the female nature (Syed, 2008).
There are historical aspects of Islam that precipitate further freedoms, rights and responsibilities for women. For instance, the historical narratives of Khadijah (the wife of Muhammad) is characterized as a business woman who was in business first, before she married. In Islam, women choose either to work or stay home with children, but either way, their husbands are still responsible for providing for the family. Women cannot lead in prayer (neither can they in the Catholic Church), but they can pray at home (Syed, 2008) and many Muslim women have been leaders in mosques and for the Islamic faith in general.
Syed (2008) also suggests there are misconceptions about women’s marriage rights and forced marriage. Muhammad, the Islamic prophet, said it was required of men to be kind to all women in his life, including nieces, aunts, mothers, daughters and wives. Syed (2008) interprets Muhammad’s teachings, which are central to Islam, as being fundamentally against forced marriages and child marriages that rob women and girls of autonomy and freedom. One passage in the Holy text cites the example of a girl who was not to be married by the state because her parents were attempting to force arrange the marriage (Syed, 2008).
There is a wide variety of cultural backgrounds, now called intersectionality that governs how we should view Islam’s relationship with women’s rights. Intersectionality is considered complex in contemporary political, social and academic discourse because it holds that women under Islam should be able to practice their religion, but then also considers practices like female genital mutilation and other practices that have been documented under Islam. Currently, governments and scholars are trying to find a way to bridge these two traditions—Islam and intersectionality—to meaningfully generate a discourse of tolerance, while upholding women’s rights and marriage equality.
While intersectionality may look like a good solution, Shachar (2001) has some conners about it, especially as is it related to radical multiculturalism. “The problem of multicultural accommodation is high on the global political agenda” (Shachar, 2001, p. 1), says Shachar. Citizenship and individual rights have made up the bulwark of West, which continues to guard against oppression of minorities and women. In the West, legal institutions are not religious institutions; in fact, such discourse is deeply discouraged. Shachar (2001) is worried about the erosion of rights that comes about with radical tolerance of difference and accommodation.
There are two differing conceptions of Islam with respect to women’s rights. The first one views Islam as contrary to women’s rights and asserts that under the dominance of the religion, women are not entitled to autonomy and reproductive freedoms. Another facet of scholars—some of whom declare Islam even had a feminist re-working—claim that the religion is acceptable in Western discourse because women do have rights. Perhaps, we can then distinguish between Wahhabism and fundamentalist Islam and more reformed modes, although this is not clear in literature (whether there is a distinction for women’s rights).
Sex differences also play a role in the traditional roles women under Islam (and to some extent, under Christianity) have encountered. In the most divided way, the core separating essence between men and women is that one reproduces, and the other does not. Traditional religious discourse sees it as preferred for women to reproduce, and this is especially the case in Islam, where fertility rates are quite high. This theory—that there are sex differences between men and women—does not coincide with modern interpretations of gender and sex, particularly those that stem from the UNDR and UN.
The contemporary interpretation of sex differences suggests that gender identity and sex are two different features. They may belong together in some ways, but one can be a woman born in a man’s body, and vice versa. The UN has all sorts of initiatives to recognize gender identity, bisexuality, trans-sexuality and other pertinent LGBT categories. For instance, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner (2018) issued a report saying that gender identity should be protected in same-sex unions (OHCHR, 2018). This is only one example of the myriad of ways Western nations seek to protect the rights of sexual minorities.
The question, then, is how to protect women from cultural tyranny while upholding meaningful multiculturalism and this can be resolved by establishing the pre-eminence and dominance of Western values. Western values centre around the right to self-determination and freedom, and a lack of coercive power for making decisions. There are many women who want to wear the burka because they feel it is a cultural and religious obligation. There are women who feel the burka is oppressive and do not want to wear it. Western governments have, as their responsibility, to differentiate between the two types of women.
A legal framework is required that sets the Western standard of women’s rights as fundamental, to avoid suffering on the part of women. For instance, when women are oppressed under Islam, they suffer disproportionately to women who are not oppressed under Islam. However, there are important distinctions to be made between willingly participating in one’s culture and religion and being oppressed; there can be no doubt that many Muslim women willingly participate in their religion. It adds spiritual value to their lives. A legal framework would make barbaric practices like female genital mutilation illegal.
I reviewed how certain Islamic practices have been viewed as barbaric by the West, and these should be eliminated. A strong policy, in the form of a document that is followed under all circumstances, ensures that human rights remain globally dominant and prevalent. Therefore, there can be no distinction between Western modes of living (regarding women’s rights) and Islamic modes. Women can practice the Islamic religion in peace and security, but if there are complaints of abuse of any sort, these should be immediately recognized and eradicated.
Authorities in Western nations where Islam is growing should do all they can to ensure women in these societies do not suffer under some of the same oppressions they may have faced in the Middle East. However, the West does pride itself on being inclusive and tolerant, which means that religious accommodation is still a fundamental principle our societies are based on. While the West needs to be strong and active in enacting regulations that secure women’s rights against potential Islamic practices that violate them, they need not coercively drive women away from Islam.
In conclusion, multicultural policies that stress women’s equality under the law and in marriage must also recognize that stable legal and political frameworks are necessary to ensure these rights are not violated. There are some difficult discussions that must take place in European and Western nations, where Islamic groups are fighting ever more strongly for religious freedoms and provisions. Perhaps, in the face of this, the West must assert that women should enjoy equal rights, if not equal religious access.
References
Amnesty International. (2018). Sexual and Reproductive Rights. Retrieved November 29, 2018, from https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/sexual-and-reproductive-rights/
Engineer, A. A. (2004). The Rights of Women in Islam (3rd ed.). New Delhi: Sterling Private Limited.
Gradomosi, O. A. (2012). Intersection between Shari’a and Reproductive and/or Sexual Health and Human Rights. Australasian Legal Scholarship Library. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
OHCHR. (2018). Sexual orientation and gender identity: UN expert hails historic legal opinion issued in Americas. Retrieved November 29, 2018, from https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22582&LangID=E
Shachar, A. (2001). Multicultural Jurisdictions: Cultural Differences and Women's Rights. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Syed, K. T. (2008). Misconceptions about human rights and women's rights in islam.Interchange, 39(2), 245-257. doi:http://dx.doi.org.subzero.lib.uoguelph.ca/10.1007/s10780-008-9062-3
UN. (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Retrieved November 29, 2018, from http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/
Wagner, M. M. (2016). The Decline of Women’s Rights in Turkey: Is it Political Islam…or Tayyip? University of Colorado, Boulder. Retrieved November 29, 2018, from https://scholar.colorado.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2383&context=honr_theses.