The conference began with the remembrance of Allah and His words. Then various women who were members of Hizb ut Tahrir from different parts of the world spoke about the conditions that not just the muslim women is enduring in todays world but also the woman at large. Although the feminist movements of the West have managed to fight for and achieve many rights that were denied to the western women until recently such as the right to personhood under the law, political rights, and the right to property, a cursory look at even western societies would show that even according to their own criteria they have missed the mark. Women still make less money than men for the same work, still face the proverbial glass ceiling, get discriminated in business and politics, face sexual harassment, and they are still victims of mild to severe forms of violence. One of the speakers related that one woman gets raped every minute in America, the torchbearer of freedom and secularism in the world. So these are failures even according to the feminist movements. From the Islamic perspective and even from the perspective of feminist scholars, the west has lead to the humiliation of women through their objectification in society through the media, art, and cultural norms such as beauty standards, stripping and prostitution. Women are only seen to have worth as instruments of sexual pleasure and if they meet certain standards of beauty. This cultural pressure has led women in the west to mete out such horrific forms of abuse on their own bodies such as plastic surgery, implants, toxic injections, bulimia and anorexia…all in the service of remaking their image to be desirable to men and to be valued by society.
One of the speakers talked about how Islam has elevated the woman so that she doesn’t seek to compete with the man or seek value from being desirable to every man that lays eyes on her because Islam has freed her from setting him as her standard or her criterion for success. It has given her role in the family and society an honoured position. She is appreciated and valued as a mother, a wife, a daughter, and a sister. She has the grave and necessary task of raising the next generation of Muslims. She is a seen as a partner in the marriage and in fulfilling this duty. Her honour and dignity are to be protected by the state. She is also guaranteed education and healthcare rights by the state. In fact, during the reign of the Islamic state Muslim women excelled in education such that they rose to the level of scholars and even the first university al-Qarawiyin in Fez, Morocco was built by a Muslim woman, Fatima al Fihri. Sadly, such a system which implements these laws and propagates these values does not exist in the Muslim world today. Therefore the Muslim woman does not enjoy these benefits that Islam gives her. Instead she lives under dictatorial capitalist regimes which are subservient to Western interests. There is no protection for her, her economic or social justice. The speaker reminded us of the time when just one woman was dishonoured by a Roman soldier and the Ameer Mutassim sent an army to defend her honour.
So some of speakers about the plight of the woman in the Muslim world in the absence of such a system. The speaker from Indonesia talked about the oppression that women there face due to the economic injustice of the capitalist system and the extreme levels of poverty in certain sectors of society. Women are forced to work almost as slave labour for foreign multinationals who exploit their desperation. The economic hardships puts pressure on the entire family and the mental and emotional stress often leads to violence against women. The women from many different parts of the world spoke about the injustice and violence committed against the woman and the insecurity they face in the Muslim world also. They also spoke about the political repression that not only women but men also face under the current system in the Muslim world where the leaders are puppets of western nations and never hesitate to hand the resources to western interests, oppress and subjugate the people and torture and kill anyone who dares to resist. These economic and political conditions which create insecurity and disharmony in the society and family life which leads to the abuse of women.
muslimah4change 