Muslim women claim right to speak up

Muslim women have traditionally expressed their views on lslam or questioned related matters and should not, therefore, be labelled as being 'deviant', argued a speaker at a forum.

"The legal gains and losses of women in Iran, and now in Afghanistan, Iraq and also Malaysia, testify that there can be no sustianable gains unless patriarchal notions of family and gender relations are debated, challenged and readdressed within an Islamic framework," said Dr. Ziba Mir-Hosseini.

A research associate at the London Middel East Institute and Centre of Islamic & Middle Eastern law- attached to the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London - she was one of three Muslim feminist academics who spoke at a public forum in Kuala Lumpur mid March.

The forum, entitled 'Muslim Women Speak: Claiming the Rights to Public Participation' was organised by Sisters in Islam. It also featured Dr. Kecia Ali, a post-doctoral fellow in Islamic Studies and Women's Studies at Brandeis University, US and Cassandra Balchin, Coordinator for Women Living Under Muslim Laws.

Originally from Iran, Ziba siad that, as soon as one identifies herself as a feminist, she will be labelled as 'not a good Muslim'. "A movement to seprate patriarchy from Islamic ideals and sacred texts, and to give voic eto an ethical egalitarian vision of Islam, can and does empower women from all walks of life to make dignified choices," she said.

Kecia siad Muslim women who are concerned about gender equality are often seen as deviant or 'bad Muslims'. Cassandra raised questions as to why feminism is deemed a 'Western' concept and why the focus has been on Muslim women and not women of other faiths. Met later, Kecia siad there were precedents in Islamic history when women have spoken up and questioned the authorities.

"Not every woman has to be an activist and feminist. Every woman needs to find a way for herself to live as a Muslim in dignified and respectful way...respectful in the sense of her respect for Islam as a faith and also respectful in the sense that she gets the respect that is owing to her as a Muslim woman, as a mother, as a daughter, as a wife and human being," she said. "The issue is how clearly they can convey the importance of women's dignity, women's rights and women's equality in the form of interpretation of Islam."

Source: www.malaysiakini.com

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