In Canada we identify Muslim women by what they wear. If we see a young woman wearing a hijab, a kind of shawl, we know that she is Muslim. Below the hijab she may be wearing an abaya, a plain but attractive ankle-length dress that is supposed to hide the female form but often doesn’t quite do the job, or she may be wearing a t-shirt and jeans, but she is definitely Muslim. And, of course, if she is wearing a burqa, sometimes called a “veil”, that covers her whole body except for a slit across the eyes, she is ultra-Muslim. So, what do hijabs and burqas say about Muslim women?
A number of years ago I attended Guelph University’s annual College Royal, and one of the information tables was sponsored by the Islamic Student Society. The young women at the table were wearing hijabs and I asked them why. They answered that they were proud to wear them “because the Qu’ran required it and it was a symbol of their freedom”. Their freedom? How so, I wondered. I had swallowed the North American line that Muslim women are an oppressed lot, and their clothes prove it.
An historical note! Muhammad was the Prophet of a revolutionary society called Islam. Naturally, as Islam began to supplant old, tribal polytheism in Arabia, people wanted to meet Muhammad, and they came to his home in Mecca. Since his wives were there too, he and his advisors felt that the wives should remain behind a veil while male visitors were present in order to have more privacy and feel safer. The burqa has become a kind of “portable” veil. Anyway, it was never intended that all Muslim women should be “veiled”. Probably Muslim women in Mecca heard that Muhammad’s wives were veiled and thought that they should do likewise. That’s how traditions start.
Yes, I did say “Muhammad’s wives”. I’ll refer to that a few paragraphs hence.
Many of the medical staff who work here at AVH are Muslim women with MD degrees, nursing degrees, pharmacy degrees , just to mention a few. Are these a small minority of Muslim women? I don’t think so, at least not in this part of the Muslim world. But what about the average Muslim woman, the one who doesn’t pursue a career? First of all, as a teenager, she is protected by her family, so much so that she does not go out on dates unless chaperoned by a male family member. A western girl would say “That’s oppression”, but a Muslim girl would say “I feel safe”.
In downtown East Jerusalem teenage Muslim girls walk in groups, whispering to each other and giggling, just like Western girls, wearing their hijabs. Teenage Muslim boys are typically macho and loud. They sneak peeks at passing girls, but the boys and girls don’t mix as they do in Canada. And it’s all for the safety of the girls, just like the hijab and the burqa. As an adult, the same rules apply until a Muslim woman is married.
If the things I’ve said about women in Islam are true, why so? First of all, the Qu’ran doesn’t give any reasons for vilifying women. Here are the words of Allah dictated to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel and preserved in the Qu’ran: O mankind, We have created you male and female, and appointed you races and tribes, that you may know one another. Surely the noblest among you in the sight of God is the most god-fearing of you. God is All-knowing and All-wise. In the Qu’ran’s creation story man and woman are created equal, and there is no mention of “original sin”. Woman cannot be blamed for causing the fall of humankind as she has been blamed by Christians.
After Muhammad made the move from Mecca to Medina with the Qu’ran in hand, he proceeded to establish an Islamic society in which both men and women would enjoy equality. In pre-Islamic Arabia women had few rights, but Muhammad changed that by allowing women to inherit, to keep their dowry, and to testify before a judge, just to name a few of the changes. We say in the West “So what!” but in 7th century Arabia this was revolutionary, and centuries ahead of Christianity, which had had more than six hundred years to institute women’s rights and had not even begun to do so.
Earlier I mentioned Muhammad’s wives. Polygamy was part of pre-Islamic Arab society, and the practice continued. But Muhammad even reformed that practice. He suggested four wives, but only if the husband promised to treat each wife equally in all things and spend equal time with each. This, of course, is impossible and so monogamy became more common. Another thing about polygamy was that it provided a haven for widows who were left destitute. Muhammad had more than four wives because the widowed wives of his followers needed to survive. Did he have his favourites? You bet! But if we brush off the Islamic practice of polygamy as only as a male fantasy, then we’ve missed the point. In Islam it was a way of protecting women and making life safe for them.
By 632 CE Muhammad had re-established himself in Mecca where he put into practice his vision of an Islamic society based on Qu’ranic principles of justice and human rights. In his farewell address at the mosque Namira near Mount Arafat in Arabia, just before his death, Muhammad told his people (the umma) “to deal justly with one another and to treat women kindly”. Are women always treated kindly in Islamic society? No! There are abuses as there are in any society. But there is no doubt about Islam’s deep and abiding respect for women and its concern for their safety and well being.
My comments are not intended to be a definitive, sociological commentary on the place of women in Islamic society. They are only a sharing of some personal observations and a few surprises. What have I learned? Things are never as they appear.
A number of years ago I attended Guelph University’s annual College Royal, and one of the information tables was sponsored by the Islamic Student Society. The young women at the table were wearing hijabs and I asked them why. They answered that they were proud to wear them “because the Qu’ran required it and it was a symbol of their freedom”. Their freedom? How so, I wondered. I had swallowed the North American line that Muslim women are an oppressed lot, and their clothes prove it.
An historical note! Muhammad was the Prophet of a revolutionary society called Islam. Naturally, as Islam began to supplant old, tribal polytheism in Arabia, people wanted to meet Muhammad, and they came to his home in Mecca. Since his wives were there too, he and his advisors felt that the wives should remain behind a veil while male visitors were present in order to have more privacy and feel safer. The burqa has become a kind of “portable” veil. Anyway, it was never intended that all Muslim women should be “veiled”. Probably Muslim women in Mecca heard that Muhammad’s wives were veiled and thought that they should do likewise. That’s how traditions start.
Yes, I did say “Muhammad’s wives”. I’ll refer to that a few paragraphs hence.
Many of the medical staff who work here at AVH are Muslim women with MD degrees, nursing degrees, pharmacy degrees , just to mention a few. Are these a small minority of Muslim women? I don’t think so, at least not in this part of the Muslim world. But what about the average Muslim woman, the one who doesn’t pursue a career? First of all, as a teenager, she is protected by her family, so much so that she does not go out on dates unless chaperoned by a male family member. A western girl would say “That’s oppression”, but a Muslim girl would say “I feel safe”.
In downtown East Jerusalem teenage Muslim girls walk in groups, whispering to each other and giggling, just like Western girls, wearing their hijabs. Teenage Muslim boys are typically macho and loud. They sneak peeks at passing girls, but the boys and girls don’t mix as they do in Canada. And it’s all for the safety of the girls, just like the hijab and the burqa. As an adult, the same rules apply until a Muslim woman is married.
If the things I’ve said about women in Islam are true, why so? First of all, the Qu’ran doesn’t give any reasons for vilifying women. Here are the words of Allah dictated to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel and preserved in the Qu’ran: O mankind, We have created you male and female, and appointed you races and tribes, that you may know one another. Surely the noblest among you in the sight of God is the most god-fearing of you. God is All-knowing and All-wise. In the Qu’ran’s creation story man and woman are created equal, and there is no mention of “original sin”. Woman cannot be blamed for causing the fall of humankind as she has been blamed by Christians.
After Muhammad made the move from Mecca to Medina with the Qu’ran in hand, he proceeded to establish an Islamic society in which both men and women would enjoy equality. In pre-Islamic Arabia women had few rights, but Muhammad changed that by allowing women to inherit, to keep their dowry, and to testify before a judge, just to name a few of the changes. We say in the West “So what!” but in 7th century Arabia this was revolutionary, and centuries ahead of Christianity, which had had more than six hundred years to institute women’s rights and had not even begun to do so.
Earlier I mentioned Muhammad’s wives. Polygamy was part of pre-Islamic Arab society, and the practice continued. But Muhammad even reformed that practice. He suggested four wives, but only if the husband promised to treat each wife equally in all things and spend equal time with each. This, of course, is impossible and so monogamy became more common. Another thing about polygamy was that it provided a haven for widows who were left destitute. Muhammad had more than four wives because the widowed wives of his followers needed to survive. Did he have his favourites? You bet! But if we brush off the Islamic practice of polygamy as only as a male fantasy, then we’ve missed the point. In Islam it was a way of protecting women and making life safe for them.
By 632 CE Muhammad had re-established himself in Mecca where he put into practice his vision of an Islamic society based on Qu’ranic principles of justice and human rights. In his farewell address at the mosque Namira near Mount Arafat in Arabia, just before his death, Muhammad told his people (the umma) “to deal justly with one another and to treat women kindly”. Are women always treated kindly in Islamic society? No! There are abuses as there are in any society. But there is no doubt about Islam’s deep and abiding respect for women and its concern for their safety and well being.
My comments are not intended to be a definitive, sociological commentary on the place of women in Islamic society. They are only a sharing of some personal observations and a few surprises. What have I learned? Things are never as they appear.
