Muslim Women Essay Example

Muslim Women Essay Example Muslim Women Essay Muslim Women Essay The Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW) is a human right treaty for women. The basic structure of the organization is based upon three principles: equality, non-discrimination and state obligation. This organization has set some rules to eliminate discrimination against women. This organization set some specific rules which the state has to agree with and implement it on their state. POLITICAL REPRESENTATION Fatwas have been issued in some of the Islamic countries barring Muslim Women from participating in elections on the grounds that it will bring them into contact with men. Such Fatwas hardly had any impact on women and the Muslim voters; who promptly ignored them. A fatwa banning Muslim women’s participation in elections (as contestants) has also been issued with the rider that if they still participate in elections, they may do so wearing the veil. MARRIAGE RIGHTS The Muslim civil code has provided the Muslim man with a right to polygamy, though the prophet mentioned the subject only once. Moreover, a Muslim woman cannot marry a non-Muslim whereas a man can. Contrary to the general notion of equality, a husband is also granted a partial unilateral right of divorce. He can dissolve his marriage by uttering the word talaq thrice even without stating the reasons and in the absence of his wife who merely needs to be informed. On the other hand, a woman can divorce her husband only if: * An agreement is made before or after the marriage by which she is at liberty to divorce herself from her husband under certain specified conditions which are not opposed to the policies of Islamic Law. Unawareness about his whereabouts for 4 years. * failure to get maintenance for 2 years, * impotency, insanity of the husband, or if he is suffering from some venereal disease, * cruelty and option of puberty i. e. if she was married before the age of 15. RIGHTS OF A MUSLIM WIDOW ON HER HUSBAND’S PROPERTY * The widow has to give full account of all the income and profits of the estate. * She cannot sell or gift her property to anyone. * She can file a suit for the recovery of the mahr –debt. She can satisfy her mahr debt out of the rents and profits of the property. RAPE LAW According to the sunnah, a woman should not be punished for having been coerced into having sex. This attitude towards rape is discussed in the following hadith: During the time of Muhammad punishment was inflicted on the rapist on the solitary evidence of the woman who was raped by him. Wail ibn Hujr reports of an incident when a woman was raped. Later, when some people came by, she identified and accused the man of raping her. They seized him and brought him to Allahs messenger, who said to the woman, Go away, for Allah has forgiven you, but of the man who had raped her, he said, Stone him to death. (Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud). According to a  Sunni  hadith, the punishment for committing rape is death, there is no blame attached to the victim. According to  Al-Mawardi, an 11th century specialist in Islamic jurisprudence (sharia), if either the victim or a witness kills the perpetrator of rape during the crime, in order to prevent furthering the violence of the act, the killing is permissible and is exempt from the laws of murder and killing. However right now it is far from uncommon for a woman who raises claims of rape to be not only denied justice, but to be charged as a criminal herself for committing fornication or adultery. DRESS CODE Hijab  is the Quranic requirement that Muslims, both male and female, dress and behave modestly. The most important Quranic verse relating to  hijab  is  sura  , which says, And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and guard their private parts and not to display their adornment except that which ordinarily appears thereof and to draw their headcovers over their chests and not to display their adornment except to their [maharim] There are regional and sectarian variations of the veil associated with  hijab. Depending upon local views regarding female modesty, they may or may not cover the face or the eyes, or the entire body. These variations include: * Hijab  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ A scarf covering the hair. * Chador  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ A cloak covering the head and body, but leaving the face uncovered; worn by many women in Iran when outside the home. * Shayla  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ A long rectangular scarf, pinned or tucked at the shoulder, leaving the face uncovered; worn by many women in the Persian Gulf region. Khimar  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ A long rectangular scarf, covering the head, neck and shoulders, but leaving the face uncovered. * Burka  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Covers the entire head and body, including the eyes; the wearer sees through a cloth mesh eye veil sewn into the burka. * Al-Amira  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ A two-piece veil that includes a close-fitting cap and a tube-shaped scarf covering the head and neck, but leaving the face uncovered. * Niqab  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ A veil that leaves the eye clear (although it may be worn with an eye veil), and worn with a headscarf. The  hijab, and the veil in particular, have often been viewed by many as a sign of oppression of Muslim women. The wearing of the  hijab  has become controversial in countries where Muslims are a minority, and where majority secular opinions regard the  hijab  as violating womens freedom, especially in Europe amid increasing immigration of Muslims In some countries where Muslims are a minority, there is much less public opposition to the practise, although concerns about it are discussed. Canadian media, for example, have covered controversies where concerns have been raised over the veil being a possible security risk, as in cases where Muslim women have refused to remove their  niqab  or  burkaveil for voter identification at polls. Case study: India SCHEMES FOR DEVELOPMENT OF MUSLIM WOMEN IN INDIA * Multi-Sectoral Development Project (MSDP) to rehabilitate Muslim women who are destitute or have been abandoned by their husbands. WEST BENGAL * Leadership development of minority women scheme. KSWWF(karnatka state wakf foundation for women development)-In the scheme Medical relief is provided to Muslim Minorities woman and girls for medical treatment. * Health Relief to Muslim Minorities Women and Girls- karnatka * Training of Muslim Women in Stitching, Embroidery and Knitting * Providing Computer Training to Minorities Muslim Women * Stipend to Muslim Minorities Girls learning Urdu DTP Course * Starting Pre-Primary School for Muslim Children by NGOs EMPLOYMENT OF MUSLIM WOMEN IN INDIA The constitution of India confers equal citizenship rights on all Indians and provides safeguards for minorities. Constitutional safeguards are meant to ensure the full and active participation of all communities including Muslims in the country’s public life. Article 14 of the Constitution grants equality to all citizens without discrimination on grounds of caste, language or religion.. Muslim women have the lowest work participation rate (WPR) among all three categories of work, with a large gap between the WPRs for Muslim women, Hindu or Christian women. Sixty percent of Muslim women are self-employed – the highest percentage among all three religious categories i. e. Hindus, Christians and Muslims. The living conditions are linked with to the employment patterns and working conditions and the worker population rates for Muslim women are lower than for women in other socio-religious category (SRC). Most of the Muslim women are self employed; they prefer to work at home. As compared to other SRCs, Muslims are concentrated more in self-employed activities and their participation in regular jobs, especially in non-agriculture is much less than for others. A significantly higher share of Muslim workers in self-employment can be seen in urban areas as compared to rural are areas and for women who prefer home-based activities. The share of Muslims in regular work, especially in the government, public sector and large private sector is very low. LIVING CONDITIONS OF INDIAN MUSLIM WOMEN Muslim women are suffering from both internal and external oppression. Muslim men practice what they themselves believe is Islamic and oppress their women and refuse to entertain any thought of change. Many educated Muslim women thus start believing there can be no liberation within Islam and seek their freedom through secular laws. Ultimately, the source of their oppression is sought to be located in Islam itself, which is projected as an allegedly patriarchal religion, supposedly hostile to women’s rights and gender-justice. Wearing of Hijab and Burqa is still in practice in India. So, to conclude, Muslim legal traditions in India, for women have developed to an extent, but the society still remains orthodox and conservative. Muslims are still in minority. Various welfare schemes for the development of Muslim Women have been introduced and the country. . Case study: gulf countries In Gulf countries, following is the prevalent tradition: Education Progress on bridging the gender gap in social indicators has been impressive in Gulf Countries, mainly because of heavy public sector investments in education and health sectors, from which women have benefited significantly. Gulf countries has made substantial gains in the education of women. Statistics show that girls are equal to boys in tertiary, secondary and primary level of education in Gulf countries and 60% of all university students in the six states of the Gulf are women. Employment Women in the Gulf countries had been influenced by societys traditions. Their economic participation and their status position are become low and weak in comparisons with their life at the begging of Islam. Nevertheless, Gulf women have played a role in for as long as these societies have existed, through their effective role in the family and in their tribes, and supplementing the family income with a little local trading or through weaving and handicrafts and agricultural work and in some cases fighting beside their men. Nowadays, women in the Gulf are at the forefront of the economic life of their societies, in the labor force, in politics, in civil organizations, and, in that most crucial area of life, in economics. Gulf countries remain a patriarchal society. Saudi Arabia forbids Muslim women even to drive. , Women earlier weren’t allowed to go to mosques because of fears of unchastity caused by interaction between sexes; this condition persisted until the late 1960s. Since then, women have become increasingly involved in the mosque, though men and women generally worship separately. Dress code and covering the full body, specially for the young women is still very strictly to be followed in some of the Gulf countries. The primary aim of women is not to earn money, but to look after her family, therefore, employment is still less in the gulf countries, even after gradual increase over decades. 1 . http://webspace. webring. com/people/gh/husociology1/1/muslimwomen2008. pdf [ 2 ]. pucl. org/from-archives/Gender/muslim-women. htm [ 3 ]. indianexpress. om/news/west-bengal-plans-scheme-to-aid-muslim-women/979145 [ 4 ]. http://articles. timesofindia. indiatimes. com/2013-01-06/lucknow/36173792_1_minority-women-muslim-women-sachar-committee [ 5 ]. http://kswwf. com/schemes-for-muslim-women. html [ 6 ]. unhcr. org/refworld/pdfid/469cbfcc0. pdf [ 7 ]. iimahd. ernet. in/assets/snippets/workingpaperpdf/12051717332012-09-03. pdf , pg-20 [ 8 ]. csss-isla. com [ 9 ]. ummid. com/news/2010/January/03. 01. 2010/socio_cultural_impediments_to_muslim_women. htm