Human Rights in Muslim women
"The laws have deprived half of the population of the basic rights of equity" (Hekmet, 184) this phrase shows how in Muslim culture women who make up half of society are not taken into account in terms of justice of universal rights. The Qur'an is defined by the Royal Spanish Academy as a "Book containing the revelations of God to Muhammad and which is the foundation of the Muslim religion."
For Muslims this is their holy book that is made up of 114 chapters or suras as it is known to Muslims and in this the norms of behavior acceptable to them are dictated or exposed, it represents their lifestyle. A lifestyle full of beliefs, laws and norms very different from other great religions such as Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Hinduism. This is why there are books like; ¨Vendidas¨ by Andrew Crofts, ¨Sultana, a real life¨ and ¨Mayada, hija de Irak¨ written by Jean Sasson and the story of Betty Mahmoody author of ¨Not without my daughter, ¨ in which the testimonies of women are related who live under a regime of oppression ruled by men.
The objective of these books is to try to explain the reason why Muslim women live in this horrible situation where no one can help them, and the problem is that there is no separation between religion and the State. For Muslims the Quran represents more than a region, for them it is a form of government, a way of life, that western cultures do not understand, and at the same time they do not understand the liberalism that exists in western cultures.
Women and the Quran
According to the Koran "the ideal woman must be young, virgin and always obedient" (Hekmet 146). Discrimination against Muslim women can be seen in the legal, labor and educational spheres. These areas have laws which are a clear reflection of the discrimination experienced by these women.
In the legal sphere, family laws reflect the inequality between the sexes in terms of duties and rights. Women have a lower status than men, to marry they need a guardian (always male) and to divorce they need very concrete evidence. If for some reason a woman obtains a divorce, she returns to the
parental guardianship, and even if you have the necessary resources to have a home of your own and support your children, you cannot make decisions on this alone, since you must always have the consent of your former spouse. In addition, if she remarries, she automatically loses custody of her children. However, the man does not need a guardian, nor does he require evidence to divorce, he only needs to express the desire to do so and retains custody of his children by marrying another woman.
Regarding the workplace, Muslim women are increasingly accepted every day due to economic development and the growing demand for labor. However, this is a fairly small increase. Although the circumstances of many women have improved and education has been essential for this, the majority continue in disadvantaged situations, working mainly in the domestic service, the manufacturing industry, crafts and in the public administration. Few occupy high positions, and the minority that occupies these positions, are still far from managerial activities. This is because the man, as the head of the family, can force his wife to leave her job, accusing her of leaving home, since she works outside the home.
Inequality is also notorious in the educational field, although at the primary level the number of students of both sexes is balanced, in secondary and especially in professional, the difference is notorious. This is due to the beliefs that still have quite a family, beliefs that put men before women, attributing to men the role of family support and to them that of caring for children and the home. Other factors that hinder girls' education are: the remoteness of schools, the cost of educational materials and the early marriageable age.
Inequality between men and women
Inequality towards women in countries with Islamic religion began from the moment when Muhammad began to preach "Muhammad and his followers captured women and children to later distribute them among their men or to sell them as slaves in the market." (Hekmat 148)Since the beginning of religion, the inequality between men and women was very great, but today in a world where Western culture is the predominant one, the abuses against women who believe in this can be noticed more. religion.
From a young age, women must learn that men are their owners and that they must be respected in any situation, the Koran shows how women cannot do anything without the permission of their owner "The man is in charge of the woman" (Quran 4:34)that he is her father as long as he lives and if he dies when the woman has not yet married, the property belongs to her older brother, at the time of her marriage she becomes the property of her husband. In the Muslim religion it is allowed for men to marry more than one woman “Marry women of your choice: two, three or four. But if you fear you won't be able to treat them fairly, take just one. " (Quran II, 3)with this referring to the fact that depending on the fortune of the man it is his ability to know how many wives to have to treat them all the same, but at the same time men are not punished for treating them unequally since men are not they question their actions related to the treatment of their women. These unequal treatments are from public means of transport such as trucks or trains, in which men sit in the front, and women in the back, in the cars of wealthy families the back seats have windows so that women are not seen from outside the car.
Adultery for both men and women is a serious sin and is punishable by law with stoning but the difference between men and women is that they are put in the ground in a hole and covered with earth up to the chest This is to immobilize them so that they cannot cover their face, then the men throw stones at her until they kill her, but the stones cannot be so large that they die instantly or so small that they are not considered stones. "Those cruel ones were a better comment on the culture of men, who consume and destroy the lives and dreams of their women with the coldest of indifference." (Sasson 102) As for men, stoning they are not found tied in any way leaving them the freedom to run.
If enough evidence is not found in which the woman is declared guilty, they are released and left to the punishment of their parents, which may be to have them killed, as is the case of Nadia, a young woman accused of adultery and not having found sufficient evidence of some sexual activity she was released and at her father's judgment, “Nadia was going to be drowned by her own father in the family pool. She said that Nadia's entire family would witness the execution. " (Sasson 100, Sultana)
Typical garments of Muslim women
One of the hallmarks that distinguishes Muslim women from any other religion is their traditional way of dressing, despite the fact that many people do not know that there are different types of garments among Muslim women, depending on the region where they live., and this is due to the degree of liberalism on the part of the rulers of each of the countries. Although the type of garment depends on the country where the Muslim women live, they have a similarity when wearing them, they must wear it at all times that it is required to go out to the street as well as when going to be in the same room with some man other than her father, brother or husband.
The different types of garments that exist among Muslim women are the nijab which is the translation of the Arabic veil, which in the West is known as the Islamic veil or scarf, this covers only the head and neck of women. For Muslim women, this scarf represents their religion as well as their femininity, there are different types of colors and fabrics for the manufacture of this veil. The niqab and the burqa are the most conservative of Muslim garments, the difference between these two is that the niqab is a veil that has a hole in the eye area that allows a woman to see clearly compared to the burqa that only allows women to see through cloth, but does not allow them to be seen by other men.
The most popular styles among Muslim women are known as al-amira and shayla. The al-amira is a two-piece veil that, the first piece is a cap form fitted to the head and the second is a tubular veil. And the shayla is a rectangular veil that like the others aims to cover the hair of women, this is wrapped around the head and folded at the shoulders. Shayla is used mostly in the Persian Gulf countries.
The khimar is a veil in the form of a cape that covers from the head to the waist, but this leaves the face uncovered. Another garment very similar to khimar is the chador, only the difference is that this blanket covers the entire body, and is used mostly by Iranian women.
In the holy book of Muslims it is written about how and to whom women can not carry their outer presses:
“And tell the believers to lower their eyes and keep their modesty; that they do not show their beauty or their clothes, except those that they should normally show. Therefore, they will throw the veil on their breasts, and they will not show their beauty except to their husband, or their father, or the father of the husband, or their children, or their husband, or their brothers, or their children., or those of his sisters, or the women, or the slaves they pose, or his male servants free from physical constraints or from the little ones who do not feel the shame of sex. " (Sura XXIV, 31)
In social gatherings, women are in a separate room so as not to mix with men, if in any case the situation arises that they are in the same room, women must wear the veil all the time, if they are They are allowed to speak, they must always turn down, but commonly women and men are at separate tables and men are served first. These laws on women's clothing are only applied within their country, if they travel to the West if they can wear Western clothing.
"The freedom of each member of society as man." Kant analyzes justice through three ration principles, freedom being one of them. The problem that Muslims abide by the norms of the Koran is the injustice with which these women are treated.After these issues were analyzed, it can be observed how women live under oppression, and the injustices of men, that in cases like those of ¨Vendidas¨ by Andrew Crofts, ¨Sultana, a real life¨ and ¨Mayada, hija de Irak¨ written by Jean Sasson and the story of Betty Mahmoody author of ¨Not without my daughter, ¨ women arrived to a point where the living conditions were inhumane and therefore they wanted to leave that country or at least that the whole world knew what is the true story of the women who walk through the streets behind a cloth,and that for men they are considered only an object to serve them and satisfy their sexual needs.
Appointments consulted
- Moualhi, D. (2010, February 12). Muslim women: western stereotypes.. Retrieved from Crofts, A. (1993). Sold. Seix Barral, S.ASasson, J. (1996). Sultana. Mexico: Lasser Press, Hekmet, A. (1997). Women and the koran. NY, USA: Prometheus Books Sasson, J. (2004). Mayada, daughter of iraq. Jones Square. Cortina, A. (1994). 10 keywords in ethics. Spain: Divine Word.
Translation by the author.
Translation by the author
Translation by Jean P. Sasson
Translation by Jean p. Sasson
Download the original file
