Need to Remove Restrictions on Freedom of Muslim Women

 

There are millions of highly cultured and civilised muslim men across the world , who are unhappy about the restrictions placed on muslim women and overriding control on them exercised by muslim men. But , they remain  silent , possibly fearing the Islamic extremists and some muslim clergy.

by N.S.Venkataraman              

Islam has 1.9 billion adherents, making up about 24.7% of the world population There are about 50 countries, where the majority of the population is Muslim. Worldwide,  there are about 30 countries with a Muslim population, in which more than 90% of the inhabitants belong to Islam. There are another 20 countries with a Muslim population of between 50% and 80%.

Those who have carefully studied holy Quran and it’s great teachings know that Islam views men and women as equal before God, and the Quran underlines that man and woman were "created of a single soul”.  .  Islam clearly says that differentiation in sex is neither a credit nor a drawback for the sexes.

While tenets of Islam insist that women should be treated on par with women in private and public life, what is the ground reality ?

Today, in most muslim countries , women are subjected to some sort of restriction in one way or the other by the menfolk. In other words, section of muslim men seem to think that they are  of superior class compared to women  and thus many muslim men seem to get  satisfaction by treating the muslim women in a way,  as if women belong to secondary sex.

While some muslim  extremists  claim  without proof that restrictions on  women  are as per the holy Quran, it has been vehemently denied by several muslim scholars around the world.

There  have been  obnoxious practices  against muslim women  in some countries by some muslim men  such as triple talaq ( where  husband can utter the word divorce three times and then legitimately he would have divorced his wife), insistence that women should   wear burkha (covering themselves except the face) and hijab (piece of cloth covering the head and neck ). polygamy, (where muslim man marry several women) . Further, in several mosques, women are not allowed to pray in mosques along with men and women are asked to sit separately.While such practices enforced on  muslim women do not have the sanction or approval according to  holy Quran, the ground reality is that such practices are enforced due to the patriarchal control of women’s body by men.

Of course, in all countries and in all societies including the western democracies , some women  suffer due to exploitation by men but this happens only due to the uncivilised behaviour of some men and not due to the law of the land or any regulation attached to religious practices.  However, the scenario seem to be different as far as the practices by some of the  muslim men in some muslim countries .

In   recent years, some of the muslim majority countries have tried to lessen the burden on women by banning triple talaq and banning hijab in public places. But,  this is not so in all muslim countries. Even in   muslim countries where some liberty has been  given  to women, it appears that some muslim men do not allow muslim women in their families to avail  such liberties.

Many people believe that muslim women historically have been extremely frustrated and unhappy   about the restrictions placed on them by men but could do nothing due to fear of violence and other form of harassment. Possibly, if muslim women were to be asked to give their views in a secret ballot, one can be sure that more than 90% of muslim women will express their choice to live in a free world without restrictions being placed on them by muslim men  on   how they should dress themselves and  lead their life. 

Freedom in personal and  public life is the natural craving for men and women all over the world whatever religion they may belong to . While some muslim girls may like to wear burqa and hijab   for whatever reasons  certainly it would not be so in the case of  majority of  muslim   women.   Wearing burqa and hijab is not comfortable attire and if given the choice , muslim women too , like the women belonging to other religions , would like to dispense with such practice  and in the process derive the pleasure of enjoying freedom to dress and live in the way they want.

The latest example is the happenings in Afghanistan where after the take over by Taliban, Afghan women have lost whatever freedom they enjoyed before the take over by Taliban.  There were news that Afghan women protested and demonstrated in public against the control imposed on women by Taliban but at  present,  it appears that Afghan women have been silenced  and have been forced to reconcile themselves to the restrictions imposed by the Taliban government, which is under the control of muslim extremists.

In a population of around 1.9 billion muslims in the world, roughly 0.95 would be women.  It is difficult to state as to what percentage of muslim women are suffering in personal  life  due to atrocities of men  but  one can confidently say that this percentage is still very high.

The women who are physically weak compared to men  and further weakened by restrictions imposed by men on the women over the years, cannot fight for their cause adequately strongly and in such struggle for freedom , women need support of the kind hearted and civilised men.

Historically, many regions in the world  with people belonging to different religions have been dominated by menfolk who imposed cruel practices on women. The immediate example was  the sathi practice in India  ( wife would be forced to jump into pyre when husband would be cremated). This cruel practice was  banned by law and does not exist anymore.  What should be noted here is that the battle for women’s right and freedom was  launched by men like  Rajaram Mohan Roy.

There are millions of highly cultured and civilised muslim men across the world , who are unhappy about the restrictions placed on muslim women and overriding control on them exercised by muslim men. But , they remain  silent , possibly fearing the Islamic extremists and some muslim clergy.

Continued suffering of muslim women due to such restrictions is a reflection on the calibre of the muslim men who realise that this is wrong but allow such practices to go on by their silence. Obviously,  civilised muslim men , who do not protest  against the restrictions imposed on muslim women, too are    responsible for the plight of muslim women.