Good Example Of Muslim Life Essay

The newspaper article, ‘Arrogance of Ignoring Muslim Women’, published in The New York Times on 24th April, 2013, written by Murtaza Hussain, delves deep into the gulf between the notion of feminism and the practices in the Western world and the Muslim community. While the women of Europe and other Western nations vehemently overthrow the patriarchal power structures and tread on the path of defining their equal rights and existence, the women in the Muslim community express their disregard for the patriarchal hierarchical structure out of the long scholarly discourse which has been developed by the likes of Leila Ahmad, Fatema Mernissi and others.
Actions of groups like FEMEN do not go down well with the Islamic women as it seems to be insulting to the religion rather than hit the patriarchal structure. The white women’s cry for liberation seems to be Eurocentric and they do not communicate with the Muslim women and endeavor to know what they feel and how they wish to put forward their protest.
The curse of patriarchy threatens the women folk of the society all over the world. However, the cultural and religious differences must be respected and there should not be any universality in the way of protesting. Any voice of dissent has to be congruent with the communal and racial identity.
The news article thus highlights the importance of cultural difference and the need for respecting religious sentiments while raising the voice against patriarchal ills. The Islamic society, however, has abundant examples of male dominance and sexual discrimination. The need for resisting such occurrences is paramount.
In the garb of conservatism and righteousness, the community propagates male chauvinism and discrimination. Islam never speaks of any discrimination between the two sexes. Rather, it talks of disciplined life. Islamic fundamentalists have misconstrued the entire notion and have been bent on keeping the Muslim women behind the veil. Any progressive thoughts have faced the eye of rage of the fundamentalists.
Issues regarding proper education, alimony, property rights and so on haunt the women folk of the Islamic society. The religious texts cannot be utilized as a shield to guard the baleful practices of the patriarchal society. Polygamy, use of burqa, the onus of propriety on the women folk of the community have all been the norms of the Muslim society.
However, if one endeavors to comprehend and counter these issues from the perspective of the Western society, it would be greatly erroneous on that person’s part. Rather, one should stop stereotyping the religion of Islam as oppressive and fundamentalist. It is necessary to comprehend the intricacies of the Islamic society and the functioning of the power hierarchy and patriarchal institutions. Islam as a religion itself cannot be held guilty of the discrimination against women.
Any sort of counterpoising activity in response to the patriarchal institutions should not be initiated without proper dialogue with the women folk of the Islamic society, or there would be chances of hurting the religious and cultural sentiments of the women folk of the community. Hence, the Western feminist movements should do away with their Eurocentric worldview and should delve within the Eastern society to properly understand the matters of their community. Only if the women of the community are able to raise their voices against the oppressions meted out to them, they would see the light of emancipation from the baleful clutches of the patriarchal societal structure which plots to keep the women folk subdued with its propagandist approach.