worshipping God alone,
prayer, fasting, charity,
serving our parents… all these
things and more, are common
between the genders.
However we are not
biologically the same. Can a
man carry a pregnancy? Or
suckle a baby? In a general
sense, do women have the
same physical strength and
emotional fortitude as men?
This difference is also
recognized in the Quran,
and therefore by Allah,the
things that make us (men and
women) different, impact on
how we reach the same endsParadise and earning the
pleasure of Allah.
So the important concept
about Islam to grasp is
that it stays true to our
qualities of being femalethings like being caring,
emotional, soft, nurturing,
and self- sacrificing. In Islam,
these qualities are seen as
strengths. It allows us to
fully embrace who we really
are.
This one concept is in
definite clash with feminist
ideology. In the latter, the
standard for a woman is
in relation to how well she
measures up to her male
counterpart. Meaning- how
well can she assume a man’s
roles and strengths and do
better than him. Excelling
in the workplace and in
academics and becoming
emotionally and physically
tough suddenly had more
emphasis. And things like
homemaking, marriage and
having a family were seen as
less glamorous.
This is not to say career and
academics are discouraged
among Muslim women, but
rather what gets priority for
us is maintaining the worklife balance. Muslim women
are some of the greatest
multi-taskers you will ever
meet!
years from now is based on
fashion trends or a particular
art- form or a particular way
of thinking, we do not feel
this need to follow the trend
to feel like we are worth
something.
We are already empowered!
To the point where we are
well pleased and believe that
Allah Is the One true God
and Muhammad (pbuh) is His
Messenger, and whatever is
commanded for us in Islam
is what is best for us. Is
this blind faith? - No! It is
confidence in faith.
When a society decides to
dictate things like: hijab- ban,
no Muslim employees, no
praying here, and if we say
“Allahu Ackbar” (God Is the
Greatest) it means we are
terrorists; little by little they
are taking away our freedom
of choice. And that’s what
real oppression looks like.
Muslimah
If we would like for one thing
to happen on a local level
pertaining to us Muslim
women, it would be to put
that curiosity in people to
ask us about Islam. To search
for real knowledge, and step
away from the force- fed
information. To find out
what our experiences are as
real Muslim women. Only
through understanding
each other can we get rid
of ignorance, fear and
intolerance.
Wouldn’t you rather hear
about Islam... from a Muslim?
WRITTEN by. Maryam hosein
So in this difference in
ideology with feminism,
Muslim women don’t need
other people to tell us what
our rights should be. We
already know what our rights
are!
If a society’s idea of what
female empowerment looks
like today, tomorrow or 10
Ihsaan | Issue 1 | 29