Walk a Mile In Her Hijab seeks to educate people about the essence of hijab, including the headscarf, and why Muslim women wear it by allowing those who are interested to wear hijab for a day and get a glimpse of the experience.
Distrust and suspicions of Muslims in the Western world was clearly exacerbated by the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Since then, the natural fear of global terrorism has been identified with the peaceful religion of Islam, leaving room for the creation of stereotypical, untrue words about the religion. These deep-rooted assumptions of Islam have led to wrongful depictions about Islamic faith and values. With Islam lacking a strong homogenous character, due to the mix of Islam and cultural traditions across nations with Islamic-government, the interpretations of the role of Muslim women specifically has caused a spark for discussion.
It is surprising about how many people today are raised with anti-Muslim sentiment, without even taking initiative to become educated on the topic. In typical Western culture, Muslim women in Islam are equated to oppression, in regards to dawning a veil or arranged marriages. With the rising general trend of voicing political and cultural issues in society have come the rising voices of Muslim women, as explained by professor Hina Azam of University of Texas. Throughout her lecture, she discussed the extent of the globalization of Muslim women’s voices and their activist movements as a result, highlighting the need for education of men and women in regards to gender relations in Islam.
Azam, being a representative of Muslim women’s voices at Thursday’s event, explained Muslim feminism within the global arena. It encompasses a collective effort to clarify the confusion on the role and identity of Muslim women across the globe. There is a shared objective to have others understand the necessity of Muslim women’s freedom from dogmatic demarcations. This feminism clarifies their civil and political rights, familial relations, civil life, representation, leadership, and traditions vs. religious practices in Islam.
Azam gives examples of Muslim feminism within our society, naming a multitude of influential Muslim women in leadership positions, such as Zainah Anwar, who created an organization for Muslim equality called Musawah; and Shirin Abadi, an Irani lawyer and human rights activist. By taking on leadership positions, Muslim women are becoming more and more vocal about the common rights and equality they deserve in society, as evident by popular blogs, slam poetry, and more. Even simply asserting their leadership positions demonstrates their rising role and respect for their role in society. Muslim women are challenging the typical patriarchal domestic position given to them, and the fact that much of this “challenging” is publicized with the aid of technology is causing an upsurge of Muslim feminism. The globalization of Muslim women’s voices has become an international concept; the polarization of Eastern and Western ideals is becoming lesser and lesser.
Yet Azam elucidates the counter argument– that with this lessening gap, conservatives believe that the rise of Muslim women feminism is only due to secular westernization, and that this feminism is deviating from religious concepts.
However, there is a disconnect; people are mixing cultural traditions and religion. Religiously, the Quran gives equal rights to women as to men, only specifying differences in roles based on biological dissimilarities, and not demeaning the role of women to simple submissive, domestic housewives. The misinterpretation of the Quran is being challenged by these Muslim feminists across the globe, as evident through their blog posts, poetry, and even just simple actions such as pursuing the career or hobby that they want to.
With the theme of Islam Appreciation Week being “Voices of Islam,” the topic of the recent globalization of women’s rising voices within our own religion is very relevant. From this lecture, we should takeaway that it is our duty to help confront these stereotypical and reductionist depictions of women’s rights. By participating in Muslim feminist organizations within the global arena, we can band together with other Muslims and create a gradual wave of change in regards to these stereotypes. By educating Muslim women and men alike, we can create a better understanding of our religion, while also lessening the turbulence between non-Muslims and Muslims as a whole.
Huma Nizamuddin
Lecture By Dr. Hina Azam
Globalization of Muslim Women Voiced