October 02, 2003

�Women In Islam: Oppression or Empowerment?�

This evening, I went to hear �Women In Islam: Oppression or Empowerment?� � a presentation given by the Muslim Students Association. It was part of an �Islam Awareness Week� that was highly promoted by the University. (Coming up next is �Coming Out Week,� organized by the �Gender Issues Education Services.�)
I was interested in hearing what kind of deception and evasion I would hear, and I was not disappointed. I�ll give an overview, and leave it up to you to judge the views presented.

The basic argument went like this: There is a media conspiracy to discredit Islam and secularize American Muslims by portraying Muslim women as oppressed and Islam as promoting violence. Any oppression that may go on in any country is due solely to that country�s culture, and not anything about Islam itself. The sole purpose of a woman covering herself is to prevent men from being overwhelmed by their �animal instincts� and either viewing the woman solely as a sexual object or harassing or raping her. An uncovered woman that is raped or assaulted by a man is to blame for enticing the man�s animal instincts, which he cannot control.

I asked three questions following the talk:
Q: Do women also have animal instincts, or just men?
A: Only men have animal instincts, or only men have urges that they cannot control. Hence, only women have to wear the full body covering.
Q: What is the Muslim view on freedom, and on religion's role in government?
A: �True� freedom is not freedom to act (�run around naked� was the example used) but freedom to think. The only way to be free to think is to worship Allah. Politics cannot exist without a religious basis, and a system of law called Sharia law is prescribed by the Koran.
[Food for thought: Can you think of any countries that enforce(d) Sharia law? Does �freedom to think� have any meaning if one can�t act on one�s thoughts?]
Q: What is the purpose of your life, and how does it relate to your happiness?
A: The sole purpose of my life is to serve Allah. I derive happiness from knowing that I serve Allah well.

The talk was accompanied by a slideshow of Muslim women from various countries, some of them participating in various vocations, some showing off various uh, fashions, and many participating in political protests. One slide I remember showed a woman holding an image of two hands shaking. One hand had the flag of Israel on the sleeve, and the other had the "Muslim world". Copious amounts of blood were coming from the Arab side, and the text said something about �America�s peace offering.� Another slide showed Bush and Blair with a �Wanted: Terrorist Masterminds� title. I made a recording of the talk, and will share it if you want to hear it for yourself, though the quality probably isn�t very good.

In other news, China now allows people to get married without permission from their employer. I suppose the next step would be to give liberty to all -- liberty to think about how much they love to serve China, as opposed to the liberty to publicly call the president a "terrorist mastermind."


Written by David at October 2, 2003 01:12 AM | TrackBack
Comments

It is obvious that you went into the discussion with a personal prejudice, as you mentioned "I was interested in what kind of deception and evasion I would hear". For me, this discredited the rest of your report and I was uninterested in reading it. Close-minded people like yourself may feel that you are knowlegeable simply because you attended one of these conferences. On the contrary, your ignorance is clearly apparent. People don't believe what they believe simply because they are dumber than you. In attending these conferences, a truly intelligent individiaul will enter with an open mind and the intent to try to comprehend why these people believe what they believe. May God open your heart and give you knowledge.

Posted by: Anne at November 8, 2003 01:25 PM

It is obvious that you read my comments with a personal prejudice. For me, this discredited the rest of your comment and I was uninterested in reading it.

Posted by: David at November 8, 2003 01:47 PM

Whether or not he had a personal prejudice is, i feel, irrelevant. The questions and answers are claerly displayed; no personal opinions are actually given. If you both feel that the outcome of the conference was one that shows Islam in a negative light then this is the interpretation which you yourself have brought to it. Why can't we wake up from this ignorant following of political correctness and aim to do something to aid the oppression of women in Islam? Because we see it as a religious necessity we are all too scared to act.

Posted by: dd at December 16, 2003 05:18 PM
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