The Conditions of Women in Islamic Societies
The circumstances of Muslim women vary greatly depending on the societies in which they live. At the same time, women's dedication to Islam is a shared factor that has varied degrees of impact on their lives and provides them with a common identity that may aid to diminish the vast economic, social, and cultural differences between them. For a long time, issues impacting women were ignored or dealt with either partially or even biasedly. However, for the time being, various news outlets have highlighted the flaws and made them public. This paper analyses the conditions of women in Islamic societies and how they are treated in relation to the laws existing in those societies. It highlights the issues affecting the female gender in the Muslim community and the struggles that they have been experiencing. The law in Islam communities does not favor the women. Problems appear within the regular system of law due to the ambiguity of the legal phraseology and because of the growing confusion that has been there for a long time between people and divine law about the individual status of women.
Perception of Arab Women
Among the Arab community, there has been a mixed perception of women as angels and demons at the same time. In Arabic literature, female characters possess some of their traditional traits. Although sexuality can be utilized to encourage a broader dissemination of magazines or films, the image of the women is tainted. Eroticism has a structural role, in the same way as the violence in ancient works such as those of Ghitahi in Egypt function. However, the way the women are portrayed depicts lack of respect for the female gender (Awde 46-50).
Ancient Feminine Images
The ancient feminine images are still in use, and they portray the situations such as arrogance, and strong wives who make sure that the man maintains a proper social behavior. However, women can also have an impact by endangering the superior position of the man, his masculinity, the family as well as the social framework, for example in the form of mistresses of restaurants, and treacherous women who can destroy a man. The details emanate from real-life and everyday events making the images relevant in the modern times, enabling the stereotypes to be reused (Awde 28-30).
The Struggles and Achievements of Arab Women
Some women have achieved their freedom by working and taking responsibilities for their affairs in the Arab societies. They have tried to show that they can fight for their rights despite the harsh environment they find themselves in. In a situation where everyday social and political problems are involved, the images of women are formed to fit in the creative works. Real life situations that take place in women's lives are set as fiction and then used to symbolize what happens. In ancient writings, the Islam women appeared only in situations where there were just noteworthy events taking place such as being expelled from the harem. Women could instill fear and command respect. The women could earn respect and dignity if they got the chance to be part of the individuals fighting in wars for the society. The society respected them for their courageousness, and they were treated differently compared to other women (Chelhod 321-330).
Restrictions on Women in Arab Societies
Restriction of women and compulsory wearing of veils became common after the conquests and the start of urbanization. As a result, the female gender stopped participating in social activities. In the autobiographies of Usama b. al-Munkidh (Ellenblum 12-13), the women are perceived to portray the poetic myth of the brave woman who gives assistance to the warriors fighting the Crusaders and maintains social order. Here, the Arab women are highly regarded as the most integral part of the society, but they are rare exploits (Chelhod 321-330).
Efforts for Women's Rights in Arab Societies
In Arab countries like Syria and Egypt, and in the big cities of the empire of Abbasid, higher-class women were no longer seen in the public, and they even hid under the abundant layers of transparent material. Women withdrew into a fringe society and escaped observation. They could not be tolerated or welcomed in the mosques because men assumed that they could contaminate them during the moments when they were impure or divert the minds of the men who were easily affected by the form and movement of the women. With the expansion of the Ottoman Empire, the confinement of women became intense from the 14th century onwards and the position of the woman in the society weakened. Until the 19th century, the women from the lower-class were seen as honorable and worthy of interest. Due to the French occupation of Egypt during the period from 1798 to 1801, the developing influence of the West, the modernization of towns and reformist ideas contributed to a severe impact on the family, social structure, and the general orientation. Any effort to preserve the prior conditions led to a deterioration in female separation as well as increased restrictions. In spite of that, unstable situations are sometimes wholesome in the manner they encourage a liberation movement (Chelhod 321-330).
The Role of Women's Organizations
The evolution of the Arab women was unavoidably supported by a growth of the moral sense of what is right and what is wrong, in the absence of which, despite the increased periods of conventional conflict, the women are not included in associations such as trade unions indicating the existing discrimination of the women. Moreover, due to lack of knowledge, the Arab women failed to try and fight for their rights. The fastest encouragement of the conscience of women was caused by the activities of women organizations. The organizations were created after the First World War and were particularly philanthropic with a few of them being political. They were continuously active although the media was sarcastic about them. In the Muslim societies, the struggle between individuals who supported change continued, but at the moment integrists and the liberals which are the old arguments have been revived (Chelhod 321-330).
Challenges in Emancipation and Recognition
The development of integrationism in the Muslim societies has been boosted by the newly encountered influence of the ayatollahs via the accomplishments of their revolution against the regime of Shah and the resistance against the Iraki aggression in Iran. There are still setbacks to the emancipation and recognition of women in the Muslim world because even if the Arab world accepts modern techniques hoping to improve people's daily life, it still remains attached to the values as well as religious beliefs by which it tries to preserve its identity. Then threats and condemnations of the ulama conservatives of Syria, Algeria, Irak, and Egypt exploit the religious attachment and encourage the observation of passivity and submissive attitudes in the societies where women are still oppressed. The habit has led to return to the veil and long dress which are the symbols of women submission (Chelhod 321-330).
Challenges Faced by Women in Arab Countries
The law in Egypt observes the right of men to beat their wives, and it is even worse because a legal official can specify the kind of stick to be used in hitting the woman. This shows how unfair the law is to the female gender in the Arab countries and it becomes even more challenging since the women cannot do anything about it. They lack enough representatives in parliaments and political field to fight for their rights. To show how universal the discrimination of women in the Arab world is, the members of parliament in Kuwait declined to allow the female gender have the right to vote in 1982. Moreover, in Algeria, the project of family principles encourages the discrimination of women by upholding the legal inferiority of women in the country. The women are usually perceived to be inferior and unable to make decisions on their own. This is clear as they are required to seek guidance from brothers, fathers, or even from the older sons. Repudiation, as well as polygamy, are accepted, and the man should approve a given professional role undertaken by a woman. The woman, as seen from the above scenarios is treated just like a child, and she has no political rights whatsoever (Awde 34-44).
Struggle for Equality
In the Algerian national assembly, officials were at one point involved in the heated debate on the issue of uniformity between men and women. The legislators who supported the equality encountered strong opposition from the conservatives who argue in line with Islamic norms. In an occasion where the conflict is taken to the political level, those who support recognition of women in politics are vehemently opposed by totalitarian and theocratic individuals who use the religious tradition to put across their point of rejection. As a result of the variations in social and political factors, the level of independence enjoyed by a modern Islamic woman can be seen as a precise representation of the degree of political dynamics the Islam society has undergone. Previously, the women were offered a role that enabled them to combine the family structure and to prolong behaviors, ways of thinking and the cultural status. Today, the woman possesses a function which, depending on the response from the society or liberal viewpoints, reflects an indignant civilization (Chelhod 321-330).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the conditions of the women in Islamic societies are very different from that of other women in other communities. It is clear that the Arabic woman is disadvantaged to some extent compared to others either politically, socially or economically. In most Arab countries such as Egypt, Syria, Iran, and Iraq, the women are not recognized in the political affairs of the society at all, and this is mainly due to the religious and national laws that discourage the women. A woman is seen in the same way as a child in the Arab society. In the Arab world, the women are restricted, and they are only allowed to take any actions after seeking permission from the men. Although the situations differ in various Arabic countries or societies, it is still normal to witness low or no representation of women in politics, and the state has dramatically affected their progress in the fight for equality with men and respect. It is even more difficult for women because the religious society uses the holy Quran to justify the discrimination against them, since the holy book prescribes how they should behave. The laws in various Arabic countries are usually unfavorable to women as well.
Works Cited
Awde, Nicholas. Women in Islam: An Anthology from the Qu’ran and Hadith. Routledge, 2013.
Chelhod, Joseph. “Al-Mar’a (woman): The Arab woman in customary law and practice.” Encyclopaedia of Islam, vol. VI, edited by Edmund B. Pellat and Emeri van Donzel.
Ellenblum, Ronnie. Frankish rural settlement in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. Cambridge University Press, 2003, pp.12-13.
