Denying education to women defies Islam<\/p>\n
By Mehru Jaffer<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The conclusion of an international seminar on
\nwomen in Islam held here last month was that the secret to
\nproblems facing Muslim societies around the world lies in
\nproviding women with proper education.<\/p>\n
This may not be a new idea but the constraints faced in
\nensuring education for women in many countries continue, as those
\nconference participants active in projects focusing on women
\ndescribed.<\/p>\n
\"As mother, educator and custodian of traditions in all
\nsocieties, women have tremendous influence on the way the world
\nevolves,\" said Assietou Kannediagne from Senegal.<\/p>\n
She added that children could only be educated if the mother
\nherself was first educated.<\/p>\n
Kannediagne runs a project at the Dar al Quran al Karim Shaykh
\nIbrahim Niasse Institute to help Muslim girls from poor homes
\neducate themselves. She quoted the long held but barely practiced
\nbelief that to educate a boy is to educate a person, but to
\neducate a girl is to educate a nation.<\/p>\n
She strongly feels that problems like prostitution and poverty
\nwould be greatly reduced if women were educated. She said at the
\ninstitute she tried to provide a home for poor, teenage girls
\nwhere they could study up to university level along with Koran
\nlessons.<\/p>\n
Her experience with poor parents is that they prefer to
\neducate their boys. For those girls who do not want to go for
\nhigher studies, the institute helps them to get professional
\ntraining in sewing, cooking, farming and poultry rearing.<\/p>\n
The talks held by the Islamic University of As-Syafifiyah
\n(UIA) and the Majelis Taklim Coordinating Board were held in the
\nhope of getting Muslim thinkers, intellectuals and leaders to
\nexchange views on the state of women in the Muslim world.<\/p>\n
The seminar attracted participants from countries as wide
\napart as South Africa, Senegal, Lebanon, Nigeria, Sudan and
\nEngland and, within the Asian region, from Singapore, Thailand
\nand Malaysia.<\/p>\n
Aida Vitayala Sjafri Hubeis from Bogor Agricultural University
\nsaid she felt that women remained ignorant of their rights and
\nunaware of the importance of their equal participation in power
\nsharing and in decision making.<\/p>\n
About 85 percent of Indonesia's labor force are women.
\nStatistics prove that the education level of these women is lower
\nthan that of men. One reason for this discrepancy, she said, is
\nthe perception that educating women at home was enough.<\/p>\n
Womens' roles are still considered to lie mainly within the
\ndomestic domain, although the demands of development expect them
\nto also participate in economic and public life.<\/p>\n
Women's participation in social and religious activities is
\nencouraged but they are under represented in development
\nactivities.<\/p>\n
The truth is that illiterate women in villages and those from
\nlow-income groups in the city have been involved in income
\nearning activities for a long time, and not because they want to
\nneglect their domestic duties or to compete with men, but due to
\nnecessity, she said.<\/p>\n
Today it is clear that women have been working for centuries,
\nmuch more than men will ever do as they continue to combine their
\ndomestic duties with other activities that bring them money.<\/p>\n
The head of Women's Solidarity Organization of Lebanon, H.
\nAfaf Alhakim, pointed out that Islam gives equal rights to both
\nwomen and men to learn and to teach.<\/p>\n
Whenever families have adopted the true path of religion,
\nwomen's involvement in learning and economic activities has
\nflowered. It is very important for women themselves to understand
\nand enhance their own position in society, she said.<\/p>\n
Tutty Alawiyah, president of Majelis Taklim and Rector of UIA
\nasked for a creative reinterpretation of parts of Islamic texts
\nthat were a source of unnecessary controversy.<\/p>\n
\"The reinterpretation should not take just a textual approach
\nbut also keep in mind the historical context,\" she said before
\ncalling for newer, fairer and more impartial laws that would
\nallow many more women to diversify their roles as wives and
\nmothers to be able to better deal with the challenges of present
\nday society.<\/p>\n
Such a reinterpretation has been going on for some years here,
\ninvolving no less than First Lady Sinta Nuriyah.<\/p>\n
Fatima Khan from South Africa's Muslim Women's Federation
\ncalled a mother's lap the first school of all human beings, from
\nprophets to paupers.<\/p>\n
At the federation's learning center the goal is to help
\nstudents heighten awareness of the world around them, she said.<\/p>\n
The participants at this seminar reflected the many thinking
\nMuslim women around the world, who are alarmed at the way most
\nmale dominated societies choose to attack the weakest in society,
\nincluding women, to prove their religiosity.<\/p>\n
They may wonder, when did Islam ever say that half of the
\nworld's population was entitled to little justice, equality or
\nfreedom?<\/p>\n
The writer is a freelancer in Jakarta.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/denying-education-to-women-defies-islam-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }