Islamic Countries Have Done Little to Eliminate Violence against Women despite Quran's Clear Commands
Honour
Killing, Rape, Torture And Exploitation Of Women Are Rampant In Muslim
Societies
Main
Points:
1. Islam ended the practice of
killing the girl child at birth or soon after, i.e., female infanticide.
2. Islam is very particular
about treatment of girl children and orphans.
3. Islam discouraged slavery
but women are still treated like slaves in Muslim societies.
4. Mukhtaran Mai of Pakistan
and Sharbat Gula of Afghanistan are living examples of the plight of women in
Muslim societies.
5. Turkey withdrew from
Istanbul Convention this year causing a setback to women’s rights.
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New Age Islam Staff Writer
30 November 2021
(File Photo)
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On the International Day for the
Elimination of Violence against women on 25th November, huge protests were held
in many European and African cities like Mexico, Madrid, Paris, London and
Barcelona. Protests were also held in countries like Turkey, Uruguay, Chille,
Venezuela, Bolivia and Guatemala. Thousands of people protested against
violence against women. Ironically, most of the protests were held in western
countries that boast of giving women freedom, legal and social protection and
equal rights. According to reports, at least ten women are killed in Mexico
every day. The placards of protestors
said, “They don’t die, they are killed.” According to a regional commission in
Latin America, at least 4091 women died of violence against them in 2020. There
were no such reports of protests in Muslim countries on that day except in
Turkey. The reason is that In Muslim countries, violence against women is seen
as normal. In Muslim societies, violence against women is committed in the name
of protecting the honour of the family. Honour killing is not only practiced in
Pakistan but also in the Arab and African Muslim societies as well. Other forms
of violence against women are rape, dowry torture, sexual exploitation etc.
The protests held over the Western world
are a grim reminder of the fact that women are not safe even in the most
educated and civilized society. Though women in the European countries enjoy
greater freedom, they are not totally free of violence. At least, in western
countries, people came out in protest against violence against women. In Muslim
countries, the day passed off as usual because violence against women is not
seen as a serious problem here. Mukhtaran Mai and other women of Pakistan are
living examples of suppression of women’s rights in a feudal society. Sharbat
Gula of Afghanistan is another reminder of the plight of women in the Muslim
society. During the civil war in the aftermath of the emergence of the ISIS in
Syria and Iraq, Muslim women were the most affected by violence. They were
killed, raped, abducted, enslaved and sold like commodities. In the government under the Taliban, women in
Afghanistan have become prisoners who cannot enjoy social freedom, cannot go
out to work or study or to participate in sports. A woman was shot in cold
blood by Taliban in Afghanistan for not wearing veil.
(File Photo)
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Violence against women was discouraged by
Islam in an organized manner. The Quran prohibited killing the girl child and
discouraged slavery and developed a social mechanism for the rehabilitation of
slave women and men and their assimilation in the mainstream of the
society.
The Quran also had the provision that if a
women feared violence from her husband she could enter into some peace
agreement. The Quran also said that the husband and wife were the clothing of
each other. This suggested to the equality granted by the Quran to women in
family matters.
But the Muslim society did not work towards
the emancipation of women in an organized manner. Women still face torture,
exploitation and violence in many Muslim countries.
Since the Islamic countries did not make
outstanding contribution towards the emancipation of women, the modern world
bodies like the UN had to take steps in that direction. On the 25th November
the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution for the End of
Violence against women. The day was chosen because on that day in 1960, Mirabai
sisters were brutally killed by the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo for
having fought for their rights.
(File Photo)
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This year Pan-American Health Organisation
(PAHO) has called for a 16 day activism against violence aginst women and has
advocated elimination of violence in every sector of life. Statistics show that
the incidents of violence have grown during the pandemic as people went through
economic stress. This led to the rise in the cases of domestic violence.
Unfortunately, Turkey withdrew from the
historic Istanbul Convention that was signed in Istanbul in May 2011. The aim
of the Convention was to end the violence against women. But in March 2021,
Turkey withdrew from the convention under pressure from the religious section
that supported honour killing. Turkey’s withdrawal caused a setback to the
women’s emancipation and was criticized by the opposition parties.
(File Photo)
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Though Islam has emphasized a society free
of violence and exploitation of women, advocated equal rights for women in the
field of education, economics, science and bureaucracy, Islamic society still
deprives women of their fare share of society and support overtly or covertly
practices that lead to violence and suppression of their rights granted by the
Quran and Hadith.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/islamic-violence-women-quran/d/125870
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