By Reihana Mohideen
In The Hidden Face of Eve, Egyptian feminist writer Nawal El Saadawi cautions Western women against contrasting their situation with that of women in the Arab world and acquiring a "feeling of superior humanity, a glow of satisfaction that may blind the mind and feelings to the concrete everyday struggle for women's emancipation".
The Western perception of Muslim women is largely based on misinformed assumptions which see Islam as the main source of their oppression. This leads to treating Muslim women in a contextual vacuum, with no historical, economic, social or political aspects to their oppression.
But Islamic cultures are not exceptional in their subjugation of women. Western Christian cultures have also subjugated women: some would argue that the Christian Church has been even more ferocious than Islam.
Imperialism's plunder of the Third World is the main cause of the desperate social conditions of the Third World's peoples, including women. It is in this framework that the particular influences of Islam need to be understood.
There is no unified ideology of Islam. As a religious doctrine, it means different things to those of the Islamic faith. Beyond the major divide between Sunni and Shiite and other schisms, there are significant differences between countries, between classes, between city dweller and peasant. What each means by Islam in daily life can be quite different.
Under Islamic rule, the administration of society is regulated by the sacred texts of the Koran, the shari'a (Islamic law) and the hadiths (the oral tradition going back to the time of the prophet).
In a number of Arab countries the Koran and the shari'a form the foundation of law. But in many areas, the teachings of the prophet have been adapted to the conditions of the modern world. Usury, for example, is a great sin, but Muslim ruling classes do not forswear the interest generated by their bank accounts.
Liberal opinion within Islam argues that it sustains rather than undermines women's rights, that it liberated women from the oppression of pre-Islamic Arabia. The low status of Muslim women today is seen as a result of misinterpretation of Koranic injunctions, abuse of Islamic law or extra-Islamic influence.
A major issue is female seclusion and veiling. A study of the Koran and the hadiths, however, shows that there is no particular injunction that women should be veiled or barred from public life. This was a custom predating Islam which became identified with it.
Some Muslim women political activists campaign against seclusion but defend the veil as a mark of modesty and the assertion of traditional custom against the cultural influences of imperialism.
Sexuality
Other explanations of seclusion are related to the Islamic concept of female sexuality, which is supposed to be more powerful than that of the male. This is perceived as fitna, woman's overpowering seductiveness. Unless it is controlled, fitna is believed to be capable of causing social chaos.
Unlike Christianity, Islam views sexual pleasure as one of the attractions of life rather than as sin. But the concept of fitna posed a major obstacle to an open and equal sexual practice. Islam's detailed code for sexual relations places the most constraints on women.
The struggle for equal rights in marriage and divorce has been central to the happiness and well-being of Muslim women. Some Muslim thinkers oppose polygamous marriage and interpret the relevant verses in the Koran differently. Much depends on the political character of the government.
Morocco follows the Maleki version of family law, in which polygamy remains legal and compulsory marriage is a real possibility. In Tunisia, which was also under the influence of Maleki law, the woman must give verbal consent for a marriage to be valid, and husband and wife are equally entitled to file for divorce, which can take place only in court.
The Algerian Family Code retains the legal prerogatives of husbands and unequal inheritance between women and men; polygamy is legal. In Iraq forced marriage was abolished and the minimum age for marriage was raised, but polygamy is still allowed if the man has the consent of the first wife. In Libya the woman must consent to marriage, and divorce can be demanded by either party in a court of law.
Liberalisation was a result of the struggles against colonialism, which reached their peak in the 1950s. Women were drawn into the popular mobilisations for independence, which laid the basis for reforms on women's rights. These struggles also reasserted local traditions and beliefs; hence Islam assumes, even today, an anti-imperialist stance.
But the local ruling classes also used Islam to prevent the struggle from developing further. In Iran, for example, land reform and nationalisation of foreign trade were judged to be incompatible with Islamic safeguards of private property. Invariably, changes with regard to women's rights were amongst the first casualties.
"Islamic socialism" was proclaimed by the official government newspaper in Algeria to rest "on the pillars of Islam and not on the emancipation of women with their make-up ... and cosmetics, from which arise unchained passions harmful to humanity".
Some Arab feminists describe "Islamic socialism" of this sort as socialism for popular consumption, Islam for the survival of capitalism. But the Libyan national democratic "Islamic revolution" has improved the status of women.
Religion and politics
As the contradictions between poor and rich nations grow, the battle for people's convictions is being fought in all areas, including the religious. Since Islam exerts a major influence over millions of people, the forces of both reaction and progress are struggling to win the support of Muslims.
Conflicts within Islam are often a reflection of this more fundamental conflict. Such conflicts have also emerged between Christian radical humanists who advocate liberation theology and the supporters of the status quo within the churches.
The women's movement in the West is beginning to understand that, although there are some common characteristics, Third World women's struggles have important differences which flow from different stages of economic, social and political development.
In Third World countries, liberation from imperialist domination still remains the crucial issue. This influences the content and forms of struggle. The symbols that Third World women may adopt or fight against should not be the major issue for Western feminists. Muslim women will win their own liberation, with the means that they choose. It's with this understanding that solidarity should be given by women in the West.