Audience criticises speakers for negative view of Muslim women

Panel ‘focused on how women in the Muslim world are victimised’ and not on how they have contributed to society.

ABU DHABI // Attendees at a talk on Muslim women’s roles in furthering peace and development criticised several speakers for focusing on how women are victimised as opposed to the positive impact they can make on society.

The panelists – four female founders of organisations based in the UK, Estonia and the US – spoke about issues concerning Muslim women at the second forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies.

Shahien Taj, the founder of UK’s Henna Foundation, told the story of a mother who was issued a life sentence in Cardiff, Wales, for killing her seven-year-old son.

“The woman was very educated and she wasn’t ready for marriage, but her parents believed if they didn’t marry her off she will not become of a marriageable age.”

Her husband also turned out to be an abuser, but she did not tell anyone.

Mrs Taj also spoke about women not being able to speak up or seek divorce without struggling in court.

Leah Mammadova, president of the Baltic Muslim Women’s Union, called on Islamic authorities to step up efforts in matchmaking to curb the phenomenon of women being lured into getting engaged to extremists they meet online.

“Women don’t have a chance to meet eligible suitors, so most women look for suitors online,” she explained.

“Some of them even end up travelling to them and continue along that path.”

Aisha Al Adawiya, the founder of women in Islam Inc in the United States, also spoke about the victimisation of women.

“The issue was about the role played by women in strengthening peace, but instead we heard complaints about them being abused,” said another panellist in the session, Sheikh Hamza Yusuf Hanson, president of Zaytuna College.

He gave examples of how women were considered more credible sources than men in issues of Islamic science.

“Not a single woman [throughout history] has been accused of misreporting hadith. This is one of the wonders of the Islamic culture.”

Women also accomplished breakthroughs in cultivating and spreading knowledge across generations. He gave the example of Umm Nader, an Islamic scholar who was specialised in the four schools of Fiqh (Islamic science) and had taught each of her four sons a different school.

When the speakers finished, the negative focus of their presentations came under fire.

Asmaa Kaftaro, the granddaughter of Ahmad Kaftaro, the late mufti of Syria, said: “Let me mention to you how Syria was strengthening peace through all holy books.”

She explained how she grew up in the mosque of Kaftaro, where she learnt that all types of religious groups called for good and peace.

“It pained me when complaints were raised. We should observe how women work and establish worldwide in all types of fields,” she added.

“I don’t understand why, as women, we always end our speech by apologising. We do not need to be apologetic,” said Heba Khudur, a general politics professor at the American University in Beirut.

“Where are the women who are active in the Arab world and who are affected by and affect the promotion of peace? Those are the women who are dealing with their sons joining ISIL.”

“I was not expecting to hear the ‘OSD syndrome’ – oppression, suppression and depression of women in the Arab world. I was expecting to hear success stories and what we need to do,” she added.

Dr Abdulazeez Al Hullayel, the grand judge of Jordan, said the examples of women being raped, abused and oppressed were minor cases and should not have been the focus of the discussion.

The forum closed on Thursday, issuing a list of recommendations. They include the creation of a TV channel, magazine and school curriculums promoting peace, as well as peace promotion through social media.

The establishment of a youth forum and university research centres also made the list. The forum will also look into authoring an encyclopaedia on peace ideals and Fiqh in accordance to the Sunnah.

The forum invites Muslim countries to criminalise actions of takfir and hold honest conversations on ways of tackling the issue. It will also look into creating a universal pact to discourage violence against other religions.