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WOMEN IN ISLAM VERSUS WOMEN IN JUDAEO-CHRISTIAN TRADITION: THE MYTH &
THE REALITY (PART 3)
THE VEIL ? (Continuation)
The Islamic veil,
unlike the veil of the Christian tradition, is not a sign of man’s
authority over woman nor is it a sign of woman’s subjection to man. The
Islamic veil, unlike the veil in Jewish tradition, is not a sign of
luxury and distinction of some noble married women. The Islamic veil is
only a sign of modesty with the purpose of protecting women, all women.
The Islamic philosophy is that it is always better to be safe than
sorry. In fact, the Quran is so concerned with protecting women’s bodies
and women’s reputation that a man who dares to falsely accuse a woman of
unchastity will be severely punished:
“And those who launch a charge against chaste
women, and produce not four witnesses (to support their allegation)-flog
them with eighty stripes; and reject their evidence ever after: for such
men are wicked transgressors” (Quran 24:4)
Compare this
strict Quranic attitude with the extremely lax punishment for rape in
the Bible:
“If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not
pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, he shall
pay the girl’s father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the girl,
for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives”
(Deut.22:28-30)
One must ask a
simple question here, who is really punished? The man who only paid a
fine for rape, or the girl who is forced to marry the man who raped her
and live with him until he dies? Another question that also should be
asked is this: Which is more protective of women, the Quranic strict
attitude or the Biblical lax attitude?
Some people
especially in the West, would tend to ridicule the whole argument of
modesty for protection. Their argument is that the best protection is
the spread of education, civilised behaviour and self-restraint. We
would say: fine but not enough. If ‘civilization’ is enough protection,
then why is it that women in North America dare not walk alone in a dark
street – or even across an empty parking lot? If Education is the
solution, then why is it that a respected university like Queens has a
‘walk home service’ mainly for female students on campus? If self
restraint is the answer, then why are the cases of sexual harassment in
the workplace reported on the news media every day? A sample of those
accused of sexual harassment, in the last few years, includes: Navy
Officers, Managers, University Professors, Senators, Supreme Court
Justices, and the President of the United States! I could not believe my
eyes when I read the following statistics, written in a pamphlet issued
by the Dean of Women’s office at Queen’s University:
In Canada, a woman is sexually assaulted
every 6 minutes,
1 in 3 women in Canada will be sexually
assaulted at some time in their lives,
1 in 4 women are at the risk of rape or
attempted rape in her lifetime,
1 in 8 women will be sexually assaulted
while attending college or university, and
a study found 60% of Canadian
university-aged males said they would commit sexual assault if they were
certain they wouldn’t get caught.
Something is
fundamentally wrong in the society we live in. A radical change in the
society’s life style and culture is absolutely necessary. A culture of
modesty is badly needed, modesty in dress, in speech, and in manners of
both men and women. Otherwise, the grim statistics will grow even worse
day after day and, unfortunately, women alone will be paying the price.
Actually, we all suffer but as K.Gibran has said,”…….for
the person who receives the blows is not like the one who counts them”.
Therefore, a
society like France which expels young women from schools because of
their modest dress, in the end, simply harming itself.
It is one of the
ironies of our world today that the very same headscarf revered as a
sign of ‘holiness’ when worn for the purpose of showing the authority of
man by Catholic Nuns, is reviled as a sign of ‘oppression’ when worn for
the purpose of protection by Muslim women.
Released by:
Mulla Mujaheedali Sheriff
mulla@almahdi.org.uk |