Posted by Sara Elghobashy on Elan
In a recent op-ed in The Observer, former President Jimmy Carter called upon the global community to challenge and change religious teachings that have long been used to subjugate women throughout the world. His plea is part of a new campaign by The Elders, a group of former world leaders brought together by Nelson Mandela to combat human suffering.
Usually when op-eds or articles of this sort are written, Muslim women take center stage, as they tend to be the go-to example of oppression in the media. However, Carter is quick to point out that women from all religions face discrimination and abuse due to a long tradition of male-dominated interpretation of scripture. "The male interpretations of religious texts and the way they interact with, and reinforce, traditional practices justify some of the most pervasive, persistent, flagrant and damaging examples of human rights abuses," he writes.
Former President Carter and his fellow Elders believe the status of women and girls as second class citizens could change if religious texts were interpreted to represent their true meaning, equality for all human beings regardless of sex.
Muslim women have already begun to tackle this issue and are doing it on a worldwide scale through the Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equity (WISE). Last weekend, more than 200 female religious scholars, activists, academics and community leaders gathered in Malaysia to launch the Global Women's Shura Council, Muslim Women’s Fund and Muslim Women’s Online Portal. The program "aimed to build a network of Muslim women to challenge distorted interpretations of Islam, increase the socio-economic self-determination of Muslim women worldwide, and create positive social change."
In a recent post in The Washington Post’s On Faith Blog, Daisy Khan, Founder of WISE, said she believes "it is critical that women-led and faith-based groups like the WISE Muslim Women’s Shura Council return to their respective holy texts and interpret as not only as believers but also as women." Through the work of WISE, female scholars will revisit Islamic texts to offer alternative interpretations on important issues, such as violence against women.
WISE sounds like an organization of amazing women who are here to shake and rattle this world. But should this only be a woman’s fight? Last year, I attended a lecture at NYU entitled "Empowering Muslim Women" in which the room was full of females while there were only a handful of males. I remember one of the panelists, Aliya Latif, emphatically asking, "Where are all the men?" We should all echo that cry.
Originally published on Elan, July 20, 2009
Original article can be found here .
Posted July 31, 2009
