You’ve probably heard about the recent ruling given to a Saudi gang-rape victim: 110 lashes added onto the original sentence of 90 lashes because she protested her sentence to the media. It’s a horrible and vindictive sentence, and the callous treatment this woman has received as a victim is insulting to her, Saudi Arabia, and Islam.
Why Islam? What does her ruling have to do with Islam? Well, not much. Technically, the judge who sentenced her went by Shari’a law, but he added those extra lashes from his own judgment because she spoke out about her case. So he punished her.
But every reactionary blog poster, conservative news network, and Western women’s rights group has condemned this action as an Islamic one. So Muslim women around the world have a choice: do we defend ourselves against Islamophobia, against racism, or against misogyny?
This “triple threat” is one we often face as Muslim women (especially if we are also women of color). We always seem to be battling against one (or more) of these three issues: racism (for Muslim women who are also non-white), Islamophobia, or misogyny (not just from our own Muslim communities, but also from non-Muslim communities who think they know what’s best for us).
Being on the defensive all the time creates reactionary behavior. We always feel like we have to keep our guards up to defend our faith and our choices, and it gets tiring. Most Muslims don’t necessarily mind explaining stuff (that is, if you’re genuinely interested in understanding instead of starting an argument), but we can’t all be Encyclopedia Islamicas all the time.
Some of this “damage control” keeps us from having dialogues within our communities. Muslim women face a lot of problems within our communities as well as outside, but we’re afraid to talk about it because it can potentially be used against us. People in our own communities this power: for example, feminists in Iran are accused of being too “Westernized” by compatriots who have no interest in changing the status quo for women. Many women who seek their fair share are given this load of crap in order to guilt them into shutting up, because Westernization is equated with undesirable qualities in the Muslim world. Or, if we try to speak out to a non-Muslim audience, we are accused of “betraying” Islam or our communities by airing out our “dirty laundry.”
And this is a legitimate fear. We don’t want to reinforce negative ideas about Islam, Muslim men and women, or Muslims of any race. But if our own communities won’t listen to us or engage in a dialogue to raise awareness and potentially enact change (phew, a lot of buzzwords in there!), what else are we supposed to do?
Our voices can be used against us by a non-Muslim audience as well. Muslim women feel like we can’t use the word “oppression” because we’re always trying to counteract the stereotype that we’re all oppressed. Guess what? Forcing anything on someone else is oppression: that includes less-than-equal pay and sex appeal, not just headscarves. Not every woman of every faith, nationality, or ethnicity is 100% “not oppressed”, and we often fall into that category ourselves, just like every other woman on the planet.
The reason we can’t force ourselves to use the word “oppressed” is because we’re afraid of reinforcing those Orientalist assumptions that non-Muslims have about us. “Hijab isn’t always a choice for every Muslim woman on the planet? I KNEW it! You’re ALL oppressed!”
And with the explosion of literature about Islam and Muslims (much of it biased and incorrect), everybody who’s ever read an article or watched a special about Islam thinks they’re an expert. “I can’t believe that you only have one wife! I watched this special on CNN that said polygamy is rising in American Muslim communities!”
Being ignored/condemned by the Muslim community and ignored/condemned by the non-Muslim community is “double trouble” for Muslim women. This “double trouble” causes us to keep our mouths shut, leading everyone in Muslim community to think that there’s never anything wrong, and leading everyone in the non-Muslim community to think that we’re oppressed and can’t speak for ourselves. This is a problem as well, and it rears its ugly head when something like this 200 lashes thing comes up. It’s a veritable elephant in the room, and everyone’s waiting for us to talk about it. But if we think that our dialogue will be twisted, ignored, or condemned…why should we talk about it?
I’m writing this to—you guessed it—raise awareness and enact change. We have to talk instead of condemn. Muslim communities need to be willing to look at women’s issues as Islamic issues instead of Trojan horses of “evil” Westernization. Non-Muslim communities need to be willing to listen to what we have to say without judging our situation and accept that we know what’s best for ourselves.
No I haven’t gotten around to Rendition yet, but it did look kind of interesting. Generally though, I don’t really like fictionalized accounts of current issues. I’d much rather watch a documentary if I feel like taking on the subject, but that’s just a personal preference.
Excellent article about an important issue!
It strikes me that there are two main problems: First, that the majority of the non-Muslim world is unfamiliar with Muslims and Islam and they easily latch onto the Orientalist ideas available constantly in books, television, news, etc. These enforce the idea that Muslims and Muslim countries are backwards, ignorant, and barbaric, all because of Islam. It’s rare to hear a news piece that doesn’t (directly or indirectly) show Islam as the problem. Terrorism on the rise in Indonesia? It’s because of increased role of Islam. Restrictions on dress in Malaysia? It’s the Islamic party. So the public equates Islam with general oppression – oppression of women, suppression of civil liberties, lack of freedom of speech, etc. – and other problems that need Western, secular solutions. When women speak out against sexism in Muslim communities or countries, the non-Muslim reaction is that this is yet another example of that screwed-up religion, Islam.
Second, there’s the tendency of the Muslim communities in countries like the United States to brush aside the idea of oppression in Islam. It’s easy to say, “No, women are elevated in Islam” and “The prophet Muhammad was actually a feminist” and ignore the fact these statements are NOT the prevailing view when women’s rights are curtailed under “Islamic law.”
I think we, and I mean everyone, have to go beyond this binary. I wish non-Muslims were more educated about Islam and aware of the incredible diversity within the religion and its history. It’s not just that standard image today: the women hidden in black chadors, who lack political, economic, and social rights. Going past Orientalism (Geraldine Brooks’s book is one example of how not to learn about Muslim women) is key. I totally agree with what you said about people thinking themselves experts on Islam once they’ve seen one article or TV special. Awareness is both important for non-Muslims and for Muslims. For those of us living in countries where lashing of rape victims doesn’t occur, it’s essential to recognize that such things do happen. Not every woman chooses to wear the hijab. (There was a post a few weeks earlier condemning the article by a woman forced by her father to wear the hijab. The anger towards the woman, for writing a story that wasn’t “I choose the hijab and I love it” was disturbing.) If all Western Muslims do is say, “No, you’ve got it wrong… Islam is good for women!” while pretending not to hear stories of abuse of Muslim women, those words mean nothing. Progress isn’t going to be made. When restrictions of rights and cruel punishments are justified as adhering to Islam, this said by the Muslim leaders (even religious clerics) of the country, a great number of Muslims and non-Muslims agree: This is part of Islam. That makes it even more important to not ignore these occurrences. Whether or not it’s right, it HAS become a part of Islam.
The bottom line is that it’s neither as simple as “Islam bad, West good” nor “Islam good, West bad.” And for that, education and dialogue are essential.
a good way to speak back about this case is talking about the treatment that many working-class women and/or women of color experience. scores of women who were drinking underage, or using illegal drugs at the time of their assault have been sent up on drug charges. our legal system is pretty easy for “smart” abusers to manipulate into yet another way to abuse their partners. these issues don’t make the news- i guess exotic women getting lashed is just more entertaining? i don’t know that many women who actually get justice for gender-based crimes here.
I think it is important for Muslim women to stop making excuses for ridiculous unjust laws and demand a dialogue. Everytime we reconsider giving an honest opinion on sexism or racism or any kind of discrimination, we promote it. Time to stand up and be counted.
“But if we think that our dialogue will be twisted, ignored, or condemned…why should we talk about it?”
Because if we don’t nothing will change. If we don’t speak for ourselves, someone else will speak for us.
We can’t live in the fear of being criticized, condemned, our words being twisted, or ignored because if we do that then we are submissive to our fears of humans and not to Allah.
I don’t think that the answer to talking about this case is by comparing it to ills in western societies. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t talk about those issues as well but the issues need to be addressed separately. The minute we start comparing the two societies we are minimizing the seriousness of both subjects and making it us vs. them.
As an American, I have issues in the way we as Americans dismiss the seriousness and commonality of physical abuse of women. As a Muslim I have issues with the way women are treated in some Islamic countries and even within western Muslim communities. I can’t defend either of those injustices but if I were to combine the two subjects, inadvertently I would be supporting them both by clouding each issue.
I don’t know if any of that makes sense to anyone ..
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Sorry for not responding to this earlier, Samaha! But you hit it on the nail: we have to talk, Islamophobes be damned! Haters are gonna hate no matter what, but we can’t let them stop us from getting our rights.