It’s a Women’s World
By Dr Ghulam M Haniff
St. Cloud, Minnesota
Up until a few years ago it was widely believed that men would seek all the coveted positions in the society and women would be stuck with being
house-wives and domestics. Not any longer. Females have increasingly begun to go to universities and men had to adjust to the changing times. The professionalization of world culture is changing the dynamics in the global marketplace and women are playing their role in it.
Even in the Muslim World changes are overtly visible and professional role of women is increasingly taken seriously. More universities are being built as another generation of young people decides to go to college. Among these substantial numbers are females and they are competing for jobs in the economy at all the levels.
Beyond that women are also offering several volunteer activities, or semi-volunteer, to get established in society and render services to the nation. One of these took place some years ago in the country of Bangladesh where such services are eagerly sought. One of the things that the Muslim women did was to organize themselves to render services to the United Nations and form the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces. Their intention was to use these services for bringing peace to the country of Bangladesh where several recent mob rule situations have gotten out of hand.
In an obtuse manner women hope to use their organization as an instrument of peace. They have already declared to take the organization for peacekeeping purposes at the international level if the occasion arises. All over the world Muslim women are doing something grand to make a name for themselves as well as for the community of those who practice Islam.
Muslim women are increasingly becoming proficient in medicine, engineering and information technology - the skills which are very much in demand the world over. The day is not far off when women would be running the society.
Culture, perhaps it would be more cogent to say that our culture, has been keeping women behind through contrived laws. These were created in the medieval times but have remained through subterfuge through the power of nobility ever since. Men have contributed a lot towards the oppression of women. As noted earlier, times are beginning to change.
This all came about barely a century ago when the female of the species began to increasingly look towards education as their emancipator. In performance women often outdo men and some permanently stay at the top of the social pyramid. At this point in time women are filling their quota of positions in many parts of Muslim societies though they are largely confined to education.
At the time of this writing women have achieved greatly by the standards of the patriarchal values of the Muslims. In a few decades women are quite likely to be running the society.
The women of Bangladesh mentioned earlier are already contributing towards their national efforts. Another group of women got together in Pakistan to organize at the village level for the purpose of combating the curse of the militants' philosophy. Their efforts are just getting off the ground and people are beginning to pay attention. Women have organized into a small force of sixteen and judge grievances brought against them. Altogether, they act as judges to provide the final judgment in all cases brought against women. They enjoy the final say.
Women have come up with several new ideas in complete compliance with the Shariah law and even men have agreed with them. They have come up with t ideas for the benefit of the nation. The leaders and the people of the land find their initiative admirable.
They are willing to serve as the role model for other nations if they are asked to do so. One of the things that becomes very obvious is their sense of mastering the entire range of Islamic values which affect women’s compliance with Shariah. The village council consists exclusively of women and is seen as a positive force for bringing change to a region.
This innovative idea is now confined to North Waziristan, situated between Pakistan and Afghanistan. This area has been dominated with relentless violence. Its most noteworthy victim was the school-girl, Malala Yusufzai.
Women have a good chance of becoming experts by gaining literacy in the language of the Qur'an. By doing this they will change the entire society and usher the ability to read and write to the average village women. That would be a tremendous boost to the culture of the region. Today, it may be inconceivable to us that such a change would occur but time is on our side and the next generation would be more involved in change than the present one.
Yet, another change, the third one, is in the offing and it also involves Muslim women. These are also the women of Islam from the Middle East, Central Asia, Pakistan and elsewhere. Their work is to provide literacy and bring change. This movement began in Central Asia, spread to some parts of the Middle East, and is likely to gain momentum in Pakistan. Their aim is to destroy the Taliban culture and confront those who spoke on behalf of their pernicious ideology.
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