Editors note:The work of Prof. Nasr
Abu-Zeid has been subject of concerted attack by fundamentalist groups in Egypt.
He is currently in exile following charges of apostasy brought against him and
the ruling of the Apex court in Egypt ordering his divorce from his wife Dr.
Ithal Younis.
The following extracts from the book "Women in the
Discourse of Crisis" by Prof. Nasr Abu-Zeid have been translated from Arabic by
Marlene Tadros.
The discourse over women in
the Arab world is generally discriminatory.
History reveals that sexual
oppression of women, in one form or another, exists in every society in the
world. Nevertheless, it has been achieved by different methods, economically,
intellectually, physically and psychologically. The control of women’s bodies,
or in other words physical mutilation, was raised with the rise of
patriarchy.
With the rise of
patriarchy, many customs and traditions were developed. Of these customs and
traditions, many have disappeared or were gradually abandoned, while some
remain.
Most commentary on the condition of
women in the Middle East assigns a central place to the role of Islam. In fact,
there have been important variations, as well as persistent similarities, in
women’s conditions in Muslim societies. To make sense of the varieties of
women’s real, concrete historical experience, we must avoid confusing analytic
and polemical goals.
Current writing on women in
the Middle East exhibits two equally vigorous, but so far divergent trends.
I have been asking questions such
as “What is the Islamic view of women?” and “What does it mean to be a Muslim
woman?” for a long time. I was born female to a Muslim family living in Lahore,
a Muslim city in a Muslim country, Pakistan. Not until 1974, however, did I
begin my serious study of women’s issues in Islam and — I am still shocked to
reflect — this happened almost by accident.
I was, at that time,
faculty adviser to the Muslim Students’ Association chapter at Oklahoma State
University in Stillwater.
Ayesha Imam and BAOBAB for Women's Human Rights honoured for their work against the discriminatory application of the new Sharia laws in Nigeria's Northern States.
Ayesha Imam et BAOBAB for Women's Human Rights recevront le Prix pour leur opposition à l'application des nouvelles lois pénales de la charia dans les Etats du nord du Nigéria.
As the nomination period for judges to the International Criminal Court draws to a close on Saturday, at least two governments have chosen to bypass the nominations of qualified women and have instead put forward questionable candidates
