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The Toronto Star
RAHEEL RAZA
OPINION
 During the height of the Danish cartoon
controversy, Canadian media interviewed male Muslim leaders exclusively,
without bothering to seek out leaders among Muslim women. It's a given that
Muslim leaders are men, preferably with beards.
Haideh Moghissi, a
sociology professor at York
University, says that
rigid, unforgiving and sexist voices are considered valid voices by Western
media. When a Muslim woman speaks out or assumes a leadership role, she's
called militant.
Yet the struggle for sexual equality and leadership among Muslim women is
gaining strength around the world.
Harvard University recently held a seminar
titled "Emerging Forms of Muslim Women's Leadership."
Among the panellists was Sarah Eltantawi,
a young Muslim doctoral candidate at the university and a media commentator
on American-Muslim Affairs and Middle East
policy who writes on counterterrorism for Upfront and The New York Times.
She spoke about the importance of a dialogue of civilizations as someone who
has been part of U.S.-Islam dialogue in Qatar.
The dialogue continued at The Union Theological Seminary at Columbia University
in New York
where a diverse panel of Muslim women to spoke about leadership.
Among them were Aisha al-Adawiya,
an African American Muslim who founded the advocacy organization Women in
Islam Inc., and Shqipe Malushi,
a Sufi poet and writer from Kosovo and Nureen Qureshi, a young TV anchor and head hunter for IT from Mississauga. These
women are movers and shakers working at the grassroots level, creating
dialogue and safe spaces for other Muslim women.
They believe that if men won't allow Muslim women their rights, then Islam
will; all they have to do is reclaim what was originally given to them by the
Prophet Muhammad.
This populist women's movement in Islam also has traction in Europe. At an early celebration of International
Women's Day, the International Federation of Women Against Fundamentalism and
for Equality (WAFE) held a conference in Paris.
Formed after 9/11, WAFE asserts that fundamentalism in all faiths has emerged
as the biggest challenge for humanity. The battle for sexual equality and
emancipation can't be separated from the fight against extremism, its members
say.
The conference, titled "Women's leadership: Indispensable to the
struggle against fundamentalism," was supported by 15 European
organizations.
Discussions ranged from fundamentalism as it exists in many faiths today to
the challenges of female leadership, but the main focus was rise of
fundamentalism in the Muslim world.
The international solidarity network Women Living Under Muslim Laws has
identified anti-female policies as one of the warning signs of rising
fundamentalism.
Whether it's abortion bans in U.S., opposition head scarves in Europe or forced veiling by the Taliban, whether its
limiting women's freedom of movement or their rights to education and work
under dictatorial regimes, the leaders of these movements are always men, and
the victims are always women.
The women, however, are insistent on making their voices heard.
The speakers at the Paris gathering were from a variety of religions and
countries — United States, Canada, Australia, France, Britain, Germany,
Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, the Netherlands, Greece, India and Iraq as well
as representatives of the National Council of the Resistance of Iran — and
included members of parliament from several European countries. They were all
of the view that religious fanatics exist in every faith and that women have
been exploited by religious leaders for centuries.
In her opening remarks, Dame Elizabeth Sydney, chair of the International
Federation Against Fundamentalism and for Equality, said, "Gender
equality brings great many benefits ... it introduces an enormous amount of
talent and energy into society. Under the fundamentalist regime, women are
violently prevented from using their abilities. But the release of 50 per
cent of human talent will raise standards for all of us."
In a video message, Maryam Rajavi
of the Iranian Resistance said that Islamic fundamentalism is the biggest
threat to the equality movement and therefore finding a way to confront the
imminent danger of religious fascism ruling Iran is an urgent imperative.
Asked how to defeat Islamic fundamentalism and misogyny, Rajavi
responded: "You have to eliminate the male-dominated culture as an
inhumane culture, through women leadership. Accordingly, the establishment of
democracy without the active role of women in society's leadership is
impossible or at best retractable."
Adding their insights were Prof. Carole Fontaine of Boston's Andover Newton
Theological School who called "fundamentalist patriarchy" a
disease; Sushma Dilip-Pankule,
representative of the International League of Women For Peace and Freedom in
India, who pointed out the major role fundamentalism plays in female
infanticide, dowry deaths, child marriage and sati, all of which continue
despite government restrictions; Anissa Boumedienne, a lawyer, writer, and wife of the late
Algerian President Houari Boumedienne
strongly promoted education for women; Swiss Parliamentary Deputy Salika Wenger, who said that it's popular for politicians
to discuss fundamentalism without doing anything to fight it; and Hoda Shaker Maarouf Al-Naimi, a professor of political science in Iraq, who
elaborated on "the suffering of Iraqi women in an atmosphere of
fundamentalist domination and in the absence of tolerance for diverse viewpoints."
Canadian Muslim women's voices were also heard this past weekend at a
conference at Michigan
State University
titled "Islam and Gender: Social Change and Cultural Diversity in Muslim
Communities."
Among the presenters was Jasmin Zine,
an assistant professor of sociology at Wilfred Laurier
University. She spoke
about identity issues and the education of Muslim girls in Canada, both
in Islamic and public schools.
Western media would do well to keep these women's names on file for the next
time they need a Muslim spokesperson to comment on current events.
Raheel Raza is a media consultant.
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