Jordan Times
Wednesday, July 6, 2005
Muslim scholars debate role of women in Islam
By Mahmoud Al Abed
AMMAN — Islam has ensured women the right to effectively participate in public life and contribute towards building a healthy society, said Muslim scholars yesterday at the first International Islamic Conference convening in the capital.
Nawal Faouri, a leading Islamist and women's rights activist called on “Muslim clerics to emphasise Islamic principles pertaining to women's issues... and pave the way for women to participate in the decision-making processes in their countries.”
Faouri, who presented one of the four papers addressing the issue during the second day of the conference, told The Jordan Times that the major hurdle facing women was not legislation, but rather “the mode of thought of people and the social traditions that Islam rejects.”
A member of the political bureau of Jordan's moderate Islamist Al Wasat Party, Faouri said her paper focussed on ways to activate women's political participation. She gave historical examples and evidence from authentic Islamic sources to prove that women have always been accepted in decision-making circles, and even in political opposition.
Faouri urged Muslim women to take part in representing their countries in international organisations and events, as one way to demonstrate the changing status of women in the Islamic world.
In his paper, Iraqi scholar and religious leader Ahmad Kubeisi discussed 29 issues related to women in Islam.
He cited several Islamic texts that depict women as excelling men in building the Islamic nation.
Kubeisi gave the example of women who paid their allegiance to the Prophet Mohammad ahead of his flight from Mecca to Medina, where he established the first Islamic state in AD622.
At the social level, he pointed to women's right to own property, divorce and education, also stressing that Muslim society has an obligation to preserve women's dignity.
However, Ghulam Mohammad from Mauritius distinguished between re-establishing women's rights under Islam and blind imitation of the West by “”masculinising women's role.” He insisted that Muslim women's potential must be optimised within the “social framework drawn up by Islam.”
The conference, inaugurated by His Majesty King Abdullah on Monday, is organised by Al al Bayt Foundation for Islamic Thought and forms part of Jordan's efforts to reintroduce Islam to the world after suffering negative publicity over recent years linking it to terrorism, violence and disrespect for human and women's rights.