Jordan Times
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
‘Men on Board’ project
educates men on women’s rights in Islam
By Linda Hindi
AMMAN - Empowering women and stopping violence against them in a patriarchal
society is no easy feat, but a social centre has found convincing allies: local
male leaders.
The centre’s pilot project, “Men on Board”, has been working over the past two
months to directly educate men on women’s rights.
Workers at the Community Development Centre (CDC) in Sweileh label the new
approach “a huge success”.
The centre came up with the idea of targeting men after female members, who had
completed a one-year awareness project on violence against women, suggested that
the centre do something specifically for their husbands.
A programme development officer at the centre, Ruweida Shakhshir, explained that
the programme is unique because incorporating men into gender-based violence
projects is not uncommon, but to have an optional programme only for men poses
the biggest challenge, “to actually get the men to attend”.
That’s where the community’s male leader, or mukhtar, came in, inviting the
neighbourhood men for sessions at his home.
“I knew that this would work because when the mukhtar invites you to his home
you do not say ‘no’,” the social worker added.
A mukhtar, "the chosen" in Arabic, refers to a figure in a village or urban
neighbourhood who serves as a local community leader with some administrative
authorities and reports to the governor’s office.
The mukhtar’s wife initially offered her home for the meetings, saying that she
would have her husband invite the men, Shakhshir said.
The meetings are held in a relaxed atmosphere and refreshments are served. The
goal is to make men listen and, in particular, learn about women’s rights in
Islam. Giving the lessons is Sheikh Bassam Qawasmi, a cleric who has earned the
trust of the women in the community after volunteering at the centre for several
years, offering women a one-hour lecture four times a month on their rights in
society and Islam.
“He has women who are devoted to his lectures and his information has changed
some women’s lives. One very poor woman found out that she was entitled to her
inheritance in Islam and contested her brothers in court.” As a result, she won
half a dunum of land, which she sold and used to start an income-generating
project that earns her JD500 a month, Shakhshir said.
Sheikh Qawasmi, who has a BA in fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), told The Jordan
Times that he is able to influence the men because he sits with them on their
terms and cites the Holy Koran and hadith (Prophet’s tradition) to support his
arguments.
“I am happy that I am dealing directly with the very group that have tough
personalities and zero value for women. One man once told me that women are no
different than animals and should be treated this way,” the cleric said. This is
changing, he continued.
The programme facilitator explained that he stays calm and attacks their
theories about respect, polygamy, equality and violence with clear Koranic
verses and in-depth stories about the Prophet Mohammad and how he treated women
in the highest regard.
He targets core issues like polygamy and teaches them the circumstances under
which the Prophet married more than one woman. “They cannot use this as an
excuse to marry women at their will or for selfish pleasures… there are specific
reasons to remarry”.
“Most of the men are subdued and cannot retort when they hear that respecting
their wives is a religious obligation. It affects them because they are not
listening to something that I have made up; it is commandments from Allah, their
God,” he said.
Her Majesty Queen Rania visited the CDC on Sunday during a trip to this north
Amman town, highlighting issues that affect its 35,000 residents, most of whom
are poor.
At the community centre, officials described their social programmes including
the “Men on Board” project. Queen Rania took interest in the angle and said that
more projects like these should be duplicated throughout the Kingdom.
“Violence against women is a sensitive subject that we must concentrate on and
diminish from our society. It is very unfortunate that sometimes Islam is
distorted or confused and used as an excuse to do wrong,” Queen Rania said.
The CDC is one of the six centres in the region run under the McGill University
in Montreal, Canada. McGill’s programmes are primarily funded by the Canadian
International Development Agency. The “Men on Board” project has been funded by
the Washington-based Freedom House, a pro-democracy nonprofit organisation with
international reach.
The centre is closely affiliated with the University of Jordan and works in
partnership with the Jordan Red Crescent Society and the Jordanian Hashemite
Fund for Human Development.
It currently runs 12 community development programmes, which directly affect
between 15,000 to 20,000 underprivileged residents of the area annually.