Dear Ms. Eltahawy,
I write in regards to your article entitled, "Why Do They Hate Us? The real war on women is in the Middle East" published on the 23rd April in Foreign Policy magazine.
At this historical moment in world history, where there is a momentous opportunity to create real change in the Arab world, one would have hoped that your opportunity to write a featured article for an internationally re-known magazine regarding the continued oppression facing women in the region, would have presented fresh ideas about new principles and models of governance to secure the dignity and rights of women in the Middle East. However, unfortunately I found in your essay, content that reflected nothing more than pages taken from a neo-colonial manual of the region.
Indeed, your accusations of Islam's inherent misogyny and Arab men's innate hatred and hyper-sexualized view of women, was akin to a re-incarnation of Lord Cromer's, "Modern Egypt" and the works of orientalism of bygone years with their claims of Islam's unquestionable oppression of women, the debauchery of the ‘Exotic East', and the portrayal of Arabs as barbaric, immoral individuals and the embodiment of licentiousness. However, as history later revealed, this narrative was specifically engineered by colonialists of the time to give moral legitimacy for their occupation and colonization of the Muslim world. They argued that their continued domination over the region was a necessity to "liberate Muslim women" from the oppression of Islam, while all the time denying women in their own countries basic rights. Cultural imperialism has always been the path to maintaining colonial political and economic control of nations.
This is a narrative that continues to be propagated by current day Western governments to legitimize colonial wars as with Afghanistan, justified in part under the premise of ‘saving' the region's women from the ‘evils' of Islamic rule, leading to the deaths of thousands - including women - all to continue their control over the resources of the region. The question therefore is not why Arab men hate Muslim women but why do you, such that you would happily promote a narrative that leads to bombs being dropped on Muslim women and their families - in the name of ‘liberating Muslim women'?
At this time where Western-backed dictators have been toppled, challenging the centuries-long oppressive manipulation of the politics and economics of the Arab world by Western governments, this is surely a time to discard narratives spurned by the motives of cultural colonization rather than replicating the colonial script in a ‘native' voice. It is replication of such scripts that provides ammunition for the continued intervention in the Muslim lands by Western states. Until the Muslim world rejects the Western narrative of how to view our history, our Islamic culture, and ourselves, we will never truly be liberated as a people.
In addition, it is not Arab men who hate Muslim women, rather it's die-hard secular liberalists who perpetuate - as you have - the false, worn out stereotype that Muslim women are weak, helpless beings, willing to be ‘controlled' by men, unaware that they are being oppressed by their own culture, and unable to think for themselves or make their own independent life choices without male influence. It is patronizing and an insult to the millions of women across the Arab region and the world who have embraced the beliefs and tenets of Islam through their own study and convictions. This stereotype, that portrays Muslim women as powerless, voiceless, submissive beings, is one that has served-well the interests of dictators.
However, these uprisings have illustrated the exact opposite. Muslim women, the majority adorned in Islamic dress, some in niqab, raising the chants of "La ilaha illalah" and "Allahu Akbar", stood firm against their autocratic regimes, placing themselves in the front-line of attack from security forces, prepared to confront the tanks and bullets. This typecast that relegates Muslim women as submissive creatures is therefore an insult to those women who have sacrificed their lives in these uprisings. These were strong-willed women, taking their destiny into their own hands, whose voices toppled the thrones of tyrants, submitting to no-one but their Creator, and unwilling to take oppression or injustice from any one. Their actions crushed the false imagery of the Muslim woman propagated by the West for so long. And herein lies the uncomfortable truth for secularists - that these were women clear in their convictions that it was not Islam that oppressed them but dictators buttressed by Western secular governments, and governing systems based upon the laws of human beings.
You accuse Islam of viewing women as a sexualized being and an "Insatiable Temptress", while it is liberal values such as sexual freedom and freedom of ownership that has licensed the marketing of women as sexualized beings in adverts and billboards for commercial profit. It is liberal states that have allowed the beauty, fashion, entertainment, and pornography industries to consistently bring society's attention to the sexual aspect of women, exploiting their feminine charms, and presenting them as seductresses to increase sales. It is this process of feeding men a daily diet of degradation of women and dehumanizing her to an object of their desires that leads to problems such as sexual harassment, rape, and even discrimination. It is therefore not Muslim men who hate women, rather it's staunch advocates of liberalism who fail to see how their values have licensed the exploitation and devaluing of women globally.
Islamic texts never described the woman as a ‘sexualized being', rather as a human being who is no different from the man in her humanity. The Prophet(saw) said, "Assuredly, women are the twin halves of men." Furthermore, Islam does not hold the femme fatale view of the woman as a temptress whose mere presence in society is a cause of immorality, corruption, and instability, rather the Qur'an describes the woman as ‘muhsana' - a fortress against evil, who is able to keep men upright in their behaviour. The Islamic view is that both the man and the woman have the potential of provoking the sexual desire in one another. Therefore it sets down strict laws and limits, including the dress-code, the segregation of the sexes, the lowering of the gaze when there is attraction, and the prohibition of fornication and adultery to direct the fulfillment of the sexual instinct to marriage alone and hence to that which is of benefit to society rather than a cause of disruption and harm. All this, reflects the wisdom of an ideology that understands that to maintain strong family units, to protect the rights of children, and to ensure healthy cooperation between men and women that is based upon mutual respect and not marred by sexual distractions requires strict regulation and responsibility. This is in contrast to the ‘free-for all' in liberal societies that promote the pursuit of individualistic desires that has sown devastation on family life and generated social and moral chaos, such that in the UK today, 40% of children are born out of wedlock, many not even knowing their fathers, and over a million single mothers struggling to raise their children alone. It is all this that has oppressed women, men, and children!
And while the social and moral fabric of liberal societies are tearing apart at their seams, you see fit to cherry-pick isolated Islamic laws and through them issue misleading judgements and condemning verdicts accusing the religion of oppressing women while conveniently overlooking the elevated status that Islam affords the woman and the fact that Islam led the world in establishing full rights of citizenship for women 1400 years ago.
There is no denying that women face heinous acts of oppression in the Arab and Muslim world that need to be eradicated from our lands, including forced marriage, violence, forced female genital mutilation, sexual harassment, virginity tests inflicted upon political opponents, and young girls such as Amina Filali forced to marry their rapists. However, such appalling non-Islamic practices have either been sanctioned directly by staunchly secular states such as Egypt and Morocco, or allowed to flourish for decades under the watch of secular systems that have demonstrated a total disregard for women's dignity and wellbeing - not Islamic ones! In addition, the influx of liberal values through the Western-based beauty, fashion, and entertainment industries in countries such as Egypt and Tunisia that presents the woman as an object of men's desires has had a similar impact as within Western liberal states in devaluing women, resulting in the rise of sexual harassment in the country. It is therefore the "toxic-detachment of politics from religion" that has allowed men to treat and legislate laws against women according to their whims and desires rather than the dictates of Islam - for the Islamic texts are clear about the elevated manner by which men should view and treat all women. The Qur'an states, "Revere the wombs that bore you, for God is ever watchful over you" [An-Nisa: 1], while the Prophet(saw) said, "The best of you are the ones who are best to their women" and, "O people, your wives have a certain right over you and you have certain rights over them. Treat them well and be kind to them for they are your partners and committed helpers". It is therefore the absence of Islam in mentalities and governance that leads to the oppression of women, not its presence!
Furthermore, Muslim women are weary of the consistent use of Saudi Arabia, a British installed regime, as some kind of template for the oppression of women under Islamic rule. This is a state that has for decades pursued a charade of implementing Shariah to maintain popular support while in reality enforcing laws from the whims of Kings and despots. Where in the Shariah does it prohibit women from driving cars? Where in the Shariah does it say that a woman is not permitted to vote? Where in the Shariah does it say that an absolute monarchy is an acceptable model of governance to rule a state? The answer is - NOWHERE! So these false clichéd templates of Islamic rule deserve the same fate as dictators - to be discarded into history - for the only acceptable model of governance to be presented as an example of the status and rights of women under Islamic rule is the Khilafah "Caliphate" system.
Ultimately, after your rant against Islam and Arab societies, you offer no real solution to the women's oppression that you described, other than venting anger at Muslim men. And herein lies the consistent problem with Western-orientated feminists, that other than taking the stick to Islam, there is a repeated failure to present a clear strategy by which to address the abuses that women face globally. Not surprising, for the ‘man-bashing' Western feminism based upon secular liberal values, and espousing the Western concept of gender equality has failed spectacularly to secure the dignity of
women within its own societies - even after over 100 years of struggle. It made the genders adversaries rather than partners in challenging injustices against women. So why are you so insistent on peddling this worn-out faulty product to the Muslim world?
You express your concern about the rise of Islam as a new political vision for the Arab world and what this will mean to the rights of women. However, it was under the secular regimes of Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Syria, Algeria, Morocco, Yemen as well as others that women faced and continue to suffer the most brutal repression under autocratic leaderships. It is under such secular systems that they faced oppressive hijab and niqab bans, rampant political corruption, failing economies, soaring unemployment, rising crime and insecurity, crumbling public services, widespread poverty and illiteracy, and increasing family breakdown. This is a failed system that has "treated not just ½ of humanity as animals but the whole of it". And while you and Western governments may be fearful about the rise of political Islam in the region, the majority of women in the Arab and Muslim world do not share your concern, for poll after poll reflect significant majorities of women in the region turning to an Islamic system implementing the Shariah laws as the model of governance to secure their rights, status, and liberation from oppression? These are women who recognize their problems remain unsolved by the secular liberal system and are seeking a true alternative that can create real change.
On the 10th March 2012, the women of Hizb ut-Tahrir organized a historic international women's conference in Tunisia, gathering over 1000 women from across the world to present the Khilafah "Caliphate" system of governance, based comprehensively and purely upon the Islamic Shariah laws, as a new political vision for the Arab and Muslim world, able to bring real change and improvement to the lives of the region's women. Women, including influential female opinion-makers from numerous countries, including Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Jordan, Lebanon, Sudan, Turkey, Oman, Saudi Arabic, Indonesia, attended this unprecedented event to express the growing support of women within their countries for the establishment of this state in the region. Presentations discussed how the Khilafah "Caliphate" offered practical and sound solutions to the multitude of political, economic, educational, legal, and social problems afflicting women across the region. They also highlighted the unique Islamic laws and policies that provide a clear strategy to protect the harmony of the family unit, establish healthy cooperation between men and women within society, and ensure that women's dignity and full rights of citizenship are secured always. This includes the prohibition of the sexualization of women and the exploitation of their beauty that compromises their status as well as the use of the education, media, political, and judicial systems of the state to nurture the view of respect towards women across society and eradicate any oppressive non-Islamic traditional views or practices. It is therefore the Khilafah "Caliphate" state, implementing a purely Islamic constitution that offers a lifeline to women out of the misery and oppression caused by secular and man-made governing systems.
Finally, I would agree with you that political revolutions need to be accompanied by revolutions of thought to succeed in addressing abuses against women. However, this requires for us to rid ourselves from worn-out colonial narratives that facilitate the continued colonization of our lands rather than embracing wholesale the flawed colonial diagnosis and cure for the cause of women's oppression in the region. It requires us to free ourselves from the belief that our progress lies in adopting the failed foreign secular system that has shown itself to be incapable of solving human problems effectively. And it requires us to liberate ourselves from colonized minds and the notion of the inadequacy of our own Islamic culture and the superiority of others. Furthermore, we need to understand the true causes of women's subjugation in our lands which is primarily due to the oppressive non-Islamic regimes and systems that plague the region. Simply fighting for the right of women to be president or more seats for women in new parliaments will do nothing to improve the lives of ordinary women in the Muslim world, as we have seen in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia,
Sudan, Afghanistan, and Iraq that have either had female leaders or celebrated higher quotas of women in parliament than many Western states. The status and rights of women have not improved in such countries due to incompetent, repressive systems of governance based upon flawed human laws. Indeed, it is state-sanctioned oppression that provides a breeding ground for the oppression in streets and homes and it is full excision of secular and man-made models of governance in exchange for the Khilafah "Caliphate" that will provide the cure.
The real war on women is therefore not in the Middle East. Rather, the real war on women is being waged by the misogynistic capitalist, secular, liberal system that has caused widespread global poverty for women due to flawed economic policies; a system that has installed and maintained dictatorships across the world to serve economic interests; a system that has waged colonial wars leading to the death of tens of thousands of women to secure resources; and a system that has licensed the objectification, exploitation, and devaluing of women for profit-sake. Until liberal feminists such as yourself acknowledge this unquestionable fact and stop erroneously blaming Islam for injustices against women, your actions will only serve to prolong the suffering and misery of women in the Muslim world by attempting to keep them away from the Islamic system that will truly liberate them from their oppression - the Khilafah "Caliphate".
Yours sincerely
Dr. Nazreen Nawaz
Central Media Representative, Hizb ut-Tahrir
