Muslim Women and Human Rights: Does Political Transformation Equal Social Transformation?

Abstract

Universal human rights occupy a contested role in the Middle East and North Africa. Governments claim in their constitutions to uphold the rights of every citizen, regardless of gender and race with respect to granting them dignity and representation that is in line with universal human rights and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). However Islamists within these countries do not acknowledge universal human rights discourse and consider it contrary to Islamic principles. One aim of this article is to reveal that the governments in Egypt and Algeria utilise the Sharī’ah to suppress women in the respective societies. Two further arguments are first, that governments, in order to maintain authority and political control, comply with the restrictive demands of Islamists towards women because they are perceived as having popular support. Second, women centred- conventions and movements such as CEDAW and Musawah respectively argue that Muslim women's existence, should not be constrained by limited interpretations of the Sharī’ah and restrictive cultural traditions as supported by Islamists and Islamic governments.

Notes

An Islamist seeks to impose literal interpretations of the Shari'ah. Islamists operate within a patriarchal paradigm in which gender relations are role and duty specific. There is no attempt to recreate the past but to bring about social, political and economic change in the present.

The Cairo Declaration uses the Qur'an, Suna and the Islamic Schools of law as the main reference for the document.

Shari'ah stipulates that a woman has no personal autonomy and requires a male guardian throughout her life. A women's testimony counts as half that of a Muslim man. Her inheritance and personal value also is half that of a Muslim man (International Humanist and Ethical Union 2008).

Salafists are Muslims who adhere strictly to Qur'an and Sunnah, the guidance of the Prophet (AS) and his Companions thereafter. Salafists participate in a Salafi discourse on jihad and claim to be defenders of the true faith and committed to ridding the world of infidels and innovations to the religion (Hasan 2005, 73).

At the end of the nineteenth century the Egyptian legal system was codified and secularised. Its legal system is based on Sharī’ah and Napoleonic codes. Similarly Algeria amended its legal system with a new civil code in 1975 and a penal code in 1982 Laws that inform women and domestic issues are influenced by Shari'ah (Sunder 2003).

The ‘Islamic’ dress reflects the diversities and commonalities through time, and highlights the influence of many forces—class, status, region, work, religious interpretation, ethnicity, urban/rural, politics, fashion, and climate, among others.

A religious traditionalist is an individual who wishes to recreate the laws and environment of a particular historical period, often the period dating to the time of the prophet Mohammed and the righteous caliphs.

A popular interpretation in Islam is that Muslim men are promised that on entering Paradise (Heaven) each man will receive 72 virgins.

Amongst the women appointed as lawmakers, one was a television anchorwoman and a sister of a popular football player, while another is an ex-wife of a popular preacher who previously showed no political interests (Ahmed 2012).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Wendy Isaacs-Martin

Department of Political and Governmental Studies, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.