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The Role of Woman and Family in Human Development Tehran, Iran
The Role of Popular Organizations in the Materialization of
International Objectives. The human community has launched extensive efforts to set up international bodies and
organizations for resolution of problems facing man. These organizations are expected to
forge understanding among the members and translate into action the global plans and
projects with positive impacts worldwide. As a result, the largest international body,
namely the United Nations, was erected with affiliated organizations working in cultural,
economic, health, commercial, and other fields.
In addition, we witness the weakness and importance of the Organizations of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in regard to decisions taken on various issues related to Islam and the Muslims. This debility comes in the face of the Organization's extensive slogans in regard to the issues of Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc.
On account of the aforementioned weaknesses of the international organizations, the ground is paved for the non-governmental organizations (NGO's) to engage in requisite activities, to take part in international meetings, and to exert pressure on official bodies to adopt decisions which are more compatible with targets set. The participation of these organizations in international meetings can have various positive impacts. Among them reference can be made to the following:
For further explanation, I will provide two examples (one international and the other
Islamic) to shed more light on the significance of an active national role: In this fashion, we were able to modify more than eighty items in the document. We were also able to add the principle of adherence to religious tenets, spiritual values, and national interests during the enactment of this international document. As already cited, this was the biggest international defeat sustained by the decadent thoughts and ideas which aimed at undermining sound and healthy human and family relations. This went so far that the mastermind of George Bush's administration, namely James Baker, explicitly admitted that in the Cairo conference, the US faced a heavy defeat at the hands of Iran, the Islamic countries, and the Vatican. A major part of this victory was due to the general atmosphere and spirit created by the Islamic and Christian organizations against the said document. In addition, the victory was indebted to efforts made by the devoted individuals who resisted this planned plot. Second example: reference will be made to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and its approach toward Muslim women and their enhanced participation in social and political affairs. Following the serious efforts launched by Pakistan, the foreign ministers of the Islamic countries from virtually a decade back decided to set up a committee comprised of eight governments to establish and international organization for women. After two years of negotiations, this committee forwarded its report to the Secretary General. But the committee's view met the staunch opposition of some influential governments of the OIC. These were the governments of countries in which women played no social role, in which women were barred from commitment to Islam, or in which women were not allowed to occupy important social positions if they refused to appear in public promiscuously and without moral restraint. In this way, the said plan was nipped in the delays and postponements in its enactment. The Islamic Republic of Iran took the initiative to restore this plan in sundry ways. Some popular women's organizations played a salient role in promoting this plan so much so that we were able to encourage participants at the Sixth conference in Dakar, Senegal to issue a statement for the revival of this plan. But once again this plan fell into abeyance until the Seventh Islamic Conference which was held in Morocco took it up once again. The decision was taken to convene a consultation seminar in Tehran to survey the participation and collaboration of women in social development (without setting up a women's organization). Some women's organizations played a prime role in this connection, making the seminar very fruitful. The seminar was thus able to come up with sound decision which we hope would set a precedence in this regard. Delegations from 34 countries took part in this seminar. These delegations were mainly comprised of female representatives who were avid to play a more active role in the future. At the close, I call on women to have greater dynamism, take more action to hold forceful and active meetings and gatherings, engage in extensive moves to provide guidelines to the community, create coordination among the groups, have active presence in international forums, use various methods such as presenting proposals and views, and actively endeavor to enlighten the public opinion. In this way, they will be able to exert pressure on international organizations to play an active role in rendering service to women. The International Beijing Conference affords a golden opportunity which should be optimally used to consolidate the global human values which preserve the religious and legal rights of women. In this way the dignity of women will be preserved notwithstanding efforts made to shatter the women's personality and identity. I am of the view that the recommendations put forward in the Tehran seminar will create a sound incentive for coordination among the national and state organizations to have the aforementioned goals materialized. It is worthy of note that the participation of faithful women in this conference and the like will have a tremendous effect in presenting to the world the picture of women delineated by Islam, removing doubts created by the enemies depicting the place and standing of women in the world of Islam, and creating a favorable climate for the Muslim women to become aware of the conditions of their fellow sisters throughout the world of Islam, and creating a favorable climate for the Muslim women to become aware of the conditions of their fellow sisters throughout the world of Islam or on the face of the globe. In this fashion, devoted women will be able to establish and appropriate relationship geared toward a global movement in defense of women's honor, thus preventing the issue from falling into the hands of those who utter false claims for the rights of women and who are actually the first to trample these rights. In this conference and others, the Muslim women are duty bound to preclude the subversive trends from taking the affairs. These trends are expected to put in the limelight deviated individuals such as Taslima Nasreen and other mentally diseased people. These are the people who are manipulated by the West to counter all humane values. It is, therefore, imperative for us to be conscious and cognizant. We expect the Muslim Iranian women to explicate the stance of the auspicious Islamic Revolution vis-a-vis women. This explanation should commence by quoting statements from the late lamented Imam Khomeini (peace be upon his soul), the Eminent Leadership Ayatollah Khamenei, and President Hashemi Rafsanjani. The Muslim Iranian women should, moreover, close their statements by articulating the salient practical measures taken by the Majlis (Islamic Consultative Assembly), the Judiciary branch, and the government to enhance the women's social status and to enable them to make use of their religious rights to powerfully and seriously take part in the country's political, social and economical reconstruction. The world will then realize that Islam and the Islamic Revolution have taken measures
to sublimate women and to hail their personality as human beings who can reach the highest
peaks of perfection and who can take part in shaping the human civilization. Women in Development Your Excellencies, It is indeed a great pleasure and an honor for me to be invited to participate in this important conference and to be given the opportunity to present some of my thoughts during the opening ceremony. I therefore wish to point out that I will be presenting some of my personal views which have evolved during the last 12 years, that is , since 1983, when I became involved in the preparation of the 1985 Nairobi World Conference on Women. Then from 1985 I have been involved in the implementation of the Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women in the year 2000. From 1985-1988 my involvement was as a United Nations Headquarters staff member and since 1988 until today my involvement has been as a senior government official of the Republic of Indonesia. Obviously, my personal views have been much influenced by my own country's policies and strategies for the advancement of women. Or I should probably say that my views are based on the Indonesian ideology pancasila (five principals) namely 1. Belief in God Almighty; 2. Just and civilized humanity; 3. National unity; 4. Democracy based on consultation of representatives; and 5. Social justice for all. With regard to the role of women in human development, I should like to address it as an integral part of the role of women in development. The following principles are those I believe in , with regard to the role of women in development. Women constitute a half if not more than a half of the population. From the quantitative point of view, women should obviously have the same rights, obligations and opportunities with men in development. From the qualitative point of view, women bear a much larger proportion of the function of human reproduction and maintenance, including menstruation, child bearing, child birth and breastfeeding, four prerogatives of women. As a consequence of this, women clearly have more influence than men of the quantity and quality of the future generation. Development is, in essence, a development of human being in its totality, physical and non physical or growth and development of the human being, men and women. Consequently, development in all sectors should be geared toward the creation of a condition which will facilitate and enhance sustainable human growth and development. Development takes place everywhere and at all times. Women in development discussions should at least be focused on three aspects. First, a focus on the fact that besides women, there are also Men in Development and that women and men should be perceived as agents, and beneficiaries in all fields of developments and at all levels of activities, including decision making. Second a focus on the fact that men and women should also be perceived as having equal rights, obligations and opportunities in all fields and at all levels. Third, a focus on the fact that women's nature or unique human reproductive and maintenance function (menstruating, child bearing, child birth and breastfeeding) should be recognized, respected, protected and supported by all men and women, young and old, as will as by governments, employers and society at large. This is so because it is on this function that the survival, the quality and the quantity of the human race largely depend. Equitable, balanced and harmonious share of domestic, parental and other family responsibilities between men and women in the family, is essential not only for the advancement of women, but also for the attainment of the ultimate goal of development, i.e., improved human quality, the quality of life and sustainable development. Gender considerations or consideration of issues relating to relations between men's and women's status, roles and responsibilities, which were socially constructed and therefore culturally, locationally and timely variable, should permeate the entire development process. It is necessary to develop gender based analysis and to integrate into policy formulation, planning, and programming , as well as monitoring and evaluation of progress achieved in the implementation of policies, plans, programs and projects. Gender based analysis facilitates the identification of gender inequity, the design of interventions required to enhance changes for the achievement of gender inequality, the design of interventions required to enhance changes for the achievement of gender equality, which is for the benefit of both men and women. Gender equality or equitable gender division of roles and responsibilities forms a firm basis for the principles of rights, obligations and respect as well as protection and support for women's unique human reproduction and maintenance function. Women in development issues are multidimensional and multidisciplinary in nature. They are human rights issues, social justice, cultural and security issues, economic and political issues These principles clearly demonstrate the role of women in the creation, growth and development of human beings, and that such role has been destined by God Almighty as the prerogative of women. Therefore, it is the responsibility and even the obligation of all, men and women, young and old to recognize, respect, support and protect it. Moreover, it is necessary to realize and remember that we human beings should not in any way and for any reason try to change this function. Instead, we should find ways and means to facilitate the proper exercise of this noble function of women. This is particularly so because this function constitutes the basis for total human development, covering material and spiritual as well as physical growth and development. Excellencies, I should now like to address the issue of the role of the family in human development. The family forms the first and foremost development unit, because it is within the family where the process of human growth and development or reproduction and maintenance of human resources is initiated and begun. Women, as mothers or bearers of a much larger proportion of the function of human reproduction and maintenance, and as first and foremost educators, occupy a strategic position in the family, as the first and foremost development unit and educational environment. There are at least three reasons for the family to be perceived as first and foremost educational environment for every person. First, because it is indeed the first educational environment for everyone. Second, because the first five years is the most sensitive and receptive period of one's life, and therefore it is the best period for instilling in children ethical values and norms including religious and moral values, as well as the newly emerging values of our time. Third, because family education constitutes the foundation of all further levels and types of education and training. Furthermore, family education is a life long process. There are two aspects which deserve further analyses. First, the family as the most significant development unit or environment, although development also occurs everywhere and at all times in the society as a whole. This is so because it is now almost universally recognized that development means development of the human being in its totality, physical, mental, intellectual, emotional and spiritual. If the first development unit does not develop-all these various dimensions of human development - comprehensively, harmoniously and fully, further education and training institutions will not be able to benefit from a strong foundation. Second, education in the family is not conducted through formal teaching or lectures, but through formal teaching or lectures, but through example by parents. Therefore, it is extremely important for parents themselves to exercise in their daily life in the family a genuine spiritual life; a consistent realization of human values and democratic principles among themselves as parents and between them and their children; a hygienic life; an environmental awareness; the principle of care and respect for each others, existence, views, and welfare, etc. Having said the above, I should also like to draw your attention to the 1994 Jakarta Declaration and Plan of Action for the Advancement of Women in Asia and Pacific region. It contains similar principles about both women's and family's role in development. As development is essentially development of human beings in its totality, we must always remember that human beings in their existence should maintain relation with their Creator and in this respect as a Muslim I believe that the creator is God Almighty, with their fellow human beings, with their environment, both physical and nonphysical. It emphasizes also, that because women play a strategic and decisive role in human development, we must empower women and men to work together as equal partners and to aspire a new generation of women and men to work together as equality, sustainable development and peace. With regard to the forthcoming Platform for Action to be adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing next September, I should like to suggest that we all try to ensure that the following principles are given their well deserved treatment in the debate and eventually in the platform. These principles are contained in the Jakarta Declaration and Plan of Action. That the family as the principal development unit and the first and foremost educational environment for the future generation, should be fully supported so as to enable it to promote its role and the role of women in human development as appropriately as possible. That women and men have equal rights, obligations and opportunities in all fields and at all levels of development and that the empowerment of woman and the improvement of their political, social and economic status is essential for human development. That human rights should not be promoted in isolation from human responsibilities to the Creator, to their fellow human beings, to their environment and to their society form the local to the global levels. That in the global effort to eradicate poverty, to create productive employment and to promote social integration, women should not be seen solely as beneficiaries or objects of developments; instead, women should also be seen as agents and even as a decisive force, in obtaining those objectives. Furthermore, women should be seen as a vital force for the creation of a more humane and religious society. That women should not merely be seen as victims of the absence of peace, rather women should also be seen as principal agents for building peace, beginning with instilling peace values in the family by exercising more considerate and tolerant attitudes in conflict solutions, up to equal and full participation in decision making processes, related peace building and conflict resolutions. Excellencies, I hope some of these thoughts of mine can contribute to our deliberations in the next few days. I apologize for the lack of structure of my contribution due to the time constraints I have had during the last few months. Before concluding my address, I must not fail to express my congratulations to the Iranian women for having managed to consolidate their contributions to their own advancement and at the same time, to their full and active participation in the development and especially in the reconstruction of their country and nation. It is an outstanding performance considering the obstacles they have encountered both for the reconciliation of their national, social, economic, political, ideological and last but not least, religious forces and for coping with the globalization process which is becoming faster and faster and more competitive. This is obviously due to scientific and technological advances and their application to development in particular communication and information technologies. I have no doubt that the Iranians' firm belief in religion as the most fundamental factor in human life and endeavor for survival, has been the driving force behind their success. Finally, please allow me to express my deep appreciation to the government of the
Islamic Republic of Iran and the NGO Coordinating Office and Organizing Committee as well
as the UNFPA for their invitation and support for my participation in this conference and
last but not least for their hospitality. Cooperation for the Enhancement of Women's Status With my greetings and welcome to you, respectable audience, who have come to this country to participate in this magnificent gathering. I wish you will return to your countries with happy memories of Iran. I hope the papers and articles presented at different sessions of this gathering will strengthen our human ideals. It seems the best way for the development and exaltation of women is only possible through women's cooperation. I am sure you, as representatives of non-governmental institutes, appreciate better than anybody else the importance of cooperation for the enhancement of the thought level of women. It is clear that the communication of information and finding ways to fight discrimination and aggression against women requires decisive planning. This can be done best through non-governmental institutes such as the ones you are representing. You will definitely take part within these three days in sessions on different topics each of which is closely related with the objective of the conference. The simultaneous symposiums which will be held under the names of "Refugee Women", "Women in Armed Activities", and "A Network of Muslim Women" can best study the problems of this large layer of women all over the world and present some practical ways to solve them to the international institutes and sponsors. Dear audience, with regard to the limited amount of time which is allocated to me, please let me discuss one of the topics of the conferences, i.e., "The Role of Women in Human Development", which is the topic for today's discussion as well. The definitions which are made of human development cannot cover all human needs. This is made clear when we observe however much technological improvement takes place, there is more need felt for morality, spirituality and human values. Have we asked ourselves why religious inclinations are increasing everyday in the world? Is it not because technological development only, without considering human needs, has not been able to satisfy man's internal need? Now we will ask ourselves what should be done. How can we find some ways out for human beings, especially women, who are discriminating against? Is it enough to give women some mere knowledge of how to remove the development obstacles? In my belief, for the enhancement of women's status in different societies, we cannot be one-sided. That is to say we cannot ask women to be able to find some solutions for their own problems. That is because society is a unified system, the elements of which are completely interwoven and cannot stay separate. What is the first step in the human development of women in differing societies? If we take women from the home into society and assign them major and minor tasks, can we keep their true human status? Doesn't this approach make them forget their true human status? Doesn't this approach make them forget their true task of educating the coming generations together with their active participation in different activities and decision making? Are we to be satisfied to let men decide for women and let them merely carry out these programs? The answers are clear. Present statistics and documents show that women comprise half of the human resources in societies and have been active in establishing the foundations of human development in the long history of men's civilization. However, the present facts show that women everywhere are facing identical problems in the socio-economic arena, and in most countries they are suffering from discrimination in education, fobs and the distribution of income as well as in political participation compared with men. Research has shown that the inequality between men and women in all economic, social, cultural and legal aspects can be seen. This is true even in the most advanced countries. In most countries women are not allowed to take part in political affairs and cannot be present at parliaments. Now, allow me to briefly refer to women's condition in relation to development in all its aspects and then present some proposals of how we may make the best of their capabilities. From the political point of view the questions are : What king of rights do women formally and informally posses? Do they have authority over their rights? Are they allowed to manifest their dissatisfaction through political movements? From the viewpoint of jobs and activities the questions are: How do women work as a work force and are they equally paid for identical jobs compared with men? How are they ranked as to job opportunities and what benefits do they have? From the family and family life point of view: What is the age for marriage? Are women allowed to select their husbands? Do they have the right of divorce? What is the status of widows? Are women free to work? In the dimension of education: How much access do women have to formal education? Is their educational program similar to that of men? Questions regarding hygiene are: How much is the death rate of women? What kind of diseases are they susceptible to? What kind of mental pressures are they subject to? How much control do they have upon their pregnancy? Finally, in the cultural aspect: What kind of images do people have about women? What is the attitude of women in this respect? We will briefly address the above questions. Since the beginning of the 70's, attention towards women's role in societies increased and the principle was accepted that women could be considered the most active force in economic development and their sex role cannot be limited to motherhood and housekeeping. Under the pressure from world opinion and the defenders of women's rights, the United nations assigned the decade from 1976 to 1985 as the Women's Decade. The motto was "equality, development, peace." Women's restrengthening took place with an emphases on the provision of educational facilities, healthy jobs, together with birth control in the direction of economic, social and cultural development. The result of this endeavor was the fact that, according to the universal report on education in 1993, during the years 1980 to 1990, the percentage of literate women increased from 59.5% to 67.3%. Since the most important foundation of the development of human labor force is education, the above statistics are important. It is a fact that one of the most significant factors of women's deprivation is the lack of sufficient education. Education is a means for women's awareness of their social, cultural, economic and political rights. Their expertise in different areas of science is important for their development, spiritual exaltation and the attainment of vocational skills in order to enter the work force, rear good children, have their birth control, pay attention to hygienic principles, and to stop the death of pregnant mothers and their children. In the area of women's jobs and their role in the socio-economic development of societies, we should say since the developing countries need specialist work force, the program developers have realized women's specific role in education, economic development, population control, bolstering their socio-economic status through their economic independence, and their decision making role in social affairs. Despite this emphasis, inequality in wages, job opportunities, and starting key businesses are among the factors which endanger women's jobs in societies, especially in developing countries. In this connection, the report of the Headquarters of the United Nations reads: "The chance for women's getting jobs is slimmer than that of men and working women receive less salaries that men". In all industrial countries, women's wages are, to a large extent, less than men's. The rate of women's unemployment is one and a half times that of men. But, in the decision making in important affairs, men are dominant in governmental and economic centers. Although evidence shows, in the past two decades, the number of working women has increased and this is a natural trend. But, this increase in numbers is still a far cry from the equal distribution of jobs among men and women. For instance, in the United States, women's wages in mid-level jobs and low-level jobs has been 61% of men's wages; this rate increased to 70% in 1986. It is expected that this rate would reach 85% in the year 2000. It China, although according to the constitution the equality of men and women exists, the employers prefer to have men workers. In Japan, in the constitution of 1947 and also according to the law of Equal Job Opportunities of 1985, mention is made of the equality of men and women. Practically, however, these rules have not been affective in equalizing men and women's wages. The wage of a woman is sometimes 60.2% of a man. Compared with job opportunities, women are in much more deplorable situations in their political participation. In most countries the percentage of women participating in decision making centers is zero. I would like to look at the quantity and quality development of women in the Islamic Republic of Iran in the last two decades. Iranian women could regain their rights. This was made possible through our constitution and the advice and leadership of the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, may God bless his soul, and his successor Ayatollah Khamenei. The percentage of women parliament members is 3% of men. Iranian women have active participation in political circles both inside and outside the country. The women representatives, women advisors to the President, Minister's advisors in women's affairs, the cultural and social council for women which plans and offers suggestions for women, and the existence of numerous socio-political, cultural, economic and even military foundations for women all have had their share in the enhancement of women's conditions in Iran. We still have a long way to reach the ideal situation. For human development we need creative forces and women comprise half of this force. Therefore, the obstacles in their way should be removed. The most important of these obstacles are:
I would make the following practical proposals:
In conclusion, I ask God for success in the attainment of objectives of this
conference. We wish that in the future women and men can participate in cultural,
political, social and economic activities. We wish to look at the development not only in
its material dimension but in its spiritual one. I thank those who made this conference
possible. The Role of Women in Development of Mankind The role of women in the development of mankind is being discussed at a time nearing the commencement of the Women's Congress at Beijing. The Nairobi Strategy, with all the methods employed, has not had the expected satisfactory results. There has been no observed betterment in family life and social status of women. Instead, the result has been negligent on the part of women towards their significant role. This deficiency is observed today in women's family life and their dignity. The reason for this lack of success is because of imbalance in the basic operations and misunderstanding of the terms "equality", "development", and "peace". The Nairobi Strategy, which was based on the above three terms, actually relies on the Declaration of Human Rights, and the agreements issued after that. The basic content of the Declaration of Human Rights is human dignity which is derived from the Glorious Qur'an and is the pivot of Divine religions. It is based on the principles which are taught to human beings in the Glorious Qur'an. The emphasis put forward in God's statement in the use of the words "human being" doubtlessly refers to human individuals and it would not make any difference from which nation, race, or culture an individual comes from. Thus, the Declaration of Human Rights, as a document for the protection of human beings, could be relied upon for the development of the followers of Divine religions irrespective of the differences it has with Islamic "ahkams". The Declaration of Human Rights could be wholeheartedly employed when the followers of Divine religions make use of legal apparatus which Islam and other religions have issued for the protection of individuals' rights. These followers should help the nations lacking religious beliefs to benefit from human dignity as put forward by the Declaration. The Principal position of the Islamic Republic of Iran The story of creation from the Qur'anic viewpoint, which is the thought basis for Muslims, explicitly declares that both men and women are created from a sub stance called "nafs vahedeh". Both of them enjoy human dignity and rights. Islam, for fourteen centuries, has safeguarded women 's human values, independence of thought, political, legal, social, and family life in different verses in the Holy Qur'an. It has a chapter for women, the first verse of which is the highest declaration of human rights. We believe any measure taken to strengthen the family life and human development is not possible without the appreciation of women's human values and their roles in the political, economic and social endeavors. This significant affair should be the basic aim for international circles. In this respect, the world's governmental and private institutions should take into consideration the Introduction to the United Nations Charter, in which Nations have vowed to respect human rights and dignity and the equality of men and women's rights in both super-power states and weak ones as well. They should all work together to guarantee women's rights. Any measure to fulfill women's rights should be accompanied by constructive suggestions towards human common interests. For the achievement of human development, we should consider how nations think. The reason for the purchase of women in most parts of the world is the lack of knowledge of their basic and human nature. Women's lack of knowledge of her creation has caused some to go astray. Moral corruption in the world's societies is due to the lack of respect towards women's dignity. We believe the enforcement of any strategy for women's development rests upon a true understanding of women's nature and personality. In order to make use of women's in development, we should make proper family conditions for them. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, thanks to the teachings of Islam, the family is the basic unit of society and women are the family pivots. The emotions and sensations of women are the cornerstone for the construction of family units. Women should partake both in family activities and social actions. In order to appreciate human development, we should look at its very foundation: mother's care. Mothers are the center for human values. The women's role in the construction of the family is significant. Today, in most countries, human values are influenced by economics. Women, irrespective of their true values, are employed in social and economic
foundations. Corruption is easily observed in such institutions. Women from Salvation to Liberation Daniella Piani Bolognisi Since WW11, women's issues have been discussed all over the western world, both in religious and non-religious circles. In theses discussions the important issue was to present a valid definition for the social role of women. Women were to participate in positions long denied them by men. In the process of these changes, family was also involved. This is because from the viewpoint of women's liberation organizations, women had been prisoners in the past generations. The family circle, where a women could express herself, was a prison for her. The new role of women, in fact , questioned the very foundation of the family. The basic objective of the women's liberation organizations in the western countries was to convince everybody that a women's role should be other than motherhood. These organizations were able to provide women with manly tasks and operations. That is, to release women, they offered some framework in which women should imitate men. The following of manly behavior, that is being free and thinking as men, led the women's liberation's groups to the extent where women's genuine values were altogether forgotten. The very rejection of traditional values, such as the ones which exists in families, marriage, being mothers, is nothing but lack of freedom even if somehow it might have led to women's salvation in the West. Tradition does not mean stagnation. Rather it means change but keeping one's identity at the same time. This identity is not the result of some specific culture. Rather, the values behind this identity are universal and belong to the whole of humanity. Thus, family, motherhood and marriage could be put in the modern perspective as well. If women could present such a definition for their social roles, they would attain freedom. I think women's issues today are comparable to the Third World countries. What is important is to harmonize freedom with values in different cultures. At the same time, the domination of the notion of becoming identical, i.e. becoming alienated, should be entirely negated. The dominating Western culture tries to get rid of difference and pushes everybody to be like everybody else. This is negation of women's identity. Here, I invite women not to choose the easiest way. This is because the difficult ways,
i.e. thoughtful ways, will lead to the truth. The Re-Thinking of Christianity on the Issue of Women in Recent Years The liberation organizations for women, with all their shortcomings, forced the Christian church to change its attitudes towards women. The basis for this re-thinking was the chapter in Genesis in which the following sentence appeared: "God created man in His image. He created man in His image. He created the male and female of man." (Bible, Genesis, chapter 1 verse27) From this verse one fact emerges: Man is the master of all creatures. In old Hebrew, the word for man is "ish" and for woman "isha". That is to say, there is no difference in the stem between these two. Both of them are derived from the same root. In the Old Testament, both men and women are considered human beings, both to the same extent. However, they are two different aspects of being. The Old Testament says: "Man cannot exist on its own." Only the combination of these two (man and woman) is possible. The Old Testament explains "Unity " as "existence for one another" not "being next to each other". True love determines the relation between men and women. In Christianity, one definition for God is "love" and God's action is a Divine Love action. Thus, If God is Love and if man is crested in the fashion of God, therefore man should fill himself with love and care for and love one another. In fact, what connects men and women is not bodily love or "eros" but common love which exists in God and Divine Love. This is true for every man and woman. If man wants to deserve his Creator's attention, he should avoid opposition and contrast and attain eternal unity not only between men and women, but in the whole of humanity. Domination, contrast, enmity, do not exist in God's logic. Thus every human being is called on to work on the ideal liberation and peace for all nations. This is because all of us are God's sons. Mary, the Mother of Jesus In Christianity, there is a specific role for women which is beyond all other roles. This role exists for women in Christianity. When the time came, God sent His Savior, born from a women. Thus in the centre of Christianity there exists a lady; a women who makes possible the sublime Divine Revelation. Thus, women are in the center of this salvation event. Mary is the first person who gets saved. Thus, Mary, attains such a unity with God that she will avoid any of the soul's expectations. This ability of being a mother has given her such a status. Mary is not only an example for women, but is an example for humanity. This is because and individual's unity with God should be considered like love between a mother and her child. It is not accidental that, in the history of Christianity, the greatest saints have been women (St. Catherine, St.Clare, St. Terese, etc.). When God sends a message to Mary telling her that she will have a son who will be the savior of mankind, Mary replies to God's messenger, but her reply is womanlike : "How can I give birth to a child without approaching a man?" The angel replies, "God's soul will descend unto you and God's savior will be born. This is because nothing is impossible for God." Then Mary yields and says, "Let it be". This answer becomes an approach and method of man's talk with God. In front of God's assets, man should not become vain and proud. Rather, he should be convinced and lovingly yield to God. Mary, by saying, "Let it be" gave her soul, body and desires to God like a mother who offers her children all she has. Conclusion In this article, mention has been made of the following key points:
Mary, Model of Compassion and Mercy Sister Mary Soledad Perpinian This paper seeks to look at the Blessed virgin Mary as a woman, the incarnation of God's compassion and mercy. First, it was God who took compassion of this poor virgin and exalted her lowliness by highly favoring her with the grace of divine motherhood. Second, through her lifestyle of virginal chastity, she in turn exudes compassion to all those who are lonely, born of exclusion, alienated from the table of love. A countersign to the disintegrating power of eros, Mary is a prophetic symbol of communion without barriers where the intimate life of God flows from person to person. In the service of God's reign in community, Mary lived spiritually of the poor. In passion and action, she showed solidarity with the poor. Through unlimited confidence in God's intervention, Mary is the model for facing the challenges of unjust societies and changing the oppression of domination through the non-violence of love. The God of compassion and mercy has given us a model of compassion and mercy, the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is who incarnated to perfection, the merciful saving love of God, the hesed of the Old Testament and the eleos of the New Testament. This paper seeds to show Mary as both recipient and dispenser of mercy and compassion. First, it was God who took pity on this poor village girl from an impoverished, despised and semi-pagen Galilee. She hailed from Nazareth where it was believed that nothing good could come. She shared the destiny of the poor-oppression and marginalization. Scarcely thirteen, she was betrothed to Joseph. It was at his time that God singled her out and made fruitful her virginity. "Hail, highly favored of God!" The angel greeted her and proposed God's plan for her to be the mother of Jesus, Savior of the world. And God gave her the freedom to accept or reject His offer. With great respect, He awaited her answer, and Mary said, "Yes!" At that moment God exalted her from her lowliness and made her blessed among women. Mary the marginalized, became the center of salvation history. Mary, the insignificant, made a lasting impact and assumed prominence in all ages. For Mary was God's chosen one. Exultant, Mary sang her song of victory, the Magnificent: My soul glorifies the Lord, My spirit rejoices in God, my savior. He looks on His servant in her lowliness; Henceforth all ages will call me blessed. The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy His Name! His mercy is from age to age, on those who fear him he puts forth his arm in strength and scatters the proud-hearted He casts the mighty from their thrones and raises the lowly He fills the starving with good things sends the rich away empty He protects Israel, his servant remembering his mercy the mercy promised to our ancestors to Abraham and his descendants for ever. Having been graced in a most special way, Mary stored everything in her heart, relishing this secret intimacy with the all-encompassing source of love and life. She remained a Virgin in the context of maternity, of matrimony, and the family. According to Jose Cristo Rey Garcia Pardes, this virginity was "linked to all form of poverty that sudden and devalue human existence-illness, dishonor, death" it was Mary's vocation to follow her son, Jesus Christ, and embrace the supreme poverty of the Cross. And in this way, Garcia states, God asked not by using what is vigorous, strong, wise, glorious and proud but by using what is sterile and weak, foolish and insane in the world's view (1 Cor. 1 17-25). The poor women, humiliated and despised, were preferred to the man, autonomous and supreme, proud of his potency. Through her lifestyle of virginal chastity, Mary in turn exuded compassion to all those who are lonely, born of exclusion, alienated from the table of love. A sword pierced her heart because she knew only too well the sufferings of her to those who were barren and sterile, marginalized and despised. Her mission was to bring the Good News of the eschatological family of Jesus, especially the poorest of the poor. Though in her virginal chastity she lived in an ordinary family setting, Mary was a countersign to the disintegrating power of eros. Full of the deep joy of communion and love, Mary was a picture of integrity, wholeness, vivification of the eros which died in her to rise again in the Spirit. Thus her virginal chastity made of her a prophetic symbol of communion without barriers where the intimate life of God flows from person to person. After the death of Joseph, as a young widow she was free to be available to all those who followed Christ, particularly the needy. In the service of God's reign in community, Mary lived the spirituality of the poor. In passion and action, she showed solidarity with the poor. Virgin, widow, woman-words underlining uselessness-Mary was passively poor. According to Kathleen Coyle, The poor can identify with a poor village woman, a member of a people oppressed by foreign rulers; they understand what it means to be a refugee fleeing with her new born child, or bereaving the untimely death of her son, a victim of unjust execution… Indeed Mary was poor, a finite human person who actively suffered for herself and others. She had to cope with the exigencies of the socio-historical and religious situation of her time. It was to this kind of women that God did great things. The political significance was that God manifested himself as the avenger of the human who goes to the extent of deposing the mighty from their thrones. Compassionate Mary actively lived this solidarity. We hear accounts of how she interceded to save a newly wedded couple from embarrassment. We see her throughout history ever mindful of the plight of God's people. Herald of liberation, Mary keeps singing the song of justice of the coming reign of God. Leonardo Boff describes this prophetic image of Mary: "…as the strong, determined women, the women committed to the messianic liberation of the poor from the historical injustices under which they suffer. And today we see this image taking shape, deep in the heart of an oppressed people, who long for the voice in society and liberation from its evil." It must be remembered, however, that Mary's way is not the world's way. The secret of Mary was that she placed her full trust in the mercy of her parent God. Knowing human nature, she mistrusted the relinquishing of power by those who dominated the world. Only through absolute abandonment to God and an unlimited confidence in His mercy could any real radical change ever take place. Today we who face the challenges of unjust societies and work for our empowerment as
women, draw inspiration from Mary's compassionate and merciful heart. With her as model,
harbinger of hope, we are confident that in God's good time, we shall overcome the
oppression of domination through the non-violence of love. The Role of Religions in Improving Women's Status Women's History in Judaism One of the most picturesque figures in history and one of the women who, in the gloomiest era, rose up against tyranny and corruption in the land of Egypt, was Asia, Pharaoh's wife. The history of Egypt is replete with Satanic and hegemonic influences of the Pharaohs. This was most obvious at birth of Moses (peace be upon him) when Pharaoh indulged in blasphemy and recognized himself as the supreme God. He dominated the Jews (Bani Israel) for many years and constructed his eternal resting place over their bodies. The very presence of a truth-seeking woman at the center of injustice and discrimination was a miracle and it was God's determination to appoint her as one of His heavenly revelations to support the Divine religious movements of Moses (peace be upon him). Asia was an intelligent and thoughtful woman. She secretly supported and propagated Moses' ideology. When Pharaoh was enraged against Moses, Asia has to choose the truth and, in turn, lost her life for her beliefs. Under the protection of this magnificent lady, Moses followed his way prepared himself to accept the responsibilities of prophethood. When Pharaoh issued the order for Moses' life: the daughter of the Prophet Shoaib. She and her sister were preparing to water their herd when they saw Moses. Moses asked them, "what are you doing here?" They answered, "since our father is old, we have brought our cattle to water." Here we easily see these women's role: two girls, from a respectable and honorable family, risking their safety for an important task. The most significant role of Shoaib's daughter played was her presence next to Moses and at Mount Sinai, Moses' appointed place to communicate with God. Moses and his wife see a fire on Mount Sinai. Moses approaches the fire to take a branch of it to warm his wife. There God reveals Himself to Moses. In most prophets' lives observe the presence of a woman. God has appointed women to this position to signify her valuable role in society and history. God has done this to nullify he hegemonic attitude of those men who have vainly tried to annihilate women to gain their satanic aims. Shortly after Moses' prophethood, misunderstandings and distortion of his statement and ideas began among the Jews. In the Old Testament, Genesis Chapter Three, there is a verse saying, "….I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in thou shall bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and shall rule over thee." Before the advent of Moses, women has a slavish life. The Israelites used to sell their women and girls like commodities. A women was nothing more that a tool. Women used to live under their husband's domination. Moses cancelled much of the wrong traditions of his time and improved women's status. But, this state did not last long because after some generations, women started to be treated tyrannically once again. Moses' statements were soon forgotten and sometimes distorted. This distortion of the Old Testament and its prophet, put women in a deplorable position. Jesus: A Prophet for Women's Liberation It is not an exaggeration if we say that one of the most significant pillars of Prophet Jesus' (peace be upon him) mission was a religious and pious lady. Jesus, who was a prophet of peace, emotions and love was put in the womb of a lady who was extremely God-fearing, loving and truth-seeking. Mary (peace be upon her) spent all her life in the sacred place of Beitol Moghaddas. Definitely, Jesus' birth was no less than a miracle. Honneh, Imran's wife, was a frail women. In her old age she longed for a baby. She resorted to God for help. She promised to dedicate her hoped-for son to work in the service of Beitol Moghaddas if God would bestow one upon her. God answered her prayers and delivered her of a daughter. Honneh thought her wish was not granted: "so when she brought forth, she said: My Lord! Surely I have brought it forth a female- and Allah Knew best what she brought it forth -and the male is not like the female, and I have named it Mary, and I commended her and her offspring into thy protection from the accursed Satan" (Holy Qu'ran, The Family of Imran, verse 36) The miraculous birth of Mary (peace be upon her) is an important event in history, especially for women. God warns the unpious, aggressive and sinful man who is ignorant of God's knowledge and generosity that the male and the female are not alike. This has extremely enhanced women's position. Men are surprised at her piety. Imran called this lady Mary and appointed her a janitor to Beitol Moghaddas. The very presence of a woman next to help them in their religious duties is considered a significant event in era when women were generally humiliated. Since Mary was a baby, there was a disagreement among the people regarding her guardianship. To solve this question, they decided to cast lots. Zechariah won the lottery and become her guardianship. He was the only person who had the authority to enter Mary's worship place. When he went to see her, he would see a cloth spread in front of her with various foods spread upon it. When he asked, "Where is this from?" Mary would answer, "It is from God. God will give nourishment to whomever He pleases." Zechariah was amazed at Mary's magnificent characteristics. He, too asked God for a child. God gave him John. Prophet John (peace be upon him) invited people to well-doing. He used to baptize them to cleanse them form their sins. More importantly, he forecast the advent of Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him). God gave the Virgin Mary a child called Jesus. She escaped to the desert to avoid people's insults and sarcasm's. She resided next to a dead palm tree. God made the dead palm put forth ripe dates for her. Water sprang from under her feet, and Jesus was born. Jesus with his heavenly breath, heralded liberated. He promised to abolish slavery and exploitation. Thanks to the Divine Prophet, women got their dignity. In Jesus-biography mention is made of a prostitute who was guided by Jesus towards the right path. This was when she had been discarded by the people. This very woman became one of the most pious ladies. Jesus changed women's lives with his Divine and kind message. He advised men to behave kindly toward their wives. He asked men to respect women as a true human being, not as a slave. However, after Jesus' ascension, his heavenly advice was distorted and women's status was demolished. In the treatise of Pulus, 12th verse, chapter 11, he says, "I shall not let a women get involved in teaching, nor to dominate her husband. She shall stay in silence." Elsewhere Pulus says, "O women! Obey your husbands as you obey your God…" These distortions and prejudiced attitudes caused women to stay at the most wicked condition at the time when Europe was in the hands of the Roman Church. Most priests even denied women of an eternal spirit. This awful treatment lasted until 586 A.D. when some people were agitated about the beastly behavior towards women. Women's status changed under slogans such as, "She is a human being but should obey her husband." This miserable condition of women lasted up to the advent of Islam. Islam as the Revolution of Values The Glorious Qur'an, in the following verses, explains the status of women during the Time of Ignorance: "When if one of them received tidings of the birth of a female, his face darkened, and he is wrought inwardly. He hides himself from the folk because of the evil of that where of the has had tidings, (asking himself), Shall he keep it in contempt or bury it beneath the dust. Verily evil is their judgment. For those who believe not in the Hereafter is an evil similitude, and Allah's is the sublime similitude. He is the Mighty, the Wise" (Holy Qur'an Thee Bee, verses 58-60). The savage tribes denied women the right to live. They were considered a commodity which could be easily thrown away, replaced, lent to people, or sold. After the death of the husband, a wife would be considered one piece of heritage to be handed to others like goods. On the other side of the earth, in the West, women were considered to be Satan, evil and trouble-makers. The Hindus considered women to be nasty creatures; even Buddhists denied women any human right. When a husband died, his wife, as well, had to be burned alive. Women did not participate in social affairs. Confucius, the Chinese philosopher who lived in 550 B.C. and who was considered to be an ethics teacher, was so influenced by the corrupt society and negligent of women that in one of his sermons he said, "Women are convicts to their husbands. Husbands should dominate their wives. Even after the death of her husband, a wife should obey the family of her husband." One of the most outstanding features of the fall of women in Ancient China was the existence of some characters who were after body beauty and spent a lot of time in body building in order to attract men's attention. Men could select any number of women they wished and then would abandon them with no rights. At this time of tyranny against women, a man rose and declared: "O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord Who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate and from them hath spread abroad a multitude of men and women" Islam firmly stands against corrupt and wicked traditions in those societies which treat women as commodities. "O ye who believe! It is not lawful for you to forcibly inherit the
women (of your deceased kinsmen). " (Holy Quran, Women, verse 19) From the verses of the chapter Women and other chapters relating to women, it is deduced that woman is a free human being, has the right to select and has the freedom of speech; she has the authority to handle her own wealth in the ways she likes. She has all the rights of human beings. She may not be forced to do anything she hates to do. What has been said in the Glorious Qur'an on the rights of women needs further research and is not the topic of the present article. What we have said so far was a hint to the great revolution which Islam and the Prophet of Islam have done to restore women's long forgotten prestige and dignity. Islam gave such a magnificent impetus to women's status that at the start of Islam women combatants struggled along with their brethren against the infidels. Some became martyrs, nursed the wounded and cared for the sick. The first martyred women in Islam was Somayyeh; the first Muslim woman nurse was Rafideh. The first woman who help the Islamic warriors was Nassibeh. Two Political Model Combatants in the World of Islam At the time when women were declining and the Arab tyranny against them was skyrocketing, the Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him and his progeny) rose against these anti-values and struggled for the rights of women. His enemies employed different means to stop this heavenly movement. None of their efforts were effective. Now the enemies tried another plot against the Prophet by saying that his prophethood would vanish as soon as he died. But these ignorant people could not realize that God was determined to continue the prophets ancestry through the great lady of Islam. The birth of Fatima, peace be upon her, was one of the illumination aspects of God's miracles. She manifested what the Prophet had endeavored to teach. Fatima is a great personality in the history of Islam. This is not because she is the Prophet's daughter, nor because she is Ali's wife. IT is not because she is the mother of the Innocent Ones. It is because at the darkest stage of history she tried to perform her role perfectly. She brought about an impetus in the hearts of Muslim women. Many books have been written about Fatima, although her true role has not been made clear for the last 14 centuries. Fatima, being the daughter of the Messenger of God, had a significant role to play: a women who was veiled even in front of a blind man. She continued being veiled in the best way possible. At the most critical period of her age, she noticed her husband's right being ignored, Imamate and Islam being endangered. She began to struggle. She shouted at the people who had ignored Ali's right: "O people! If the Messenger of God is a tree, we are its branches. How nasty is a sword which is not smooth, and a lance which is broken, and thought which is wicked! Your nasty self has become your guide. God's rage is against you. The offspring will recognize what the predecessors have done." Fatimah was not the only lady of the prophet's descendants who has so knowingly
performed her duties. Another brave politician and combatant lady of her generation rose
against Yazids's Green Castle to defend the way her brother, Hussein, had gone. Today the
shouting against tyranny and injustice which Zainab started leads the world's women toward
liberty and justice. Kareema Altomare Bis-millah-ir Rahman-ir Rahim. Assalamu' Alaykum My name is Kareema Altomare and I have come to this conference from the United States; from Washington DC; from , as some would put it, "the heart of the octopus". I am a European-American Muslim convert who took shahada five years ago and this is my first visit to a Muslim country. I want to express my appreciation to you, and to Allah for the opportunity to visit on the occasion of such a dynamic and hard-working conference. It is very encouraging to see Muslims taking the lead in addressing the spiritual balance that is missing from much of the contemporary efforts to define "human rights". And especially, to see the women of Iran working so diligently to bring together this ecumenical and international gathering of Muslim sisters. In my country, when we hear about Iran, it is most often a story of negatives. I believe, also that when people in Iran hear the United States it is mostly negative as well. Surely there are some impressive social problems in the heart to my country-but that is not the whole story. I want to pause for a moment to point out some of the unique and paradoxial features of the American experience. To begin with, the United States has been blessed by amazing good fortune-an entire continent, in the temperate zone, with its only unifying source of tradition resting on the life ways of its deeply spiritual, indigenous people (a people who have nearly disappeared due to the oppression of a technologically powerful settler, the European-Spanish, French or English with a distorted "religious" view that defined themselves as superior people). From its very beginning, two opposites were present -cononizers sincerely seeking religious freedom and explorers seeking the wealth of land, resources, and even slave labor. These two themes continue even today. In America you find democratic ideals written by slave-holders who withheld the vote from women, landless immigrants, the original peoples, and their own slaves. (it was a very limited democracy!) You find industrialization that exploited immigrant workers and produced the most bloody labor struggles in history and an ethic of industriousness and ingenuity. There is the history of slavery-and the legacy of the cultural contributions of the African American. You find extreme wealth ( enough often to buy the government) - and extreme poverty ( with little more than a single vote to balance out unregulated greed). In the United States you can encounter terrible violence or generous kindness, acquisitive materialism or a quest for truth that incorporates the teachings of most of the worlds religions. After intense struggles, the working people have won the abolition of the slavery; suffrage for women, new citizens and freed men and valuable social supports-while a major portion of the national budget still goes to support an over inflated military. There is an invitation to immigrate and a deep rooted racism, protection of religious practice and a secular ideology of self interest, to commitment to Community (especially in times of trouble) and lonely individualism, families suffering extreme economic stress and young husbands and wives who have truly learned to work together as parents. And in the midst of all this Islam has always been present. There is evidence that the Native Americans had contact with Islam, many of the African slaves were Muslims and the trickle of Muslim immigrants has grown into a steady stream in the last ten years. And then there are the converts-African Americans, who may have experimented with the nationalism of the Nation of "Islam", European- Americans from the counter-culture, the left, and the spiritual seekers, and immigrant citizens from Latin America who have known the exploitation permitted by Christianity. Between 6 to 8 million Muslims live in the United States today and they represent more than 65 different ethnic backgrounds (I once heard a khutbah in which the Imam pointed out that only in the United States can you experience a minihaj by going to the mosque). Islam will soon become the second largest religion in the U.S. But it is a community that is still struggling to unify and organize itself. In Washington, over the last year, a group of Muslim women have begun a study project at Georgetown University. We are doing the work of writing an alternative document for Beijing that is based on the methodology of Islamic Jurisprudence. Rather than looking at separate platform issues, we have written a working outline that integrates the experiences of life into patterns of concentric circles-the family, from childhood through adulthood, and human relationships, from the couple to our connection with global issues. This is a working-progress that will include both theory drawn from the Qur'an, options from all the schools of law, and selected practical examples of problems encountered by Muslim women in majority Muslim settings (our group has members from over a dozen different Muslim countries); majority non-Muslim settings (more than two dozen American Muslim organizations, many of them women's groups, are represented on our mailing list); and in refugee settings. There are some materials from this project in the exhibition for you to take home. We intend to publish our work to take to Beijing and to continue, after Beijing to gather enough problematic examples-with their Islamic solutions-to serve as a reference hand-book for Muslim women around the world. Insha'Allah you will receive a copy from us during or after Beijing. In closing, my partner and friends, Sherman Choudhur, who is an American-Muslim immigrant from Bangladesh, would like to make a symbolic demonstration of the composition of our group Sharmin…. Dear sisters and brothers, peace be upon you. A rainbow is magnificent, because it is composed of many colors. An ocean is deep because it embraces the wisdom of many river, and people are empowered when unity is based on diversity, and an exchange of knowledge and wisdom. The holy Qur'an stresses a unique style of networking among many nationalities that extends beyond the limitation of tolerance, and explicitly calls us to know one another, irrespective of race, color, or religion. In the words of the Qur'an, "O mankind, we create you from a single soul, and made you into various nations and tribes so that you can know one another". So let us, dear colleagues, raise our hands together, and make a solidarity with our
wisdom for a better tomorrow. The Role of Woman and Family in Human Development Looking at all the topics picking words from the main theme as above, one has no doubt that the women embrace all the words on the theme because they are the ones who carry the babies in their wombs for nine months. They will bear the babies and take care of them up to teenage level. They take care of the whole family from young, old men and women, that is Human Development. The perform all duties with love at heart and go on without any reward. Women are community leaders, teachers, counselors, managers, also used as shape tools to cut through bearer for personal gains by those who oppress. They are the producers and processors of food just to mention a few. They continue until they get to a stage where they no longer be able to look after all the people and themselves. They will find themselves without security because they have been working with not remuneration. They are not able to plan for their last days or serve for the future because all will not be there for any action plan. They die destitute yet during their women-hood they had shown that they had certain reasonable status in the community. Women have grown following family structures and even for the different religions. The family duties should be responsibility of both the father and all family member and the society at large. There is need for the systems to change with times in different families and religious so that we equally participate on issues affecting our lives. What should we do as NGO policy makers? We should have ways of protecting, educating by lobbying our law makers, and governments to come out with law acts which are people centered. All leaders of any nature must be seen to be vehicles of change by playing a pivotal role that is transparent in building peace, love and development of the body, mind, and spirit. These can be measured through the homes, societies, communities, nations and states.
Family can be successful, peaceful if all of us live in peaceful states, put all our
development efforts together, people work as family globally. We should critically look at
what each one of us has been doing in building strong sustainable life for human
development. We should trust each other and treat each other as equals in life in good
faith. Women's Position in Islam The sacred religion of Islam, together with other religions which are based on Divine Revelation are sent to people by prophets to enhance the development of human beings. Thus, all the regulations and laws sent by God to man have been for the development and progress of human beings. An exact appreciation of these rules and regulations will cause human prosperity. The sublime Islamic rules are the orders for a system. A system should have interrelated parts. Any issue, such as women's position, should be studied in all its aspects. It should also be examined within the whole Islamic system. Thus, when the Glorious Qur'an deals with the issues of both men and women, topics are mentioned in relation to both women and men. In other words, there is no difference in referring to both of them. Only when individual matters are discussed is sex indicated. Thus, the holy Qur'an emphasizes the fact that sex should not be used in the recognition of human beings. Rather humanity should be recognized. Man's genuine self is his soul. Soul is neither masculine nor feminine. Even in ascribing the highest title to man as "the Vicegerent of God on earth", humanity is considered. This title is not connected with male or female. Woman's Place in the Qur'an and in Modern Human Society
The Holy Qur'an 's attitude towards woman's creation negates all the attitudes which consider her to be created from the left rib of man. The Qur'an considers women's creation unique and does not recognize any difference in the existence essence between men and women except for the acquired characteristics and morality. This issue can be seen in verses 25-29 of chapter The Cow and the first verse of the chapter Women as well as in tens of other such verses. In this relation, the expulsion of Adam and Eve (peace be upon them) from paradise and the misconception of Adam's being seduced by Eve are negated in the Qur'an. In the glorious book, Satan is introduced as the source of deception of both Adam and Eve. The chapter The Cow, verses 35-36 explains the topic. The way we look at women's place in the system of creation has a significant influence on women's social status in the modern world. In today's world, even in those countries where Islamic codes are observed but their inhabitants are educated in the fashion of the Era of Ignorance, women are not yet enjoying any dignity. I insist it is because of the lack of Islamic training.
The attainment of spiritual positions and approaching God negates obstacles between men and women. In the chapter The Private Apartments, Verse 13 God states: "O mankind! LO! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. LO! The noblest of you, in the sight of Allah, is the best in conduct. LO! Allah is Knowing , Aware". This holy verse negates sex in attaining virtues, acquiring knowledge, preparing sound foundations for thinking and selecting the best way available. Ultimately, when women have the means necessary to attain the above mentioned factors, the value issues, such as sacrifice, the attainment of better thoughts, preparation for the exaltation of women in the whole world, and getting involved in women's issues will substitute for issues such as involvement in life's superficial aspects, indifference towards women's position, and self conceit. The obvious result of the involvement in one of these is the imposition of foreign culture and foreign exploitation with all its political, economic and cultural vicious consequences. According to the great founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini (may Allah bless his soul) , the share of women in the development of society is not less than that of men.
It has always been assumed that men should get involved in combat with tyrants. But, according to the Holy Qur'an , in its discussion on struggles against Pharoah, women's involvement is mentioned as well. The Glorious Qur'an mentions three women who did their best to prepare the foundations for the emergence of Prophet Moses( A.S) his mother, his sister and Pharaoh's wife. These three ladies struggled against the political conditions of those dark days and laid the foundations for the nourishment of God's prophet. Moses (A.S.) got the command to inform people of the orders of God , verses 7-12 of chapter The Story clarify this significant role. In the Dawn of Islam, men like Imam Ali (A.S.) joined the Islamic movement and helped the Messenger of God to fight the infidels. Among women who helped the Messenger's cause were Khadijeh (A.S.), Somayyeh Ale-Yasser and the women who allied with the Messenger in Aghabeh. They all helped Islam to a great degree and were women pioneers. We continue to witness glorious women like these. Involvement in these struggles definitely requires thought and political insight on the part of the participants. In our present Islamic community, those women who were firmer in their beliefs took part more diligently. You will find women struggling in the areas of faith and not for nationality or possession of land.
If an individual becomes free, he or she will become an example for others. If it is a male, he is an example for people, not only for men. If it is a female, she will likewise be an example for people, not for only women. The Glorious Qur'an assigns prophets as goodly patterns for everyone who looks to Allah. In the same way He assigns distinguished women such as Asia, Pharoah wife, Mary, Jesus' mother, and other religious women to act as goodly patterns for everyone. Now we have a tough question to answer: In an area where cultural aggression by the world arrogance under the leadership of the U.S.A. against us is very acute, how can a Muslim women defend her religious ideals? The answer seem clear, a Muslim women can , together with technological advancement, make such ladies as Khadijeh, Fatima, Zainab and Somayyeh ( may Allah bless them all) her examples and attain her genuine social status. To attain this she should:
In the end I thank every respectable guest to our meeting who have taken trouble to
join us in order to familiarize themselves with the thinking foundations of women from
different countries. I would like to say that we Iranian women have endeavored to solve
many problems within the past 17 years since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in
Iran. We have improved, but we have never been released from the oppression of the world
oppressors and the enemies of Islam led by the USA which has tried to trespass our
religious borders. They try to depict Iranian women as individuals who are deprived of
their very basic rights. Thus, I suggest that you improve your political understanding. I
would invite you dear guests, who have come here to study the facts and positions of
Iranian Muslim women, to let others know what you have seen of women in Iran. New World Order Development Mrs. Chairman! I wish to extend my gratitude to the coordinator, Dr. Massoumeh Ebtekar for the excellent arrangements made for ensuring the success of this conference. I am very honored to participate in this historic gathering, where civic, religious and social organizations as well as government and non-governmental representatives from around the world are uniting to formulate the values of family, spirituality and human development at the eve of the Fourth World Conference on Women to be held in Beijing, in China September 1995. The role of women and family in human development is today more important than ever before due to the many uncertainties that today's world represent. I have chosen to speak about the role of women in the New World Order as I would like to share with you, dear ladies, some of the facts that have taken place both in the women's world and the evolutions of the environment we live in. When one starts referring to the New World Order, our mind goes to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism. No historian refers to the state of the human beings involved in the changes. Though it is called the New World Order, it does not mean it is a world without problems. This new state of the world has implicated new patterns of life for many million people. The term "cold war" is being replaced by "cold peace". The vacuum after the old order is causing distress but also creating initiatives from individuals whose voice could never be heard, for instance, in the former Soviet Union. The eruption of new countries, new names, new cultures are enriching the old world with their character, but their instability and lack of institutions can also lead to insecurity if we fail to help them in their build up. Euphoria and optimism were expressed in 1989-90 with the liberation of Eastern Europe and the ending of the Cold War. We were going to benefit from a new world order full of complexities. We now seem more threatened by growing disorder, old structures collapsing and chaotic conditions replacing the "discipline" of the past. The Cold War era had given us a world more ordered; it had provided us structures, predictability and peace in the world for 50 years. This peace had cost human suffering, war and conflicts at the periphery of Europe, huge losses of resources for armaments. The order consisted of a division between two great powers, two great ideologies. Today, we remain with one great power and the ruins of the other. The disintegration of the USSR implicated disintegration also in the countries affiliated ideologically with communism and situated outside the European continent. Many of them belong to the group of developing countries who were not prepared for this step. Some of them relied much on commercial and educational deals they enjoyed with the communist regime. These societies are struggling now to replace these institutions elsewhere and many of them lost control over their political system and went into civil clashes instead of finding a solution for development. The nations, statehood, nation-state, identity, ethnicity, are today's vocabulary. The discipline and order of the Cold War confrontation are buried in its history and being replaced today with vengeance. The Yugoslav war dates back to 1389 with the battle at Kosovo Polje till the Second World War. For people who were long denied freedom and identity, re-conciliation with the past is not as simple. The impact of the post-Cold War on the international scene is tremendous. Since liberalism has taken over socialism, new actors have emerged: information technology and the new financial market economy. We have reached a new world order with a unipolar system dominated by the United States. The United States occupied the position of the major superpower during the cold war era, as it had control of a complete arsenal of instruments, military, economic, political, etc. with which it could influence global and regional politics. The Soviet Union, on the other hand, held its superpower status thanks to its military resources. Star Wars meant hunger for many Eastern European countries and for the USA its loss of the economical power. In the 1980s, the USA became the largest debtor nation. Though the United Stated holds the unique position of an imperial power today, economically, it has lost ground to Japan and Europe. While the superpowers were busy controlling each other's strength, other giants started emerging in the south Pacific region. The economical boom that exploded in South-East Asia took the new world by surprise. It also brought new ingredients to develop the largest populations of the world. Economical success leads investment in all fields of a society. If investment is done in the industrial sector for export purposes, it means job opportunities, for men and women, it means income, it means prosperity. For more sophisticated demands, education is needed and the outcome of the investment can improve the educational level. More demand requires more labor skills. Why do you think did I shift from the history of the world to its economy? Simply because, I wanted you to feel how dependent and inter-linked we have become with one another in the modern world we live in. The stress of our time is caused by competition, financial output, share-markets and index from the stock exchanges throughout the world. We are today victims of our own technology and in no time we have access to any information we need. For example, an analysis issued in New York, London, or Tokyo on the economical condition of a small country in Europe can either boost its economy or condemn it to catastrophe. In the new order, it is the international economical interests that rule our politics and not vice versa. This occurs only in some parts of the world, the healthy, wealthy parts of the world that can afford the new diseases of modern mankind: ulcer, stress, nervous breakdown and heart attacks. I do not aim to be negative or cynical, I just want to see that there is hardly any room for a family or any spirituality in societies. The lack of ideology and religion creates empty souls and our children are adopting these trends often without our knowledge. Please do not misinterpret me, I am not against these new technologies but want to ask you as mothers to pay more attention to them. They can create distances between children and parents and the communication can change between these generations. In spite of the economical boom taking place in the Asia-Pacific region, in North and South America and within the EU, we are in the midst of a recession. The African continent is torn by wars and ravaged by drought and aids. Scarcity of food and medicine force people to flee and take refuge in a better place. Migrations and immigrations of hungry, sick, weak and jobless people cannot evidently spread prosperity. Even these persons have others to lead with these immense problems because at this stage only the institutions of the international system can mobilize for effective help in these situations. I come to the achievement of the UN and its organizations: the NGO's and the religious institutions and their tremendous efforts to bring consensus and norm to the nations of the world. They struggle for peace in justice, a fair distribution of natural resources, a new economical order and the recognition of women's rights. Allow me to list below the International Conferences organized by the UN in the last two decades that involve development issues. -The World Population Conference at Bucharest in 1974. -The International Conference on Population at Mexico City in 1984. -The World Summit for Children, held in New York in 1990. -The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, held at Rio de Janeiro in 1992. -The World Conference on Human Rights, held at Vienna in 1993. -The International year of the World's Indigenous People in 1993. -The International Year of the Family, 1994. -The International Conference on Population and Development, Cairo, 1994. -The World Summit for Social Development, Copenhagen, 1995. -The Fourth World Conference on Women, Peking, 1995. -The Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II), Istanbul, 1996. Over the past 20 years, many parts of the world have undergone remarkable demographic, social, economic and political change. These remarks are from the UN Agenda for the World. Great challenges await the action of the international community. Its decisions will have profound implications for the quality of life for all people, including generations to come and for the planet itself. The growth of the world population according to the UN projections is annually 90 million persons until the year 2015. This will take us from today's 5.7 billion to around ten billion over the next sixty years. The basic resources needed for survival will not suffice and natural means such as water could become the cause of future conflicts in arid areas. In UNCED, 1992, scientists and environmentalists told us about the risks we are exposed to through our wasteful consumption. More people need more food, jobs, housing, education and health care etc. The scientists releases another message at the World's Summit of the World's Scientific Academies, in New Delhi, 1992. They stated that humanity is approaching a crisis point with respect to the interlocking issues of population, environment and development. They urged international decision-makers to take decisive action without delay and adopt an integrated policy on population and sustainable development on a global scale. Their conclusion was that the factor of time is short and that jointly with the policy-makers they have to act before the problems become more acute. This somber collective message to the world's leaders is also a message to every women, to everyone of us. The academics can draw the lines for research to save humanity and its environment. But women of the earth should draw the lines of how to change our attitudes and habits. This, if requested from us, should start at home through the way we educate our children. The echo from UNCED (environment and development) has reached us everywhere. To care for the environment, to buy consumers goods with ecologically produced items have become an industrial trend. Consciousness and awareness are well spread because of the methods and campaigns used. (The same procedure is now implemented to fight Aids.) Believe me, information through education is rewarding. Economists, at the New Delhi summit in 1992 declared that many developing countries are losing between 12% and 18% of their Gross Domestic Product to environmental problems, the USA and the UK at least 4% while nations of Eastern Europe from 6% to 10%. With these figures, they want us to understand that excessive population growth has become a critical constraint for food production. To feed the billions in the 2050, food production should triple to meet the needs, but there will not be enough land for it. How do we women fit in the environmental and overpopulation dimensions? The answer is in our family planning, the use of contraceptives, the education to teen-age girls on sexual and health care, to limit the population growth through information, through empowering women over their own bodies. When a women realizes that she can contribute or halt the population growth by her own decision, a lot can be achieved. Cautiousness and consciousness should become a women's tools as well as good behavior to illegal abortions or unwanted pregnancies. I am particularly talking of the cases of ignorant women who do not know the value of a baby's life nor her own. I am not talking about women who follow the rules of their culture or religion vis-a-vis birth regulations. The best results in reducing birth rate have been achieved in Iran according to a recent UN survey. Gender equality: Seventy-five percent of mankind are women and children. Yet most decision making lies with men. The militancy against fertility decline in certain societies is the fact that lack of means to assert oneself, large families are the answer. The World Bank Development Report (1993) devoted to health demonstrated that the more education a women has, the more likely she will be opt for a smaller family. Increasing the level of the mother's education has proven positive effect on her children's health. This is important as a reduction of child mortality and the parents would not need more children for their security. We have all heard of the methods used to identify the sex of the fetus and the elimination of baby girls. Gender preference, favoring sons, can destabilize a society's structure. To carry on the family name or to take over the land are often economical denominators for a family. What women need for self-betterment is a good income, an economical system that can provide them with education and health services. Empowering women does not mean giving the role of the man in the family to the women. Empowering women should lead to understanding and helping the man and not taking manhood or power from him. The World Bank calculated that an investment of $8 a year per person for education should help very poor countries to reduce their population. It is sad to realize that an institution like the World Bank with an enormous economical potential never invested in women's health and education for women themselves, but only as part of a global issue. It needed drastic population figures to shake the institutions and focus on its source in women. Even medical research on diseases affecting women is still behind the research on male diseases. The list could be very long. The New World Order, contrary to the old one, must take into consideration problems related to women, their education and health care. Women are playing a new and visible role in this order. We find women at all levels today, even in decision making positions, in countries traditionally dominated by men, like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, and Turkey. We have become part of the problems and we are recognized as partners. Let us side by side with men shape and save our world, let us not fail to take our responsibility. Thank You The Role of Women and Family in Africa Madam Chairperson, Allow me at the outset to convey to you all the warmest greetings and sentiments of appreciation that I bring with me from Africa as a representative of the African Center for Women of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, a regional organization that is committed to the advancement and development of African women. In this spirit, I wish to thank and congratulate the organizers of this seminar at all levels. I wish to take this opportunity to share with you some of the African experience with regard to the preparations for the Fourth World Conference on Women. However, I would like to first give an African experience/dimension to the theme for this seminar "The Role of Women in Human Development". Human development is about people. It is about health and education, poverty reduction and elimination, it is about employment for all and about sharing the benefits of growth equitably and about protecting and developing the environment for the society. To paraphrase the theme of the World Summit for Social Development, the family is the heart of the society. It is indeed the basic unit and the most significant socializing agent. It molds the formative stage of the instant whose initial survival chances are also conditioned by norms, practices and values at the society, reinforced at the micro-level by the socio-economic conditions or the family as the International Year of the Family millions of girls are out of school most of whom are in rural areas, and estimates show that this figure will increase to 36 million by the year 2000. It is deplorable that in this age of enlightenment, the illiteracy rates for African women are well over 60 per-cent. NGOs Madam Chairperson It is undeniable that NGOs as major collective actors in development activities are very important in our civil societies. Your pioneering task is unmatchable in mobilizing grassroots and community development, promoting human rights and equity for all. You are therefore best equipped to reach the grassroots to highlight their rights through education and information campaigns in order that they can influence a change in their condition and status. In Africa today, reports indicate that there are over 1000 NGOs and other emerging women's institutions working on women in development issues. Most of these institutions are engaged in activities ranging from welfare concerns of women to improving women's access to resources and fruits of their efforts. A number of them, especially those tied to political parties have also been in advocacy and awareness campaign on women's concerns. Particular note is taken of the very encouraging indication that national machineries in Africa have traveled considerable distance towards the implementation of the Nairobi and Arusha strategies. The Fourth World Conference Madam Chairperson With regard to the African input to the Fourth World Conference to be held in China September, 1995, the Fifth African Regional Conference, preparatory to the World Conference on Women was held in Dakar, Senegal, November, 1994. The Conference was convened by African Center for Women of the United Nation Economic Commission for Africa in collaboration with the Government of Senegal. It was attended by 52 member states of the OAU and UNECA. Also 12 observers delegation from Non-African members states, 27 representatives of UN bodies and specialized agencies, the organization of African Unity, the African Development Bank, observers from 37 international and regional organizations. Over 100 youths from numerous African countries also participated in the gathering. In all, over 5,000 participants attended the conference. The Conference was entrusted with the task of determining the framework within which all activities geared toward the advancement of women would be organized and steered for the next ten years and beyond. The outcome of the conference has therefore had a major bearing on fostering the cause of women and development, and the integration of gender concerns into all policies, plans, programs and projects. The African Platform for Action The main pre-occupation of the Conference was a concerted review and appraisal of process and progress of implementation of the Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies (NFLAS), that were adopted in 1985 during the Third world conference on women. The outcome of that review and appraisal of the NFLS was African Platform for Action (APA): African common position for the advancement of women. The APA embodies a wide range and large scale evaluations of shortfalls and achievements by African countries of the integration of women in all processes and levels of development. The African Platform for Action is a synthesis of regional, sub-regional, and national representatives and priorities, and framework for action for the formulation of policies and implementation. It consists of concrete and sustainable programs for the advancement of women. It embodies and represents the voices and views of highly diverse constituencies: member states, NGOs, UN Agencies, intergovernmental bodies, women's grassroots organizations and the youth. All these constituencies participated in its formulation by providing concrete and actionable proposals for the accelerated advancement of women for the achievement of equality, development and peace. The APA aims to accelerate the social, economic and political empowerment of all women at all levels and at all stages of their lives. The core of African Platform for Action, Madam Chairperson, is the identification of eleven critical areas of concern which constitute the major gaps in the regional implementation of the NFIS. These critical areas are the following:
In the Platform for Action there is a call for strong political will on the part of the African governments. This has been underscored in the declaration accompanying the Platform for Action, particularly operative paragraphs five and six. Some of the difficulties which the implementation of the 1985 Nairobi Forward-Looking strategies for the Advancement of Women faced were the failure to allocate responsibilities for various aspects, sectors and levels of implementation, the absence of appropriate structures for undertaking implementation activities and the failure to identify the source of necessary resources for enhancing effective implementation. The African Center for Women of the Economic commission for Africa accordingly prepared some guidelines for the implementation of the African Platform for Action and urged governments and policy makers who have prime responsibility for assuring the implementation of the guidelines as well as the NGOs and other development agents to do so. Madam Chairperson, Dear Participants The Fourth World Conference on Women and the NGOs Forum to be held in Beijing, September,1995 will provide a world wide opportunity for addressing these important issues and it is our sincere hope that its deliberations and resolutions would usher a new era of hope in the joint quest for equality, development and peace with equal opportunities for all and fulfillment of basic needs and human rights. I thank you all for your attention. The Role of Women and Family in Human Development Zeinab Hamoud Al-Zahra Muslim Women's Association The Al-Zahra Muslim Women's Association (AZMWA) was established in 1987 as part of the Al-Zahra Muslim Association and Islamic Center. It is a non-profit organization, catering for the many needs including education, social and religious. The center is run by a very enthusiastic and practical management and at present we also have there community workers dealing with the many everyday issues as well as long term projects. But the Grace of the Almighty the AZMWA has improved immensely on the services we able to provide to our needy community since our establishment. On the social platform we provide settlement services for the newly arrived Muslim families to Australia. Employment services for the Muslim women and youth are an integral part of the association's work and priorities. Youth services are also provided through a young Muslim women's group called "Al-Zahra Australian Muslim Youth". Al-Zahra Muslim Women's Association also publishes a bi-monthly newsletter "Al-Zahra". Its main objective is to regularly inform the women and youth of the organizations, services, activities and functions and also giving the opportunity to relate religious edicates, queries and issues considered to be pertinent at the relevant time. There are many aims of this organization which will, hopefully, as time goes by, be managed to be achieved for a promising Islamic future in Australia. This can only be done through a faith that is solid and powerful enough to build a strong and successful foundation. General Introduction The role of Australian Muslim women in human development is generally the same as all women whether Muslim or not, all over the world. What tends to differ is to what extent the responsibilities and challenges have to be undertaken. There is no difference between man and woman in the humanitarian aspect. Women and man have been given the same duties and if either performs sins, they will both be judged. Allah (S.U.W) gave the Qur'an and woman the duty of reforming man. The demands grow stronger as the Western influences slowly develop their way into the Muslim communities lives. These women have to deal and struggle with their own adaptation and at the same time are required to concentrate on their children and their Islamic upbringing. Even though Islam is the second largest religion in Australia, next to Christianity, we are still a minority and in every day of our lives we face some sort of obstacle which needs to be understood and overcome. The necessity of being a good Muslim role model for the younger generation and the non-Islamic society is extremely significant and not an easy task to fulfill. A woman has to perform her role without the bodily aspect to be shown. Islam does not want society to emphasize the woman's physical appearance, on the contrary, more focus should be on the woman's qualities and abilities. Furthermore, concerning a Muslim woman's Islamic rights, she is able to make more use of them in a western country than in underdeveloped societies. International Year of The Family (1994) The International Year of the Family (1994) was a tribute to all families and gave them the opportunity to re-assert themselves as the backbone and civilization. The International Year of the Family gave the Muslim families the opportunity to quash the stereotypes and inform them about the importance of the Islamic Family Unit. The orthodox view of Western societies regarding a nuclear family was until recently made up of a married man and women with their children. It was an ideal, a dream "It has always been the basic group of most societies". (Dr. Don Edgar, AIFS, 'families in the 1990's pl. 1993) "But in the Muslim culture the concept of family extends to include others, particularly old parents" (Mr. Salaihu-ddin Ahmed, 'Australian Family Law & Muslim Cultural Values, 'INSIGHT Vol. 6 Issue 2 (1991) p. 13). The responsibilities of the Muslim families towards other members are not limited to the mundane tasks of providing food, shelter and support. On the contrary they are a part of all aspects of their lives. The extended family unit teaches children tolerance, love and respect of the different age groups living in today's society from the new born to the elderly. The Anglo-Celtic Christian community finds it quite natural to orientate policies along Judaic-Christian lines. More consideration on the Muslim family particularly its moral and its spiritual bases, and its place in society should be identified and valued. This could be one from of regaining the declining family importance. IYF presented an opportunity for Muslims of this society to provide a glimpse of what others may or may not know about Muslim families and the issues affecting them. Recommendations by the Islamic Council of NSW: that IYF should seek to develop long term strategies to care for and secure the nations best assets, families whether Muslim or not. Role of Spirituality And Divine Religions In The Advancement Of Women & Human Development. According to the Ancient Greek views in respect of their Gods, man was regarded as their rivals on earth and they were apprehensive of man's gaining knowledge and power. These Gods who were believed to be controlling the forces of nature were afraid that man would overcome these forces and subdue nature. The story of Adam was portrayed as an effort by God to keep man ignorant. The fruit from the forbidden tree which man was not supposed to eat, was represented as the tree of knowledge so that he may not rise in dispute of God. In addition, Adam's disobedience was believed to be an eternal sin. In conclusion "for the salvation of man and his deliverance from his original sin, God himself to appear in the body of Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost", (Mohammed Husayni Behishti and Dr. Javed Bahonar, Philosophy of Islam p. 181). This was the position of man in the West prior the Renaissance. Islam brought about a change, in the form of knowledge. The first Qur'anic verse revealed to prophet Muhammed by the arch angel Gabriel was "Read in the name of your Lord" (Holy Qur'an Ch. 96, verse 1). This shows us that Allah has commanded man to learn and acquire knowledge, however, we will never reach the standard of knowledge that our creator and the creator of the world has. Man will never be more powerful than God, as the Ancient Greek Gods feared and the myth about Adam and the tree of knowledge. Prophet Muhammed always encouraged his people to gain knowledge as he once described it "Acquire knowledge, it enables its possessor to distinguish right from wrong, it lights the way to heaven, it is our friend in the desert, our society in solitude, our companion when friendless, it guides us to happiness, it sustains us in misery, it's an ornament amongst friends and an armour against enemies". Western societies' moral decline has been very evident in Australia and all Western societies world wide by the increase in theft and murders. According to the Australian Bureau of Crime Statistics, there has been a significant increase in theft, and it is an upward trend with an increase of 10.2% (1991-93). There has not been a significant increase in homicide, but murder in itself shows a loss in morals. At present the homicide rate stands at 2 people in every 100 000 two people too many. Lack of respect and tolerance has been on the increase for years, particularly in the youth. It is felt that the education system lacks moral discipline and guidance. There is lack of respect for teachers, parents or the elderly. Western women's dress values have diminished because they have incorporated a code of ethics in which the sexual appeal (women's) is of importance and they use this method to sell all goods and services. Thus, the credibility of women has diminished and their role in society too. Practicing believers whether Muslim, Christian or Jewish help to keep some sort of mortal standards in a society where they are fast evaporating. All of the above mentioned religions preach love, respect, and tolerance of all people no matter what race or religion they may be. According to Islamic law one who murders an innocent person, should receive capital punishment, one who touches someone else's property for his own selfish use gets the hand he used to steal amputated. These may seem barbaric and against human rights but the effectiveness of this sort of punishment is quite evident in Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia. At prayer time they are leave their shops, their stock covered by a light cloth, to their prayers. If this were the situation in a Western country the owner was forced to lock up his shop with every lock available and there was still a possibility of theft. These converts-new Muslims, have either lost faith in their religion or whilst learning more about religion have discovered Islam and accepted it for themselves and therefore proclaimed it the divine religion. Muslim women in the Australian society have a difficult time growing up torn between two different cultures, those being their religion and the Western culture present in Australian society. Mothers have to try to understand what the child is enduring emotionally in order to help with the problem issue. This is quite difficult because most of the mothers are of Non-English speaking background and do not understand what the child is going through. Due to these problems with the Muslim Youth of Australia that are now being faced and will continue to increase due to the American and British Influences bombarding the Australian society, there is a need for more Islamic education, not only in the form of lectures but Islamic schools where the young women and men will live the life of Islam at school, praying in congregations (Jamaat), learning the Quranic script (Arabic) and most importantly in today's day and age some things which has been waning in our youth is morals, respect, to family members and society moreover to themselves. More literature in the form of Prophetic stories and Islamic jurisprudence aimed at the different age groups, ranging from youth and older women in the English language. These can form an Islamic library for one's own referral and queries. A Muslim scholar who will lecture in English for you young women and the Muslim sisters who have embraced Islam. This person is needed to stay with us on a permanent basis. Unfortunately, we only have a temporary resident Imam who can communicate with the youth in their preferred language. The demand for these lessons is on the increase. The Al-Zahra Muslim Women's Association has established a Youth Group, which has been
successfully running for approximately a year and a half. It is held once a week, where
the young Muslim women (ages 10+) can come in and share their feelings, problems etc. and
be helped by the coordinators who are also very young Muslim women who grew up in the
Australian society and know what these young women are feeling and the inner battles they
are going through. *Islamic sessions are also given, on a monthly basis with an Imam. *Outings and sporting activities are organized so these women do not feel they are restricted or any different from the rest of society. To an extent this particular case of reverse psychology has been very effective. *and development of self esteem, independence (organizing different activities). The Australian media play a major role in setting trends. The trends in the 1990's revolve around parties, nightclubs, consuming alcohol, the perfect body, the latest fashion, etc. in which the media has indirectly instigated a materialistic and non Islamic environment, leading to non-Islamic behavior and relationships. In conjunction with negative worldwide portrayal of Islam, our youth's perception of the divine Islamic faith no longer stands as a priority in their lives. As for their part in affecting Islamic values there is no limit. A general example would be the value of family and freedom. Freedom is perceived as not having to follow in their families footsteps, but to able to do as they please. Children now have the right to divorce their parents as seen in a case in the USA. Even though Islam stresses the value of parents to know you have Western laws on your side encourages an outbreak of revolt e.g. from the freedom to go out wherever they like with whoever they please to associate with. The media's trend setting has distorted the values of young women and men of Australia. In accordance with the Australian government figures the number of Muslims residing in Australia is approximately half a million. Islam has been officially pronounced the second largest religion in Australia after Christianity. Islam is ever growing in population due to the influx of refugees from Islamic countries. Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs estimated that during 1992-93 approximately 15.6% of Muslims made Australia their home. They are from countries such as Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, and a group classified as others. Another study by the DIEA between 93-94 saw a decrease in the number of refugees of Muslim countries resettling in Australia. There was a total of 11.7%. In Arncliffe where the Al-Zahra Muslim Women's Association is based the Muslims form the second largest community in the area. There are a total of seven schools in the Arncliffe area, which are mainly primary education. The majority of school students are of Muslim origin. Westerners are finding Islam very appealing, due to the moral ethics, rights of each member of the family, especially women's rights, the spirituality, the freedom of choice in lifestyle, the simple lifestyle and the inner peace it offers. A large number of non-muslims have embraced Islam and each year the number is increasing. The majority of converts are women mainly of anglo-celtic culture. One Muslim convert said: "Islam provided me with inner peace and direction in my life". Recently, a series of articles on Islam and Islamic philosophies was published in one
of Sydney's most read newspaper, they were published over 3 days. These articles were the
first positive piece of media about Islam. One article in particular read. 'WHY WOMEN AND
CHRISTIANS EMBRACE ISLAM" (Sydney Morning Herald May 1995). "I converted to
Islam because in Islam there is an answer to every question. "(Muslim woman
interviewed by the Sydney Morning Herald, May 1995). |
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