Posted Sunday, February 15, 2004; 15.48GMT
These reforms are just the beginning. Westerners are often struck by the Saudi ban on women drivers. (Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said at the Jidda forum that if technology had allowed it in the 7th century, the Prophet Muhammad "would have made Saudi Arabia the first automobile-producing nation on earth and put his wife in charge of the business.") But the Arab world's most conservative country has even more egregious rules, such as one requiring a male relative's permission for a woman to study. Women in the region also point to more pervasive cultural practices, such as female circumcision and honor killings (when men restore family "honor" by killing a female relative who has sex outside of wedlock). Jordan's National Assembly has rejected repeated calls from King Abdullah and Queen Rania to repeal Article 340, which mandates leniency for perpetrators of honor killings. The fundamentalist Islamic Action Front, Jordan's largest party, issued a fatwa saying that a repeal would "destroy ... family values by stripping men of their humanity when they surprise their wives or female relatives committing adultery."
That fatwa essentially claims that the promotion of women's rights weakens the fiber of the family and the pre-eminence of Islam, the faith of more than 90% of Arabs. Nonsense, says Morocco's Nadia Yassine — mother of four, grandmother of one, daughter of fundamentalist leader Sheik Abdel- Salam Yassine and, as spokeswoman for his Justice and Charity Party, perhaps the most visible fundamentalist feminist in the Arab world. The diminution of women's rights — not their promotion — is what's anti-Islamic. "Man is almost a god in Arab countries," says Yassine. "We have developed this chauvinistic thinking that men are naturally superior."
Her hair tucked under a tight head scarf and her body cloaked in a flowing robe, Yassine, 45, hardly fits the West's image of a feminist — but neither she nor her more liberal counterparts claim to be Western-style feminists. "I adapted my feminism from Islam, not Western culture," she says. Her inspiration comes partly from Islam's history. Muhammad was "a true feminist," she says. His favorite wife, Aisha, a revered Islamic-law expert, led an army into battle. Discrimination "is a homegrown malady," Yassine says. "We can find solutions derived from our own culture, our own value system."
Perhaps the most potent solution is education. "We have to unveil the Arab woman's mind," says Egyptian activist Nawal El Saadawi. Though half of Arab women still cannot read and 4 million girls are not in school, education rates have risen rapidly across the region. Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates and the Palestinian territories have all achieved gender parity — enrollment rates for girls and boys are equal among primary-school-age children. In RoperASW's 2003 values survey, Saudi women ranked learning third, behind only faith and family in importance. In Qatar, where Sheika Mouza, the second of the Emir's three wives, has led a drive to build a world-class education infrastructure boasting branches of Cornell's medical school and Texas A&M's petrochemical college, more than 70% of undergrads are women.
In Kuwait, the numbers are about the same — and girls' desire to perform is so strong that "if we left [admission] to grades, we would have almost 100% girls," says Fayzah al-Kharafi, a chemistry professor at Kuwait University. Al-Kharafi, 57, knows how education can break down barriers. A trailblazer in Arab higher education, she has racked up impressive firsts at K.U. — first woman to get a scientific Ph.D. there; first female science professor; and, in 1993, first woman to lead an Arab-world university when she was named president. She gave up that job in 2002 because she missed the classroom, where she says she can have a bigger role in pushing students to pursue academic excellence. "Education is the bones of the body," she says. "We cannot live without it. It gives more opportunities. Women are prepared for all jobs in society."
Debating the Faith [Nov. 18, 2002]
a Muslim woman and a cleric debate Islam's role
The Runaway Bride [May 5, 2003]
TIME investgates forced marriage and the torn feelings that it engenders.
The Women of Afghanistan [Dec.3, 2001]
The West rejoiced when Afghan women were freed from the burka. But the costume remains — as do more serious problems
The Many Faces Of Islam [Dec. 08, 2002]
European Muslims are speaking out, reassessing their faith and their feelings about assimilation in liberal, secular societies.
A Stone in the Eye Of Brute Force [April 20, 2003]
Turkish activist Nebahat Akkoc might seem an unlikely David, but experience tells her that violence begins at home
Mogadishu at 60 Miles an Hour Arms merchants are once again doing brisk business after a rapid change of power in this tough town, but so far the peace has held
The Year of The Nuke A rundown of the world's nuclear powerhouses, and what to expect in the coming months
