About Gendered Islamophobia

The Role of Women in the Islamic Religion

The majority of people in today’s globe believe that the Islamic faith frequently discriminates against and oppresses Islamic women. The Qur’anic stating that Khadija, the prophet Muhammad’s first wife and the first convert, played a crucial part in revolutionizing and influencing the result, role, and perception of women in the Islamic society, history has shown that this is not the case. Following the passing of the Prophet Muhammad, women’s influence became particularly apparent because of Aisha’s initiatives. Other women, like the Egyptian queen Shajarat al-Dur, changed how the Islamic religions were viewed. Although women have been underestimated and overlooked in the Islamic faith, it remains evident that they revolutionized the Islamic religion through the stages of dictatorship towards democracy. The Islamic religion is, therefore, a religion of empowerment and love as opposed to domination towards women.

Khadija

Khadijah bint Khuwaylid is a true icon for women, the feminists, and the Muslims in general. Through her immense contribution and courage, the Islamic religion got its originality and affiliation. Khadija stood out as a robust and courageous woman who braved all the hazards of the trade routes and made a fortune in the route from Syria to Yemen (Kassam pg. 150). Through her reputation in the trade business, she earned the title “The Princess of Quraysh” and “the pure one among others.” Although she had been widowed with children in her previous marriages, Khadija finally met the prophet Muhammad and later married him while he was working for her.

Just like the Islamic religion states that women are garments to their men and men garments to their women, Khadija proved that. She proposed marriage to Prophet Muhammad and became the first Muslim convert. Khadija was older than the prophet and hence guided her husband and stood by him through the initial trying moments when no one believed the revelations that he got from Allah. Kassam (pg. 168) states that, despite her earthly riches, Khadija dedicated her fortunes to the poor, orphans, and widows. Some of her remarkable efforts include helping women to get married through paying their dowry and taking care of the great prophet who later included her in his list of some of the purest women.

Aisha

The Qur’an and other Islamic historical sources portray Aisha as a religious woman who took after the prophet. Her most notable works include educating and enlightening people on the role and purpose of the Qur’an. The medieval portrayal of Aisha was one of a literate lady who interpreted and enlightened people on the Qur’an and poems that touched on the life of the prophet. Aisha’s main contribution is the interpretation of the Qur’an entails its conversion to both oral and written texts (Shadaab pg. 203). Mohammed’s daughter Fatima also contributed immensely to shaping the outlook of the Islamic religion through promoting the original works of the prophet, especially during the war period. The women’s roles came out vigorously mostly after the death of the prophet.

Islamophobia

The women in the Islamic religion are particularly vulnerable to acts of Islamophobia than the males to a more considerable extent. The woes of the Muslim women originate from their role in their faith and the Islamic states as a whole. The women in this context act as the sacrificial lambs and hence end up paying for the sins that they did not commit. After the 911 attack, there were widespread hate messages, assaults, and even homicides which are believed to have been motivated by anti-Islamic responses. Although it is the men that commit the crimes in most cases, the women are dragged into the picture first through their affiliation and relation to the Islamic religion and also because of the place that they hold (Shadaab pg. 197). The women, in this case, are regarded as being “non-westernized” not based on their color but their religious and cultural inclinations. They receive hate and discrimination in both their religious connection and their place in society, especially in the western culture.

Current research and evidence are piling up stating that Muslim women are more likely to be victims of Islamophobic violence. The onset of the Islamic culture and society makes women vulnerable and meek. Their society grants men more power and authority over women. In the western world, women face various barriers including their social status, religious constraints, language barriers, and cultural identities among other factors that make them easy prey. People worldwide also sexualize Islamic women from the ancient notion that they are exotic beauties hidden beneath their veils. Islamophobia has brought to light an aspect that has been brewing over the years. It follows that Muslim women are jailed in the walls of religious requirements and the bars of their society. Muslim women in the Western world face constant threats of attacks from angry residents, oppression from their husbands, as well as attacks from other Islamic groupings like the Taliban and the Isis that brand them as rebels. PBS. Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet. Muhammad and Women. Retrieved 2002 from https://www.pbs.org/muhammad/ma_women.shtml.

Works cited

Kassam, Zayn. Women and Islam. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger, 2010. 

Rahemtulla, Shadaab. Qur’an of the Oppressed: Liberation Theology and Gender Justice in Islam. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.

Jasmine Zine. Routledge. Gendered Islamophobia: hate crime against Muslim women. Retrieved 2014 from Vol. 20, No. 1, 74–89, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13504630.2013.864467.

PBS. Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet. Muhammad and Women. Retrieved 2002 from https://www.pbs.org/muhammad/ma_women.shtml.