To get this blog going, i thought i’d ask muslim students at my university whether they think Islam is fair. After all it is our views that matter, as we are the lastest generation of young, eductated muslims who live by this religion. The first to give in to my questioning was 20-year-old Anaam Raza.
Anaam was born in Pakistan and arrived in Britain at the age of 5 where she was educated until the age of 11 afterwhich she returned to Pakistan. After completing her A levels she came back to England to study at university. Like many muslim women she is both articulate and intelligent and wears the hijab (headscarf) out of choice.
When i asked her outright whether she viewed Islam as a fair religion i got the expected view of “Absolutely”. When asked why, she responded, “because i’ve been raised in the religion and it applies justly to my life.” Fair enough, i believed her as she asserted this statement with particular veroctiy.
Do you think it is fair to all women? She replied, “Yes, if you look into the religion and scriptures, it states men and women as equal. It is society and culture that are not fair to women.” This answer did not sit well with me, not necessarily because i didn’t agree with it, more because it seemed to be a generic answer rehearsed and regurgitated by most muslims in Anaam’s position whenever this particular question is posed. It didn’t really answer my question and seemed to me a bit of a cop out.
This lead me to ask her the question, How do you feel when people say “honour killings” are based on religion as it is cultures mainly based on Islam that practice it? “That’s not true, it is not only cultures in Islam that practice it, there have been many reported honour killings performed by non-muslims from the Indian sub-continent. It is rare and is a backward practice performed mainly for cultural reasons, not religious reasons”
Although she makes a good point i find this particularly hard to swallow as recent figures have shown that countries such as Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey have the biggest problem of “honour killings” in the world, with 97 per cent of Egyptian women being subjected to such unhumane practices as genital mutilation. Now you may ask “what has that got to do with Islam?” Well the reality is, such practices are based on Islamic principles based on honour, supressed sexuality and female chastity and i hardly think it a coincidence that they mainly take place in Islamic countries or countries with a high population of Muslims such as Somalia, Sudan and Nigeria. One only needs to ask themselves whether this problem would be so widespread if Islam were not predominant in such countries.
Now, some of you may think this is just another anti-Islamic tirade. It is nothing of the such, i am a British Muslim and very proud to be so. However, i am getting particular sick of other Muslims whom i meet and discuss these issues with giving me the same old rehearsed lines without addressing the real issue. I have no doubt that they are probably just showing loyalty to their religion that has been widely critiscised by the West in the last few years. Yet it seems to me, highlighting problems that have stemmed from this ancient religion is not blasphemy but merely common sense. No one can deny that women, men and children have suffered at the hands of Islamic regimes and customs and by doing so they themselves are commiting a sin to humanity.
Is Islam Fair? 