Everything comes at a price. In the Islamic world few things come at a higher price for women than the right to an equal education with their male counterparts. It’s shocking to think that the reasons for their struggle spring not from religious ideology, but simply from the men who run their societies having a misogynistic and patriarchal view of the world. Groups such as the Taliban fight viciously against women who fight for Knowledge, going so far as to order assassinations against them and destroying their schools. It is ironic to discover that most of these religious extremist groups have their arguments deeply flawed, as Islam values education for all. The Holy Prophet states, “Acquisition of Knowledge is binding on all Muslims (both men and women without discrimination.)” (Ahmed).This alone is proof that they have no other dispute with women learning other than they fear what empowered females will do to their perfect patriarchal society.
Most of the Islamic world doesn’t have adequate education for either boys or girls. However, the schools they do provide are significantly better for boys in most cases. Around the world, a total of 740,000,000 people do not know how to read. Some of the most illiterate nations are in this sphere, the top two being Afghanistan with a 72% illiteracy rate and Pakistan with a 50% rate (Tristam). A great majority of these illiterate people are female. Most government officials who have the power to change this situation are men and most of the time education is not the highest on their list of priorities.
In her thesis on education in Pakistan and Afghanistan for girls, Sakil Ahmad makes reference to five-hundred separate places in the Quran that show Islam’s emphasis on education for both genders. In fact, “the first five verses of the beginning of the revelation on Muhammad were about knowledge.” The first and third verses both specifically address reading: “Read! In the name of your Lord, who has created (all that exists)” and “Read! And your Lord is the most generous.” Ahmad cites the Quran because it is what most men use to back their reasons for withholding education from girls, when in fact their holy text urges all to learn and read.
Ironically, during the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Iran opened up education to women, allowing them to go to university. In recent years, however, the government has instructed more than thirty of these schools to cut more than eighty programs from their curriculum for women. In addition they are enforcing segregated entrances, lecture halls, and canteens. No specific explanation has been given for the Iranian government’s actions, but lawyer Shirin Ebadi and others state that it is for no other reason than to exclude women from education. It is possible these changes have been made due to the increase of women attending university over men and the involvement of women in the 2009 protests. Still, all the Higher Education Minister, Kamran Daneshjoo, says is, 90% of the programs are still open to women at Iranian universities. Many criticize this course of action because it sets one of the countries where women were given an education, back several steps. “Traditional politicians now see educated and powerful women as a threat” (Sahraei).
The Taliban (which oddly means “the students”) are the most vocal supporters in the Islamic world for bans on girls’ education and are well known for subjugation of women. This terrorist organization is funded by many of the surrounding countries in the Middle East including Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates and all say should remain uneducated. According to UNESCO, “The Taliban are totally against girls’ education.” The only type of education they support is the Maddrassa school system, which teaches exclusively religious studies. Their argument for limiting “the capabilities and functioning of females” is they don’t wish for them to be teaching their children in the ways of the modern world. They fear women will teach their children to hate the jihad, or “holy war.” The Taliban claims Islam backs them in their views on women, but according to the religious experts “the acquisition of knowledge is obligatory for women in the same way as in the case of men.” Many call what the Taliban preach “gender apartheid” (Ahmed).
When the Taliban took control of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, in 1996 they closed 63 schools which affected over 100,000 girls in the area. A total of 401 schools in the entire country were destroyed, 70% of them being girls’ schools. Their argument: a woman’s only right is to wifehood and modern education brings women cognizance of their rights and that is “considered evil in Pakhtoon society” (Ahmad).
On a Tuesday morning, October 9th, 2012 a fourteen year old girl named Malala Yousafzai and two of her classmates were going home from school in Mingora, Pakistan. Yousafzai is an activist for girls’ education in Pakistan and its surrounding areas and frequently blogged against the Taliban. Yousafzai was recognized by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, earning the country’s very first National Peace Award. In addition, this young woman has stated interest in starting her “own political party and a vocational institute for marginalized girls in her area.” The Taliban, hearing about her work ordered her assassination. She was shot in the head and the neck. A spokesman for the Taliban, Ehsanullah Ehsan, claimed the group was responsible, calling Yousafzai’s work an “obscenity.” He said, “This was a new chapter of obscenity, and we have to finish the chapter” (Pakistani girl shot over activism in Swat Valley, claims Taliban).
Pakistani army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani called Yousafzai an “icon of courage and hope” for the country. He also made a statement, commenting on “how little regard they [the Taliban] have for human life and how they can fall in their cruel ambition to impose their twisted ideology.” Newspaper columnist Cyril Almeida said that the general was attempting to “channel public anger and sustain it” and that “what the army understands is that anger and the sort of disgust currently felt towards the militants helps the state fight against militancy.” In addition to Kayani, many different political leaders around the world have been infuriated by what occurred to an innocent fourteen-year old and two of her classmates. A television presenter, Mohammad Malick said this could be a “turning point” and more and more people may step up to speak out against the Taliban (Malala Yousafzai is an ‘icon of courage and hope’, says Pakistan army chief). This monstrous attack on a young girl because she was fighting for her right to an education shocked millions around the world and sympathy for the Taliban has dropped significantly. There has been a surge in support for girls’ education in Pakistan and surrounding countries since the attack on Yousafzai as more people discover the injustice that is occurring in this patriarchal society.
Many around the world, particularly in the West, don’t know what it’s like to live without education. They don’t understand what it’s like to live in a society where there is constantly the threat of danger because they want to learn. Girls in the Islamic world have long been denied the opportunity that is knowledge, even when the religion they follow puts emphasis on the acquisition thereof. Though the situation for girls and women is improving in the region, it has been slowed by ludicrous amendments to education in countries such as Iran and the persistent efforts of terrorists to obliterate schools. It takes courage to stand up for rights and even more so when the very people who can make the change are working so hard to keep things the same. With a plethora of young women like Malala Yousafzai coming out for education, the region is turning towards an optimistic and more equal future for students in the Islamic world.
Works Cited
Ahmad, Shakil. “The Taliban and Girls’ Education in Pakistan and Afghanistan.” lup.lub.lu.se. Lund University, Department of Sociology,n.d. Web. 8 Dec. 2012
Boone, Jon. “Malala Yousafzai an ‘icon of courage and hope’, says Pakistan army chief.” TheGuardian.co.uk. The Guardian, 10 Oct. 2012. Web. 8 Dec. 2012
Boone, Jon. “Pakistani girl shot over activism in Swat Valley, claims Taliban.” TheGuardian.co.uk. The Guardian, 9 Oct. 2012. Web. 29 Nov. 2012
Sahraei, Fariba. “Iranian university bans on women causes consternation.” BBC.co.uk. British Broadcasting Corporation, 21 Sep. 2012. Web. 10 Dec. 2012
Tristam, Pierre. “Adult Illiteracy Rates (15 Years and Over) in the Middle East.” About.com. N.p. n.d. Web. 7 Dec. 2012
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I'm assuming this was for a class and that it was due already, but I'm here to give a review anyway.
1. Good use of citations in-text. You used a lot of supporting quotations and changed up the way you cited them [sometimes using "So-and-so says, 'Blah'" and sometimes using the "'Blah' (So-and-so)" format instead]. It shows good research and a well-thought-out essay, and it keeps the paper from sounding repetitive. However, sometimes the citations are not properly in the text. For example:
In the paper, you say "General Ashfaq Kayani called Yousafzai an 'icon of courage and hope,'" but you don't cite Jon Boone, the journalist from whom you got this information, in the text, although you do cite him in your works cited page. In this case, you should probably put Boone's citation in parenthesis after this sentence; otherwise you could find a video of Gen. Ashfaq Kayani saying this and cite him directly.
2. Good structure. I'm going to assume your thesis statement is "In the Islamic world few things come at a higher price for women than the right to an equal education with their male counterparts." And the rest of your paper definitely shows the difficulties that women in Islamic countries face in trying to get an education. The only thing is, this statement makes it sound like the religion itself is the reason for this, whereas your paper argues that it's the patriarchal society, not the religion. In fact, you argue that the religion wants everyone to have a good education. If you can find a way to reword this and still say what you mean, that would be optimal. Otherwise, you don't have to. It's just a little thing.
3. Sometimes you could use better transitions. Like here:
"When the Taliban took control of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, in 1996 they closed 63 schools which affected over 100,000 girls in the area. A total of 401 schools in the entire country were destroyed, 70% of them being girls’ schools. Their argument: a woman’s only right is to wifehood and modern education brings women cognizance of their rights and that is 'considered evil in Pakhtoon society' (Ahmad).
On a Tuesday morning, October 9th, 2012 a fourteen year old girl named Malala Yousafzai and two of her classmates were going home from school in Mingora, Pakistan."
So, later in the second paragraph we get the connection back to the Taliban, but it should be apparent right from the opening line of the paragraph.
4. Really tiny thing, but in some spots you can make the writing tighter. Like in the first paragraph:
"It’s shocking to think that the reasons for their struggle spring not from religious ideology..." could be "Shockingly, their struggle springs not from religious ideology..."
Overall, though, this is a great essay and a very interesting read (coming from a Western perspective here). I wish more people would see writings like this and realize that it is groups like the Taliban, not Islam itself, that are responsible for the oppression and violence toward Middle Eastern people. If I were a teacher, this would be an A paper.
~Blue
ok, am not here to flame you. Just to be honest, i thought of stealing your writing to present it as an essay i"ve been told to write about. Anyway, am not taking a single word from it. The truth is that, i like it...i really really did. And it was really good to show where you took somethings from.
" Woman is an incomplete man . "
-Aristotle
Although he is considered to be the greatest philosopher of all time , even his thoughts about woman were narrow minded .
The problem is the mind set .
We live in man dominating societies .
Religion is only being used .
I Am not defending religion in any way , I know that religion is root cause of all of this but in my opinion the whole mind set needs to be changed .
" Women are weaker than men in all aspects of life , but I differentiate people on the basis of their ability of reasoning and in that respect women are equal to men . "
-Plato
This is the mind set we would like to bring in .
All the religious scriptures including the Koran says:
" Woman is created from the rib of a man . "
And by this statement alone religion has shown that it does not respect women in any way , saying that she is 1/10th of a man .
I think by eliminating religion most of these problems can be solved , we have to make the women realize that they are equal to us .
They are not inferior to us , there are differences mainly physically but mentally a woman's logic can be as accurate as a man .
Women can write good novels , good songs , good plays .
She can discover new laws of physics , she can do anything that is the kind of message I would like to preach !
And finally about your article :
I think its very good and informative .
At least you are trying to make the people realize
" Woman is an incomplete man . "
-Aristotle
Although he is considered to be the greatest philosopher of all time , even his thoughts about woman were narrow minded .
The problem is the mind set .
We live in man dominating societies .
Religion is only being used .
I Am not defending religion in any way , I know that religion is root cause of all of this but in my opinion the whole mind set needs to be changed .
" Women are weaker than men in all aspects of life , but I differentiate people on the basis of their ability of reasoning and in that respect women are equal to men . "
-Plato
This is the mind set we would like to bring in .
All the religious scriptures including the Koran says:
" Woman is created from the rib of a man . "
And by this statement alone religion has shown that it does not respect women in any way , saying that she is 1/10th of a man .
I think by eliminating religion most of these problems can be solved , we have to make the women realize that they are equal to us .
They are not inferior to us , there are differences mainly physically but mentally a woman's logic can be as accurate as a man .
Women can write good novels , good songs , good plays .
She can discover new laws of physics , she can do anything that is the kind of message I would like to preach !
And finally about your article :
I think its very good and informative .
At least you are trying to make the people realize
As much as I hate to discourage you, this isn't a review.
Your article is clean and concise, I like it. I just want to share my views on why women education is lacking in South Asian countries.
Personally I'm from Bangladesh, which is also a country with a Muslim majority. And from what I have noticed, it's not only that extremists are objecting for woman education, there are numerous ordinary people who are under the impression that woman eduction isn't really necessary. If I can give an informal example it'll be that, a majority of women in middle class families are engaged or married when they are in college or universities (or even schools) here in Dhaka. The explanation most of the parents give is that they are giving their daughters an education but, because, in the process they are "getting older", they are married off. A majority of these women finish their eduction, but after that remain in their in-laws or, Husband's home because they feel education was something they just needed to complete and that now their duty to serve their husband.
It is this mentality, I feel, that is destroying women empowerment. Women are getting education in the urban areas, but they are led to believe that this "education" is just an obligation they need to fulfill before getting on with their duties of a good "Muslim wife".
The woman in rural areas don't get education. But if we look at what happens in the urban areas, we can see that even if they did, it wouldn't have been much help.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that there is no need for education for women because they will apparently be treated as "servants". But what I am trying to say is Education is most important. We should ensure that every human being, irrespective of their sex, get education but we should also try to change this "mentality" people have of their sisters and daughters.
You are right. There is a bunch of people who pervert and distort the Koran in order to justify their heinous acts.
I myself have talked to few of this condescending people and they gave me a lot of references, particularly from the Sura Nissah ( sadly they were not aware that I do know something about the Koran).
Lately in Dhaka, there was this rally led by this quasi fundamentalist group Hefajat-e-Islam who put up their 13 point demand. In there, there was a call for a blasphemy law, the banning of free mingling of men and women, the scrapping of woman education policy, death to all atheists, the destruction of all sculptures, memorials and temples and other stupid stuff.
Yet it was really disheartening seeing our politicians saying they will "consider" this proposal. Thankfully they didn't. And it was then that a professor of sociology of Dhaka University had commented that this extremists, no matter what they seem to protest, always fall back on how they could keep women from getting their rights.
Wow MadameLuxestrange, you have a real power for writing. I'm not going to bother to look for faults because I'm just in awe of you. I too felt and still feel strongly about this issue, and I feel blessed that I have the right to an education. But well done, this is a strong piece.
Keri