The terrible and tragic events of September 11th have opened the Pandora's box of questions about Islam: is it compatible with modernity? Is there something inherent in it that predisposes Muslims to reject the West? Does Islam insist on suppressing women and treating them as second-class citizens? Questions such as these have become a staple for media discussion. Too often, the answers people devise are an excuse to express their inherent prejudice and even ignorance. The challenge for Muslims is to throw light on these questions with two distinct audiences in mind: the Western media, which tends to reflect its own prejudices about Islam; and, second, Muslims who see the answers to such questions through the prism of a distorted anger and hatred of the world around them.
Take the question of Islamic women. Women in Islam are central to domestic and cultural life, and their role is a critical one in society. Groups such as the Taliban have a poor way of showing their appreciation for women. They ban women from holding jobs outside the home and even from being seen in public places. This drives an already suppressed section of the population into further subjugation, as many women in Afghanistan, for instance, have to fend for their families because they lost their husbands in the civil wars. These women carry a double burden.
I believe that there is a clear correlation between the treatment of women and Muslim self-perception, which bears upon the position of women in Islam. When Muslim society is confident and in balance, it treats women with fairness and respect; when Muslim society is threatened and feels vulnerable, it treats women with indifference and even harshness.This simple correlation can be tested against history. In the early days of Islam, women played a distinct and full role in society. Indeed, their position was pre-eminent. It is no coincidence that, when asked, "Which is the short cut to paradise?", the prophet Mohammed replied, "under the feet of the mother", meaning that the position of the mother is so highly elevated in society that her offspring must care for her and respect her.
Indeed, the unique privilege of being the first Muslim goes to Khadijah, the Prophet's wife. She was older than him, more wealthy, and from an aristocratic background. Previously widowed, Khadijah initiated the marriage proposal, too. She remained the ideal wife, consoling Mohammed in loss, encouraging him in his great mission, and never doubting him when he announced his message to the world. He was inconsolable when she died. Their daughter Fatimah also played a key role in Islamic history. Fatimah was the wife of Ali and the mother of Hassan and Hussein, from whom are descended the Sayyeds, the holiest lineage in Muslim society. The family of Fatimah is particularly revered in Shia tradition, which is strong in Iran.
Even in this phase of Islamic history, women led armies (Aishah), were famous as Sufi saints (Rabia) and were rulers in their own right (Razia of India). They have wielded immense power both privately and publicly. Their names have been conferred on towns (Madinah al-Zahra in Andalusia) and coins of the realm (the Mughal empress Noor Jahan).
Even if this is a somewhat idealised picture of Islamic women, the sad comparison with their present situation raises many questions. It is almost as if a catastrophe took place to alter their status so dramatically. I believe the reason for the drastic change in Islamic women's status lies in the 19th and 20th centuries, when European powers colonised Muslim lands. This period of colonisation affected society internally and externally. There was a loss of confidence, which resulted in a loss of tolerance. Muslim men reacted to this loss, not unnaturally, by doing what they thought was necessary for the protection and integrity of their families. They secluded their women from the prying eyes of foreign troops. Burkas, the black, tent-like attire women wear, became common. Women were now allowed to go no further than their front yards.
This image provided fodder for orientalist scholars to depict Muslim harems as characteristic of the decadence of Islam itself. It was a time of retreat and confusion.
When the Europeans left in the middle of the 20th century, Muslim women once again emerged in public in varying degrees, but they were left to fight now entrenched local traditions and male views and prejudices. Some of these have virtually nothing to do with Islam. For example, unmarried or widowed women do not inherit property in some parts of the Muslim world. Their male relatives pass their greed off as Islamic law. A woman demanding rights or insisting on her own career could be in trouble. There is an old proverb understood in Pakistan and Afghanistan: "For a woman, either the kor \ or the gor \." In traditional homes, the main role of the wife appears to be to serve her husband. This is reflected in another proverb: "Husband is another name for god."
Polygamy, which Islam allowed under specific circumstances, became a distorted practice. Affluent men often practised polygamy to satisfy their own physical desires. Yet, in Islam, a man can take another wife only under certain circumstances. The Koran made provision for a man to "marry as many women as you wish, two or three or four". This made sense at a time of war, when there were many widowed women and sometimes they fell on hard times. It was also a sociological mechanism to ensure that men with barren wives could marry again and reproduce. It was certainly not a licence for lust, as suggested by the orientalist fantasy of the harem.
The Koran clearly states, and many religious scholars have argued, that polygamy itself may not be feasible. This is because the Koran insists that, if a man marries more than one wife, he must treat the wives exactly alike. "If you fear not to treat them equally, marry only one," it says. "Indeed, you will not be able to be just between your wives, even if you try."
In past decades, as Muslim society has attempted to come to grips with the forces of modernity, a range of remarkable women has emerged to challenge prejudice and provide direction. South Asia, where I come from, has produced a number of outstanding women leaders. The movement for Pakistan was led by MA Jinnah, but he was aided by his sister, Fatimah Jinnah. She became a role model for women in southern Asia. She gave up a potentially successful career as a dentist to stand shoulder to shoulder with her brother in the great fight for Pakistan in the 1940s. Brother and sister were often threatened by the narrow-minded, but both stood their ground, and Fatimah appeared with him at public functions even after the creation of Pakistan in 1947. After his death, when General Ayub Khan declared martial law in Pakistan, Fatimah Jinnah became the symbol of opposition to military dictatorship. A generation later, Benazir Bhutto challenged another military dictator and became the first female Muslim prime minister in history. Bangladesh, too, has had a female prime minister. There are now distinguished female editors, ambassadors and members of parliament in many countries throughout the Muslim world.
The majority of ordinary Muslim women, however, are still trapped in local tribal codes and customs that do not permit them to benefit from their Islamic heritage. Islam itself remains only half-understood. The recovery from the colonial past has been too slow and painful, the sense of the future uncertain. Until Muslim scholars and intellectuals are able to come to terms with history, they will not be able to repair the damage. The success of a few outstanding women will do little to improve the unsatisfactory lot of the majority of Muslim women. Only with widespread education and the restoration of Muslim confidence can Muslim women assume their rightful place in society: it is only then that the Prophet's saying about paradise lying at the feet of the mother will have meaning.
Prof Ahmed is the Ibn Khaldun chair of Islamic Studies at American University, Washington; a former high commissioner of Pakistan to the UK; and the author of Islam Today: A Short Introduction to the Muslim World (IB Tauris, 1999).