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Afghanistan's
Taliban: Not a valid interpretation of Islam
"The extreme position taken by
the Taliban hardly deserves to be considered an 'interpretation' of Islam... It
is really an aberration in violation of the most basic tenets of the faith."
Dr. Laila Al-Marayati calls for a fuller understanding among Muslims of Islam as
"a religion that embraces the value of women without subjecting them to
sequestration."
Jay Leno and his wife Mavis
donated $100,000 to the Feminist Majority Foundation to expand its campaign to
end "gender apartheid" in Afghanistan. That is where, after
years of civil war, the Taliban emerged as the ruling faction and has imposed
harsh measures on all of Afghani society, and particularly against women, in the
name of Islam. There is no question the efforts of the Lenos, the Feminist
Majority and others like them are laudable. There is, however, the
question of whether they will help.
There is certainly need for
change. Under the Taliban, a strict gender segregation has been imposed. Women
and girls are denied the right to education and adequate health care. Many women
have been removed from the workplace and they are prevented from moving about
freely. Violations of the dress code, which compels women to wear a "burqa"
that covers her from head to toe, including a face-covering, are met with
physical punishment.
But permanent change in
Afghanistan can only come from a fuller understanding of Islam as a religion
that embraces the value of women without subjecting them to sequestration.
Indeed, the extreme position taken
by the Taliban hardly deserves to be considered an "interpretation" of
Islam. That implies the position has some degree of validity, when it is really
an aberration in violation of the most basic tenets of the faith.
To the Taliban and other
extremists, Western -- and especially feminist -- views on women are often
blamed for many of the social ills that plague society today, including
exploitation of female sexuality, rape, high-risk sexual behavior, the
disintegration of the family, and moral decadence in general.
Given this view, the Taliban
believe their own policies are more protective of women -- and, therefore, more
enlightened.
Changing the situation will
require the Taliban and other Muslim leaders to look within Islam itself, rather
than through a cultural lens not their own. In so doing, they would find that
promoting women's rights does not mean compromising and capitulating to the
"West." Rather, it means they are being consistent with their
commitment to the message of Islam they seek to uphold.
Any government that professes to
enforce shari'a (Islamic law) must be aware that the essential purpose of
shari'a is to guarantee for every citizen five broad rights encompassing all
aspects of human endeavor. These are the rights to life, intellect, family,
property and religion. These rights mirror fundamental freedoms as they have
been articulated in the major human rights documents of this century.
By obstructing Afghani women's
enjoyment of these rights, the Taliban leadership expose their own ignorance of
Islam. The right and obligation of every Muslim to education is spelled out by
the Prophet Muhammed in his insistence Muslims must seek knowledge from the
cradle to the grave and in his emphasis of divine rewards for those who
specifically educate their daughters.
Preventing women from being cared
for by male physicians -- especially when female physicians are in short supply
-- contradicts rulings by Muslim jurists that rules regarding modesty are not
violated when greater interests of health and safety are in play. Removing women
from the workplace condemns them and their families to a life of destitution,
controverting the Koran, which says "men shall have a benefit from what
they earn and women shall have benefit from what they earn."
The obsession with enforcing
gender segregation at the expense of women's needs reflects an imported extreme
view that is most likely meant to satisfy foreign influences supporting the
Taliban. By imposing strict measures against the most vulnerable segments of
society, the Taliban can appear to be upholding "Islamic law" while
they utterly disregard the inherent complexities involved and the checks and
balances that must be applied.
The institution of corporal
punishment (lashings, amputations) without due process, the suppression of
minorities such as the Shi'a in Mazar-e-Sharif, and the oppression of women
enable the Taliban to stake their claim as a bona fide "Islamic"
state.
Exerting financial pressure in
Afghanistan, engaging in diplomatic maneuvers, and contributing large sums to
the Feminist Majority Foundation may have short term beneficial effects -- they
at least serve to increase awareness. But the repressive policies of the Taliban
are doomed to persist until they and others who share their views can appreciate
the spirit of egalitarianism expressed in the Koran.
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