Religious Fundamentalism and Violence Essay

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Total Length: 1357 words ( 5 double-spaced pages)

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Primary Source Analysis: Islamic Text

The Muslim Brotherhood is one of the most notable conservative Pan-Islamic groups -- it is based in Egypt but has a worldwide influence. As is the case with most fundamentalist organizations, the Brotherhood takes an extremely gendered view of women. According to one of its most influential members Hasan al-Banna in his tract "Towards the light:"

"Following are the principal goals of reform grounded on the spirit of genuine Islam...Treatment of the problem of women in a way which combines the progressive and the protective, in accordance with Islamic teaching, so that this problem - one of the most important social problems - will not be abandoned to the biased pens and deviant notions of those who err in the directions of deficiency and excess...a campaign against ostentation in dress and loose behavior; the instruction of women in what is proper, with particular strictness as regards female instructors, pupils, physicians, and students, and all those in similar categories...a review of the curricula offered to girls and the necessity of making them distinct from the boys' curricula in many stages of education...segregation of male and female students; private meetings between men and women, unless within the permitted degrees of relationship, to be counted as a crime for which both will be censured...the encouragement of marriage and procreation, by all possible means; promulgation of legislation to protect and give moral support to the family, and to solve the problems of marriage...the closure of morally undesirable ballrooms and dance-halls, and the prohibition of dancing and other such pastimes..." (Al-Banna 126).

The curtailment of female sexuality is viewed as a necessary component of the Islamic state, according to al-Banna. Women are seen as fundamentally 'different' from men and their education must be carefully policed. All potential encounters between women and men are laced with potentially deviant sexuality and the state must take an active role in governing female education and criminalizing errant sexual behavior. Al-Banna calls this treatment of women 'protective' in the manner it specifically allows the (male-dominated) state to govern how women appear and how they dress.

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Even though both men and women receive separate educations for 'their own good,' Al-Banna is primarily concerned with what the education of girls entails.

However, a number of female voices in the Muslim world have been raising their voices to counter such sentiment in Islam. "I see the justification [for feminism] in my faith. In the Qur'an it says that we're all equal in the eyes of God,' says Fatemeh Fakhraie, founder of Muslimah Media Watch. 'It means that the dignity of every person is important'" (Sanchez 2013). How can women be 'equal' if they are not allowed to pursue an education that enables them to enter into a profession or to be autonomous from their husbands? Islamic feminists see the suppression of women within the faith as fundamentally anti-Islamic. The Muslim American woman Mehrunisa Qayyum, founder of PITAPOLICY Consulting & Blog says: "in defense of those who do identify themselves as Muslim feminists, I don't think the two terms have any cognitive dissonance" and points out the many female supporters the Prophet Muhammad had, the respect he showed for his wives "and the fact that his first wife Khadija was a successful businesswoman'" she says (Sanchez 2013).

In other words, the justification of female oppression based upon the Koran has everything to do with male interpretation and the Koran's current location in a male-dominated society where women have little social or economic power. Islam is not inherently at fault, only its interpreters who are using the religion to justify their own prejudices and power needs, not because they have any unique insight into what it means to be a Muslim. Of true Islam, says Qayyum, "it's a religion of dialogue, a religion of community" (Sanchez 2013). However, the types of sentiments articulated by anti-feminist men shut down dialogue between themselves and women and deny girls the ability to fully participate in the Islamic community.

Contemporary Muslim feminists point out that ancient Islamic texts must be contextualized in….....

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