Platform Magazine

Instruments used by the Americans and their European allies against the former ruling regime and Al Qaida supporters: the Taliban-regime. The attacks had great impact on multiple political and security issues, but most notably on religious issues. One of the most prominent effects the attacks had was the so called “awakening” about the situation of Muslim women, who have been struggling for centuries in different corners of the world, especially in Afghanistan. Western media –but also celebrated Afghan writers, directors and producers- have constantly drawn unjust connections between the Taliban-regime and Islam. The way the Taliban treats women negatively reflects on the international image of Islam with regard to the treatment of women.

Ever since Western media got access to Afghanistan, many articles, columns, books and movies have been created about what life was like during the Taliban-regime. There were individuals, however, who already began recording their experiences during the regime. A few examples of these works are the following books: Zoya’s Story, An Afghan Woman's Battle for Freedom, by Zoya, with John Follain and Rita Cristofari; My Forbidden Face, Growing Up Under the Taliban: A Young Woman's Story, by Latifa, with Shekeba Hachemi, and; Veiled Courage, Inside the Afghan Women's Resistance, by Cheryl Benard, with Edit Schlaffer. These books are reports that can help us understand, at least to some extent, what was truly going on in Afghanistan during this difficult period. The majority of these books are based on personal experiences of the authors. However, some of these writers have labeled their work fiction, because the fear of reprisals by the Taliban is still very alive. My Forbidden Face, by Latifa, is a story of a young Afghan girl who becomes virtually
incarcerated in her home after the Taliban rise to power. Under the protection of a pseudonym, she gives an eyewitness-account of all the horrific nightmares the Taliban generated. Her imprisonment is especially hard to bear for her because she still remembers a time when women were allowed more freedom. The Taliban claim that their laws are based on the Sharia (dynamic body of Islamic religious law, meaning path), and by doing so, wreak havoc on the lives of Latifa and her family.

My Forbidden Face is a good example of a book that can be used by the Western media for anti-Islamic purposes. Via such books, western-based media have been trying to establish Islam as the undemocratic, black villain of their stories. This does not come as a great surprise, when taking the colonial histories of such western nations as England, Spain and, later, the United States into consideration. Moghissi summarizes arguments taken from gender and Islamic studies: “Colonialism, feminists argued, by making the Muslim
woman and her rights central to imperial policy in the Middle East, sharply reduced Muslim identity to the control of women’s moral conduct and their appearance in colonized Islamic lands. Hiding women from the Western gaze, and guarding women’s bodies and their minds from changes produced by foreign intervention, came to symbolize protection of Islamic identity, communal dignity, and social and cultural continuity. In this way, ironically, the ‘civilizing’ and ‘liberating’ gender policies of colonial powers may have proved counterproductive, creating more resistance than would have been otherwise the case. French rule in Algeria, for example, by using prostitution as a means of social coercion, targeted families unwilling to collaborate with the new ruler; it gave nationalism and decolonization movement a distinctively gendered character – mobilizing additional cultural and religious energies.” (Moghissi, 2002: 35-36)

The movie Osama, by Siddiq Barmak, was released two years after the attacks of 9-11. This movie also confirms the abusive way in which women of Afghanistan were treated during the Taliban-reign. Golbhari plays the 12-year old daughter of a widowed doctor (Zubaida Sahar), who is forced to stop working when the Taliban takes hold of the country. Left without the necessary means to earn an income, the mother dresses-up her daughter as a boy and sends her out to work. Renamed "Osama", the child ends up being pressed into a military training school, where she is ruthlessly bullied by the boys because of her feminine features. However, the old Mullah (teacher) becomes suspicious and discovers that Osama is actually a girl. The scenes in Osama perfectly demonstrate the link between Islam and the rules of the Taliban. For instance, we see children being forced in religious schools where they have to study the holy Quran, and women being stoned to death for matters such as adultery. But, strangely enough, critical comments from Islamists saying that Islam does not condone such matters never surface in Western media. Osama has been recognized and praised by acclaimed international film festivals. In 2003, the Cannes Film Festival awarded Barmak’s film with its “AFCAE Award”. Just a few examples of other famous film festivals that picked-up Osama are the Cinemanila International Film Festival (2004), the Golden Globes (2004), the Golden Trailer Awards (2004), and the London Film Festival (2004).

Throughout history, Islam has been continuously received blow upon blow from the West, in claiming that Islam does not provide enough rights for women. Consequently, Western media have contributed in constructing the assumption that Islamic women have no rights and are oppressed. This emphasis on prejudiced image of women in Islamic societies is a good example of early representations of Islam in the West, which is the most striking topic for the perfectly civilized and democratic Western societies, even today. Moghissi quotes one of her sources (Said, 1978: 42-45), who draws a link between the prejudiced image of Islamic women and how they fit in the former Colonial agenda; “The constructed oppression of
‘Muslim Women’ was central to the Orientalization of the Middle East. That is, the representation of the Oriental Other as opposite of the European – a polarizing distinction between West and East” (Moghissi, 2002: 32).

The horrific treatment of Afghan women by the Taliban regime has been repeatedly linked to the laws of Sharia – the body of Islamic religious law – when in reality; many practitioners of Islam oppose the notion that the rules of the Taliban are directly derived from the Sharia. Ironically enough, especially Western female converts object to the Talibanclaimed link between the Sharia and their own orthodoxy. In fact, these newly converted Muslims tend to see the actual laws of the Sharia as more progressive with regard to gender than many Western traditions. They insist the international image of Islam has been polluted by the Taliban and perpetuated by the media. Christina Safiya Tobias-Nahi is a thirty year old American woman who converted to Islam six years ago. She refers to countries such as Iran and Afghanistan by stating: "Unfortunately, the way Islam is practiced currently in some countries is not ideal” (Paulson, 2003:1). These new Muslims, brought up in a Western environment, give several examples why, according to them, Islam is a progressive religion with respect to the rights of women.

Firstly, they point out that Islam allows women to own property. The Quranic text explicitly separates the duties along sexual lines: the man must give the woman a gift, which is categorized by the jurist as a dowry, or Mahr (a large amount of money). The Islamic contract of marriage gives the woman the right to her own capital: she can use it as she sees fit. If she decides to invest this capital in a business venture of her own, she has exclusive right to any profit she makes. She is not obliged to support her family with this self-earned profit. When of a certain social status, her husband is obliged to pay for a servant to help her. Western marriage contracts, on the other hand, do not provide in such a starting capital for women.

Secondly, these western converts point out that in the Islamic world the right to vote was given to women long before it was established in the West. There, federal woman suffrage was granted to women only at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century. In Islamic nations, on the other hand, women obtained the right to vote immediately after the revelation of the Quran - which occurred between
610 AD and 632 AD- because the Quran explicitly emphasizes the right of voting for both sexes.

For their third argument, the converts point out that up to now the United States has never had a female president. Unlike nations such as Bangladesh (Khaleda Zia, 2001-2006), Pakistan (Benazir Bhutto, 1988 - 1993), and Turkey (Tansu Ciller, 1993-1996) which have all been led by powerful (Muslim) women. Even Indonesia, which is the most populous Muslim country in the world, poised Diah Permata Megawati Setiawati
Soekarnoputri as the president of Indonesia from 2001 until 2004.

It is not a matter of doubting the creative talents of artists like Latifa and Barmak, but one of maintaining a critical frame of mind when consuming them. When taking a closer look at such works, it becomes evident that the Western antipathy for Islam is connected to them. Their critical stance towards the Taliban-regime perfectly complements the biased perspective of the Western media concerning Islam, with the unfortunate effect of creating a collective objection towards it. Hence, also towards the various Islamic cultures, traditions, norms and values. All which is of an anti-Islamic nature is revered; while the more moderate and better informed speakers are frowned upon. Unfortunately, the more favorable elements of Islam are often neglected in the West. Islam, in contrast to the rules of the Taliban, encourages creativity in arts. For example: Sufism, a mystical tradition within Islam that encompasses a diverse range of beliefs and practices dedicated to divine love and the cultivation of the heart. Also, music and dance are important elements of Sufism. Other forms of Islamic artistic creativity are the art of Arabesque and the thirteenth century poet and intellectual Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi.

Western media often emphasizes the prohibitions indicated in the Quran. But the underlying reasons as to why the Quran prescribes them are hardly ever addressed. A very simple example is, for instance, the suggestion to avoid eating pork, because it can cause severe skin damage. An additional reason is that pigs are known to eat their own excrement, which can be injurious to one’s health. But the Quran does not say that we should die of hunger when there is nothing else to eat except pork. Another example is the misconception that surrounds the Hijab (a veil). The Quran does not command the use of a Hijab, but the Hadith and the Sunna, which were created by men. These guides recommend Hijab, to cover-up tempting bodily features for one’s self protection and to avoid the concept of women as mere sexual objects. Ms Graziano, who was mentioned earlier, states: “It's liberating because people don't look at you and think about your figure and your hairstyle, and guys don't look at you and think about making a pass at you.” (Marquez, 2006:98). Even Lady Mary Montague, the author of The Turkish Embassy Letters (1763), describes a more favorable point of view on veils. Montague relates how she herself feels imprisoned in her corsage, while Turkish women are free and unrecognizable under their veil.

In conclusion, each forbiddance and each recommendation in the Quran has a relevant underlying motivation. Maybe it’s me who is biased and prejudiced about the Western view on Islam, despite the fact that I have lived most of my life in a Western country. The variety of works that I have consulted could themselves present a biased view on Western opinions concerning Islam. This, however, seems unlikely, since the interviewees are all American women and the sources I consulted are of Western origin. But still I wonder why the most prominent works are those opposed to Islamic ideas, and not those who present a more favourable image. Why do readers immediately know who Salman Rushdie is but have no clue when Sayyid Abul A'la Mawdudi is mentioned, who has written a book on the understanding the Quran. Why is it that Ayan Hirsi Ali is known the world over, but the ideas of Sami Yusuf only reach Muslims? Yet I’m sure I will be proven wrong on the day, when an anti-Western book or movie will be praised and rewarded with Cannes’ Golden Palm, an Oscar, or Grammy.