Women demanding equality with men are making a mockery of themselves.
By Nahila Bashir Malik
IT’S so disappointing to see how some vocal Muslim women are demanding equality at the cost of their true stature. I don’t disregard advocating feminism, but I sincerely wonder over some icon choices.
While Bronte sisters, Virginia Wolf, Jane Austen, and Sarah Grimke are hailed as Sheroes and champions of the women cause, I haven’t seen many feminists talking about Syeda Fatimah az-Zahra, the commander of faithful woman in both the worlds.
As an epitome of many women-related emancipatory initiatives, the contribution and the person of the prophet’s beloved daughter is being conveniently brushed aside in the larger discourse of feminism.
Seeking light from a faraway source when a glowing lamp is already in our house looks a tad uncanny. The whole point of making this argument is not to question anyone’s choice of inspiration though, but to analyse our own illusions.
But amid this whole debate, I feel it’s foolishness to label a man and a woman equal, for I believe woman is way superior than any man, especially if one looks it in the history of Islam. Even our beloved prophet’s conduct supports this statement.
He himself stood up every time in welcoming his daughter. There’s a chapter in Holy Quran on woman’s name. If only women ponder on this basic thing, they will understand who they are.
God created man and woman keeping balance in consideration between them, not equality. Equality is a smaller part of what balance is. Think about it!
Fighting for equality is not good; one should be fighting for balance. Women should invoke their powers and fight for what God has given them, without limiting themselves to social media-male bashing.
We need to kill patriarchy with its all roots but this idea is not something new.
We’ve all the literature available in the world. I really doubt if any other religion, book stress on women affairs as much as Quran does it.
The fact that we choose to read neighbour’s book and skip the one that lies on our shelf creates cancel.
Though man is responsible for giving birth to patriarchy, gullible woman is equally responsible for this menace. They’ve limited their horizon around this menish thing.
I remember every woman who calls herself brave and yet utters, “Bi chas zanan mehnou” (I’m woman) to show that she owns a sense of security.
Interestingly, a married couple in our village sometimes back was expecting a baby. The husband desired a daughter but it was his wife who kept telling him that she shall only give birth to a boy.
Incidents like these give birth to a fractured society where man keeps yelling at her woman and a woman acts total number eventually.
The problem is way big to be sold in couple of days, and obviously it will take some time to get it resolved on ground.
I leave you with a thought in the end; fight with men for equality and then burn the language itself because it’s manish too.
Fight for balance and lay the foundation of who you are. Shun ignorance and take pride in being a woman, because that’s what you are — a jewel beyond man’s possession.
- Hailing from south Kashmir’s Anantnag, the author is currently pursuing her MBA from Islamic University of Science and Technology, Awantipora. The views in the article are author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Kashmir Observer’s position on the matter.
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