Dossier Articles

Dossier 5-6: Female Sexuality and Islam

History reveals that sexual oppression of women, in one form or another, exists in every society in the world. Nevertheless, it has been achieved by different methods, economically, intellectually, physically and psychologically. The control of women’s bodies, or in other words physical mutilation, was raised with the rise of patriarchy.

With the rise of patriarchy, many customs and traditions were developed. Of these customs and traditions, many have disappeared or were gradually abandoned, while some remain.

Dossier 5-6: Impact of Fanatic Religious Thought: A Story of a Young Egyptian Muslim Woman

An Egyptian man had been very strict with his daughter, only permitting her to work outside the home on condition that she be completely isolated from men. She found that ‘ideal’ job. Many months later, in the spring of 1988, this same man brought his daughter to the office of Nawal Al Saadawi to see her in her capacity as a psychiatrist. The following is based on the young woman’s true story.

Dossier 5-6: Women and Islam: What are the Missing Terms?

Most commentary on the condition of women in the Middle East assigns a central place to the role of Islam. In fact, there have been important variations, as well as persistent similarities, in women’s conditions in Muslim societies. To make sense of the varieties of women’s real, concrete historical experience, we must avoid confusing analytic and polemical goals.

Current writing on women in the Middle East exhibits two equally vigorous, but so far divergent trends.

Dossier 5-6: Move towards state sponsored Islamisation in Bangladesh

On 7th June 1988, the members of the controversially elected parliament of Bangladesh passed the Constitution (8th Amendment) Bill imposing Islam as the state religion of the country which broke away from another religious-based country - Pakistan - only 17 years ago. The four pillars of the Constitution of Bangladesh originally were nationalism, democracy, secularism and socialism. Secularism and socialism were dropped from the Constitution in 1977 to be replaced by ‘total faith in Allah’ and ‘social justice’.

Dossier 3: Women, State and Ideology in Iran

The Islamic ideology regards women with a mixture of fear and paternalism, and sees them both as the source of evil and as the most vulnerable member of the household, in need of constant surveillance and protection. the policies of the majority of Muslim states are accordingly framed, often equating women with children and the insane.

Islam, which literally translated means total submission, is not merely a belief system, but also a way of life and Muslims are expected to run their lives according to the Qur’anic injunctions.

Dossier 3: Sexual Mutilations: Case studies presented at the workshop African women speak on female circumcision Khartoum (October 21-25, 1984)

Female circumcision in Sudan

Introduction

Female circumcision (the partial or complete removal of the external female genitalia) is widely practised in the Sudan. It has persisted for centuries because of lack of awareness and knowledge about its adverse physical and psychosocial consequences and because of a firm belief in its supposed benefits of ensuring female chastity and securing marriage and subsequent harmonious family life.

Dossier 21: Muslim Women on the Threshold of the 21st Century

In the West, Islam has come to epitomize the worse kind of oppression of women, usually symbolized by the veil, polygyny, and more recently, by stoning.

Dossier 3: Sexual Mutilation and Women's Health in Africa

Why are women circumcised? These operations are medically unnecessary, agonisingly painful and extremely dangerous. Some girls die from shock and loss of blood. Others develop psychiatric problems from the trauma. Many have chronic infections lasting a lifetime and there are numerous troubles with childbirth, intercourse and menstruation.

Most of the estimated 70 million circumcised women and girls live in certain parts of Africa and the Middle East. There the practice thrives for a variety of social reasons.

Dossier 3: Memorandum submitted to the committee on proposed reforms to Muslim personal law

The Muslim's Women's Research and Action Front considers the appointment of a committee to examine Muslim Personal Law in the light of reform as a positive step in the socio-legal and cultural upliftment of the community.

MWRAF as a group of committed and concerned Muslim women wishes to suggest a basis for reforms, though we would like to reiterate the fact that our framework is within the Qur'an and Sharia and the proposed changes would in effect be implementation of not only the letter of the law but also the spirit of the law- in other words the essence of the Qur'an

Dossier 3: Human Rights In The Arab World

The report of the Board of Trustees to the General Assembly of the Arab Organisation for Human Rights -which was adopted by the General Assembly of the AOHR in Khartoum, Sudan, on 31 January 1987 - is in two parts.

The first part, "The Arab Organisation for Human Rights over the past three years", details the stages of the establishment of the Organisation, describes its activities and includes an evaluation of its efforts as well as an examination of future prospects.