Why is gender mainstreaming important?First, it is an issue of development effectiveness. As it is a public policy concept of assessing the different implications for women and men of any planned policy action in all areas and levels, women’s voice needs to be heard. Why? It is because a growing body of evidence confirms that the inclusion of women’s perspectives results in greater equality between women and men.
Secondly, the Qur’an mentions repeatedly that women should be treated equally, however, due to limitations of fluency in the Islamic legal discourse; these women’s objections are simply suppressed though their inner voice shouts for justice.
Thirdly, women were active participants in all aspects during the Prophet’s time and community. This was shown by the efforts of Muhammad Abu Shuqqah in “The Liberation of Women in the Era of the Message” which revived neglected hadith that demonstrate the extent of women’s participation during the Prophet’s era.
Other researchers have also shown how Muslim women contributed to Islamic scholarship in later generations. They have also uncovered a neglected history of Muslim women as political rulers and a forgotten history of women involved in shaping the religious discourse of Islamic society.
One of them was Khawla Bint Thalabah, who was ennobled by Allah in the Qur’an with the title “Al-Mujadilah” which means the woman who disputes (58:1). When Khawla first when to see the Prophet and complained of the injustice she suffered at the hand of her husband due to an Arabian custom, the Prophet indicated that at that time, existing customs remained normative unless God revealed a new ruling. At this time he had not received any revelation in relation to her problem. However, due to her patience and persistence for answers, Allah has rewarded her through a revelation which had remedied the injustice that she faced.
Women who had their voices heard from the beginning of Islam and in later generations have been an inspiring factor for Muslim women today. Increasing numbers of Muslim women have been accepted in the field of Islamic scholarship. Confidence that emanates from the knowledge that women possess, renewed the spirit of the early Islamic community. However, there are significant challenges in the institutions and leadership through which women can exercise authority today.
One of the key challenges faced by Muslim women who have been marginalized thus excluding them in the mainstream is the persistent scarcity of opportunities and access to decision-making processes. They understand the pluralistic nature of these experiences, their context, and associated problems culminating from these issues.
Women leaders who try to assist these women experience inclusion and exclusion in their communities themselves especially in relation to social and economic dimension. They have also faced cultural barriers and at the same time certain practices in fostering fuller social inclusion and fuller societal participation.
It is often said that education is the key to women’s equality. This is particularly significant given that the more educated the women in a particular country, the country will be more prosperous. Access to education is one of the primary indicators of women’s status in a given society. It is a move in the right direction when there are more than 60% women studying at our Malaysian universities.
Another main challenge for Muslim women today is not only to improve their knowledge but also to increase their visibility so as to be able to help others. If women are not ‘seen’, their ability to help others besides the people around them would be diminished.
It has also been often said that the well being of women is critical to the effective functioning of societies; they are still principally responsible for the upbringing of the children and home management. They are the key to the healthy functioning of families, and are essential to the perpetuation of a community’s social norm. It is proposed that their potential contribution be further enhanced beyond their domestic domain to include leadership. However, researchers have shown that they can be systematically inhibited from fully implementing their potential social roles due to cultural barriers. For example, they are excluded from structures leading to political decision-making and administration in their own communities and societies.
Understanding the realities of Muslim women today, their families, and the communities that they lived in, Muslim women’s leaders today could easily appreciate those essentials because they are of the same gender and they face the same situation. They could easily acknowledge the Muslim women’s position within familial, community, and social structures. However, to understand the realities within the context of Islamic framework makes it quite difficult because this concept has not been well defined.
Camillia Fawzi and Judy Mabro in “Muslim Women’s Choices – Religious Belief and Social Reality” has rightly pointed out that the tendency to explain it solely in terms of the Qur’an and other Islamic sources all too often taken out of context, ignores the fact that Islam has been subject to growth and development, adaptation and change. The interface between culture and society has resulted in diversity within this framework. The impact of culture brings deep meanings that pervade every aspect of individual and societal processes and concepts including how gender is characterized in the Muslim society.
Social inclusion which is an evolving concept that captures the ability of people to participate as valued, respected, and contributing members of society is still vague. The social inclusion agenda which involves examining the values that characterized a good society and policies and practices that embody these values are there but they seems not to be fully implemented. The multi-dimensional social lens through which social well-being and equality component is still missing.
To conclude, communities must have accountable leadership which incorporate inclusive decision-making bodies which include representation of women for the purpose of good governance. Such a community will, in turn, help develop responsible individuals who will represent their values and concerns to a larger society. For Muslim women to move forward, it is proposed that they work with and alongside men, and not against them. The present decade should not be seen as a decade of confrontation but mutual consultation.