Oppression is Not the Fault of One Religion

In this day and age, the media and the internet have immense influence on our thoughts and ideologies. That, along with our own interpretations of scriptures and texts, result in a somewhat warped definition of right and wrong.

This is most evident when it comes to religion. We have certain perceptions and stereotypes regarding certain regions and religions, which are deeply imbedded in us due to conditioning from a very early age.

One such religion is Islam. The stereotype that Islam “oppresses women” is perhaps the biggest lie ever told to us. We demonize the religion as this terrifying misogynistic entity without checking any facts or ever bothering to back our assumptions and delving deeper into the matter.

It is an established fact that women are oppressed around the world. But western media has warped our thinking to such an extent that we are quick to assume that any woman of Islamic faith is inadvertently oppressed.

The supposed helplessness of all Islamic women is often used as a pawn for western colonialism and militarism. Bush’s ‘War on Terror’ is perhaps one of the best examples to give in this case; he claimed that this War would be for the benefit of oppressed women. But we’ve seen and read enough cases that have proven otherwise. Girls were raped and forced into prostitution for the soldiers. Others were kidnapped and held as slaves to cook for the soldiers and sexually pleasure them.

When a woman is spotted with a hijab on, it is automatically presumed that it’s a symbol of her oppression. No one stops to question her as to why she chooses to wear it. For most people, a woman who is covered up, is one who is subjugated; she’s someone who needs to be saved, to be liberalized. But we fail to realize that just as nudity empowers some, modesty empowers others. In many cases, Muslim women claim that their hijabs are not what oppress them — our ignorance does.

It’s not just the conservatives to which Islam often falls prey. Liberals too assume the worst of this religion. France imposed a ban on burqas and niqabs, supposing it to be a symbol of women being abused by men. In most cases, however, this wasn’t so, with women choosing to cover themselves with burqas and hijabs. This ban instilled a fear of sorts in women who wished to wear burqas; they feared being attacked and questioned by the police, and often had their veils pulled off their faces if they chose to flout the rules. The recent burkini ban was met with much criticism for snatching away the freedom and the rights of women who opt to wear them. The irony is evident; in a bid to ‘free’ women, they imprisoned them with their own deformed ideologies of what freedom really is.

Oppression is not a mistake that only this religion has made. If we were to strictly stick to the words said in religious scriptures, then the Bible too, imposes many restrictions on women. During menstruation, a woman is considered impure and unclean. Whoever and whatever she touches in a span of the seven days following the commencement of her period is impure. Though there are similar rules for men regarding ejaculation, it’s a phenomenon that men can control to a certain extent, whereas menstruation is not something a woman can help. If a woman is raped, the man’s punishment is a pound of silver to her father, and that she should be wed to the man who assaulted her (given that she is not already engaged or married). If a man rapes an engaged virgin, and she doesn’t cry out loud enough to draw attention, the act is considered consensual. She is then branded a “whore” and is to be stoned along with the man. The man, however, is not stoned because of the crime he committed, but because he “violated another man’s wife”. It also says that a woman must not cut her hair. She isn’t allowed to speak in church either, and if she must make a point, she must convey it to her husband, who in turn will speak up. There are endless other examples to give, but the point to be noted here is that if oppression is the result of religion, then the Bible can easily be put under the spotlight that Islam is shoved in.

According to the Gita, a woman is not meant for independence. In her childhood she’s protected by her father, in her youth she’s protected by her husband and in old age, her sons come to her rescue. She exists to give company to man, to procreate and continue family lineage. The Vedas say that a woman’s primary duty is fulfillment of her obligatory duties to her husband and to give birth to children. Though it is true that in certain ages, certain women enjoyed freedom and held administrative posts, this was a chance given only to socially well-placed ones. Sati is perhaps the best instance in this case, where a woman sacrifices herself on the funeral pyre of her husband.

Though certain regressive ideologies of the Quran stemmed from a certain logic, over the time these rules have been warped to suit the need of men and the society’s view of women. Though the book says that a man can have four wives at once, it also specifies that he must be just and fair to all. During times of war, men would die in battles and leave behind widows. At that time, it was believed that it would be too hard for a woman to shoulder responsibility of work and raise a child. Thus, this law came into being. Another reason for this was the gender ratio, where there were fewer men than women. The Quran also believed in the veiling and covering of the women as something that would benefit females itself, and protect them from the unwanted gaze of others.

With changing times and the growth of extremism, people now have their own perceptions of how their religion must treat certain communities. We’ve seen war and prejudice tear down a previously progressive nation like Afghanistan, with Taliban’s treatment of women throwing the nation into a downward spiral. This is how they have chosen to interpret what is said in the Quran, by using their beliefs to brand an entire religion as oppressive and regressive.

What we must realize is that what religious scriptures say about certain issues revolves around the mindset of those times. For example, in the matter of rape, the way to deal with the issue was the way that was acceptable at that time. And to put it quite simply, times change. And so must our thought process with it. These issues and what is said about them doesn’t exemplify the religion altogether; our interpretation of the text does.

This is what we do, time and again. We ignore the rampant violence, racism and sexism outside Islam and choose to only shed light on the negatives one community. We believe stereotypes so blindly that we ignore the status of the majority and the truth. Oppression of women is not the problem of just one religion, or in fact, religion as a whole. It comes, instead, from deeply embedded ideologies that have been prevalent from years, and that are now twisted to such an extent that it’s an endless cycle of patriarchy. That is the root of the problem.

• Anyonymous