A year of women across the Muslim world in 71 headlines

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On International Women’s Day we pick the headline stories on Salaam Gateway since this same time last year that address the issues and developments related to women across the Muslim world.

BIGGEST STORY

The biggest story was Saudi Arabia, where the developments from the last 365 days gained a quick pace since February 2017 when three women were appointed to top finance jobs.

Since March 8 2017, some of the biggest developments for Saudi include:

The historical move to give women the right to drive, albeit from June this year

More jobs and career opportunities were opened to the kingdom’s women

Women are now free to start businesses without male permission

A woman was made deputy minister

A senior cleric said Saudi women need not wear the abaya to show piety

HOW WOMEN DRESS

Outside Saudi Arabia, there were far fewer headline stories about the veil and women’s dressing in non-Muslim-majority countries from March last year compared to the preceding year.

We did, however, see a debate in Malaysia about how the uniforms of certain airlines’ female crew were considered “too revealing” and just yesterday, an Indonesian Islamic university banned female students from wearing the niqab, or the full-face veil, citing fears over the spread of radical ideology on the campus.

In Turkey, women marched in July last year in protest against the violence and animosity they face from men demanding they dress more conservatively. Six months later in January, the country’s broadcasting watchdog fined a television station over footage of young girls dancing in shorts, citing moral dangers for the children.

Women in Iran also protested against the hijab. From December to February, Iranian women protested the hijab as the “most visible symbol of oppression”. 29 women who took part in the protest were arrested and just today, one woman was sentenced to 24 months in prison for publicly removing her hijab. Iranian law instructs women to wear the hijab and long, loose-fitting clothes.

RIGHTS

During the haj season last year, we looked at why fewer women than men perform the haj. We examined the different mahram, or male guardianship, rules implemented by three countries with substantial Muslim populations—Indonesia, India and Pakistan—and found that each of their mahram rules were unaligned with official Saudi allowances. Indonesia was the only one that had created a way to consistently send more of its women to haj.

In a huge win for women’s rights the Supreme Court in India ruled in August that it was unconstitutional for Muslim men to divorce their wives simply by saying the word “talaq” three times. We found that India’s Muslim community broadly welcomed the ruling, although many felt that this should have been implemented by the community itself taking into account the hardships on women by ‘instant divorce’.

In the Middle East, Lebanon’s government abolished in August a law that absolves rapists if they marry their victims, following the examples of Jordan and Tunisia in the same year.

WOMEN WHO RULE

In September, Singapore got its first ever female president, who is also Muslim. Halimah Yacob was declared president after she was announced as the only candidate to qualify for the contest. Singapore had decreed the presidency would be reserved for candidates from the minority Malay community this time, to strengthen a sense of inclusivity in the multicultural country. The office of president is largely a ceremonial role in Singapore.

In Kyrgyzstan, which is a member state of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the youngest female member of parliament, Aida Kasymalieva, has started shining light on women’s issues in a country rife with domestic violence, child marriage and bride kidnappings.

In Lebanon, the country’s minister of state for women’s affairs, who happens to be a man, is supporting a campaign to attract more female politicians. Women hold only three percent of Lebanon’s parliament seats.

BIG ISSUES STILL

Land rights is still an issue in the Muslim world. Earlier this month, a new report on women and land in the Muslim world said that the misinterpretation of Islamic law and a lack of knowledge about inheritance rights are “major hurdles” in improving women’s access to land in Muslim countries. Experts said that “traditional leaders or judges often exclude women from inheriting land and property based on discriminatory cultural practices, wrongly believing these are Islamic principles”.

Healthcare and management is another issue. A report released in February, addressing healthcare and its management, debunked preconceived ideas that poor child and maternal health in some Muslim-majority countries is due to religion or religious practices. In fact, said the report, it may be structural and contextual factors such as governance, healthcare policy and conflict that are contributing to the problems.

OUR TOP PICKS FOR OTHER STANDOUT STORIES

In the United States, a mosque led solely by women opened in Berkeley, California in April last year. This is the second women-only mosque in the country after the first opened in Los Angeles in 2015.

Three stories out of Afghanistan showed us how women are carving spaces for themselves and other women. Firstly, a television channel dedicated to women started broadcasting in May. Two months later two members of a six--girl robotics team were denied visas to the United States for a robot-building competition and in the end, the whole team watched their robot compete in Washington D.C. via video link. And thirdly, we heard in September about a woman entrepreneur using her travel agency to help female students secure places at universities in Turkey, Russia and Europe and then to break into male-dominated careers.

There was a lot of press coverage about an all-girl all-hijab-wearing heavy metal band in Indonesia called “Voice of Baceprot” that uses music to combat the stereotype of Muslim women as submissive or voiceless.

A new bike sharing scheme on a Pakistan university campus showed how “women are equal to men and their modes of transport should be the same”.

Note: Our coverage is limited to Islamic Economy sectors as well as stories that show impact on Muslims and Muslim-majority countries. Also, our selection of stories for the year in women is limited to stories published on our website.

THE YEAR IN WOMEN: MARCH 8, 2017 TO MARCH 8, 2018 IN HEADLINES

MARCH 2018

1. Mar 8: Iranian woman who removed veil in public gets two year’s jail

2. Mar 8: Nestle Middle East extends maternity leave

3. Mar 7: Indonesian Islamic university bans burqas on campus

4. Mar 7: Saudi Shoura Council members recommend scrapping male guardian scheme

5. Mar 4: Saudi Arabia hosts first marathon for women

6. Mar 4: Saudi women can now work as tourist guides

7. Mar 1: Misinterpreting Islamic law robs Muslim women of land: experts

FEBRUARY 2018

8. Feb 27: Saudi reshuffles top military posts, adds a woman deputy minister

9. Feb 23: Why should the Muslim world care about women-led social enterprises?