On March 10, three Muslim women were honoured alongside
philanthropist Melinda French Gates and human rights activists Panmela
Castro from Brazil and Rebecca Lolosoli from Kenya, by Vital Voices Global
Partnership, a Washington, DC-based organisation that works to empower
women around the world.
The need to recognise the work of Muslim women is
important. Type the search terms “Muslim women” or “women in Islam” online
and chances are that a majority of English-language hits will consist of
stories relating to what Muslim women wear on their heads or how women in
Muslim-majority countries are subjected to physical abuse or subjugated
under the false pretext of religious principle.
But there is another side to Muslim women that is too
infrequently recognised, reported or discussed. The Vital Voices Global
Partnership awards ceremony, taking place two days after International
Women’s Day, provides an opportunity to celebrate this not uncommon yet
too frequently overshadowed side to Muslim women.
Andeisha Farid grew up in a refugee camp outside
Afghanistan. As a teenager, she lived in a Pakistani hostel for six years,
where she studied and tutored others. In 2008, at the age of 25, she
started her own non-profit organisation, the Afghan Child Education and
Care Organisation (AFCECO), in Kabul. Today AFCECO runs 10 orphanages in
Afghanistan and Pakistan for over 450 children of diverse ethnic
backgrounds.
In a country where non-governmental organisations that
work with women and girls are frequently targeted by religious extremists,
Andeisha is constantly on guard. But she remains committed to providing
Afghan children not only with food and shelter but with a sense of mutual
respect, regardless of ethnic differences, a feeling of khak –
connection to the earth as their homeland – and a sense of empowerment to
shape their own future and that of their country.
“The happy faces of these children give me hope,” she
says. “It helps me conquer fear.”
Afnan Al Zayani is a wife, mother, social activist,
television personality and CEO of a multi-million dollar business. It is
no wonder that Forbes and Arabian Business magazine call her
one of the most powerful women in the Middle East. In addition, she helped
ensure that the first written personal status law that protects the rights
of Muslim women in cases of divorce and child custody was passed in
Bahrain.
She attributes her ability to juggle so many
responsibilities to her strong faith. “God will judge us on whether we use
our gifts of life and health towards good or evil,” she says. Immaculately
dressed in her hijab, or headscarf, she shatters the western stereotype of
the downtrodden Muslim woman. Her guiding philosophy: “Live your life as
if you will live forever; live your day as if you will die tomorrow.”
Then there is Roshaneh Zafar. While studying development
economics at Yale University in the United States, she came across the
story of Khairoon, a woman in Bangladesh who owned only one sari. Khairoon
borrowed $100 from the microfinance organisation Grameen Bank to invest in
a business and now owns a sweetshop, a poultry farm, a call centre – and a
collection of colourful saris.
Roshaneh met Khairoon many years after her initial loan
and saw first-hand the miracle of microfinance in changing women’s lives.
She decided to start a microfinance organisation in Pakistan called Kashf,
which means “miracle”. It is now the third largest microfinance
organisation in Pakistan, with 3,00,000 clients and a goal to reach more
than half a million in the next four years.
Roshaneh’s message encapsulates the sentiment of many:
“Women matter to the world. We need not accept the status quo. Freeing the
world of poverty and disenfranchisement of women is possible. But it will
only happen when 50 per cent of the world’s population is allowed to
recognise its latent strength.”
It is these stories that must be reported, not only to
herald the achievements of remarkable women but to dispel falsely created
perceptions of the role of Islam in defining the fate of Muslim women.