Shahnaz Taplin-Chinoy2013-05-21T18:37:58-04:00Shahnaz Taplin-Chinoyhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/index.php?author=shahnaz-taplinchinoyCopyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc.HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Shahnaz Taplin-ChinoyGood old fashioned elbow grease.Pakistan Goes to the Polls: The Promise and Potentialtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.32330082013-05-08T18:23:51-04:002013-05-08T18:23:59-04:00Shahnaz Taplin-Chinoyhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/shahnaz-taplinchinoy/
Growing up in India, Pakistan seemed like the bright successful shiny country bordering a rather poor India. It seemed that success for Pakistan was just around the corner, even as India struggled with its many millions of impoverished masses. But history has turned out differently -- and now Pakistan is the struggling member of the family.
Chess Board of Politics: Pakistan has straddled between democracy and dictatorship since its inception in 1948. It now has multiple, often feudal based, political parties associated with a handful of political leaders who have played musical chairs for over 50 years. The names and faces of the politicians are sparse, recurring -- alternating dictators and democrats. Gallup poll predicts 41 percent and The Economist's most recent survey predicts that 59 percent of the vote will go to Nawaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N). The article also commends Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif for "getting things done." But politics is not easy business anywhere and certainly not in Pakistan.
Modernity vs. Antiquity: These polar opposites define the struggle for the soul of Pakistan. Modernity entrains education, employment and empowerment for women. Antiquity clings onto age old taboos pertaining to women's roles, segregation, and subservience -- all of which cumulatively and negatively impact the place, the position and the power of women in Pakistani society. Reconfiguring the Muslim women's role in the spirit and teaching of Islam, where "Paradise rests beneath the feet of your mother" could catalyze a paradigm shift in Pakistani society.
Pakistan has a population of 180 million, with 37 million women and 48 million men registered to vote. But in reality, Farzana Bari, human rights activist and university professor at the Quaid-i-Azam University "estimates that at least 11 million eligible women will not be able to vote simply because authorities have not granted them national identity cards." This is a travesty. In India, the voting gap between Muslim men and women in Kashmir is 5 percent. But In Pakistan, the voting gap is expected to be 25 percent.
Conservative Pakistani women conform to a traditional code of conduct, wearing the burqa or hijab, being accompanied by a male guardian in public at all times, and mostly staying within the confines of the home. The election commission tried to overcome these social/cultural taboos by passing legislation in parliament requiring at least 10 percent of the women's vote for candidates running for office, but the measure failed.
Some mullahs deny Pakistani women the right to vote on the grounds that women's voting is un-Islamic. Where did these Mullahs get these ideas, when women participated in the council that chose Abu Bakr, the first successor, to Prophet Mohammad in eighth century Arabia?
The challenges of modernity versus antiquity for women are uniquely challenging for women curtailed by social taboos and Taliban imposed edicts in the North West frontier region. The Talibans's code of conduct, for example, prohibits a married woman from voting for a male elected representative -- but also precludes women candidates running for political office.
In the tough neighborhoods of the North West frontier's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa districts, the ban on women voting in the election will be hard to lift. It is in these areas where old customs don't yield easily to new norms, new economies and equal rights for men and women -- even in today's democratic Pakistan.
Marriage and divorce in tribal Pashtun cultures are loaded issues -- even in local elections. This was clear in Battagram. An election was declared null because women were threatened with divorce if they voted. In the rerun, the threat of divorce was lifted and women participated successfully.
Badama Begum, a 33-year-old school teacher who worked the 2008 elections says not a single woman came to vote in Maardan in the North West Frontier Province - even though the government provided women election aids. Despite regressive restrictions, I am in awe of the tenacity of Muslim women.
Look at Khalida Bibi, a 39-year-old housewife from Dargai in the North West. She was eager to participate in the 2002 and 2008 elections - until she ran up against local opposition which stopped her. But make no mistake, Khalida Bibi, a determined Muslim women, shows her metal when she says: "I hope I will succeed this time because the election commission does not want to ban women from voting."
But it does look like the national election will be held -- and perhaps fairly. For the first time in Pakistan's 65-year history, an elected government will hand over power to another elected successor. The newly elected leaders will need to confront three critical challenges: First, to rescue Pakistan -- often viewed as a "failed state" - from a collapsing economy and a challenging security situation. Second, to make peace with India across the border, and deal head on with the dangerously unresolved "Kashmir" issue. If these flash points are eliminated, the Indo-Pak cross border bridge building will start -- laying the foundation for Indo-Pak economic cooperation, growth and prosperity between these two vital countries which together constitute 20 percent or 1/5 of the the world's population.
Finally, to create a positive paradigm shift in Pakistan, a critical ingredient is to educate, employ and empower Pakistani women -- give them a shot, give them the opportunities and see them flourish. The women can strengthen the social fabric, the economy and the state of the nation with their vital contributions.
Khadijah's daughters is a blog by Shahnaz Chinoy Taplin, board president of Invest in Muslim Women, a non-profit project of the Global Fund for Women. Invest in Muslim Women focuses on the economic empowerment of Muslim women, justice and peace. The blog is inspired by Khadijah, Prophet Muhammad's first wife and the quintessential role model for Muslim women. She was the first convert to Islam, the first Muslim woman entrepreneur, a globalist and a feminist.]]>The Boston Tragedy: American Muslims Could Play a Positive Roletag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.31665612013-04-29T13:28:24-04:002013-04-29T13:40:02-04:00Shahnaz Taplin-Chinoyhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/shahnaz-taplinchinoy/
Let's start with the strange thing: two young Chechens and the Boston Marathon. What's the connection? It's not immigration, whatever some in Congress are trying to say, and it's not Islam. It's being from an occupied country.
Since 1980, Robert Pape, the preeminent researcher on this kind of terrorism from the University of Chicago, has tracked the motivations and patterns of Tamil, Chechen and Middle Eastern suicide bombers puts his finger on the pulse of this issue. Pape is clear: "The problem is not Islam but lengthy military occupations." Russia has occupied Chechnya for more than 100 years, and in the 1930s, Stalin expelled the entire Chechen people to Central Asia for three decades. Osama bin Laden's tipping point against the U.S. was American military bases in Saudi Arabia. Boko Haram in Northern Nigeria is an appalling, violent group -- but they only turned against foreigners when French troops arrived in their region.
Pape's solution is also crystal clear: decrease suicide bombings not by focusing on Islamic extremism but by terminating foreign occupation fast. "Invasions and occupations, new democratic governments backed by the military as in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan" are the U.S.'s preferred course of action he argues, despite strong evidence that " suicide terrorism is not prompted by Islamic fundamentalism" and points out that "despite some military success, suicide terrorism has continued."
Well, there is not much Americans can do about the Russian occupation of Chechnya -- just as Spaniards who suffered from suicide attacks had little control over America's policies in Iraq. But Americans as a whole can learn the lesson: Military occupations are not an effective response to the growth of fundamentalist violence -- they weren't for India in Sri Lanka and they haven't been for the U.S. in Afghanistan.
But Muslims have a particular message to learn: to have the courage of their true faith. Asra Nomani, author of "Standing Alone in Mecca" and a former Wall Street Journal reporter, blogs about the Boston marathon tragedy:
Enough, enough, enough, I say, with the CYA--Cover Your A**--strategy in our Muslim communities. I would like our community to take responsibility for how it is that we--yes, we--have allowed an interpretation of Islam to prevail in this world that turns this boy of innocence into a bomber and murderer.
Nomani is right on! I too wonder how we Muslim moderates stand by in good conscience on the sidelines of life at this critical juncture in America and fail to defend the straight path of Islam which has guided us for centuries.
And why did these two young men from Chechnya go so astray in America? Not by going to the mosque; they actually rejected what they were taught there. While Rep. Peter King of New York believes that mosques are often the wellspring of radicalism in the U.S., calling for increased "surveillance of Islamic communities" because, "The new threat is from within." Contrast this with Suhaib Webb and Scott Korb, whose research indicates that young people with a strong grounding in the American Muslim mainstream in fact do not get radicalized. Radicalization happens, they say, online and sometimes abroad, among the isolated and disaffected. Tamerlane Tsarnaev's YouTube page does not highlight any scholars, imams or institutions, and at a Friday service when the imam praised Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, he shouted that the imam was a "nonbeliever."
The New York Times this week reported that in Chechnya itself the battle is between the imams in the mosques, who practice moderate Sufi Islam, and imported extreme Salafists who have obtained a foothold because of the Russian occupation.
Webb and Korb point out that the American Muslim devotional or educational institutions focused on the arts, community service and interfaith activities have a mediating influence. They take to heart Islam's mandate to show mercy, just as Judaism embraces law and Christianity promotes love.
And finally, I would say that the Boston bombing was a huge tragedy, but there could be a silver lining if we Muslims, immigrants and native borne alike, understand that Islam is a simple faith, with a few key edicts, and a porous potential to absorb new memes and contour itself in the best of ways to the culture in which it resides. In America, Islam is a frontier faith -- open to new norms which enable it to make a positive contribution to the country in which it resides. It is up to us Muslims to make that happen, as Asra Nomani so articulately suggested in her blog "How American Muslims can respond to Boston," even as we reclaim true, tolerant and progressive Islam in the United States of America.
Khadijah's daughters is a blog by Shahnaz Chinoy Taplin, board president of Invest in Muslim Women, a non-profit project of the Global Fund for Women. Invest in Muslim Women focuses on the economic empowerment of Muslim women, justice and peace. The blog is inspired by Khadijah, Prophet Muhammad's first wife and the quintessential role model for Muslim women. She was the first convert to Islam, the first Muslim woman entrepreneur, a globalist and a feminist.]]>Which Pathway Is More Islamic -- India's or Egypt's?tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.29753372013-04-01T14:07:15-04:002013-04-01T14:07:21-04:00Shahnaz Taplin-Chinoyhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/shahnaz-taplinchinoy/Egyptian Women's Rights vs. Rape and Violence Against Women
Egypt's withdrawal of police from the streets has resulted in an explosion of sexual assaults against women over the last couple of years. According to The New York Times, when "women were sexually abused and gang raped in a single public square," the scandal "had become too big to ignore."
Islamists, the new political conservative elite responded -- not with empathy or aid, but rather with targeted "outrage at the women," but not the rapists. The New York Times notes: "Adel Abdel Maqsoud Afifi, a police general, lawmaker and ultra conservative Islamist says: 'Sometimes, a girl contributes 100 percent to her own raping when she puts herself in these conditions.'"
Yet Egyptian women rise - they speak out through the new media, defy long held taboos, are undeterred by Islamist patriarchs and elected leaders antagonistic towards women's rights in general.
Though Tahrir Square was at the heart of the Jan. 25, 2011 revolution in Cairo, by 2013 it has become a "no-go zone for women," especially at night. Yet, there is a ray of hope for Egyptian women as exemplified by the courage of Hania Moheeb, a 42-year-old journalist, who was violated on Jan. 25. She took her story to the press, while her supportive husband stood by her and said: "My wife did nothing wrong." While the Morsi government has proposed a bill criminalizing sexual harassment, the women seek something else: protection from social scorn heaped on sexually abused victims while others opt to arm themselves in self defense.
Against this backdrop of sexual harassment, where Egyptian women clearly need more protection and more rights, the Muslim Brotherhood appears tone deaf. The Muslim Brotherhood (distinguished here from President Morsi's government) makes a statement on a proposed United Nations declaration to condemn violence against women complaining: "Wives should not have the right to file legal complaints against their husbands for rape, and husbands should not be subject to the punishments meted out for the rape of a stranger."
Further, the Brotherhood's statement says: "a husband must have "guardianship" over his wife, not an equal 'partnership' with her... Daughters should not have the same inheritance rights as sons. Nor should the law cancel 'the need for a husband's consent in matters like travel, work or the use of contraception,'"
While these views might well be in line with traditional and conservative women's beliefs in Egypt this statement from the Muslim Brotherhood virtually obliterates any legitimate rights for women -- even though they are half the population and certainly carried their weight in the Arab Spring revolution.
Sometimes I wonder if Egyptian Islam upholds the spirit of the faith? If so, how on earth could they deny the Prophet's behavior and respect for his wives: Look at Khadijah, a caravan trader, entrepreneur, globalist and a widow who proposed marriage to Prophet Muhammad and Aisha, who rode her camel bare back into battle to fight for her faith.
A blood-curdling rape: A wake-up call for India
Now let's look at a blood-curdling rape case in Delhi. A 23 year old woman, Jyoti Pandey Singh, a physiotherapist goes to see Life of Pi with a male friend in Delhi. Unable to hail down a rickshaw, she hops a bus only to be brutally raped by seven guys and to die a week later. The outpouring of support on the streets and in the media was phenomenal. It was a wake-up call for India. And for once it worked: a powerful bill punishing violence against women is expected to pass in the next parliamentary session -- thanks to the activism of youth and a proactive public. Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde says, the new legislation is "a loud, clear and deterrent signal that the society will not tolerate such errant behavior."
While secularism, pluralism, democracy and law are integral to India, a determined pro-active commitment for a fast track on women's rights and women's sexual harassment is still missing. But Jyoti's martyrdom is creating a fast track for prosecuting rapists and perpetrators of sexual violence.
As I look at the reactions in Egypt and India on rape and violence against women, the bottom line question arises: Which of these two countries best exemplify the spirit of Prophet Muhammad?
I have considerably more faith in Indian Islam being pro-women rather than Egypt or the Arab heartland and here's why. Islam in India is a minority faith with 177 million adherents, embedded in a potent elixir of democracy, secularism and spirituality. In India, Islam is both a frontier faith and the largest minority group. Islam's minority status teaches it to co-exist harmoniously with other faiths. Indian Islam is pliant -- it integrates into Indian culture, traditions and social norms seamlessly given that it's been entrenched there since the eighth century. Islam is at home in a democratic, secular India.
Indeed, according to Oxford's Faisal Devji, Faisal_Devji in The Shy Caliphate Islam is inextricably woven into the foundations of that India. Devji argues that nations are built not on wealth and power but rather on an "idea." He writes: "In the second half of the 19th century, Islam was the only idea that made it possible for Indians to ally with their neighbors in an anti-imperial revolt." He adds: "Islam was not simply a theological phenomenon, but able to lend its name to politics flexible enough to make common cause with Hindus and Sikhs as well as atheists." Islam, like most faiths, is at its best when it is circumscribed. Monopolies create bad economics -- but also bad religious cultures.
Khadijah's daughters is a blog by Shahnaz Chinoy Taplin, board president of Invest in Muslim Women, a non-profit project of the Global Fund for Women. Invest in Muslim Women focuses on the economic empowerment of Muslim women, justice and peace. The blog is inspired by Khadijah, Prophet Muhammad's first wife and the quintessential role model for Muslim women. She was the first convert to Islam, the first Muslim woman entrepreneur, a globalist and a feminist.]]>A Chorus of Indian Muslim Girls and Women: "Learn and Earn"tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.26830772013-02-14T13:29:23-05:002013-04-16T05:12:01-04:00Shahnaz Taplin-Chinoyhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/shahnaz-taplinchinoy/
In Shabath Muradpur, a village elder donated her home for the community center* some years ago. When we visited it, the center was in action with a library, a computer design lab where girls created designs to be embroidered on cloth and even a spa/salon training center where women graduated with certificates, enhancing their employment opportunities. This was a fully functioning community center with kids of all ages through to young adults and mothers who could take advantage of occupational training to enhance family income. It was an upbeat, clean, environmentally aware hub where learning and earning seemed like real outcomes for young women -- being trained with different skill sets and poised to augment their family income.
In Chainsa, a typical village of the Mewat district in Haryana, the new community center was being built. We met with a group of villagers who had assembled with community leaders to explain to READ global, a nonprofit, their visions, hopes and plans for occupational trainings to be provided. With a passionate fervor, energy and clarity, the girls and women articulated their refrain for education and employment. These messages were shared across a wide spectrum of village girls and women. All were crystal clear about their need for education and livelihood skill sets in making rugs, bedspreads -- and putting their crafts and embroidery skills to use and enhance family earnings.
Society is not meeting its obligations to these women and girls; in Chainsa the school is three hours away -- an almost insuperable barrier for girls in particular. Philanthropy is only the start, but with projects like these it is quite a start. Both community centers are affiliated with READ global.
Our third stop was an urban village in Agra after a glorious sunrise visit to the magnificent Taj Mahal, where the America India Foundation (AIF)** Board met with rickshaw drivers who have received AIF guaranteed bank loans, enabling them to purchase their rickshaws, rather than renting them -- increasing their earnings by 50 percent and giving them an asset against which they can borrow. These rickshaw loans are on the name of both husband and wife -- part of the reason, AIF believes, that so far, out of thousands of loans there is not a single default -- and we even witnessed one ceremony where the loan was paid off and the rickshaw is now owned, free and clear by the couple. In this village, once again the women were engaged in minor activities but dreamed of sensible and substantial ventures to support their large families, with many of them having six to nine children. Where are those wonderful family planning clinics, I wondered? These women were both eager and desperate to work at more profitable ventures rather than selling vegetables from push carts, earning a paltry $8-10/day -- hardly enough to support the many mouths they had to feed.
The women I met were starkly honest: They needed to earn more to feed their many kids even as lived huts with minimal access to clean water, sanitation, food and health care. Income generation is their passport to a better life. When I asked one woman, how much capital investment she needed, without a blink she said: "One lakh rupees ($ 2,000)" -- certainly no lack of ambition or clarity here! One thing was eminently obvious: The women did not lack ambition; rather they lacked training, employment opportunities and capital investments. **
"Learn and Earn" -- as they explained to me in all three projects -- is the perfect mantra for women including Muslim women and girls who dream of being educated, employed and empowered. Girls were more focused on classroom learning while the women were ready to go out and earn a living. But even older and previously illiterate women had remarkable educational aspirations; one older woman in Shahpur was learning to read her native Hindi, but wanted to go beyond it and learn Arabic, so she could read her sacred text, the Quran, in its original language. Arabic, I've heard, is a very tough language -- and to learn it at the age of 40 after a lifetime of reading no language, is really "shooting for the moon."
All three of these projects, and the enthusiasm for them within the communities, demonstrate a promising pathway upwards through education, followed by skill based trainings leading to employment and entrepreneurship. This is what Muslim girls and women -- at the bottom of the totem pole -- are clamoring for. And to me that is the single most encouraging indicator for the future success of Muslim girls and women as they become integrated and respected members of their families and communities.
* These village community centers are affiliated with READ global which is committed to Inspiring Rural Prosperity. They build community centers in rural villages which support reading, learning, using computers to design their embroidery projects - with a bottom line focus on social and economic transformation.
**The American India Foundation started in the US in 2001 in the wake of the Gujarat quake has impacted 1.7 million marginalized lives, provided 852,517 children through their digital equalizer program, provided 280,000 children with an education in migration prone regions, trained 100,000 unemployed people with marketable skills and empowered 35,000 rickshaw drivers to own their vehicles and sent 297 Americans in India to serve 137 NGOs.
Shahnaz Chinoy Taplin's blog is inspired by Khadijah, Prophet Muhammad's first wife. Khadijah is the quintessential role model for Muslim women. She was the first convert to Islam, the first Muslim woman entrepreneur, a globalist and a feminist.]]>Pakistan: A Tipping Point?tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.25706382013-02-06T17:02:28-05:002013-04-08T05:12:01-04:00Shahnaz Taplin-Chinoyhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/shahnaz-taplinchinoy/Dr. Tahirul Qadri, chief of Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran. He held a march with 40-50,000 of his supporters in Islamabad with the singular objective of overthrowing the current government -- ostensibly to be replaced by a clean and uncorrupt government -- which could potentially disrupt democracy in the country.
Mr. Qadri aimed to dislodge President Asif Zardari's government -- renowned for its corruptness -- and to replace it with a new administration led by technocrats. For some Pakistanis, Dr. Qadri's march in Islamabad conjured up fears of a military takeover once again while many questions about Mr. Qadri, his supporters and funders are left unanswered. The common wisdom is that Pakistani expats in Canada corroborated with him, but the reason for this is not clear. Interestingly, Mr. Qadri is a preacher -- but decisively not a fundamentalist. In fact, he is much like the aging activist Anna Hazare in India, who last year maintained a long-standing fight against corruption and for clean government through months of protests and a sustained fast, despite his ripe age.
Mr. Qadri's four-day campaign, which he took to the streets, enabled him to score modest gains -- a date set for the next election and a screening criteria for candidates -- to stem corruption. Credit for the resolution goes to the Pakistani leaders who salvaged the precarious situation skillfully. While I am not a fan of Zardari's, kudos to him and his team for creating "a cooling down" period which enabled negotiators on both sides to save face. Mr. Qadri stepping back was literally and metaphorically helped by unseasonal rains which provided him with an opportunity to call off the protest, rescuing his street supporters from winter weather exacerbated by the lack of water, food and sanitary facilities.
Mr. Qadri's rally focused on key issues for Pakistanis at a historic moment as the first civilian-led government (not a military dictatorship) will now yield to another democratic government. This is a giant step forward for Pakistan. Adnan Rehmat, in his article, "Old Tricks, New Pakistan," captures the political mood and spirit in the country. He writes, "the contours of a new Pakistan are emerging," with decidedly different characteristics. This includes a greater demand for democracy, inclusivity, better governance, support for electoral politics and a guarantee of fundamental rights by the state with pressure for party reforms. He highlights the new political parties like Imran Khan's and Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran (Mr. Qadri's Party), stepping up to assert a new agenda focused on governance, basic services and a solid bill of rights for citizens.
Bottom line: a violent disruption of the election process was averted -- peacefully. While the bazaars in Karachi were shut down for a day to protest yet another tragic assassination there, we zipped through a traffic-free ride into the city -- thanks to hourly updates on safety issues for tourists which our friends at Hum TV in Karachi kindly provided.
There is no question that this was a big step for Pakistan in the right direction: These negotiations reflected a sign of maturity for Pakistan's president and his team. There is more here that bodes well: People we spoke with took pride in how the country's leadership handled these delicate negotiations, salvaging a potentially fractious situation. The intelligencia, media and American diplomats were almost buoyant, saying "this could be a turning point for Pakistan." They were optimistic about the outcome and the mature handling of a crisis by politicians who in the past have often been politically clumsy. This time around, the president's men handled the challenging situation brilliantly -- earning a well deserved bravo for Pakistan !
Pakistanis are a lovely people and equally well known for their conspiracy theories. On the other side of the divide, many Pakistanis saw the troubling influence of their powerful armed forces behind him. Some say that Nawaz Sharif, leader of the opposition party, supported President Zardari because he believed that Mr. Qadri was promoting a "conspiracy against democracy," paving the way for an army coup. Interestingly, a professional Pakistani woman in the seat next to me on the flight to Islamabad said she had heard that this whole situation was rigged by the president himself to blow off the possibility of a military takeover! This rumor was also corroborated by our politically connected hosts in Lahore.
While Pakistan is often dismissed as a "failed state," Mr. Qadri clearly tapped into a deep and smoldering discontent on the streets. Pakistan's politicians are often corrupt and contemptuous of their constituents. Mr. Qadri capitalized on the political grievances and combined them with other deep seated issues, including terrorism, unemployment and energy shortages. "Clean" politics is a dream in Pakistan attributed to "the boiling rage experienced by the common man." Imran Khan, cricketer-turned-politician, running on a platform denouncing corruption while embracing clean politics, is a star attraction, drawing big crowds to his rallies.
The new mantra for the progress and stability of countries in South Asia is good governance, clean politics and inclusivity with a special focus on economically empowering women -- for the well-being of our countries on multiple levels.
The march from Lahore to Islamabad was a historic first in many ways: it was positive, peaceful and focused on intrinsic issues of clean governance and national interests. Further and importantly, the march included educated women and girls, men and boys who are key stakeholders. A historic step for Pakistan -- reinvigorating democracy and a vote for hope for the men and women on the street.
Shahnaz Chinoy Taplin's blog is inspired by Khadijah, Prophet Muhammad's first wife. Khadijah is the quintessential role model for Muslim women. She was the first convert to Islam, the first Muslim woman entrepreneur, a globalist and a feminist.]]>Why Women Must Be at the Heart of Phase II of the Arab Springtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.21763962012-11-30T17:44:43-05:002013-01-30T05:12:01-05:00Shahnaz Taplin-Chinoyhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/shahnaz-taplinchinoy/says Mabrouka M'barek, a newly elected member of the Tunisian National Constituent Assembly.
M'barek, a "founding mother" birthed in the Arab Spring, is engaged in drafting the country's new constitution. She is one of the 49 women in a 217 Assembly in Tunisia that ironically boasts of exceeding the female representation ratio in the U.S. Congress.
This is a big change. In the Arab world, women have lagged far behind as leaders in politics and business. This has largely and adversely affected progress and development as reported both by the World Economic Forum and the United Nations Development Program.
One thing is clear: There is a huge upside value in educating women and including them in our economies and governments. Women understand the plight of the underprivileged men, women and children -- yet, they are often excluded from participating in key decisions-making roles. The revolutions in the Middle East offer a chance to change this equation. It's a critical time. Yet the traditional approach -- tokenism -- is a demonstrated failure.
A quick recap captures the political progress of women in the Arab Spring:
• In Libya, women hold 33 seats in parliament but women have been excluded from "serious decision making." Their concerns have often been relegated to the back burner. Women have also been dissuaded from pursuing careers considered "too successful," says Alaa Murabit, the founder of Voice of Libyan Women.
• In the Syrian opposition front based outside Syria, and just being recognized by European governments, not a single woman is included.
• But it is in Egypt, the biggest Arab nation, where the real battle lines on the drafting of the new constitution have been drawn between secularists and Islamists. Egypt could well be the hallmark of the Arab Spring as time evolves. Today it seems to be firmly caught betwixt and between the old and new world order.
The pivotal issues in Egypt are women's rights, the role of religion in a democracy and the expression of faith. The key questions on women's rights are: Will marriage and inheritance be tied to Shariah law or will Islamists who want gender segregation and veiling prevail? The new draft of the constitution will be ready on December 12 and this will replace the 1971 charter.
A thorny but significant issue in Egypt is the future of Al Azhar, a highly respected institution of religious learning, dating from ninth century Cairo. Muslims globally view Al Azhar as the leader of Islamic scholarship upholding moderate Islam -- and therefore could become a political football between secularists and Islamists.
In drafting the new constitution, the ultraconservatives made two requests -- the first to replace the "principles of sharia" with the "rulings of sharia" or even just sharia; and the second to consider "Al Azhar as the new State reference for the interpretation of sharia." Both suggestions were rejected by the assembly's liberal members, who fear that Al-Azhar -- which today represents a moderate Islam -- could one day be used to limit freedoms should it fall under the control of ultraconservatives.
This would "effectively create a legislative vetting role for an unelected, unaccountable body with no recourse to judicial review," Human Rights Watch says.
Consider how this might impact Hend Badawi, a 23-year-old young woman from Banha, Egypt. Fashionably but conservatively dressed, Badawi is a student who was pushed, pulled, dragged, groped and cursed as she protested in Tahrir Square. With a broken wrist and fingers and lacerated feet, she was moved to a military hospital 12 hours later and she reflects: "When the January 25th [revolution] happened, I had the opportunity to mix my inner revolution with the revolution of my country." Later when Field Marshall Mohammad Tantawi, Egypt's de facto ruler at the time, visited her in the hospital, she said: "We are not the ones who are the thugs. ... Get out!" This emboldened her and gave her some serenity.
Nehad Abou el Kosam, co-founder of Egyptian Center for Women's Rights identifies the high bar facing women: "Women's issues are at the core of the Islamist movement." How will Egyptian women navigate around the Islamists being grounded in an anti-women agenda? That is the key question.
Hate vs. Hope for Arab women?
When these Egyptian women were asked if the revolution has helped women, Hana said, "Yes"; Samar said, "Not yet"; and Badawi said, "Absolutely not." Mona Altahawy, the fiercely outspoken Egyptian-American journalist who was beaten by security forces in Cairo during the revolution says: "Arab societies hate women." Yet, the Arab Spring has allowed Muslim girls and women to dream big dreams, as Ms. Murabit of Libya says: "For young girls to now tell me that they want to be the future president, minister of defense, these are things I never imagined."
But Eltawahy believes there's another link for women between politics and the home front: "They realize if they can stand up to Mubarak, they can stand up to their fathers and their mothers and their brothers."
"For societies to transform from repressed dictatorships to healthy democracies, key ingredients are needed," says Anne Applebaum, author of Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe. "These include patriotism, historical consciousness, education, ambition, optimism and especially patience. The destruction wrought by totalitarian governments always takes decades to repair." Revolutions are often a two step dance -- break and build and the building is a s-l-o-w process.
So if we are at the second step of the Arab revolutions -- the building process -- and if we understand that the perspective of women is essential to build modern, progressive, tolerant cultures and political systems, how do we measure whether the steps being taken to include women are going to get the job done?
Research by Tali Mendelberg and Christopher F. Karpowitz shows that "female representation matters, but only when there's parity with men." The key according to this study is that "women speak up less or appear to lose influence when they are in a minority. ... but once they constitute 60-80% of a group, they spoke as much as men..." The authors conclude that "women in legislatures, city councils and school boards speak more and highlight the needs of the underprivileged -- the poor, the vulnerable, children and families - and men listen."
So one of the biggest handicaps facing the Arab revolutions is that they are unlikely to provide adequate voice to the perspectives represented by women -- and that isn't just a problem for women.
Shahnaz Chinoy Taplin's blog is inspired by Khadijah, Prophet Muhammad's first wife. Khadijah is the quintessential role model for Muslim women. She was the first convert to Islam, the first Muslim woman entrepreneur, a globalist and a feminist]]>Read Is the Very First Word in the Qurantag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.19626282012-10-19T12:38:09-04:002012-12-19T05:12:01-05:00Shahnaz Taplin-Chinoyhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/shahnaz-taplinchinoy/
Given that the Quran starts with the word "read," I am stunned to witness the Taliban in Pakistan, who consider themselves good Muslims, open fire on Malala Yousafzai, a 14-year-old girl in Mingora, Swat. As she rode her school bus they shot her with bullets, leaving her in critical condition. Malala is not an ordinary Pakistani girl, she is a veritable star. The extraordinary daughter of her father, a school teacher, she dreamed of being educated, becoming a doctor, and was also the 2011 winner of Pakistan's first National Youth Peace Prize.
Malala lives in Swat, a region subjected to vicious subjugation by both the Taliban and the Pakistani army -- and a region where the lack of education for women has enabled extremist preachers to influence the uneducated and particularly the girls. It's also a part of a region where Invest in Muslim Women's Pakistani partners have managed to keep peace in 27 of 30 districts -- but, tragically, not all of them, and not Mingora.
If reading has a priority placement in the Quran, why is it that the Taliban targeted Malala for her crusading passion for education? Could it be because the Taliban reject the core tenets of Islam and consider education to be "obscene" and a "symbol of Western culture?"
In true Islam, women have rights to education, to work, to divorce with a financial settlement, to own property, to marry and remarry. As a young teen, Malala knew her Islamic rights when she said in a CNN interview: "I have the right to education. I have the right to play. I have the right to sing. I have the right to talk. I have the right to go to market. I have the right to speak up."
Malala took inspiration from her father's life; she watched him run a school for girls. She does not mince her words. She urged her cohorts to stand up to the Taliban because she believes that on judgement day we will all be asked why we stood by silently when people were being blown up. Malala is bold and brave -- unequivocally supported by her father -- despite her defying Taliban threats against her.
The Taliban attack on Malala has been so outrageous, so un-Islamic that even Jamaat ud Dawa, the charity arm of the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taliban denounced the act in no uncertain terms: "Shameful, Despicable, Barbaric attempt" was posted on the group's official Twitter feed, according to an editorial in the New York Times, and "Curse b upon assassins and perpetrators."
Nicholas Kristoff nails the intrinsic issues at stake in the battle between Islamist extremists and the rest of society when he quotes a 19-year-old female student at Peshawar University who says: "This is not just Malala's war. It is a war between two ideologies, between the light of education and the darkness."
Malala's priorities are clear when she writes to a New York Times reporter: "I want an access to the world of knowledge."
Our prayers are with Malala.
Personally, I see this battle as being about women's minds, women's education, women's progress and women's power. Women are on one side, the Taliban is on the other. I vote with the women -- unequivocally.
Why are the Arab streets inflamed? Is it the infamous video or something deeper?
The violent protests in Cairo and in Benghazi were painted with an anti-American brush, and attributed to the vile anti-Islamic video produced in California. But could it be that the 9/11 anniversary -- etched in our psyches -- precipitated the violent demonstrations, spreading to 20 Arab cities. Political pundits on the right and left surprisingly agree: Ross Douthat, an NYT columnist, negates the notion that the blasphemous video instigated the violent outbursts. Rather, he writes: <"The unrest in the Islamic world is more about power politics than blasphemy." Douthat nails the issue, I believe, when he attributes the violence to a duel between secularists and fundamentalists. This was evident in President Morsi's anti-American actions in the immediate aftermath of the attacks and riots. Morsi first stabilized his support base so that the Salafists, a religiously more conservative faction, could not score a victory over him. The protests are provoked by internal power politics -- even though the press coverage frequently focuses on the anti-American spirit of violent Arab demonstrations.
Before we go further, I would like to pay my respects to ambassador Christopher Stevens and his family for an unfathomable, profound and senseless loss of a quintessential diplomat. I cherish the stories about this "unsung hero" who loved being with the people on the ground, listening to them, speaking in Arabic and always being the last to speak at meetings. It's a great loss for the U.S., for Libya -- which he loved -- and the world at a critical juncture today.
"Why do they hate us" is what Eltahawy is frequently asked by Egyptians and Americans. Mona Eltahawy, a journalist and brave activist straddled between New York and Cairo over the last decade, and was also on the front lines of the Egyptian revolution. She now returns to Cairo to continue the fight and advance the political revolution and support social change. When my fellow Americans ask me that tired question -- ""Why do they hate us?" -- my initial response is usually: "It's not about you." When a fellow Egyptian wants to talk about hating the U.S., I flip that response on its head and tell her: "It's not about America; it's about you." The truth is somewhere in the middle, but too many people are willing to use it as a football in an endless match of political manipulation.
"For a slightly subtler response, I tell my fellow Americans that "they" don't hate them for their freedom but, rather because successive U.S. governments all too willingly and knowingly supported dictators who denied their populations any kind of freedom. As a U.S. citizen, I cherish the [first] amendment."
Fareed Zakaria on his TV program Global Public Square on Sept. 16 framed the out of control street protests on 9/11/12 in a broader quantitative context, reminding viewers that while hundreds were engaged in the violent protests, tens of thousands vigilantly participated by night and day in the Arab revolutions. Libya is not anti-American, though it is easy to paint these demonstrations as an "us against them duel" which exacerbates tensions.
Interestingly, there was a consensus among the four commentators on Global Public Square last Sunday, which featured Former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, Former World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, author Bernard-Henri Levy and professor of Islamic studies Tarik Ramadan. They and Fareed Zakaria all believe that the violence was not spurred by an anti-American fervor but by deeper divisive politics between rivaling political factions fighting for dominance. Comments ranged from Wolfowitz saying, "this isn't the Muslim world against the West" and Levy saying "this is a political fight between Democrats and fanatics." As a Muslim woman, I appreciated Tarik Ramadan's comments when he said, "This is not Islamic, in fact it is anti-Islamic."
We can take a page from history and note that the trajectories of Eastern Europe's revolutions in the '60s. They highlight how long it can take for political demonstrations to mature into functional democracies -- with a protracted one step forward, two step backward dance over several decades and as Brzezinski warned: "Don't confuse populism with democracy."
Further, I believe that it is equally important to have enlightened clergy, the problem solving types at the table, such as Imam Feisal Rauf, who says of Libya: "The real battle is not between Muslims and the West, but between the moderates and extremists in all faiths. The extremist brand of Islam has become dominant and political factors, among them communism and secularism. What we need today is a concerted effort to say: We understand the history, but our faith is based on the higher values of loving God and neighbor."
Imam Feisal continues: "The real battlefront is not between America and Islam or Muslims and Christians, Muslims and Jews, but between -- all of the moderate justice-loving people, the good people, devout people against all the extremists, because we have extremists in all -- in all religious, and even atheists as well. ... when an extremist commits an act, it fuels this kind of a [violent] response. And you have this vicious circle."
I also want to point out to those who claim to -- that all this is done in the name of Islam, that Islam is very explicit. The Quran states explicitly that "no soul shall be responsible for the sins or the crimes of another. And while this film is indeed offensive, and those who have done this have done this deliberately to offend Muslims, we should not kill innocent people."
Imam Feisal goes on to say that "the majority of Arabs and Muslims in the world are grateful, as you know ... the Libyan people are grateful to America for having gotten rid of Moammar Gadhafi, having gotten rid of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt." The imam also attests to how he feels "as an American and an American Muslim seeing our embassy and our flag being desecrated is just the wrong message."
Shahnaz Chinoy Taplin's blog is inspired by Khadijah, Prophet Muhammad's first wife. Khadijah is the quintessential role model for Muslim women. She was the first convert to Islam, the first Muslim woman entrepreneur, a globalist and a feminist.]]>Enemies of Diversity Are the Enemies of This Great Nationtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.18412642012-09-10T15:45:06-04:002012-11-10T05:12:01-05:00Shahnaz Taplin-Chinoyhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/shahnaz-taplinchinoy/
The crime was probably based on mistaken identities in the mind of the killer because Sikhs (some of whom wear turbans like Osama bin Laden) are often confused with Muslims.
First, my condolences and prayers to the families who lost their loved ones in Milwaukee, to a senseless tragedy in the Sikh temple.
22-year-old Jasbeen Kaur, the niece of the temple priest, Prakash Singh, an innocent victim of this tragedy says when asked about a hate crime, "I don't know what it means."
Though Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin graciously attended the temple services for the victims of this tragedy in Milwaukee, Prashad cautions: "Governor Scott Walker is not far from all this, being a fan of the Arizona anti-human legislation."
The temple tragedy is uniquely sad since Sikhs have pro-actively educated Americans about their faith and philosophy since 9/11. I was struck by their grit, spirit and dignity as Sikh temple leaders re-opened their doors in just five days to serve their community -- helping them grieve and heal -- even as they rise above the persecution.
"Divided We Fall" is a feature documentary on 9/11 racism which was made by Valarie Kaur, a third generation Sikh. A legal advocate who clerked for the Senate Judiciary Committee and led a high profile campaign against racial profiling, Kaur explains: "We were Americans; we wanted to claim our place as Americans." She educates the public about faith and values, expressing solidarity with her brethren among Muslim and Arab-Americans.
Major Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi who received the Bronze star for his service in Afghanistan says: "It is important for us to understand one another as people."
"The attack by Page was definitely a hate crime," says Eboo Patel, president and founder of the Chicago based Interfaith Youth Core. A member of the President's advisory Council on Inter-faith affairs, Patel offers a solution: "What you have to do is to spread the light of pluralism ... to ward off the darkness of prejudice." Patel is the author of "Sacred Ground," his recently released second book (and in full disclosure, he is my nephew).
In the 2008 election, rumors about Obama being a madrasa-educated Muslim initiated into militant Islam persisted. It was not until Colin Powell said "Obama is a Christian" on Meet the Press that he changed the frame. Powell continued: "But really, the right answer is What if he is (a Muslim)? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer was no, that's not America."
The Islamophobia engine in the United States further exacerbates the tensions. The Peter T. King hearings focusing on the suspicion and subversion of millions of American Muslims, and groups like Jihad Watch, ACT for America and Stop Islamization of American fuel the flames of the anti-Muslim fires.
John Shuford, Director of Hate Studies at Gonaga University in Spokane has coined the term "Emnification" -- "the process of turning a particular group into an enemy." Now that American Muslims have been "enmified," he argued "violence against them is understood in a mitigated, mediated way."
Does enmification, which clearly labels the problem, breed tolerance or just more intolerance? I vote for tolerance of differences, a necessary precursor to peaceful co-existence in a pluralistic society.
Shahnaz Taplin's blog is inspired by Khadijah, Prophet Muhammad's first wife. Khadijah is the quintessential role model for Muslim women -- the first convert to Islam, the first Muslim woman entrepreneur, a globalist and a feminist.]]>Post Arab Revolutions: TV Challenges Stereotypes, Pushes New Frontierstag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.18349152012-08-29T11:56:05-04:002012-10-29T05:12:04-04:00Shahnaz Taplin-Chinoyhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/shahnaz-taplinchinoy/In Syria:
Syrian soap operas (musalsals) that once united a country now are a "casualty of war." Soaps likeDamascene Days (Ayam Shamiya) were popular, even if closely allied with Assad's Baathist regime and ideology in the '90s. One soap harked back to Sultan Saladin, a 12th century hero who defeated the Crusaders and liberated Jerusalem. This soap thinly disguised the Crusaders as Americans and Israelis -- both manipulative and unacceptable. These soaps also focused on Ottoman oppression and demonized the French colonialists in Syria.
Arab media expert Omar Adam Sayfo, however, makes a key point: even propaganda infused historical soaps united diverse viewers -- Druse, Christian, Sunni or Alawite. Viewers cheered on the TV hero confronting the French soldiers and the TV heroine, "Um Joseph, the Christian woman who protected the Muslim neighborhood." Bottom line: The soaps -- though poisoned by ideology and demonization -- made Syrians proud of their history and heritage, even as they entertained viewers on hot, sultry afternoons in Ramadan. Though Turkish soaps now fill the gap for Syrians, old is still gold for the old timers, I suspect -- if only in memory.
In Saudi Arabia: TV tests fault line between modernity and tradition?
In the NYT, Alessandra Stanley reports that Saudi television is chipping away at patriarchal customs, "The Internet has emboldened online malcontents on both sides, but television, especially at Ramadan, is where society measures itself." This, I believe, is where the fault line between modernity and tradition is tested.
Saudi Arabia is technologically sophisticated. It is an early adopter. King Faisal was first to introduce television in the '60s in Saudi Arabia, which prompted his assassination. Today, even traditional Saudi imams use social media.
With large, captive audiences, Ramadan, the month of fasting, is when new TV serials are released and the ratings war starts. Saudi audiences have access to racy Turkish soaps and sexy Moroccan pop singers as well as Gossip Girl and CSI from the U.S. However, most regional broadcasters respect Saudi limits on modesty and political dialogue.
Three new TV shows shine the spotlight on paving new ground, challenging old norms:
Omar, a $30 million production with 31 episodes, focuses on Caliph Omar ibn al-Khattab, a companion of the Prophet and a revered founder of the Islamic empire. The serial, though instantly banned by the grand and blind mufti of Saudi Arabia, broke new ground by showing Omar's face on TV, a taboo. Viewers interpreted the showing of Omar's face as hope for change.
The Girls' Room series with minimal sex and focused on single, home based, Saudi women -- was still disconcerting to some viewers. The breakthrough here came in an episode where the young, married heroine asks her friends: Why they did not stop her from getting married?
Hindistani is a soap opera with a nod to India's Bollywood. A man, played by a Saudi actor, and his wife, played by an Iraqi actress -- for obvious reasons -- indulge in Bollywood style fantasy films from India. The couple, dressed in bright shades of green, hot pink and yellow, sings and dance as they discuss their love and jealousy in Arabic. The bright colors, dancing and modern music all defy Saudi protocols.
Hush Hush is a quiz show. Viewers call in to "Every Day a Car" and if they win, they get a Kia. But here's the catch: If a woman wins, she can register the car in her name but she must let her brothers and father driver her!
In our own backyard:
Recently, I watched an interview with the producers of Will & Grace who will soon release their new show, Partners. Charlie (David Krumholtz) who is straight and his business partner Louis (Michael Urie) who is gay are determined to break down negative stereotypes surrounding gay people. Ideas implanted in movies and on TV often show up intolerance and reframe old concepts in acceptable ways. The media is a vital starting point which can change entrenched stereotypes and humanize "the other."
As for the breakthroughs in the media in the Arab world -- it is one of the critical levers of change. Inshallah it will impact reform and respect the rights of women, minorities and other marginalized populations.
The exciting possibilities of using traditional and social media to advance rights and progress takes me back to my grad school thesis focused on using TV for development and social change. Our Bombay-based team produced the first Sesame Street pilot focused on teaching the Hindi alphabet, jingles and all, to slum dwellers in Mumbai!
The Arab revolutions have brought to the forefront pain, anguish and high death tolls. Let these not be in vain and let's invest and support the levers of change -- of which the media and Internet are a mainstay.
Shahnaz Taplin's blog is inspired by Khadijah, Prophet Muhammad's first wife. Khadijah is the quintessential role model for Muslim women. She was the first convert to Islam, the first Muslim woman entrepreneur, a globalist and a feminist.]]>Is Islam Compatible With Women's Sports, Fitness and Health?tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.17906172012-08-22T11:30:35-04:002012-10-22T05:12:07-04:00Shahnaz Taplin-Chinoyhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/shahnaz-taplinchinoy/
The global Muslim mosaic is multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic -- as are the women. In Bishkek, I met a vodka-drinking Krgyz woman with a doctoral degree. She defies the traditional stereotype of Muslim women -- and yet she views herself as a solid, observant, liberal Muslim who said to me: "I am every bit as Muslim as any other Muslim." She is a stark contrast to Saudi, Yemeni and Nigerian women controlled by the strict tenets of sharia.
Nine Muslim women contestants won medals in the London Olympics. They represented the world's Islamic spectrum. Their faith dictated their norms of dress, including the hijab which the Olympic committee compromised on for Wojdan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani from Saudi Arabia who competed in Judo.
Modesty, no doubt, is a vital tenet for conservative Muslim women -- many of whom do not want to negotiate the hijab, moderating their modesty, even as they participate in the Olympic Games. On the other hand, for Americans, modesty is of no import in the sports arena, where performance trumps all.
The big question is where does this conservatism come from? Are these views propagated by the Islamic faith or culture? The words and actions of Prophet Mohammed would suggest that these restrictive views on women's sports are inconsistent with the faith.
But not all countries we think of as being religiously dominated are in the anti-girls sports camp. In an article entitled, "Islam and Women's Sports," Gertrud Pfister explains Iran, where Muslim feminists claim that neither the Quran nor Muhammad's sayings prescribe women's exclusion from public life. Iranians support physical activity and good health for both sexes.
In fact, Iran has the distinction of being an enlightened forerunner in supporting women's sports as championed by Fa'ezeh Hashemi, daughter of President Rafsanjani. Almost 20 years ago, Hashemi initiated the first Women's Games in Iran (in 1993); and once again in 2005 when 1,700 athletes from 40 countries competed and 10,000 people attended -- while Saudi Arabia brings up the rear -- permitting women to participate this year in the 2012 Olympics.
When local culture wins, women mostly lose: Muslim women athletes are caught in the cross fire between faith and culture. If the latter is dominated by patriarchy, misogyny and tribal customs, the religious support for sports and good health is simply ignored. Muslim sociologists fight back by referencing Islamic sources in concluding sports for health should be mandated for women. The struggle is increasingly more between progressive sports loving Muslim women like Lina al-Maeena, founder of the Jeddah United basketball league, being pitted against regressive female sexuality/chastity advocates. These concerns are also tied closely to family honor which could be challenging as Muslim women forge new frontiers for themselves.
But what is the genuine Islamic tradition? What did the Prophet say about women and sports?
Ahmed Shihab Eldin, in "Saudi Arabia's Olympic Paradox: Insulting Women, Islam and "Prostitutes" on HuffPost, quotes a Saudi female friend questioning Saudi Arabia's interpretation of the faith: "To me it is a contradiction to Islam itself. The prophet said teach your children 3 things, archery, swimming and riding horse. ... Archery for being self-sufficient and getting food, riding horses for mobility and swimming for sport." The friend goes one step further and she says, "today's modern world equivalent -- getting a job, driving cars and sports in general -- are still restricted for millions of women."
This violation of religious tradition has serious consequences. It impacts women's ability to exercise, to compete in sports and most egregious of all is its detrimental impact on their health. Obesity of >25kg among 20+ years, is very high in Saudi Arabia: for men it is 70.2 percent and for women it is 73.2 percent -- but before we get too high handed, here is the comparative data set for American men 72.5 percent and for American women 66.3 percent (according to the WHO Global Status 2010 report). Better now than later for both nations to address this health hazard for both sexes.
And finally, when in doubt, Muslims can again revert to the Prophet who is reported to have said: "And your body also has a right over you." This is the Islam of my youth. It is the Islam of sense, sensibility and spirituality -- a faith of moderation, a way of life which also believes in the oneness of humanity.
This blog is inspired by Khadijah, Prophet Muhammad's first wife. Khadijah is the quintessential role model for Muslim women. She was the first convert to Islam, the first Muslim woman entrepreneur, a globalist and a feminist]]>Saudi Women in the Olympics: Breakthrough or Tokenism?tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.17668002012-08-13T18:33:56-04:002012-10-13T05:12:11-04:00Shahnaz Taplin-Chinoyhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/shahnaz-taplinchinoy/Sarah Attar, in judo and track and field respectively.
External Image vs. Internal Reality for Saudi Women
Saudi women in the London Olympics -- is a giant step forward but complex and punctuated by a dual message. It signals Saudi Arabia's openness to becoming a global player on many more playing fields. Yet, this signal butts up against the reality that Saudi schoolgirls lack access to sports and physical activities, a huge deprivation in a population afflicted with extraordinary levels of obesity and where 45 percent of middle aged women are obese.
I met Lina al-Maeena, a confident young Saudi woman, mother and founder of a woman's basketball team a couple of years ago in Jeddah. In 2006, she started Jeddah United, the first local sports company in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia which promotes and trains women for sports events. Lina blew me away with her passion for basketball. She challenged my rigid stereotype of Saudi women. An optimist, she believes that the Saudi women's Olympic debut, even as a symbol, could lead to progress. She predicts that Saudi women will be allowed to train for the next Olympics. "These moments break down stereotype," says Lina. "I can see the other side of the argument, but I choose to focus on the positive." Lina is flanked by conservative and progressive Saudi voices. On the conservative side, a Twitter hash tag describes the two Saudi women athletes as "Prostitutes of the Olympics."
On the progressive side, Samar Fatany, Lina's mother, is a senior broadcaster at Radio Jeddah and producer of Generation Next, a talk show on youth issues. Fatany comments on the Olympics: "The moderate and progressive members of society are delighted... The move will pave the way for more professional athletes to participate in the future. It will offer hope for other sports lovers to qualify... It is definitely a positive beginning and a step in the right direction. Lina is already planning to qualify the Jeddah United basketball team for the next Olympics."
Similarly, "every step forward counts," says Jeddah's Maha Akheel, a Saudi journalist and writer, and the author of the book Saudi Women in the Media. "The views were split between those who supported and those who opposed but I think the majority thought it was a positive thing. Most people cheered on the athletes and supported them regardless of the outcome." She concludes: "Personally I think it was wonderful that they participated even if the Saudi Olympic team had to have their arm twisted to allow them in the team."
"Not so fast," argues Ahmed al-Marzooqi, editor-in-chief of the Saudi-based online sports site shesport.com. Marzooqi believes that the Olympic participation does not change the realities for Saudi girls and women at home. "Still," he concedes, "the opening is not without significance."
But Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, host/producer of HuffPost Live, strikes a caustic chord: "By sending these two women to London under the guise of progress, Saudi Arabia will indeed be taking a trophy home for once again proving that among its Arab neighbors, when it comes to blatant backwardness, hypocrisy and systemic gender discrimination, it takes home the gold, and then some." Shihab-Eldin continues: "It is one thing to segment your society and prevent gender-mixing, but to prevent women from exercising and participating in team sports in 2012 and to justify it with the importance of adhering to Sharia law, obtaining a male family member's approval and dressing modestly is insulting to women, Islam and Olympics."
Who holds the power: Clergy & Royalty vs. Youth & Women?
These contradictions reflect the underlying power realities.The Saudi clergy and the royalty wield a strong hold over social and cultural norms for women. But there is a vital antidote comprised of two key cohorts: women and youth. The duel is escalating, but who wins, who loses and when are the trends to track? Saudi analysts at think tanks maintain that there was some kind of a tacit nod from the clergy to the royalty even as King Abdullah's daughter, Adelah, a progressive on women's rights, has a hand on the steering wheel of long overdue change for women. The youth bulge looms -- Saudi youth (those under the age of 25) make up 61 percent of the population. The question is how long before this tech-savvy generation revolts and seizes the reins of power? Young women -- the most restricted and impacted target with regard to their rights to drive, to marry, to travel -- are just raring to go. Some experts maintain that change will come -- but the general gestalt of public intellectuals and Saudis in the know, is that culture is s-l-o-w-moving and change will take time in Saudi Arabia.
This blog is inspired by Khadijah, Prophet Muhammad's first wife. Khadijah is the quintessential role model for Muslim women. She was the first convert to Islam, the first Muslim woman entrepreneur, a globalist and a feminist. ]]>Three Arab Revolutions: Will Democracy Root, Will Women Thrive?tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.17265432012-08-03T10:58:38-04:002012-10-03T05:12:02-04:00Shahnaz Taplin-Chinoyhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/shahnaz-taplinchinoy/ One thing is crystal clear: Women are central to the discourse on how democracy develops in the Middle East and North Africa region post revolution. The opportunities afforded to women will shape the political and socio-economic contours in their countries.
Who steps up to create and fund civil society institutions, and champion women's strategic engagement and leadership? Will Arab women participate in shaping the new societies with their male brethren? Who will erase road blocks and pave the highways of opportunity for women to access education, embark on new careers and enter the work force in their communities?
Many questions, fewer answers -- while we wait to see if and how democracy takes root in a fluctuating Arab world.
What the polls highlight:
The Gallup report "After the Arab Uprisings: Women on Rights, Religion, and Rebuilding" found:
• Men's support for women's equal legal status and employment options was linked to their own occupational and life satisfaction... and not based on religious attitudes.
• Both genders rate their lives as being worse post-revolution, but women are more likely to rate their lives as better overall in 2011.
• The majority of Arab men -- almost as many as women -- agreed that women should be guaranteed the same legal rights as men.
Voices from the region:
Farida Lebidi -- Islamist and a lawyer in Tunis. Lebidi is a member of the Ennahda party elected to the newly constituted assembly. Twenty years ago, Lebidi was a law student, thwarted from taking her exams and taken prisoner for her political activism. Today, Lebidi leads the team, drafting "rights and liberties" in the new constitution. Lebidi, an Islamist, believes that adultery should be a capital offense.
Alaa Murabit -- Libyan activist and founder of the Voice of Libyan Women (VLW) "remembers how, under Gaddafi, 'men felt they could harass and marginalize women with no consequences.'" Today, women's groups trying to acquire more rights for themselves are often thwarted by conservative traditions.
Zahra Langhi -- Libyan Women's Platform for Peace: "We have a patriarchal culture." "It's not a matter of just changing legislation; we need a cultural and educational revolution."
The women's rights landscape is further complicated by women who criticize activists as being anti-Islamic and secular -- even as they pursue emancipation. Yet, there is hope in the fact that 625 women contested in the Libyan election on July 7. Of the 2.7 million people registered to vote, 45 percent are female.
Mona Eltawahy -- An Egyptian writer and journalist, who resides in New York, could not stand to watch the heartbreaking events of the revolution unfurling at Tahrir Square. So she landed herself in the midst of the revolution in Cairo -- only to have the riot police beat her, break her right hand and left arm -- and subsequently release her. Mona Eltawahy, sometimes controversial, made waves when she wrote the article "Why Do They Hate Us?" in Foreign Policy, highlighting regressive attitudes towards Arab women.
"I'm a feminist... I never imagined they would beat a woman this bad," said Ms. Eltahawy. "But it wasn't me they were beating up, it was Tahrir. Our bodies now are stages or substitutes for Tahrir, and they extract this revenge on our bodies for what we did, for the walls we broke down."
Eltahawy is now focused on the constitution: "Women's rights, freedom of expression and freedom of religion, can and must be protected." She is concerned with all the jostling around by Islamist purists wanting to include Shariah law in the constitution and determine which other faiths should be recognized by the new constitution.
My friend Iman Bibars, Vice President of Ashoka in Egypt and a long time feminist and activist who was in the thick of the Tahrir square revolution says: "I am worried and not happy with the disrespect that was shown initially to the decisions of the constitutional court. I am also alarmed that, to date, we have no economic plan while the economic situation is deteriorating." And finally, she says, "We don't have a strong or unified or mature secular voice to balance the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamic voices."
These five brave Arab women -- like so many other women -- were fully engaged in the Arab revolutions. They put their bodies on the line and now they are engaged in the constitutional battle for equalizing the playing field for women and men. They are striving for an egalitarian civil society where rights, freedom, education and empowerment is the birth right of every man and woman.
Is democracy and women's effective participation in Egypt and other Arab countries a fantasy? No. Can this become a reality? Yes. Will there be road bumps along the way? Yes as well.
Given my own experience with women's rights in India, I can attest to the fact that the best laws on the books, but without implementation, have minimum impact. My hope is that the Arab revolutionaries can create a new impact-driven constitutional imprint to create a democracy, advancing civil society and the economic empowerment of women.
I cast my vote for a new world vision for Arab men and women -- who were brave to put their bodies, minds and souls on the front lines. I hope that their courageous efforts will result in a new and egalitarian world -- which values faith but also respects other religions. Inclusion of women at all levels of the social and economic spectrum is a prerequisite for progress. Women helped make the first wave of the revolutions -- only their full engagement will yield the fruits that both men and women sought in the streets.
Khadijah's Daughters is Shahnaz Chinoy Taplin's blog focused on Muslim women -- their issues, challenges and opportunities. Shahnaz is Chair, Invest in Muslim Women.]]>Who Is the Authentic Arab Woman?tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.14752782012-05-04T10:49:05-04:002012-07-04T05:12:04-04:00Shahnaz Taplin-Chinoyhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/shahnaz-taplinchinoy/
Other key facts focused on how women were hardly making progress towards redistribution of wealth, resources or a just and fair society. The 2011 Arab revolutions were placed in a historical context; coalitions were viewed as important as was the engagement of youth -- not just through Google -- but by exposing youth in these challenging times to seasoned voices from the women's movement.
"Gender equality must become a lived reality" said Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director, UN Women in a video message. Bachelet, former President of Chile, cuts to the core in her address: "I am often asked: What does it take to make economic change for women?" She responds: "Laws advancing women's rights, equal opportunities and equal access." For women to progress, Bachelet highlights the need for: "Equal access to resources, assets and markets as well as human rights." It takes time to build coalitions and alliances to move an agenda forward, explains Bachelet, but she also says, "it takes political will."
76% of women's rights activists surveyed by AWID say the strength of the fundamentalists has increased in the last decade and 60% feel it has increased in the context of their work.
8 out of 10 women's rights activists say that religious fundamentalism has negatively impacted women's rights specifically in health and reproductive rights, family laws, public participation, economic rights, reducing women's autonomy as violence against women increased.
Two thirds of activists surveyed view the impact of fundamentalism as being more obstructive of women's rights than other movements. Therefore, it is not surprising that women have taken the lead in resisting fundamentalisms: 79% of the activists feel that women's organizations and the women's movement has been at the forefront of challenging religious fundamentalism.
Speakers and advocates at the conference provided key insights into how local cultures and women in particular are impacted by the fundamentalism which is sweeping the world.
Zainah Anwar at Sisters in Islam -- A Voice for Change in Malaysia is someone I was thrilled to see again. I have tracked and admired her work for many years. Zainah is a pioneering advocate who has fought indefatigably for more than twenty years to preserve and advance the rights of women in Malaysia. She fights polygamy, advocates for Muslim women's rights to divorce and defends women's rights broadly.
I reconnected with Jamila Afghani, who conducts imam trainings in Kabul and Jalalabad to combat domestic violence against women. She re-inspired me and had me all choked up as she explained her latest ordeal with a Taliban blast in Kabul just prior to her departure.
The bomb blast occurred with Jamila, her 5 year old son and her husband being in three different locations. Uncertain about life and death -- they all waited to reconnect with each other on their cell phones. Jamila was understandably shook up and ambivalent about participating in the AWID conference, but her husband packed her bags and encouraged her to attend the conference -- which she did like a good trooper. Jamila is one of my icons. When I asked how she could possibly attend the conference in the immediate aftermath of her emotional ordeal with the bomb blast experience, she said without hesitation "but I have to go on." I applaud Jamila for her courage and commitment to the women in her community. We then got down to the basic issues of life for Afghani women who lack access to safe sanitation and public toilets in their daily lives and what Invest in Muslim Women could do about this challenge. Stay tuned, more later.
The other very special woman I saw is one of my heroines, Jodie Evans of Code Pink based in Los Angeles -- ever the crusader, an advocate for enlightened policies and peace. She gave me a strategic but caring pep talk on how activists need to feed their souls and take their breaks -- so they can move on to the next battle they must fight! She reiterated her offer to help Invest in Muslim Women because, she said, "I believe in your idea to reach Muslim women through a faith based lens." Jodie is the best.
Stay tuned for highights from AWID's report, Towards a Future without Fundamentalisms in the next blog:
This blog is inspired by Khadijah, Prophet Muhammad's first wife. Khadijah is the quintessential role model for Muslim women. She was the first convert to Islam, the first Muslim woman entrepreneur, a globalist and a feminist.]]>The Ecstasy and Agony of India -- From the Political to the Tribaltag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.12777492012-02-15T14:38:51-05:002012-04-16T05:12:01-04:00Shahnaz Taplin-Chinoyhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/shahnaz-taplinchinoy/cowbelt, because of its economic backwardness. Given its population, Uttar Pradesh could be the fifth largest country in the world, but in India it is known for its social indicators -- low rates of literacy and high rates of maternal and infant mortality.
Lucknow still boasts spectacular 15th century monuments, the legacy of aristocratic "Nawabs" -- alongside scores of statues of its current and first-ever lower caste Chief Minister, the formidable Mayawati.
Mayawati, and her statutes, sport a bob haircut and a signature Gucci bag on her arm, modeled on Maggie Thatcher. Hundreds of acres in downtown Lucknow are dedicated to Mayawati's credo: "Political leaders from the outcastes can be just as grandiose as those from the traditional elite." The significance of those sculptured totems, raised at a cost of billions have not been lost on the poor voters, including the Dalits (formerly untouchables) who powered Mayawati's victory run in the last state election. For them, Mayawati stands tall as a political leader of India's most populous state who has empowered them politically as much as she has empowered herself. But at the same time her efforts to recreate Moghul scale public spaces in the 21st century may bring her down.
What I love about Indian politics is that "Aam Admi," the common man/woman, has a finger firmly placed on the political realities and should never be underestimated. Our taxi driver who drove us into town from the airport, all the while providing us with a pertinent update including a poignant sound bite on Mayawati: "How could she build these wasteful monuments when the people need healthcare, education and sanitation? These monuments do not benefit the common man in any way." This was a refrain we heard multiple times during our stay in this beautiful, cultured city, once host to poets, musicians and artisans, and still celebrated for its exquisite cuisine.
Elections are currently under way in a handful of states in India this year, including Uttar Pradesh. Despite the country's low levels of education and widespread poverty, the voter turnout has been gratifyingly high -- up to 78 percent. While voters are sometimes paid to exercise their franchise (anything from a bottle of hooch to a computer, we are reliably informed), voting is higher among those belonging to the low- income groups rather than the Indian elites.
Politics cannot be severed from the mind-blowing personal journey in Lucknow: the Hindu driver who accompanied us to visit Muslim women's projects and the Shia Nawabi monuments was a philosopher who understood the core of Islam. He lives in love and harmony with his Muslim neighbors. I wonder, even as he is tells me that he is virtually raising his Muslim neighbor's daughter who dines with his family most nights as if she is his own, how this happens, and he offers an explanation: "First, we respect our common humanity with our neighbors and then we follow our faiths."
As my husband and I stroll along the banks of the Gomti river, enjoying the wind blown, kaleidoscopic saris, freshly embroidered, starched and washed by the dhobis or washer men, then suspended to dry, we meet, chat and fall in love with a soulful dhobi. On his bare knees on the rocky river bank, washing and starching the clothes at least nine times, he gives generously of his time. I probe about politics, his family life, and communalism. "There is no difference between Hindus and Muslims. I have supported the Bharatiya Janata Party, (a right wing party focused on economics which sometimes stirs the pot on communalism). I have donated (through his labor union), campaigned and voted for the former Prime Minister Vajpayee, who ran for office from this district but I will not support the corrupt Mayawati, (current chief minister) because she has squandered the common man's public resources." By the standard of educated folks, our dhobi might be viewed as uneducated but he is wise. He gets the issues, he has a moral rudder. He too prides himself in living peacefully with his Hindu neighbors. He comes by his principles honestly and from his tribe -- his ancestors -- and believes and follows in their footsteps, retracing their commitments and actions of living in peace with fellows, whether Hindu dhobis or Muslim. When I offered the dhobi a small tip for hijacking him from his work, he refused the tip and touched my heart when he said, "I spoke to you from my heart. I can't take money from you," as he ekes out a meager living for his family on the banks of the Gomti. Imagine that!
But if Aam Admi thrills, the political leadership chills. The political paradoxes of India invade even the literary circuit. Two noted authors -- the famous or infamous (depending on your point of view) Salman Rushdie, author of "The Satanic Verses," was recently told by government that it could not guarantee his protection if he chose to attend the literary festival in Jaipur, India in January. Similarly, Taslima Nasrin, author of "Shame" had her book launch cancelled at the Calcutta book fair, because the political parties were stirring up potential violence. Many Indians viewed these bans as an attempt by the Congress-ruled government both at the Centre and in Rajasthan to pander to fundamentalist sentiments within the Muslim community -- a key vote block in current elections which are underway.
Where my taxi driver and dhobi would have peace, their leaders see advantage in strife - where and when does India reach the tipping point and choose its path?]]>