Breaking myth about
Muslim women’s
education
Islam enjoins upon its followers
both men and women to
dedicate themselves fully to
learning knowledge. There is
an ingrained value in every
Muslim, man and woman alike
to pursue knowledge and to
learn about God's Truth.
Prophet Mohammad (P.B.U.H)
advised his followers to seek
knowledge from every nook
and corner of the world. In
keeping with this value, Muslim
women are continuing to make
headway in the field of
science and their participation
in terms of graduation ratios
often surpasses that of
western women in pursuing
scientific degrees according to
UNESCO.
Contrarily, the western media
is never tired of churning out
stereotypes and outdated
clichés about the Muslim
women. Their favourite
propaganda line is that it is
because of discrimination
ordered by the Islam that the
Muslim women lag behind in
the field of education. The
western mind gets swayed in
favour of this kind of
reasoning when it is repeated
over and over, while the fact
is that truth is other way
round. The Islamic message,
which stresses gender equity
and rights for women, is
often polluted by competing
cultural values that have no
basis in Islam scripture.
The quest for knowledge has
always applied to women in
Islam. God has made no
difference between genders in
this area. The Prophet (P.B.U.H)
once said: "Seeking knowledge
is a mandatory for every
Muslim (male and
female)." (Sahih Bukhari)
History bears witness to the
fact that the Muslim women
have achieved numerous
excellences in the field of
science and technology
thereby opening ways for
more exploration through their
findings and dedication.
...Read the complete article from the comments
But
ReplyDeletethe western media does not
take these contributions into
account nor is it ready to
offer any kind of appreciation
for these women who have
broken male hegemony in the
field of science and technology.
The fact is that the United
States falls behind six Muslim
countries in the percentage of
women graduating in science
to the total science graduate
population. The countries
whose ratio of women science
graduates exceeds that of
the United States are Bahrain,
Brunei Darussalam, Kyrgyzstan,
Lebanon, Qatar and Turkey.
Morocco exceeds the United
States in the ratio of women
engineering graduates as a
percentage of the science
graduate population.
Traditionally, Muslim women do
not face the kind of
discouragement in the sciences
to the extent that their
Western counterparts do,
which explains why statistics
show such high ratios of
Muslim women graduates in
science fields as a percentage
to the total science graduate
population. However, the fact
of the matter is that instead
of any religion injunctions,
these are the socio-economic
hurdles that apply equally to
both men and women and
hinder their way to
advancement. These hurdles
reflect themselves in the form
of poverty, illiteracy, political
instability and the policy of
foreign powers.
Data that explains the real
problem can be found by
comparing the total educated
populations of countries and
regions of the world. A high
degree of illiteracy and low
levels of secondary school
enrollment account for the
less number of graduates in
poorer countries than in the
wealthier regions. In locales
defined by UNESCO in their
recent report, gross
secondary school enrollment
ratios are very low: Africa
(below 40%), West Asia (below
60%), and East Asia (below
75%).
Gender inequity is a fact of
life and does exist, but Islam
cannot be singled out for
being responsible for it nor
can it be relegated to Muslim
countries. Some disparaging
gender gaps in higher
education exist where the
religion of Islam isn't even
practiced by a majority of the
population. For example, only
44% of people enrolled in
higher education in Switzerland
are women, Guatemala ( 43% ),
Rwanda ( 37% ), Korea ( 36% ),
Bhutan ( 34% ), Cambodia ( 29% )
and Liechtenstein ( 27% ).
On the other side of the coin,
ReplyDeletein Tunisia, a country where
98% of people practice Islam,
there were 5% more female
students enrolled than males
in higher education. Malaysian
women made up 55% of the
enrolled population in higher
education, Lebanon ( 54% ),
Jordan and Libya ( 51% ).
Bahrain even exceeded the
United States in the ratio of
women enrolled in higher
education by 6%. If education
is freedom, then it looks like
Muslim women in Bahrain are
more liberated than American
women.
It is not Islam that threatens
a woman's right to education.
Rather these are the
governments, which are hostile
to Islam, which often set up
roadblocks to prevent Muslim
women from obtaining
education. Both France and
Turkey are guilty of this type
of exclusionary persecution, all
under the false guise of
secularism. According to Human
Rights Watch (HRW), a
prestigious nongovernmental
organization, these bans
exclude thousands of women
from institutions of higher
learning each year. A 2004
HRW report states, "This
restriction of women's choice
of dress is discriminatory and
violates their right to
education, their right to
freedom of thought, conscience
and religion, and their right
to privacy."
Despite the fact that the
Muslim woman is constantly
being harassed about her
choice in religion and face the
sustained and clichéd portrayal
at the hands of the western
media that ridicule her faith
and demonize her culture,
there exists an Islamic
tradition celebrating women in
science. The Muslims need to
remind the world of such
heroic and ground-breaking
women contributions in an
attempt to correct their
perspectives. Today, the Islamic
culture in which women are
encouraged to participate,
excel and lead in scientific
fields continues to express
itself, not only through
statistical data, but in real,
living, breathing and praying
people. Although these women
are exceptional, they are by
no means the exception to
the rule.
Here we have few examples
from around the world.
Professor Samira Ibrahim Islam,
was nominated as a
distinguished Scientist of the
World For the Year 2000 by
UNESCO. She made significant
contributions in drug safety
by defining the Saudi profile
for drug metabolism. Sameena
Shah, presented an innovative
algorithm in computerized
cognitive leaning that she and
a team of colleagues
developed at IIT Delhi, India.
Professor Dr. Bina Shaheen
Siddiqui, has made significant
contributions to medicine and
agriculture through her study
and classification of indigenous
plant materials. She has been
awarded several patents for
anticancer constituents and
biopesticides and has written
more than 250 research
articles. She has been honored
with several prestigious
awards including the Khwarizmi
International Award of Iran
and Salam Prize in Chemistry.
Historic records show that
women participated in science
and medicine in Muslim
societies. By contrast, in
America, during the 1890's
women could not be doctors,
and yet, Muslim women
doctors were seen as equals
to their male counterparts
hundred's of years earlier,
they were even responsible
for written contributions in
the field. Also, women like
Ijliya, an astrolab builder, were
employed as skilled scientists
in Muslim courts. Others made
progress in pharmacology.
The data for years 2002/2003
contained in these tables
describes the percentage of
women graduates in science
and engineering out of the
total science and engineering
graduate population in each
country, and pertains to
higher-education in science:
(Statistics from the "Global
Education Digest" report
released from UNESCO Institute
for Statistics2005)
Woman Graduates in
Science
Bahrain 74%
Bangladesh 24%
Brunei Darussalam 49%
Kyrgyzstan 64%
Lebanon 47%
Qatar 71%
Turkey 44%
Compared with...
U.S. 43%
Japan 25%
Women Graduates in
Engineering
Eritrea 4%
Morocco 25%
Compared with...
U.S. 19%
Japan 13%