From: ys3359@thor.albany.edu (Yazmasterj)
Subject: Re: 'burqa and muslim women'
Organization: State University of New York at Albany
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 92 16:17:30 GMT

In article <mirza.702608758@mira.sce.carleton.ca> mirza@sce.carleton.ca (Murad A. Mirza) writes:
>assalam alaikum behan ji,
>
>aap ka post parah dil khush bhi hua aur udas bhi.  You have definitely 
>articulated yourself very well, Maulana may have been surprised.  Though
>he was really surprised when he saw Lady Rana Liaqat Ali Khan accompanying
>her husband everywhere.  
>
>Remember, Maulana was a married man himself and a father too (both daughters
>and sons), and I don't know if he had sisters.  So, he definitely was 
>qualified to talk on the above topic.  But I have to accept the fact that his 
>influence on his children was also not that pronounced as you may think.
>
>To start my discussion (in parts) I will first set the parameters of this
>exchange, which I am sure Maulana had in mind too:
>
>	1) Remember, Hazrat Ayesha (RAA) is the source of 50% of all
>	   hadiths quoted by sunni ulema.
>
>	2) As you have mentioned about Hazrat Khadija (RAA),
>	   ofcourse she was not for the purpose of procreation
>	   (Hazrat Fatima (RAA) leader of women in Jannah was born to her)
>	   but she was also a worthy partner and an influential
>	   woman in Quraish.

I never forgot that the women of the Prophet's lifetime, those who were
close to him were wonderful examples of strong, capable women.  However
when Maulana Maudoodi states in his book that women are not capable of
working outside of the home because their menstrual period renders them
without strength or judgment for one week in a month, I wonder if he
remembered those women from the dawn of Islam.  Every human being can 
become a slave to their biological functions.  I am sitting here ill right
now (with the flu).  However, the menstrual period a woman goes 
through is not a grave incapacitating illness.  It is definitely possible
to control one's judgment and strength during that time.  Please accept 
this as fact from a woman who goes through this herself and knows many
other women.  Personally I view it as a regular hassle.

In addition, the words concerning a woman's role solely as a procreative
force are not mine.  They are the Maulana's.  I do not have the book with
me right now so I can't give you an exact page number however the book
is *Birth Control*.  If you ever get a chance, pick it up and you will
see what I am talking about.  


>The Ummahat-ul-Momineen were a group of extensively powerful women, having
>influence over their respective tribes and nationalities.  The grouping
>of these women in one household resulted in such an assembly of nations
>which Sohrawardy Saheb would be proud of.  

Since I never knew the Prime Minister (I assume that it is he who you are
referring to), I don't know if he would be proud or not.  My family is
not directly related to him.  I believe we were acquainted with his 
daughter at one time.  There are a lot of Sohrawardy's out there.
My grandfather was Abdul Hafiz Sohrawardy.  He was from Gaya in Bihar.


>Did purdah hinder the progress of Islam then? No. This question is posed
>to start off this discussion.

Purdah was a necessity then because of the harrassment which the Muslim
women had to deal with.  The tribal men did everything they could to 
disturb the atmosphere of Muslims and harrassing the women was one of those
ways.  I believe the verse which asked women to "lower their garments over
them" (not an exact Quranic translation, but I think that's the gist of it)
was addressed to the wives of the Prophet and it was specifically declared
in that verse that they were not like other women.  In fact, they were not
allowed to remarry after the death of the Prophet, even after the period
of iddat.  Shall we then rescind that right for all Muslim women?


>Maulana obviously is talking about the very small details of the debate 
>about purdah. 

His book is entitled *Purdah and the Status of Women*.  He goes into pretty
comprehensive detail in describing his opinion of the social ills of that 
time (I believe he published it in 1939) and the relation of those problems
to the emancipation of women.  


>Saudi Arabia is a good model to look at (image of the situation in above para.)
>
>What is happening there? 
>
>Women sit at home (tang pay tang dal kar) and conduct the affairs like a real
>master, aur tou aur aik aik kilo sona phen kar - baichari suppressed women.
>Gari Chalanay Aik Nahi Dou driver, our darjanoun noukranian, haye baicharian.
>If you go to Saudi Arabia (ofcourse with a Mehram) then ask around how are
>women being treated or you can confirm this from your relatives or friends who
>have lived there for a while. 


I believe you are trying to tell me (albeit very sarcastically) that the 
women of Saudi Arabia are not suffering at all, but in fact sitting in the
lap of luxury with servents and drivers to do their bidding.  Well, if they
like it, I suppose that's fine for them.  I find the notion of sitting idle
and having people wait on me repulsive, personally.  I don't want to go out
and work so I can earn money and have people wait on me.  I want to work 
because I want an active contributory role in this world.  I don't want that
contribution to be limited by men to the number of children I help produce
or the vigor with which I cook my husband's meals.  I have talents which
go beyond this limit of the four walls of the home.  The question is:  Do
I have a choice in determining my destiny, or has it been pre-determined
by men?  The women in Saudi Arabia who are dripping in jewels, do they have
the choice of being able to drive their own cars?  It is a gilded cage.  If
they have become happy in it, that is their business.  I don't have to settle
for it.  But according to Maulana Maudoodi, I do.  My freedom of choice has
been taken away from me.  No amount of jewels or servents or things can make
up for this.

[stuff deleted]

>Coming back to the real world issues where women have to toil shana ba shana
>with her male counterparts.  Maulana's context was again typical mashriqi
>aurat sans education as was and is the case in Pakistan, women like you
>are very rare (but in positions of authority because of mainly Fathers
                ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>and GrandFathers), and some among them with not so influential Fathers
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>sit at home do procreation and pass on there knowledge to their brood,
>hoping that someday mera baita kutch kam dikhae ga magar pata chala keh
>beta tou nikama nikla aur baiti aagay barh gai, so this cycle continues
>till somewhere down the line baita actually reaches expectations of his
>mother.

Exactly what are you trying to imply here?  My father has been in this
country since 1964.  He came here because there wasn't enough to eat in
his house in Karachi and he had to earn to send money home to the family.
My grandfather was never in a position of wealth and power in Pakistan.
I am the product of hard work and persistence, not an influential father
or grandfather.

Khudahafiz

Yasmin

**************************************************************************
*                                   *                                    *
*  Yasmin Sohrawardy                *   "Only Nixon can go to China      *
*                                   *                                    *
*  Internet:  ys3359@csc.albany.edu *            - Ancient Vulcan        *
*                                   *              Proverb               *
**************************************************************************