Women and Politics

06 January 2007 - 02:04:55
Source :: "Women in Public Life”, article published in the magazine of Tehran University, Faculty of Law and Political Sciences / “Women and Political Powers”

Translated by:  Ameneh Ayati

- The subject women's political participation and freedom is usually followed by a comparison regarding the issues in the West vis-avis the Islamic culture. The Islamic theory regarding the issue is clear cut, stating that women are entitled with the same rights as men, like working freely in the society, being provided with proper education and necessary trainings and participating in commercial and political affairs.
Such a view has never been found in any other religion or school of thought before.
Women have mostly been disregarded throughout human history. In old civilizations, except for Ancient Egypt, a woman was never considered human and was treated like a runt, valueless creature in the countries in that era. So, it is imprudent to set a comparison between the freedoms granted to women by Islam and those of the Western culture; a woman’s human identity is only preserved through an Islamic insight. As stated by the Holy Prophet of Islam (P), seeking knowledge is obligatory for all Muslims, thus, differentiation between men and women distorts the aim regarding education.
A brief look at women’s status in modern societies reveals that a large number of non- working women are financially dependent upon their husbands, whereas, those who work have less earnings compared to men and are not successful enough to attain managerial positions, the reasons of which are based on gender. The source of such discrimination is men’s supposition that according to women’s nature, women should only do the house work and train children and are expected to be the source of warmth within the family, while women have other competencies as well which are usually ignored by men. They gauge a woman according to her role as a wife and mother and as an emotional being and thus, assign her to do the tasks that require such privileges, whereas Islamic teachings, being compatible with the innate in human beings, aim to safeguard the identity of a human being by enjoining him to develop both his physical and spiritual capabilities and blending the two. The logical achievement of such conduct would be the tranquility and mental health of the whole society; in case of applying any method other than the Islamic one, the society will not be able to benefit from the great human potentials and therefore is regarded as an unsuccessful one.
Defining the Islamic point of view with regard to the case, Allah (SWT) says in the Holy Qur'an:

“مَنْ عَمِلَ صَالِحًا مِّن ذَكَرٍ أَوْ أُنثَى وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَلَنُحْيِيَنَّهُ حَيَاةً طَيِّبَةً وَلَنَجْزِيَنَّهُمْ أَجْرَهُم بِأَحْسَنِ مَا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ”
(النحل – 97)

“Whoever does good whether male or female and he is a believer, We will most certainly make him live a happy life, and We will most certainly give them their reward for the best of what they did.”   (An-Nahl [The Bee]:97)
  
Certainly, it is through application of the commandments of Islam that a Muslim nation (Ummah) is formed.  
 
- Now, what is the meaning of political participation?

Political participation refers to people right for choosing the form of government freely, policymaking and legislation in general, adoption of executive decisions, making opinions, reflecting their lawful demands and putting an end to ignorance, seclusion and indifference.

Making arrangements and preparing for such unity of thought in the society is the consequence of the good performance of executive authorities, which will be reflected through reinforcement of the sense of participation and the removal of legal barriers and hence the continuation of social life. Information based on statistics is not a proper evidence to reflect the truths of such political participation of women as mentioned above in the history; rather it shows the low level of women’s political activity compared to that of men and the fact that the majority of women political activists were highly educated and wealthy.

Women’s political activity does not lead them to acquire manly traits and it is incorrect to say that a woman’s spirit is contradictory with politics, the statement that is regarded as men’s inclination to monopolism; besides, women’s staying away from politics and being uninterested in the related subjects has also contributed to this view.
Political activity as a social necessity improves one’s true perception of life related to politics, increasing political awareness and independent thinking. 

Unsuccessful experiences of the developing countries are, therefore, the outcome of submission to the gender issue related to this matter. As reflected in history, the first political participation of women has occurred in the 7 A.D., the time of the emergence of Islam in Arabian peninsula when women pledged their allegiance to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (P); shoulder to shoulder with men, they were recognized as the political participants of the society in that era. Some examples of such participations are as follows:

I. Her Holiness Fatima Az-Zahra (P) in her efforts to support and back the Wilayah (Divine leadership) of  Imam Ali (P) and making the people aware regarding Othmaan’s murder;
II. Hazrat Zaynab's (P) role in the uprising of Holy Imam Hussein (P) in Karbala

Such women have actively participated in social management fields and granted women their rights as human beings in their era, the era during which women were considered evil and unwanted creatures, struggling under the heavy burden of preserving traditions and false beliefs. Among Muslim nations, Kyrgyzstan was the first country to grant women the right to vote in 1918.


The history also contains records of women’s participation in Ghazwas [wars at the time of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (P)] together with political planning, counseling) and, the occurrence of revolutions as well as changes in political conduct prove active participation of women for which there are many outstanding examples worldwide.

Unfortunately, due to the spread of Western patterns and the prevalence of the culture of nakedness causing moral decline, post 19th century, the nature of such participations has changed depriving women of their human rights, the rights that were bestowed on them upon the spread of Islamic culture. With this development, women’s instincts were incited making their status worse by beautifying themselves, influencing them to follow fashions, contributing to their problems and anxiety while working in the society. The effect of such conducts was to mysteriously ignore their presence in making decisions although they were physically present in the processes. Imposing gender discriminations in fields of social activity against women, their views were disregarded and compared to men, they did not receive sufficient backup, though forming the major portion of the labor force. In order to make their jobs permanent, men usually had women under their control by sexually harassing them, making them feel depressed and creating anticipation which led them to limit their relations within the workplace and  the society as well; as a result, making them unwilling to work. Management posts belonged exclusively to men and thus women were forced to stay away from politics in spite of the existence of political equality and women’s active participation in electoral campaigns. Such limitations and disappointments were caused by any of social, economic, cultural and organizational factors.

Women’s capabilities are affected by their responsibilities regarding household and family, submission to traditional roles under the fancies of religious organizations and different trainings from men and limited economic activities. Approval of political and social conventions gradually confined women to only their occupations within the family framework, although as to their participation in voting, they showed inclination to those social groups inculcating dignity and safeguarding the true meaning of being human.

  After the WW I, between1907-1915, women were given political equality and the right to vote for the first time, the right leading them to political parties and consequently to parliaments. For 25 years since that date, women with a family history of managerial posts and financial support gained political roles between 3%-15%.

During the UN’s 4th Global Conference on Women in Beijing in 1955, a resolution was passed with the theme “Half the World, Half the power” to empower women by more active participation in decision-making processes. The resolution implies that world’s peace and progress is impossible without women’s participation in various fields. Therefore, women must be helped to obtain the goal through the realization of values and virtues propounded in this resolution.