True Islam not oppressive, medieval faith

Khan is a fourth-year student majoring in Arabic. She was the
2000-2001 editor of Al-Talib.

By Nadia Khan

I donned the hijab, the headscarf worn by Muslim women, at the
age of 16, and since then I find myself constantly trying to prove
to others that my mind and my intellect are not covered simply
because my hair is.

I know that behind the raised eyebrows and the carefully
enunciated English strangers use toward me in supermarkets is a
perception of Islam as a mysterious and medieval religion, but what
surprises me more is that this perception exists on campus as well.
Even here, people seem to think I need to be liberated from the
patriarchal influences of Islam. If I came from a repressive
background, would I likely be studying at a competitive
university?

But I shouldn’t be quick to judge. If I hadn’t been
born into a Muslim family, how much would I accurately know about
Islam, the world’s fastest growing religion? Since before the
Crusades, Islam has been identified as a sinister and menacing
adversary that the West must either conquer or be conquered by.
Centuries later, feeble attempts have been made to educate
Westerners about this vibrant religion and its rich history ““
until now. Ever since the Sept. 11 tragedy, Americans are
intent on learning more, and open-minded people everywhere are
using this opportunity to discover Islam. They are learning not of
the distortion that desperate people exploit for violent ends, but
of the pure and simple message that the Prophet Muhammad taught to
the politically weak and oppressed of Arabia, who in turn, carried
it as far east as China and as far west as Spain.

In high school, history textbooks devoted not more than one
paragraph to the 800 years of Muslim rule in Spain. They
taught us about the European renaissance, but would they say what
inspired it? While the rest of Europe was hunched over in
barbarism, illiteracy and feudalism ““ a period commonly
referred to as the “Dark Ages” ““ the Muslims of
Spain were fashioning a society full of art, science, commerce and
incredible imagination.

While London had not a single street lamp, the streets of
Cordoba were paved and lit. Students from France and England would
travel to Cordoba to study science, philosophy and medicine from
Muslim scholars, and Arabic replaced Latin as the literary
language. Visitors to the city were captivated by gardens of
flowing water, libraries of ancient texts and a tolerance for other
faiths unheard of in other religious empires. This unique tolerance
arose not from secularism, for Spain’s golden era was built
upon Islamic Law, but from the Qur’anic principle: “Let
there be no coercion in religion.”

How was it that science was able to flourish under Islam during
the Middle Ages when, around the same time, the Christian religious
authority of Europe was so fearful of scientific
research? Preceding the Renaissance was a time when Copernicus
was branded a heretic, when the quest for knowledge was a sure
sentence to hell, and when the Church was intolerant of any idea or
fact that contradicted scripture.

In order to understand the answer it is important to first
understand how Islam views the world and human nature. For the
Muslim, all aspects of existence are interrelated. There is no
demarcation of purpose in any function of one’s being. One
eats, sleeps, works, plays and prays as a Muslim. One conducts
business as a Muslim; one interacts with others as a Muslim; one
gives charity as a Muslim. For a Muslim, all of these actions are
equally sacred. Scientific inquiry and the seeking of any form of
knowledge is a Muslim’s right and means to better
understanding his place in the universe and the world around
him. As such, in Islam there has never existed a dichotomy
between religion and science, nor has there been any attempt to
stifle intellectual growth.

Because Islam encompasses all facets of human life, politics and
government are no exception. Shari’ah, or Islamic law, sets
forth the modus operandi of government and has precise measures
dealing with civil and criminal law. Everything from inheritance
rights to capital punishment is prescribed and detailed by the
Shari’ah.

One of the hallmarks of Islamic law, established 1400 years ago,
was the rights and protections guaranteed to women. Women were
given the right to own property, to own and operate their own
businesses, and to keep all their income and property if and when
they married. This may not sound extraordinary today, but
consider that even into the 20th century in the United States and
Europe women were required to surrender all property and income to
their husbands once they married. The Qur’an itself
guarantees women such rights as inheritance, divorce and alimony.
Furthermore, Muslim women were traditionally recognized as
intelligent human beings with valuable contributions to make and
were encouraged to participate in many levels of society. The
Prophet Muhammad’s own wife, a widow and fifteen years his
senior, was a businesswoman.

Islam also introduced and implemented social welfare 1300 years
before it was ever conceived in the West; Muslims are required
annually to contribute a percentage of their income for
distribution among the poorer members of society. Islam is a
social and political philosophy as much as it is a religion.

Today’s “Islamic” governments are not in fact
governed strictly through the auspices of Islam. Much like a vast
majority of nations in the “developing world,” these
governments have either adopted Western democratic structures,
which are riddled by corrupt and self-serving politicians, or are
ruled by monarchies and dictatorships that currently are or were at
one time supported by the United States. But as the saying goes,
why blame the car for a driver’s bad driving?

If applied and practiced as it was revealed, Islam is a
legitimate and viable form of government and is in fact more
tolerant and more humanitarian than any other political
system. What other government is prohibited from punishing
theft if it is committed because the thief didn’t have enough
money to buy food? In fact, in such a case, the state would be held
responsible for failing to provide adequate food and shelter for
its every citizen. Islam holds a high humanitarian standard and
stands to oppose any form of oppression anywhere in the world.

The only way to eradicate misgivings about a group of people
that seem alien to us is by learning more about them, their history
and the background they are coming from. 

The next time somebody comes across a Muslim woman in Islamic
attire, perhaps they might see her as a spiritual being with a rich
and interesting heritage worth learning more about ““ rather
than a submissive and backward member of a medieval tradition. For
the sake of progress, let’s hope so.