Link to news article: https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/MAGAZINE-muslim-women-find-leadership-roles-in-a-male-dominated-world-1.10450500
I recently read this news article concerning a Muslim women in a position of leadership and power and the backlash it has caused. The woman, Kholoud al-Faqeeh, was appointed as a judge in an Islamic religious court. Al-Faqeeh noticed a women saw she was the judge and walked out of the court, as she did not want a woman deciding her case. This was sad and also interesting as the religious courts are mostly in charge of womens cases. It surprised me that the woman did not trust another woman to have the skill and her best interest in mind to justly decide the case. This article also mentioned that many women are infiltrating those positions of leadership and feel empowered to do so. This is a step in the right direction. The article also mentioned the issue in many Islamic communities is that women don’t realize they too are very important in Allah’s eyes. I think increased awareness of this fact and women’s education will help improve this issue and lead to even more women feeling empowered to do whatever they want to do.
Through multiple different texts, you can find Islamic literature reference the dilemma in gender being that both men and women equal, but with different roles in society. I believe this belief may be why even woman refuse Al-Faqeeh as a judge, as her culture does not deem that a women’s role in society. This ideology within the culture has been evolving for centuries, as laws and restrictions on women have been lifted, but there may be some residue of the culture still intact that enables actions such as this. Very interesting and intriguing article!