As a veteran activist for women’s equality, as one
who has been the subject of political Islam's brutality and has devoted her
life to combat it, and as a member of the Committee against Stoning, I would
like to address what I see as shortcomings in your article entitled Miss World
and the power of female protest, published in The Independent, Thursday 7
November 2002.
It seems that the boycott of the Miss World contest
in Nigeria by some contestants has drawn your attention to the brutal and
dehumanizing act of stoning to death which takes place in some countries under
Islamic rule. However, the tone of your article is indeed patronizing towards
these brave young women, who apparently - against all the stereotypes and
condescending attitudes of the feminist world - have decided to throw away
their great hopes of making it in this competitive, money grabbing, beauty
fixated world, to protest against this cruel act and to defend women’s rights.
They certainly must be applauded for their decent and compassionate action. I
wonder why your condemnation has not appeared before. The Committee against
Stoning has been campaigning relentlessly for nearly two years to mobilize the world
to condemn this act and the states that practice it. We have been received
warmly by official bodies and the media behind closed doors but open actions
have been short of a categorical condemnation. I do not believe it necessary to
point out that without their boycott, your article would not have been written,
and the Independent would not have given any space to expose this outrageous
practice. Why is it necessary then to remark more than once that 'it is hard to
give serious attention to anything to do with Miss World'? Is it perhaps
embarrassing for a distinguished feminist to appear to have been enlightened on
an issue regarding women’s oppression by certain Miss World contestants? I must
add that I am sorry to see that such a boycott was necessary to attract some
serious attention to the plight of women under Islamic rule, albeit only to one
of the most brutal sides of their oppression.
I was pleased to
read, however, that you are not one of those feminists who adhere to the
concept of 'cultural relativism', and rightly call this practice absurd but
your article comes short of exposing political Islam and the humiliation,
oppression, and deprivation it imposes on millions of women in the world,
including in Iran, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and so on.
I believe we must in fact emphasize the role of
religion contrary to Ms. Ibrahim, Amina Lawal’s lawyer, a 'devout Muslim' who
says that if women in these regions became literate they would 'not allow Islam
to be used as a tool against them… The focus is not religion. The focus is the
rule of law'. We must unequivocally call for the separation of religion from
the state and for a secular state in these societies. As long as religion is
permitted to intervene in the rule of law, the state and the educational
system, talk about 'rule of law' will not safeguard any woman from the tyranny
of backward and reactionary ideas and traditions dominant in the society. In a
society ruled by Islam, the rule of law is bound to be oppressive, misogynist,
and dehumanizing.
Yours truly,
Azar Majedi
Editor in Chief of Medusa, journal of the Centre for
Women and Socialism
Chairperson, Middle East Centre for Women's Rights
Caxton House, 129 St. John's Way, Archway, London SE
15 6JL
Tel: 07970643243
E-mail: azarmajedi@yahoo.com