By Dr. Mawahib Saleh Mahdi – College of Islamic Sciences – University of Karbala
In modern Western thought, women represent a significant focal point in the ongoing struggle against Islam and Muslims. The ultimate goal—or outcome—of this struggle is Western dominance over the resources of the Islamic nation, control over its will, depletion of its wealth, and its complete submission to Western influence.
The West relentlessly stirs up the issue of Muslim women at every possible occasion, utilizing both local and foreign writers, to divert attention from the core issues that truly concern and trouble the Muslim nation. These issues include freedom, education, culture, governance, scientific research, economic power, military strength, and other matters that are closely linked to the reality and future of Muslims.
The insistence on raising the issue of women in literary and political discourse provokes more suspicion than certainty, especially as the matter has extended beyond Western institutions to international organizations that are supposed to represent all nations of the world.
Most Muslim countries today are filled with schools that educate girls, colleges designated for women, as well as coeducational institutions for both boys and girls. In addition, women are present in public spaces, educational institutions, production facilities, hospitals, government offices, private and public associations, and parliamentary councils. This demonstrates that Muslim women do not suffer from any fundamental issues. While some problems stem from traditions and customs, these are not universal problems that require a process of “liberation.” And liberation from whom?
Islam grants women what Western societies fail to provide. Islam has honored women, affirmed their humanity, and taken into account their natural and biological conditions. It has obligated society—represented by fathers, husbands, or relatives—to protect, support, and care for them. Moreover, Islam has granted women independent financial rights and material entitlements that no one is allowed to infringe upon. In contrast, Western women have been reduced to mere commodities, exploited by businessmen, film and television producers, beauty pageant organizers, mafia groups, advertisers, and prostitution networks. This may explain why the number of European women converting to Islam exceeds that of men.
Muslim women play their societal roles efficiently, with excellence and contentment. They manage their homes, raise their children, and support their families without excessive claims or loud demands. The majority of Muslim women, alongside men, endure the hardships of life with remarkable resilience. They strive to secure life’s necessities with patience and determination. Furthermore, they attend schools, excel in education, and compete with men without facing restrictions—except for those imposed by Islamic ethics and noble values that apply to both men and women.
However, Western cultural imperialism insists on exporting its moral decay, or at least the decadence of certain female models in its society, to our nation. It employs general slogans to facilitate this cultural exportation and persuasion. The West promotes the idea of absolute equality between men and women in all aspects, disregarding the natural distinctions between the sexes. It frames this as a fundamental human right, aiming to achieve numerical parity between men and women in governments, parliaments, local administrations, and positions of power everywhere.
While some Western societies have neglected the institution of the family and no longer consider it significant, the family remains a fundamental necessity according to human nature. No normal society can afford to undermine it or view it with indifference.
The issues raised in international women’s conferences stem from a Western perspective that primarily targets fundamental Islamic concepts about women—seeking to dismantle them and replace them with Western behaviors and norms.
For example, the term “religious extremism” is vague and undefined. However, from Western writings and their local supporters, it is evident that they consider it synonymous with opposition to freedom, humanity, and women’s rights. Islamic thought rejects and condemns such behavior. Yet, by pushing the term “religious extremism,” Western agendas aim to reject Islam altogether and prevent its application in societal matters—especially those concerning women. For instance, they consider wearing the hijab an act of extremism, performing prayers an act of extremism, and Islamic marriage an act of extremism.
The issue of teenage and single mothers exemplifies Western insistence on forcing Muslim countries to legislate and normalize these phenomena as human rights. According to this perspective, any girl should have the right to engage in illicit relationships, conceive a child outside of marriage, and then demand societal recognition, legitimacy, and financial and moral support.
One can only imagine the disastrous social consequences of allowing our daughters to engage in immorality and illegitimate childbirth, only to be obligated to accept and integrate such practices into our societies.
There is no doubt that exporting moral decay to our communities constitutes a blatant assault on our values, ethics, and legitimate human rights—our right to belief, thought, and freedom.
The same applies to other issues that have their unique place in the Islamic worldview, which fundamentally differs from international perspectives and their objectives. While Islamic institutions in the Muslim world strive to resist this international coercion, it is regrettable that some women’s organizations and activists within our own societies promote and advocate for these foreign concepts, defending them while ignoring the broader rights of the Muslim nation—its right to freedom, consultation, and hope for a better future!
