2009 WISE Conference Report

Transcription

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary .......................................................................................................................... 3
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 4-5
Conference Sessions
Thursday July 16, 2009
Welcome & Opening Ceremony……………………………………………….....….6
“Taking the Pulse”: The Need for Change…………………………………….....7-9
Friday July 17, 2009
The WISE Story: Past, Present and Future…………………………………...……9
Change through Communication Case Studies……………………………....10-11
Change through Communication Web Portal Launch………………………..11-12
Change through Communication Work Groups………………………………12-15
Change through Philanthropy Case Studies………………………………….15-16
Change through Philanthropy Muslim Women’s Fund Launch & Panel…...16-17
Change through Philanthropy Work Groups…………………………………..17-18
Saturday July 18, 2009
Change through Interpretation Case Studies………………………………....19-21
Change through Interpretation “Muslim Women Interpreting” Panel & Shura
Council Launch…………………………………………………………………...21-22
Change through Interpretation Work Groups……………………………………..23
Concurrent Skill-Building Trainings…………………………………………….24-26
Film Screening Pray the Devil Back to Hell……………………………………….26
Day Four: Sunday July 19, 2009
Change through Collaboration Interfaith Panel…………………………………..27
Change through Collaboration Discussion……………………………………….28
Chair.Chai.Chats………………………………………………………………...29-30
Change through Action Community Organizing………………………………30-31
Closing Ceremony……………………………………………………………………32
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………………33-36
The 2009 WISE Post-Conference evaluation………………………………………………………...36-42
Media Coverage of the Conference……………………………………………………………………42-43
Conference Photos……………………………………………………………………………………….43-45
Appendix………………………………………………………………………………………………...46 - 160
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Executive Summary
The Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality’s (WISE) second global conference, Muslim
Women: Building Institutions, Creating Change, brought together 215 women from 42 countries from
July 16 to 19, 2009 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The conference focused on mobilizing Muslim women
for social justice especially concerning issues of gender-based inequality.
The conference was structured around sessions on five change strategies related to WISE’s major
initiatives.
•
•
•
•
•
Change through Communication in and out of the global WISE network to the media and
the general public through the Muslim women’s portal (www.wisemuslim women.org) and
other devices.
Change through Interpretation and reinterpretation of key Islamic texts through the Muslim
women’s Shura Council of scholars and activists, and other activities.
Change through Philanthropy with enhanced access to financial and other resources for
Muslim women activists for sustainable community projects through the first Muslim’s
Women’s Fund.
Change through Collaboration in partnerships with individuals, institutions, and
organizations, including those with men and non-Muslims, for training, capacity-building, and
consultative activities in targeted countries.
Change through Action through community organizing and mobilizing a global movement of
Muslim women for social justice.
Plenary sessions with case studies and panels featuring experts from diverse geographic, cultural,
religious, and professional backgrounds were coupled with work group activities centered on pivotal
questions for promoting change at the country and community levels. WISE major initiatives: the
Muslim women’s portal, Shura Council, and Muslim Women’s Fund, were introduced and conference
participants’ feedback and involvement on these were solicited. Trainings on leadership development,
spirituality, political involvement, media, and community organizing offered opportunities for the
acquisition of specific skills. Informal gatherings at a film screening and topical Chair, Chai, Chats
helped build relationships of the WISE women’s network.
The conference sessions were documented by observers and instant polling. Evaluations of the
conference were collected through a post-conference online survey. Much information was gathered
on the status, hope, and skills of Muslim women and barriers to their advancement. The conference
participants gave high ratings to the quality of all the conference components, the relevance of the
topics and discussions to their own and their communities’ needs, the support that they received for
professional development, and the accomplishments of the conference in terms of changes in their
thinking and leadership. Participants recommended even more diversity in presentations and
opportunities for networking moving forward. Many expressed interest in getting involved in the Shura
Council, Muslim Women’s Fund, and the Muslim women’s web portal.
One conference participant’s own words capture the spirit and impacts of the event, “The WISE 2009
conference was for me personally nourishing and vitalizing at multiple levels. The sense of belonging
and more so connecting to a global community of empowered and caring Muslim women and finding
strength in each other and our collective voice was an experience that gives me hope and purpose in
these trying times. I feel blessed to be part of this growing initiative and am further inspired to go
forward with the work that is yet to be done both individually and collectively.”
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Introduction
The Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality (WISE), a program of the American Society
for Muslim Advancement (ASMA) and co-sponsored by Cordoba Initiative, is a mobilization movement
for social justice led by and directed toward Muslim women. WISE was created in 2006 to address
gender-based inequality, a global phenomenon that transcends culture, religion, and socio-economic
status, especially as it relates to Muslim women. Muslim women, in particular, confront the limitations
of discrimination and inequality as their lives are affected by a complex interaction of factors with
Islam exerting enormous influence to both empower and suppress.
WISE’s goal is to reframe women’s rights within an Islamic framework and simultaneously address the
many factors that disempower Muslim women. It is accomplishing this goal by creating an
infrastructure for a diverse group of Muslim women to join together to learn about and challenge
distorted interpretations of Islam, increase women’s social and economic self-determination, and
amplify women’s voices at all levels of political, religious, and social discourse.
The foundation for the movement is the WISE compact, a set of tenets regarding gender equality and
their affirmation based in the Qur’an and six objectives of Shari’a. WISE uses the Compact and
following five key strategies to achieve its objectives and thus realize its goal:
•
Change through Communication in and out of the global WISE network to the media and
the general public through the Muslim women’s web portal (www.wisemuslimwomen.org)
and other devices.
•
Change through Interpretation and reinterpretation of key Islamic texts through the Muslim
women’s Shura Council of scholars and activists, and other activities.
•
Change through Philanthropy with enhanced access to financial and various other
resources for Muslim women activists for sustainable community projects through the first
Muslim’s Women’s Fund.
•
Change through Collaboration in partnerships with individuals, institutions, and
organizations, including those with men and non-Muslims, for training, capacity-building, and
consultative activities in targeted countries.
•
Change through Action through community organizing and mobilizing a global movement of
Muslim women for social justice.
From July 16 to 19, 2009, WISE, in collaboration with the Cordoba Initiative, hosted a global
conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia bringing together 215 participants from 42 countries (See
Appendix 2 and 4). Host to many international cultural events, Kuala Lumpur was chosen as
destination for the 2009 WISE conference as it is a crossroads for many Asian and Muslim
communities, and for the country’s progressive approach to women’s rights in Islam. In addition,
ASMA and the Cordoba Initiative run programming in Asia through the organizations’ Kuala Lumpur
joint office.
The 2009 WISE conference introduced the initiatives that have been brought to life based off of ideas
produced from the first WISE conference in 2006. The conference was structured around the five
change strategies with case studies from diverse countries and expert commentary, training sessions
for skill-building, and introductions to WISE’s key components: the Muslim women’s portal, Muslim
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Women’s Fund, Shura Council, and WISE Compact (See Appendix 3). In addition, the Shura Council
presented Jihad against Violence, a powerful statement denouncing domestic violence and violent
extremism from within the Islamic faith and the unique perspective of women.
The conference was sponsored by The American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA) and the
Cordoba Initiative. ASMA is a New-York based nonprofit organization founded in 1997 to elevate the
discourse on Islam and foster environments in which Muslims thrive. ASMA is dedicated to
strengthening an authentic expression of Islam based on cultural and religious harmony through
interfaith collaboration, youth and women’s empowerment, and arts and cultural exchange. Cordoba
Initiative (CI), an independent, multi-national, and multi-faith organization, responds to tensions
between the Muslim World and the West by offering innovative solutions with concrete outcomes that
strategically engage four key areas of Muslim-West friction: religious interpretation, policy, public
perception/media, and Muslim-West identity (youth leadership and gender equality). Find out more
about CI at www.cordobainitiative.org. The conference was made possible by the generous support
of the MDG3 Fund, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and WISE has also received
support from the Sister Fund, Rockefeller Brothers Fund and Henry Luce Foundation.
With the assistance of five Fulbright fellows based in Kuala Lumpur (Afua Osei, Betsy Bowen, Erin
McCoy, Nasherwan Hafeez and Stephanie Eggen), High Impact Partnering LLC (New York, NY)
evaluated the conference with session and workgroup documentation using standardized formats,
automatic polling (See Appendix 6), and a follow-up survey (See Appendix 13).
This report presents the highlights of the presentations, discussions, and evaluation of the sessions,
workshops, and other events. It provides a detailed chronicle of the conference presentations and
discussions; identifies key issues for further attention, consideration, and action; and include the postconference evaluation.
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CONFERENCE SESSIONS
Thursday, July 16, 2009
6:00 – 7:00 p.m. Welcome & Opening Ceremony
Conference emcee Samina Ahmad opened the event with a welcome speech and a short film on the
development and goals of WISE.
Daisy Khan, ASMA’s Executive Director, followed with an address
emphasizing these key messages:
•
•
•
•
This is a critical time for Muslim women and men. Islam is
being manipulated to justify violence toward and subjugation of
women.
Women are important for the changes that are needed for all
Muslims. Muslim women have to come together to create the
change and build a shared destiny.
Necessary is the promotion of the self-worth of all people,
especially Muslim women.
Religion motivates Muslims.
Ms. Khan noted that the events of 9/11 have focused much greater attention on Islam, especially
among those in the West, with several questions predominating among both Muslims and nonMuslims:
Where are the Muslim leaders and why don’t they speak up?
Why do Muslims treat their women so poorly?
This increased attention was the primary motivation for Ms. Khan and a small group of Muslim women
leaders to develop WISE and create a voice for the half a billion Muslim women in the world. Ms.
Khan emphasized the necessity of change coming from Muslims themselves and drawing on
scripture. “Verily never will Allah change the condition of a people until they change what is within
themselves.” (The Qur’an 13:11).
Dr. Nafis Sadiq, Under Secretary General of the United Nations
and Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General, and Special
Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, spoke at the opening
ceremony, discussing the specific role of women in Islam and its
related effects on their health status. She stressed that the
misrepresentation of women in Islam is a result, in part, of
ignorance regarding the state of women in Muslim countries. This
misinterpretation and ignorance have deleterious effects on
women’s health, education, and socioeconomic status, especially
in rural areas. Women’s health is tied to how women are educated
within the family. Dr. Sadiq believes that a central goal must be to
counteract the misrepresentation of Islam in the media and in the
West.
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8:00 – 9:30 p.m. “Taking the Pulse”: The Need for Change
The next session, facilitated by Ms. Ahmad, was designed to determine where conference participants
stood on the major issues related to the four change strategies. The conference participants
convened in groups of eight to ten for this session.
After looking at a slideshow with examples of the change priorities and strategies from the 2006 WISE
conference, each of the participants was asked to answer two questions:
If you had the resources, what is the one change you would like to see impact Muslim women?
Give one example of how you are involved in affecting change, and to share the responses with
others.
The small group format prompted much discussion on these questions. Each participant then
responded on colored pieces of paper which were then displayed on a wall in the main conference
room for the duration of the conference. (See Appendix 5)
Initial Polling
The conference participants then used hand-held devices for automatic polling (See Appendix 6). To
establish demographics for the polling sample, the participants were first asked two questions
regarding their countries of origin and ages. The questions and the participants’ responses are
displayed below in Charts 1 and 2. The responses indicate extensive diversity on these variables.
Chart 1
Chart 2
Which region are you from?
What is your age range?
Middle East - North
Africa (including
Turkey and Iran)
4.6
Sub-Saharan Africa
20.7
13.8
Under 30
21.6
25.7
30-40
Asia
40-50
12.90%
13.8
32.1
Europe/Australia
31
50-60
Over 60
23.9
North America
The conference participants were asked nine other questions about the potential, timing, likely agents,
and facilitating factors of significant change for Muslim women. These questions provided baseline
information for the evaluation to assess any shift over the course of the conference or longer time
periods, as well as a shared understanding regarding the convergence and divergence of opinions.
The participants’ responses are displayed below in Table 1.
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There was substantial convergence of opinion among the conference participants regarding the extent
of their hopefulness about positive change, the significance of their roles in that change, harmful
religious interpretation as the major barrier to change, and the importance of accurate media, funding,
and egalitarian scriptural interpretation in the change process. There was divergence of opinion about
the timing of change and the sector that is most responsible. There were no meaningful differences in
the participants’ answers to these questions by their ages or geographic regions.
Table 1
START OF CONFERENCE POLLING RESPONSES
How hopeful are you about positive change for Muslim women?
Not hopeful
1.9%
Somewhat hopeful
11.3%
Hopeful
42.5%
Very hopeful
41.5%
Undecided
2.8%
When do you think we will see significant positive change for Muslim women?
Never
0.5%
In more than 10 years
23.6%
In the next 5-10 years
29.2%
In the next 2-3 years
3.8%
Change is happening now
42.5%
Who will make positive change happen for Muslim women?
No one (change will not happen)
--Muslim women alone
11.3%
Muslim women with women of other faiths
7.5%
Muslim women with Muslim men
23.6%
Muslim women with other women and men of all faiths
57.5%
Which sector holds the largest responsibility for making positive change for Muslim women?
Traditional religious institutions
20.8%
Government
10.4%
Civil society
57.5%
Business
1.9%
Other
9.4%
What is the biggest barrier to Muslim women’s advancement in your country?
Lack of funding
5.8%
Negative media
8.7%
Harmful religious interpretation
73.8%
Resistance from others
11.7%
Undecided
--How important is accurate media coverage about Muslim women in making this positive
change?
Not important
1.0%
Somewhat important
6.7%
Important
14.3%
Very important
78.1%
Undecided
--How important is funding for this positive change?
Somewhat important
8.7%
Important
21.4%
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Very important
68.9%
Undecided
1.0%
How important is egalitarian (equal) scriptural interpretation in making this positive change?
Not important
2.2%
Somewhat important
7.5%
Important
17.2%
Very important
69.9%
Undecided
3.2%
How important will you be in making positive change?
Not important
4.9%
Somewhat important
5.9%
Important
16.7%
Very important
70.6%
Undecided
2.0%
Photo caption, left: Santanina Rasul (Malaysia), Professor Jamilah Arrifin (Malaysia),Laila Al-Askari (US)
Photo caption, right: Gwendolyn Simmons (US), Mehnaz Mona-Afridi (US), Tayyibah Taylor (US)
Friday, July 17, 2009
9:15 – 10:00 a.m. The WISE Story: Past, Present, and Future
The first full day of the conference began with a viewing of a short video on the history of WISE
including footage from the 2006 convening (see Appendix 10). Daisy Khan, ASMA’s Executive
Director, provided additional narration explaining the change in the initiative’s name since 2006 from
equity to equality in response to comments from Muslim women leaders that equity was not enough.
She also stressed another important characteristic of WISE: involved women who are comfortable
using their Islamic faith as a justification and inspiration for women’s empowerment.
The session concluded with Ms. Khan’s introduction of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, Chairman of the
Cordoba Initiative (also her spouse). He discussed the issue of Muslim women’s rights, making two
important points: “Women’s rights are not just about the well-being of women; they are also about the
well-being of men in human society.” and “A society that does not treat its women well is a society that
cannot call itself Islamic in the highest sense of the word.”
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10:00 – 10:45 a.m. Change through Communication Case Studies
Pre-session Polling
At the start of this session, the participants were polled using three questions regarding the portrayal
of Muslim women in the media and potential of media for promoting change. The findings (below in
Table 2) suggest that the majority of the participants think that Muslim women are presented in the
media as oppressed, and that effective media could make a very large difference in promoting
positive change for Muslim women. The participants’ knowledge about such media strategies varied
widely confirming the need for the conference session.
Table 2
Which of the following best describes how Muslim women are presented in media in your
country?
Oppressed
55.6%
Angry
6.7%
Exotic
5.9%
Balanced
18.5%
Other
13.3%
How much difference could effective media or other communications strategies make in
promoting positive change for Muslim women in your country?
No difference
3.5%
A small difference
11.9%
A large difference
32.2%
A very large difference
51.7%
Undecided
0.7%
How knowledgeable are you about using the media or other communications strategies to
create positive change for Muslim women?
Not knowledgeable at all
6.1%
Somewhat knowledgeable
30.6%
Knowledgeable
34.0%
Very knowledgeable
28.6%
Undecided
0.7%
Case Studies
Moderator
Tayyibah Taylor, Founding Editor-in Chief and Publisher of Azizah Magazine (US)
Presenters
Nadia Al-Saqqaf, Editor-in-Chief, Yemen Times (Yemen)
Dilshad D. Ali, Editor of Beliefnet.com (US)
Ms. Al-Saqqaf’s presentation, Yemen Times Early Marriage Campaign: the Story of Nujood provided
a case study from Yemen’s media (See Appendix 7), and Ms. Ali’s presentation, Media and New
Understanding of Muslim Dress Code, provided a case study from American media (See Appendix 7).
The objectives of the session were to discuss the roles of both negative and positive media coverage
in perpetuating misinformation about Muslim women and promoting Muslim women’s diversity and a
vision of dignified choices; illustrate with two specific projects successful use of media, new media,
and communications strategies to improve the position of Muslim women and create change; and
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highlight how conference participants and others can utilize these projects’ efforts in their own work
and/or to replicate their models.
In her opening remarks, Ms. Taylor emphasized the importance of media including traditional media,
newly created Muslim media, and new media (e.g.,
Twitter, Facebook) in Muslim women’s efforts to
facilitate change. Becoming media-literate can help
women use media to propel their agendas rather than
being manipulated by media. “We have the choice to be
spectators to our own destiny or to be shaping that
destiny, and we can do that through the media.”
Ms. Al-Saqqaf’s Yemen Times case study focused on
Nujood, a girl approximately 10-years-old who was
married at age 8, then raped and otherwise abused,
and finally demanded a divorce. The Yemen Times
advocated on behalf of Nujood and other young girls by speaking with the Yemen parliament about
making a law to guarantee women more choice in marriage and prevent child marriages. Early,
sometimes forced marriage is common in Yemen with half of women marrying before 18 due to
cultural, religious, and economic reasons. Ms. Al-Saqqaf noted that Arabic media does not “own” local
issues and sometimes turns a blind eye to international concerns including child marriage. The
Yemen Times did not conform to this usual journalistic practice with its frank coverage of Nujood’s
and other child brides’ cases. Due to the advocacy of the Yemen Times and others, a law was passed
in Yemen setting the minimum marriage age at 17. In discussing the Yemen Times’ successful
strategy, Ms. Al-Saqqaf noted “When people said ‘this could be my daughter or my sister,’ I knew we
had a turning point.”
Through Belief.net, Ms. Ali provides information countering stereotypes about Islam in the U.S. to a
mainly non-Muslim readership. Her case study of a campaign focused on misperceptions about
Muslim dress illustrated how new media can use different platforms (slide shows, essays, blogs,
social networks, etc.) to harness the power of the media and counter stereotypes. The hijab issue was
one that could be explored in many media platforms, as the American public had many questions and
misperceptions about it. Ms. Ali advocated for “full body” coverage of a topic, thus best utilizing many
different media platforms. While the success of the Belief.net campaign has been indicated by positive
anecdotes and reader comments, it remains difficult to objectively measure its impact. Ms. Ali
concluded “The more we do to create media explaining aspects of our faith…it helps to dispel
stereotypes and misconceptions.”
Following the case study presentations, there were questions regarding the implementation of the
communications campaigns and their possible replication in other settings. Several participants asked
how “on the ground” media could be used to dispute conservative and/or incorrect interpretations of
scripture and thought that this issue needed further exploration.
10:45 – 11:15 a.m. Change through Communication Web Portal Launch
Ambreen Qureshi, Program Director of WISE, led the launch of the WISE portal (www.wise
muslimwomen.org), reviewing the portal’s vision, mission, and objectives, its future development
phases and their associated timelines; demonstrating some of the portal’s features and functions
through a virtual tour; and conveying how the portal can be utilized by participants as a
communications tool for their activities to create change.
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The portal is a rich interactive resource for Muslim women, as well as other users, offering a number
of features including:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Profiles of Muslim women leaders and opportunities for adding more profiles,
Discussions of current issues such as domestic violence that are important to Muslim women
around the world with links to relevant articles, organizations and legal materials,
The “resources” based on the aspects of the WISE Compact with related scripture and other
information,
The activism section providing information on different WISE projects around the world and indepth case studies of particular organizations and issues,
Pages for the different change modules featured in the conference (Change through
Communication, Change through Philanthropy, etc.) with appropriate links and information,
and
The “talent bazaar” showcasing Muslim women artists in a variety of disciplines such as
fashion, art, culinary arts and music.
11:45 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. Change through Communication Work Groups
Work Groups
The conference participants met in work groups of eight to ten following the Portal Launch to consider
key questions pertaining to the Change through Communication strategy and provide feedback
regarding the portal.
The change strategy-focused questions were:
1. What, if any, are the effects of negative media coverage and ineffective communications
strategies within your local community? Are stereotypes of Muslim women perpetuated by
your own media outlets?
2. Is it important that Muslim women create effective media and communications tools within your
local community? Can you provide any examples of successes?
3. What lessons did you learn from the Case Studies? Can these projects be utilized in your own
work? Can their models be replicated?
The conference participants shared many of the same concerns about the effects of negative media
coverage and ineffective media strategies in their communities. The stereotyping of Muslim women by
the media as oppressed and without agency was relevant to all participants, and it has pervasive
consequences on most aspects of women’s lives. Many conference participants indicated that they
are challenged by working with journalists to be sure that they and their organizations do not do
further damage to women. They viewed the general welfare of the women as a community
responsibility. Some participants expressed frustration about organized women’s abilities to get media
coverage stating that the women’s detractors were rich, and that Muslim scholars and other
supporters sometimes were feared to speak out and support women. Other participants noted the
differences in media receptivity for different issues related to scriptural interpretation, women’s rights,
and women’s desire for leadership positions. There was substantial variation among countries in
representation of women in media from none to some.
The conference participants confirmed the importance of creating effective media and
communications tools in their own communities. Some thought that mainstream media are
condescending. “We will help you, on our terms, as a partner.” Many participants concurred that, while
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media stories from other countries and communities might be relevant, “change has to be organic and
not imposed”. “West must understand that the West is not going to liberate or empower Muslim
women.”
The work groups identified several major lessons that they
learned from the case studies. One was the importance of
identifying the right issues for advocacy. “There is a lot of
“finger-pointing” and blaming on issues like child marriage
but the Yemen Times felt advocacy for a minimum age law
was the best response.” “If you use media to your
advantage you can achieve change, e.g. through law.”
Another major lesson was the great potential of media to
foster positive perceptions and combat the negative
misperceptions of women participating in all areas of civil
society. “Media is a useful tool for managing perceptions of
the Muslim community.”
“I feel at home and find my space
which I have been looking for long
time. I have been engage in women
movement for more than 23 years.
And I think WISE is a unique one
since it is strongly coloring the
movement with strong spirituality and
beliefs in Islam, yet fighting for our
women's rights.”
-Nani Zulminarni, Indonesia
The work groups also were asked to share their initial feedback on the portal including suggestions for
its improvement. They expressed some concern about the portal’s censorship, and the criteria and
decision-making process for content inclusion. Many participants voiced their opinions that all content
should be welcomed and included. Overall, the portal was seen as an important and innovative
initiative, “a voice for Muslim women”. There was also hope that the portal would bring Muslim women
together. The need for translations was underscored by a number of participants acknowledging the
associated costs. Several participants suggested that efforts be made to attract younger Muslim
women to the portal. Last, there was some concern about specific populations’ and regions’ lack of or
limited access to the Internet.
During the work groups, three sign-up sheets were passed around asking women questions related to
their contribution to the web portal. 83 women from 29 countries indicated they would like to contribute
content to the WISE web portal; 82 women from 27 countries indicated they would like to have their
work featured on the WISE web portal; and 83 women from 26 countries would like to promote the
WISE web portal to the media, funders or their contacts. (See Appendix 14)
Post-session Polling
The Change through Communication session concluded with post-session polling of the participants
using two of the three questions employed at the start of the session, as well as other questions. As
the next table shows, the participants’ already positive attitudes about the potential of media
increased only slightly over the course of the session with eight out of ten participants at both times
thinking that media and other communication strategies could make a large or very large difference.
The participants’ perceived levels of knowledge about media also did not change much over time as
they were already relatively high. The findings from the poll (below in Table 3) confirm the low
visability of many Muslim women in their countries’ media, the extensive effects of negative media
coverage of Muslim women, and the absence or lack of knowledge about effective use of media.
There is great potential to influence the lives of Muslim women through media, and three out of four
conference participants polled indicate that they are likely or very likely to try some of the
communication strategies from the session. It should be noted that there were no significant age or
regional differences in the participants’ answers to the polling questions.
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Table 3
How much difference could effective media or other communications strategies make in
PrePostNo difference
3.5%
.6%
A small difference
11.9%
9.9%
A large difference
32.2%
40.5%
51.7%
45.0%
Undecided
.7%
3.6%
How knowledgeable are you about using the media or other communications strategies to
create positive change for Muslim women?
PrePostNot knowledgeable at all
6.1%
6.2%
Somewhat knowledgeable
30.6%
30.1%
Knowledgeable
34.0%
38.1%
Very knowledgeable
28.6%
25.7%
Undecided
.7%
--How visible are Muslim women in your country’s media (e.g., newspapers and other print
media, radio, television, electronic media like websites and blogs)?
Not visible at all
11.9%
Somewhat visible
44.0%
Visible
23.9%
Very visible
18.3%
Undecided
1.8%
How much does negative media coverage of Muslim women create misinformation in your
country?
Not at all
8.6%
A small amount
14.8%
A large amount
31.3%
A very large amount
43.8%
Undecided
1.6%
Do you know of examples in your country where media is being used effectively to create
positive change for Muslim women?
No, I do not know of any examples
21.0%
Yes, I know of some examples but not much about them
28.2%
Yes, I know of some examples and a moderate amount about them. 28.2%
Yes, I know of some examples and a lot about them.
22.6%
How likely are you to try some of the communication strategies that you heard about in this
session?
Not likely
6.4%
Somewhat likely
12.7%
Likely
40.0%
Very likely
34.5%
Undecided
6.4%
The conference participants also were asked three questions about the portal in the post-session
polling process. The questions and the participants’ responses are displayed below in Table 4. As the
table shows, more than eight of ten participants thought the portal’s information and the opportunities
for communicating with others via the portal would be important or very important to them. There were
14
no significant variations by participant’s age or region in these two importance ratings. On average,
the participants expected to use the portal about once a week. Asian and older participants (over 60
years) predicted less frequent use of the portal.
Table 4
Overall, how important will the information on the web portal be for you?
Not important
3.1%
Somewhat important
13.3%
Important
37.8%
Very important
44.9%
Undecided
1.0%
How important will the opportunities for communicating with others on the web portal be for
you?
Not important
2.0%
Somewhat important
11.8%
Important
38.2%
Very important
48.0%
How often do you think that will you use the web portal?
Less than once a month
32.0%
About once a week
44.3%
Several times a week
19.6%
Daily
4.1%
2:45 – 3:30 p.m. Change through Philanthropy Case Studies
Case Studies
Moderator
Nadia Malik, founding board member and treasurer of the Muslim Women’s Fund (US)
Presenters
Nani Zulminarni, National Coordinator of PEKKA (Women-Headed Households Empowerment
Program) (Indonesia)
Shireen Zaman, Director for Middle East and North Africa, Vital Voices Global Partnerships (US)
This session on the second change strategy, Change through Philanthropy, focused on the effects of
limited access to resources, especially funding, on Muslim women’s activism; the need for substantial,
consistent, and context-sensitive support (e.g., funding, capacity-building, skill-building training) for
Muslim women’s activist efforts; and the development of two specific projects that have successfully
used philanthropy in very different ways to improve the position of Muslim women and create change.
The session was moderated by Nadia Malik, a founding board member and treasurer of the Muslim
Women’s Fund. It began with the presentation of two case studies: one by Nani Zulminarni, National
Coordinator of PEKKA (Women-Headed Households Empowerment Program) (Indonesia) titled
Achieving Prosperity & Dignity: From Economic Empowerment to Social Movement (See Appendix 7)
and another by Shireen Zaman, Director for Middle East and North Africa for Vital Voices Global
Partnership (US) titled Leveraging Corporate Social Responsibility for Women’s Progress (See
Appendix 7). The two presenters talked about harboring capital to empower women through very
different strategies, Ms. Zulminarni at the grassroots level and Ms. Zaman at the macro level through
corporations.
15
Ms. Zulminarni stressed the need to foster the economic empowerment of poor women, especially
those heading households (13% of the families in her home country, Indonesia). Single mothers face
greater discrimination both institutionally and socially than other mothers. Her organization, PEKKA,
through chapters in six provinces in Indonesia uses microfinance and other business development
strategies to reach poor women. She emphasized that “The real issue is education.” Ms. Zaman
spoke about the larger role of the business community in Muslim women’s advocacy. She discussed
the development of positive business training and corporate social responsibility programs in large
companies concluding that all require capacity, connections, and credibility.
In the short discussion period following the presentations, several conference participants spoke
about their own philanthropic work. They emphasized the importance of educating women about how
to take charge of their lives and understand Islam better, as well as the empowerment that comes
through this education. The place of women’s education and related empowerment in the
philanthropic change strategy was the central topic.
3:30 – 4:00 p.m. – Change through Philanthropy Muslim Women’s Fund Launch &
Panel
The new Muslim Women’s Fund was launched next by Shahnaz Taplin-Chinoy, Executive Director of
Shahnaz Taplin-Chinoy Associates (US), who described the mission, goals, leadership, and planned
activities of the Fund, and its relationship to WISE. The mission of the Muslim Women’s Fund (MWF)
is to enable women to claim their rights in Islam,
become educated and economically empowered. The
Fund will invest in strategic, replicable, grass-roots
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in countries
with Muslim populations. It will provide financial and
other support for these organizations working at the
nexus between economic empowerment and
progressive religious and secular education.
The Fund’s first three projects will be:
•
•
•
an Egyptian NGO with a two-pronged strategy
of educating midwives to eradicate cultural support for female genital cutting, which is contrary
to Islam, and providing financial support for alternative livelihoods to midwives who cease
performing this procedure;
a Pakistani organization offering a transformative human rights curriculum for teachers at girls’
madrasas including content and skill-building on egalitarian, peaceful, and tolerant Islam, and
secular and scientific curses; and
a US-based non-profit organization providing immigrant and refugee Muslim women with skills
to start their own micro-enterprises.
Ms. Taplin-Chinoy emphasized the Fund’s beginnings at the 2006 conference. “It gives me great,
great pleasure today to announce to you publicly the launch of the Muslim Women’s Fund. There is a
particular sweetness to this and the sweetness comes from the fact that the idea was birthed two
years ago …. when many of you were in attendance.” The Fund reflects the importance of Muslim
women leading philanthropic efforts, and the need for philanthropy to be sensitive to regional and
local community needs and beliefs. Ms. Taplin-Chinoy strongly encouraged the WISE community to
both provide financial support for the Fund and seek its grants and other resources. She stressed the
16
importance of using Islamic values to influence social justice and noted that the Fund was one way to
do this.
A short panel discussion followed the Fund launch featuring Sayyeda Mirza-Jafri, Strategic
Philanthropy Consultant (US); Melissa Samuelson, Program Manager, Women’s Entrepreneurship
Programs/Professor at the Thunderbird School for Global Management (US); and Eman Fawzy,
Executive Director, Egyptian Association for Society Development (Egypt). The discussion focused on
the differences between charity and philanthropy and how these differences apply to the goals of the
Muslim Women’s Fund, and how other Muslim women can create philanthropic organizations that
thrive and accomplish their goals.
4:00 – 5:30 p.m. Change through Philanthropy Work Groups
Work Groups
Work groups then convened to discuss key questions related to the philanthropic change strategy and
the Muslim Women’s Fund.
The questions regarding the change strategy were:
1. What are the effects of poor access to resources for Muslim women’s initiatives within your
local community?
2. Is it important for philanthropic efforts to be sensitive to your local community needs and
beliefs? Any examples of philanthropic efforts that have successfully done so?
3. What lessons did you learn from the case studies? Can these projects be utilized in your own
The questions regarding the Muslim Women’s Fund were:
1. What is your initial feedback on the Fund? What
are its shortfalls and how can it be improved?
2. What types of projects should the Fund focus
on?
3. How can you or your organization/institution get
involved in the Fund?
The work groups emphasized the slowness of the
philanthropic change process, the dominance in their
daily activities of other issues such as extreme poverty,
the small number of community-based projects and the
problems of their sustainability, and their own difficulties
of identifying, reaching, and accessing potential services and money sources. The participants
recognize that funders and others with resources have to choose only few objectives from many, and
caution that excellent ideas and priority needs can often be ignored or overlooked. Some participants
expressed concern that money typically stays in cities or urban areas where the need is less
compared to that in the rural areas. A major challenge appears to be how to increase the private
sector’s interest in social development. This raises the importance of corporate social responsibility.
The work groups also shared constructive suggestions regarding the Muslim Women’s Fund. Many
conference participants thought that the Fund’s leadership needed expansion and diversification.
17
They also recommended that an advisory board for the Fund be established reflecting various
disciplines, specializations, and countries. Concern was raised by some participants about the
necessity of a standardized transparent process for selecting projects to be supported by the Fund.
Opinions were mixed regarding the potential of small grants (e.g., $500) to effect any desired changes
but there was consensus that larger grants (starting at $10,000) could build capacities leading to such
changes. Several conference participants thought that more men need to be integrated in the Fund so
that they would better understand the needs of women and provide financial and other support. Last,
a few participants strongly recommended that the Fund create its own income-generating projects so
that it is not solely dependent on donors. At the conclusion of the work group period, 57 participants
from 23 countries asked to join the Fund’s Global Advisory Network; 49 participants from 22 countries
requested more information on applying for grants from the Fund; 47 participants from 22 countries
expressed interest in promoting the Fund to their local media, professional contacts, and potential
funders; and seven reported that they wanted to support the Fund financially. (See Appendix 14).
Six questions were asked in the post-session polling on Change through Philanthropy. The findings
from three are highlighted below (See Table 5). The results from the other questions are not included
as they do not add much to this section of the report. The findings from the polls reveal that the
conference participants’ organizations have diverse major sources of funding, seven out of ten
participants think that it is very important for Muslim women to lead philanthropic efforts, and six out of
ten believe that the Muslim Women’s Fund could make a large or very large difference in promoting
positive change for women worldwide. Younger participants were more optimistic and participants
from North America were less optimistic about the Fund’s potential. There were no differences by age
or geographic region in the participants’ responses to the first two questions.
Table 5
Where does your organization or institution receive the majority of its funding?
Government
14.8%
Private foundations
28.4%
Members fees and/or payment for services
11.4%
Individual donors or your own personal contributions 21.6%
Combination of the above
23.9%
How important is it for Muslim women to lead philanthropic efforts?
Not important
1.4%
Somewhat important
4.1%
Important
18.9%
Very important
73.0%
Undecided
2.7%
How much difference do you think the Muslim Women’s Fund could make in promoting
positive change for Muslim women worldwide?
No difference
4.0%
A small difference
32.3%
A large difference
54.5%
5.1%
18
Saturday, July 18, 2009
9:15 – 10:00 a.m. Change through Interpretation Case Studies
The objectives of this third strategic session, Change through Interpretation, were to discuss the role
of scriptural interpretation in discrimination against Muslim women, the denial of their rights, and more
generally, preventing social change; emphasize the need for religious arguments and positive
interpretive (or re-interpretive) efforts to improve the position of Muslim women; and highlight the need
for women’s leadership in religious interpretation and spirituality. Two specific projects that have
successfully used scripture and scriptural interpretation to improve the position of Muslim women and
create change were featured as case studies to inform and inspire the conference participants.
Pre-session Polling
Before the case study presentations, the conference participants were asked two key questions about
the most harmful areas of scriptural misinterpretation and Muslim women’s leadership in scriptural
interpretation. The questions and responses are displayed in the following charts and show that
harmful scriptural misinterpretation occurs in a variety of areas and women are very important in
terms of scriptural leadership. Younger participants were more likely to report that the most harmful
misinterpretations were in the areas of marriage and divorce, and employment and career opportunity.
Participants from North America and Europe rated Muslim women’s leadership on religious
interpretation of greater importance than those from other geographic regions.
In what area(s) do you confront the most
harmful interpretations?
48.6
Marriage and divorce
(family law)
Employment and
career opportunity
Financial Security
29.7
3.6
16.2
1.8
Gender-based violence
Combination of the
above
Chart 3
How important is it for Muslim women to
take leadership roles in religious
interpretation and spirituality?
5.8 1.7
10
82.5
Not important
Somewhat important
Important
Very Important
Chart 4
19
Case Studies
Moderator
Asma Afsaruddin, Professor of Islamic Studies in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and
Cultures at Indiana University (US)
Presenters
Shahina Akbar, attorney at the High Court in Islamabad/Rawalpindi (Pakistan)
Laisa Masuhud Alamia, Program Manager and Co-Founder of Nisa Ul Hagg Fi Bansamoro
(Philippines)
Dr. Asma Afsaruddin moderated the case study portion of the session. The two case studies
presented were: The Pakistani Marriage Contract: Filling in the Salient Clauses & Teaching Girls their
Rights by Shahina Akbar (See Appendix 7), an attorney at the High Court in Islamabad/Rawalpindi
(Pakistan); and Advancing Gender Equality in Muslim Mindanao: Training & Promoting GenderSensitive Religious Leaders to Affect Change by Laisa Masuhud Alamia (See Appendix 7), Program
Manager and Co-Founder of Nisa Ul Hagg Fi Bansamoro (Philippines).
As moderator, Dr. Afsaruddin began by providing a historical perspective with the story of Omar
showing the precedent of women offering opinion and counsel on the hadiths and the religion, and the
story of Aisha bin Abu Bakr, widow of the Prophet, who was a trusted source of knowledge on Islam
and consulted frequently on matters of great religious and social importance. Historically, women
scholars have been praised for their leadership in Islamic interpretation, and Islam mandated that both
men and women should seek out knowledge on Islam. Only more recently have women become
marginalized and removed from the discussion. Dr. Afsaruddin views the work of WISE and most
specifically the Shura Council as that of reclamation and revival. “The Shura Council will allow women
to reclaim their places in the Islamic discussion through consultation, consent, and consensus.”
Ms. Akbar’s case study of the Pakistani marriage
contract was a very personal one. She emphasized that,
while the contract is a legal document passed through
the legislature, few women are apprised of its content
and understand their rights before signing the contract
at their wedding ceremonies. This was her personal
experience as a well educated woman. In her traditional
family, the document is considered un-Islamic. The
Qur’an is written in Arabic and few people in Pakistan
have read it in Urdu so they do not know what the
Qur’an says about marriage and the dowry. Ms. Akbar
identified the problems of women suffering from
unfavorable marriage conditions, pervasive lack of knowledge about marriage contracts, and
prevailing practices of elder men handle the signing of the contracts. Her objectives were to create
awareness about the marriage contract and secure more favorable terms for women in marriage.
Using an educational strategy with increasing numbers of lectures in homes, schools, colleges,
vocational centers, professional women’s clubs, and hospitals, as well as to matchmakers, on her own
Ms. Akbar has explained the marriage contract and highlighted the bride’s rights to a representative or
lawyer, divorce, maintenance allowance, certificate of divorce/deeds to many audiences. To achieve
her objectives, she has brought unmarried women together with their family members, avoided
tampering with the contract, and emphasized the passages in the Qur’an proving that the contract is
Islamic. She stressed that Muslim women and their families need to know their legal rights in the
Family Courts Act. The outcomes of Ms. Akbar’s work have been improved knowledge and
20
preparation of the marriage contract, and assurance of the rights to divorce and reasonable “Mahr”
payable on demand.
Ms. Alamia’s case study was focused on Philippine Muslims who comprise just 10% of that country’s
population, specifically Moro women, an indigenous group concentrated in southern portion of
Philippines, who suffer from forms of oppression, kidnappings, discrimination, and polygamy.
Discrimination against this group is codified in laws. The pressing issues are the early, arranged, and
forced marriage; and violence against women.
Research has shown that girls as young as 13-years-old are forced into early marriages with harmful
wide-ranging consequences. The younger the girl marries, the more likely her economic situation will
worsen, her personal freedoms will be denied, and her development will be compromised. Ms. Alamia
and her colleagues have used Khutbah (sermons) to deliver desired information on gender, the
reproductive health rights of women, arranged marriages, marriage counseling, maternal and
newborn health care, and the economic rights of women during Friday prayers. The information has
been tested and used in trainings, and distributed throughout the region in mosques and during
marriage consultations using booklets in five indigenous languages. Partnering with male religious
leaders has proved to be very productive. Women religious leaders also have added value to the
project.
At the conclusion of the case studies, one conference participant asked an important question about
the establishment of authority for these activities in Pakistan and the Philippines. Ms. Akbar answered
that in the beginning she worked independently within her own networks. Then information was
disseminated throughout the newspapers and by word of mouth. For the past two years, she has
been working with an established organization Behbud. Ms. Alamia responded that her relationships
with the religious leaders were rocky at first. It took time to convince the leaders that, instead of trying
to destroy the religion, she and her colleagues were seeking to improve upon the living conditions of
Muslims. She emphasized the necessity of combined many different strategies including policy,
media, and behavioral change.
10:00 – 10:45 a.m. Change through Interpretation “Muslim Women Interpreting” Panel
Moderator
Asma Afsaruddin, Professor of Islamic Studies in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and
Cultures at Indiana University (US)
Panelists
Amina Wadud, visiting scholar at the Starr King School for the Ministry in California, visiting consultant
on Islam and gender at the International Centre for Islam and Pluralism in Indonesia (US)
Sa’diyya Shaikh, Senior Lecturer, Department of Religious Studies, University of Cape Town (South
Africa)
“I think it was a really good session. I think
Siti Musdah Mulia, Research Professor,
everyone understands that there’s a real need
Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI), (Indonesia)
to have interpretation and give some of the
tools we should use in order to do that, so it
The purpose of the panel was to discuss the
was really good to get encouragement,
scholarship of religious texts and inclusion of
support and strategies on how to re-interpret
multiple perspectives on interpretation as a
and approach the Qur’an.”
means of activism. Dr. Afsaruddin began with an
-Faeeza Vaid, UK
introduction on the relationship between
scholarship and activism. Dr. Shaikh then talked
about South African women’s interpretations of Qur’anic passages and how their husbands’ behavior
21
often contradicted their understanding of the Qur’an. Dr. Wadud followed with a description of her
personal journey in Qur’anic interpretation and how the Tawhid concept can support egalitarian
gender relations in Islam. Ms. Mulia finished the panel’s presentation telling about her work building a
new model of Islamic family law in Indonesia that focuses on the protection of women’s rights and
reflects the reality of Indonesian Muslims, particularly Indonesian Muslim women, and the principle of
equality. Ms. Mulia concluded “The main factor of the decrease of women’s status in Muslim society is
religious interpretation, not the religion itself.”
In the discussion following the panel there were topics of convergence and divergence. Some
conference participants stressed the wide variations in
countries’ and regions’ interpretations of the scripture.
In some countries Qur’anic study typically involves
primarily simple memorization and rarely entails
progressive interpretation or dialogue. In other Muslim
countries, committees are critiquing existing curricula to
introduce
different
perspectives.
Progressive
interpretation continues to be met with resistance from
many existing religious leaders. One participant raised
the significance of the notion that progressive
scholarship, as represented by the panel, seems to be
coming from the “margins” of the Muslim world and not
the Middle East. Dr. Wadud disputed the notion that Indonesia, with its large population of Muslims
(greater than all Arab countries combined), should be considered on the margins of the Arabic world.
10:45 – 11:30 a.m. Change through Interpretation Shura Council Launch
The panel was followed by the formal launch of the Shura Council. Daisy Khan began by briefly
reviewing the history of the Shura Council and then presented its mission, vision and objectives, as
well as its planned future activities. The Shura Council was conceived at the initial WISE conference
in 2006 and developed in detail over the last two years. It was created in response to the need to
formally engage Muslim women in religious debates that will eventually result an ethical and
egalitarian Islam. Ms. Khan encouraged the conference participants to both use and contribute to the
Shura Council. The initial response to the Shura Council was highly positive.
As part of its launch, the Shura Council issued its first statement, “Jihad Against Violence”, reflecting
Muslim women’s great struggle and desire for peace.
The statement’s purpose is to help mobilize the WISE
community around the issues of domestic violence and
violent extremism. The digest prepared for the “Jihad
Against Violence” (See Appendix 8) includes a
preamble and rationale for the statement; scholarly
background on domestic violence, violent extremism,
and the connections of all forms of violence, and
refutations; a bibliography; and directory of
organizations working to address violence against
women. Additionally, a “Jihad against Violence” poster
was distributed to each participant. (See Appendix 9)
The WISE community’s endorsement of “Jihad against Violence” was requested and received. The
WISE participants took part in a pledge of Jihad against Violence.
22
12:00 – 1:30 p.m. Change through Interpretation Work Groups
This third change strategy session concluded with work groups and polling.
Work Groups
The workgroups were asked to focus on these questions regarding the change strategy of
interpretation:
1. What are the effects of damaging scriptural interpretations within your local community? What
are the most harmful ideas and/or interpretations?
2. What is the efficacy of using religious arguments and positive interpretive efforts to create
change within your local community? Any examples?
3. What lessons did you learn from the case studies? Can these projects be utilized in your own
The work groups’ discussions centered on the challenges associated with the integration of
progressive thinking and scriptural passages from the Qur’an and hadiths in their work and other
efforts. The need to balance scholarship with real-life problems that individuals and communities face
was highlighted. Several participants stressed that, to engage the religious establishment, clear
purposes and plans are essential. Others emphasized the need to be respectful and inclusive of
current leadership, and very patient in fostering change through scriptural interpretation. One
participant put it succinctly “We should seek knowledge from cradle to grave. We have seen our
sisters struggling and now we see a way to make things better.”
The work group participants also were asked for their initial feedback on the Shura Council’s potential,
shortfalls, priorities, and “Jihad Against Violence”. There was substantial recognition that the Shura
Council had significant potential for bridging the gap between academia and the “real world” with
regards to religious texts. The participants encouraged the Shura Council to have an inclusive view of
scholarship (e.g., acknowledging women in pre-Colonial Africa). Several cautioned the Shura Council
not to be preoccupied with progressive scholarship, some of which is coming from the “margins” of the
Muslim world. Some participants felt that “Jihad Against Violence” should be renamed “Jihad For
Peace” but the Shura Council felt that the subtitle of the statement “Muslim women struggle for peace”
adequately addressed their concerns.
Time constraints curtailed the length of the work group discussions but many of the conference
participants expressed interest in continued involvement with the Shura Council. 36 participants from
20 countries indicated that they wanted to join the Shura Council and/or conduct research; 21
participants from 12 countries indicated they would like to work on the Muftiyyah – Training Program,
30 participants from 15 countries intended to connect the Shura Council with other scholars, and 29
participants from 14 countries reported that would promote the Shura Council with media and
potential funders. (See Appendix 14)
Only one question was posed in the post-session
polling because of the time restrictions and some
polling fatigue among conference participants. In
response to, ‘Do you support this ‘Jihad Against
23
Violence’ statement?’ ninety percent responded affirmatively indicating strong support for the Shura
Council’s first proclamation and non-violence in general.
2:30 – 6:30 p.m. Concurrent Skill-Building Trainings
The remainder of the afternoon was devoted to concurrent skill-building trainings. These sessions
offered the participants opportunities for acquiring more in-depth and specific knowledge and skills
concerning leadership, media, and community organizing change strategies. The titles, presenters,
and descriptions of the six trainings follow.
Creating a More Just World: Women and Transformative Leadership (Women’s Learning
Partnership)
Wajeeha al-Baharna, Vice-President, Bahrain Women’s Association (Bahrain)
Betty Yeoh, Program Manager, All Women’s Action
Society (Malaysia)
Haslinah Yacob, Vice-President and Co-Coordinator,
All Women’s Action Society’s Ethnicity and Religion
Committee and a Member of the Working Coalition
(Malaysia)
Ho Wai Ling, Co-Coordinator, All Women’s Action
Society’s Violence against Women Committee
(Malaysia)
Abigail de Vries, Senior Program Officer, All Women’s
Action Society (Malaysia)
This workshop was based on Leading to Choices: A Leadership Training Handbook for Women that
the Women’s Learning Partnership’s partners have used to train over 10,000 grassroots activists, civil
society leaders, and researchers in more than 20, mostly Muslim majority countries. The workshop
illustrated how inclusive leadership learning strategies rooted in the cultural, socio-economic, and
religious conditions of each community helped women realize their agency, develop and implement
work plans, and mobilize their communities for change. The major points were that: anyone can
become a leader, if she or he chooses to do something to correct an injustice (however small); all
humans have the qualities of a leaders inside themselves; patience, persistence, courage, and vision
are these leadership qualities; mentoring is important for building leadership and learning
partnerships; and that authority is not mandated in learning organizations, rather, it emerges as
dialogue proceeds.
Polishing the Mirror of the Heart: A Path to Spiritual Growth
Aisha Rafea, Co-Leader, The Egyptian Society for Spiritual
“The
spiritual
motivation
and
and Cultural Research (Egypt)
fulfillment can play an effective role
Camille Helminski, Co-Director and Co-Founder, The
in women’s leadership in all aspects
Threshold Society (US)
of life.”
This workshop began with the recognition that the intimate
connection with the Divine is the real sustenance and guidance for change. Stories of women
exemplars and personal journeys were used to illustrate paths of spiritual growth. Prayers that can be
used to instill tranquility were suggested.
24
Running for Office
Giovanna Negretti, Trainer in Leadership Development, Civic Education, Not-For-Profit Management,
Politics, and Advocacy (US)
In this training on running for political office, Ms. Negretti made the case that politics is where policy is
made, and therefore changes in policy can only be made through politics. She presented a theory of
change positing that civic education, leadership development, advocacy, and political development,
taken together, result in desired change. Adaptive leadership (based on the premise that we can all
exercise leadership) is required to confront problems during difficult times and take advantage of
opportunities to generate profound, permanent change. Skill-building activities were directed toward
assessing personal readiness for running for office and planning a winning campaign.
Media, Networking, and Censorship
Mahdis Keshavarz, Principal, The Make Agency (US)
In the first half of the training, Ms. Keshavarz spoke about how organizations and individuals can
promote themselves in the media and how they can put forward the most coherent compelling
messages. This was followed by skills training in delivering short, distinct intriguing messages about
priority issues. Ms. Keshavarz outlined a three-step program for becoming more media-savvy and
present in the media (understand/create/network). She spoke about the importance of making
nontraditional alliances, delivering clear and succinct messages, developing a media strategy that will
help achieve a goal, and how to create a message that is an “umbrella” for all the activities of an
organization. Last, Ms. Keshavarz talked about how to use social networking sites like Facebook and
Twitter to benefit an organization and the broader social context of how these networks are used.
How Women Can Empower Themselves by Becoming Conscious Cultural Creators: Strategies
for Building Greater Influence and Using it Consciously
Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk, President/Co-Founder of The Memnosyne Foundation (US), Author/Artist
Ms. Thompson-Frenk began by emphasizing that globalization must be accepted as the new
paradigm, and that women have to recognize and use their own assets. To become a conscious
cultural creator, women have to start by acknowledging their own ancestries and histories, and
defining themselves in terms of their own values. Then they can identify the obstacles that they face in
living out their legacies. This involves understanding the alignment of one’s own values and passions
with those of the community, and one’s web of influence. Discussion focused on strategies for
defending one’s legacy when it is not shared by many others in the community. One suggestion was
“to have an agenda but do not take sides.”
Public Narrative for Community Organizing
Nisreen Haj-Ahmed, Senior Academic Manager, The Columbia University Middle East Research
Center (Jordan)
Maura Clarke, Programs Manager Queen Rania Teacher Academy (US)
The public narrative training was
developed by Professor Marshall Ganz
at Harvard University’s Kennedy School
of Government. Professor Ganz – a
community organizer himself – has
trained
leaders
and
community
organizers throughout the world to use
“The skill building training by Nisreen and Maura was
extremely helpful to the work I do as the Behbud
organization has been struggling for the last so many
years to bring a change in grassroot level. It is amazing
that how a little tip can help achieve a whole lot.”
-Abida Malik, Pakistan
25
public narrative to inspire others to join them in collective action towards their common goal. This
session was closed to observers in order to assure confidentiality. The following is a description of the
session provided by Ms. Haj-Ahmed.
Public narrative is a leadership art. It is the process through which individuals, communities and
nations learn to access values that can inspire collective action to confront an urgent challenge. This
process revolves around telling our stories – the story of self, the story of us and the story of now. We
are eager to hear your story of self and to work together to develop a story of us and a story of now.
These stories will explore why you have been called to serve issues facing Muslim women and to take
positions of leadership in society. Our collective and individual stories will continue to impact and
propel us to lead and galvanize our communities.
7:30 – 8:30 p.m. WISE Dinner
Keynote Address: Datin Seri Jeanne Abdullah, Former First Lady of Malaysia was unable to attend
the conference and had to cancel her scheduled
keynote address on short notice. The keynote address
was instead given by Professor Jamilah Ariffin, the
President of Asia-Pacific Forum on Families, Malaysia.
Prof. Ariffin is the President of JUITA, Advisor to the
social welfare council of Johor, and wife of Johor’s Chief
Minister. Dr. Ariffin talked about her work with JUITA, an
organization dedicated to organizing social welfare
activities for the less fortunate in the state of Johor.
United States Ambassador to Malaysia James Keith
spoke to the WISE participants about the importance of
the WISE as a global movement in advancing women’s voice, creating networks and providing
opportunities for the next generation of women
8:30 – 10:30 p.m. Film Screening ‘Pray the Devil Back to Hell’
A film by Abigail E. Disney and Gini Reticker, Pray the Devil Back to Hell is the multi award-winning
account of a small group of brave and visionary yet “ordinary” women who demanded peace for
Liberia as it was nearly destroyed by civil war.
The film was shown to provide one historical example of interfaith collaborative efforts between
Muslim and Christian women leading to change. Conference participants were asked to discuss the
unique and universal aspects of the Liberian case, what strategies are replicable, and brainstorm how
WISE specifically and Muslim women’s groups generally can collaborate with other faith groups, as
well as men, to create positive social change.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
9:30 – 10:30 a.m. Change through Collaboration Interfaith Panel
This session on the fourth change strategy, Change through Collaboration, was moderated by
Mehnaz Mona-Afridi, Professor, Antioch University and National University (US). The objectives of
26
this session were to better understand women of other faiths, and learn from their histories, struggles,
and successes; and to counteract stereotypes about women of other faiths.
Pre-session Polling
At the start of the session, the participants were polled using two questions about interfaith
collaboration: How connected are Muslim women’s efforts for change with the efforts of women of
other faiths? and How helpful could collaborations with women of other faiths be for promoting change
for Muslim women? Eleven percent of the participants responded that Muslim women’s efforts for
change were not connected to the efforts of women of other faiths; another 50% said that they were
somewhat connected; 24% indicated that they were connected, and 14% answered that they were
very connected. Eight out of ten participants reported that collaborations with women of other faiths
would be helpful (30%) or very helpful (51%). The participants’ responses to these two questions did
not vary significantly by their age or geographic regions.
Panel
Moderator
Mehnaz Mona-Afridi, Professor of Antioch University and National University (US)
Panelists
Dr. Rev. Serene Jones, President of Union Seminary (US)
Rory Picker-Neiss, Co-Editor, InterActive Faith: The Essential Interreligious Community-Building
Handbook and consultant (US)
Dr. K. K. Thilagawathi Kanagaretnam, Vice-President
at Sri Kandaswmy Temple (Malaysia)
The session began with an Interfaith Panel in which the
panelists started by offering Christian, Jewish, and
Hindu prayers and blessings. Dr. Mona-Afridi then
briefly reviewed the histories and stereotypes of women
of different world religions, and stressed the need for
collaboration. She emphasized that women should
respect the long history of interfaith collaboration,
especially among women over the years, rise up
against religious stereotypes (e.g., Hinduism and the tantric woman), and work to understand women
of other faiths. She then facilitated dialogue by the panelists on two questions:
What does being a spiritual leader mean in your religion? If you become a pastor, rabbi or other type
of leader, does it mean you are closer to God?
How do you approach scripture in your religion that could be construed as oppressive to women?
Dr. Jones emphasized that it is important to not simply study religions but to actually foster women’s
leadership in an interfaith context. Being ordained means she can officially perform all functions of her
denomination of the Christian church, and she has the status of a teacher. She believes that it is
politically and socially important to be ordained as a woman as it shows her credentials and helps
men to take her more seriously. Dr. Jones noted that some scriptures about women really repulsed
her but she tries to view them in a bigger context and uses these passages as an inspiration to seek
justice for women.
27
Ms. Picker-Neiss clarified that in the Jewish faith the term “rabbi” means teacher, Jewish rituals like
funerals and weddings do not require rabbis, and interpreting texts is open to everyone. Therefore,
she stated that being a rabbi does not mean one is closer to God. She added that some Jewish
communities have started giving the title of rabbi to women only in the past 50 years or so, and other
communities bestow a different title to women spiritual leaders who have the same duties as rabbis.
She herself is continuing studies to become such a leader. Ms. Picker-Neiss noted that the Jewish
tradition includes grappling with difficult texts and questioning the many possible meanings taking the
time period of the texts into account and learn from that history.
Ms. Kanagaretnam responded that Hinduism has a long history of women’s leadership in temples and
in all aspects of the religion, though over time women’s public role in religion eroded. There now is a
resurgence in women’s leadership. She stated that in Hinduism being a religious leader does not
necessarily mean you are closer to God. Becoming close to God involves a personal journey and
meditation, and anyone can undertake this. In terms of dealing with difficult scripture, Ms.
Kanagaretnam thought it was more important to know the basic philosophy of a religion than to try to
understand all the scriptures.
10:30 –11:30 a.m. Change through Collaboration Discussion
Discussion
The key points from the discussion following the Interfaith panel were:
•
•
•
•
Many women of different faiths struggle with certain religious scriptures that appear to oppress
women and others
Women have important roles to play in re-reading texts in a nonviolent way and applying them
to current realities
In many countries there are few resources for interfaith dialogue (For example, it is difficult in
Pakistan to learn about Judaism and Israel as Pakistan does not acknowledge Israel as a
country.)
Rather than being territorial or competitive, women across faiths and cultures should
collaborate to bring about positive change.
At the end of the session, the participants were polled again using just two questions. The question
about the potential helpfulness of collaborations that was used at the start of the session was
repeated, and the participants evidenced similarly high levels of expectation In response to the
second question, nearly all of the participants thought that collaborations with men would be helpful or
very helpful. The questions and the participants’ responses follow in Chart 5 and 6.
28
Chart 5
Chart 6
How helpful could collaborations with
men be for promoting change for
Muslim women?
How helpful could collaborations
with women of other faiths be for
promoting change for Muslim
women?
4.2
5.3
21.3
Somewhat
helpful
Not helpful
9.4
Helpful
21.9
73.4
Very helpful
64.6
Somewhat
helpful
Helpful
Very helpful
12:00 – 1:30 p.m. Chair.Chai.Chats
Conference participants then had the opportunity to choose from among 16 Chair.Chai.Chats,
gatherings at which they could engage in informal discussions about particular topics of particular
interest lead by experts from all over the world. The offerings and the experts are listed below.
Sophia Abdi Noor, Member of the 10th Parliament of Kenya, Challenges Facing Girls in Kenya and the
Road to Leadership by Muslim Women.
Lena Al Huseini, Executive Director of the Arab American Family Support Center in New York, NY,
Lost in Translation: Reclaiming the Rights of Women and Children.
Magda Amer, Biochemist, Naturopath, and Caller of Islam, Egypt. Magda’s Calling: An Egyptian
Women’s Work to Educate Her Fellow Sisters.
Seyran Ates, Turkish-born feminist lawyer, writer, and publicist in Germany, Sexuality and Islam: Do
We Need a Sexual Revolution?
Margot Badran, Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a Senior Fellow
at the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, Coming to Feminism:
Our Own Stories.
Sadia Dehlvi, colmnist and spokesperson for the Muslim community in India, Discovering the Heart of
Islam: One Women’s Journey on the Sufi Path.
Mona Eltahawy, a US columnist and international public speaker, writer for Eqypt’s independent daily,
Al Masry Al Youm, Qatar’s Al Arab and Israel’s The Jerusalem Report, “Headscarves and Hymens:
Writing about and as Muslim Women.”
29
Samar Fatany, Chief Broadcaster in the English section of the Jeddah Broadcasting Station which is
affiliated with Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture and Information, Muslim Women and Journalism,
Creating Change.
Hanan Gewefel, Egyptian founder and senior breast imaging consultant for the Women and Fetal
Imaging Center, The Pink Center: Breast Cancer Has No Home.
Binta Jammeh-Sidbe, Executive Director of the Association for the Promotion of Girls’ and Women’s
Advancement in the Gambia, The Qur’an for Change: Mobilizing for Women’s Justice in the Gambia.
Anjum Malik, Chief Executive Officer of the Alhambra US Chamber of Commerce and actively
involved in the Initiative to Educate Afghan Women, Bringing Muslims to the US: How You Too Can
Be Guaranteed Acceptance into a US University.
Rohema Miah, Director of Whitepaper Consultants in the UK, Muslim Women Professionals in the
West and Muslim World: What Do We Compromise and What Do We Gain?
Atiqa Odho, Pakistani media personality and businesswoman, Muslim Women and the Media.
Dr. Nafis Sadik, Under Secretary General of the United Nations and Special Advisor to the UN
Secretary General, and Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, Improving Women’s
Health: 50 Years of Struggle.
Dr. Nafis Sadik discussed her experience
working on women’s health in Pakistan, and
particularly her work on raising awareness
about sexual and maternal health to women,
and the challenges of having to breakthrough
cultural beliefs, through examples of gender
roles, marriage, children and families, and how
this led her to work on women’s health and
advocacy work worldwide.
Fuziah Salleh, Member of the Malaysian Parliament and Head of the Training Bureau of the People’s
Justice Party, A Day in the Life of a Muslim Woman MP.
Asli Sancar, US author on her book: Ottoman Women: Myth and Reality.
2:30 – 5:00 p.m. Change through Action Community Organizing
This final training session by Nisreen Haj-Ahmed, Senior Academic Manager of the Columbia
University Middle East Research Center in Amman, Jordan, was designed to integrate and activate
the previous four change strategies. Ms. Haj-Ahmed’s approach was based on her collaborative work
with Professor Marshall Ganz at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
30
Ms. Haj-Ahmed began by defining leadership and community organizing. This basic introduction was
essential as 67% of the conference participants had not received any training in community organizing
previously. She then talked in some detail about how to develop and implement a strategic plan for
community organizing to benefit a cause or organization. Included were lists of emotions that can
serve as “action barriers” (e.g., inertia, fear, apathy) and “action catalysts” (e.g., urgency, hope,
anger). These emotions are important to recognize and manage effectively. Ms. Haj-Ahmed
emphasized that recognizing values is the basis of building relationships and developing effective
organizing practices. She also made the distinction between different types of power. “Some say
there are two kinds of power: power over and power with. ‘Power over’ is when it is claims-making,
we are making a claim over each other. … The other type is ‘power with,’ which is more collaboration
as opposed to claims-making.” Extending the point of collaboration, she said “Often we focus so much
on constituency … and we ignore or forget about the importance of all the other players.”
This session was curtailed by time constraints and participant fatigue. It also was challenged by
attempts to include a lot of content in a limited time period to a larger than usual audience. Most
participants recognized the importance of the training and the need for more time and experiential
activities.
The conference participants were polled on four questions at the end of this session. The questions
and their responses are shown in the table below. The responses show the high value placed on
community organizing but limited recent experience and lack of resources for such work, and the
varied theories of change as perceived as most effective, with education predominating. There were
some age and geographic differences in the participants’ experiences with community organizing with
those who were older and those from the Middle East having more experience.
Table 6
How important is community organizing to your work?
Extremely important
54.8%
Important
24.2%
Mildly important
11.3%
Not important
9.7%
Have you been involved in any form of community organizing in the past?
Yes, during the last 2 years
36.2%
Yes, during the last five years
37.7%
No, never
26.1%
Does your organization have enough resources to create a good campaign on your issue of
focus?
Mostly yes
21.5%
Yes
24.6%
No
53.8%
Of the following theories of change, which one is the *most* effective in making a
difference?
Create awareness on women’s rights and challenges
13.3%
Change the laws (religious, tribal, national) relevant to women’s status 16.0%
Enable women financially to be independent and agents of change
16.0%
Enable women’s presence in decision making and governance systems 13.3%
Enable women through education in religion and all fields of life
41.3%
31
5:00 – 6:00 p.m. Tea & Marketplace of Ideas
The “Marketplace of Ideas” provided participants with
an opportunity to showcase their own efforts and
initiatives and network with each other in an informal
setting. This provided participants with an opportunity
to strengthen the WISE network through the exchange
of ideas. Participants browsed the work of their fellow
WISE women which included posters and pamphlets
on efforts to end FGC in the Gambia, booklets and
DVDs on the efforts to end domestic violence,
information about women’s health in Islam and breast
cancer, and CD’s containing spiritual songs. Each
participant was asked to bring a dessert from their home to share with the other participants at the
conference.
6:00 – 7:00 p.m. Closing Ceremony
Daisy Khan lead the closing ceremony. Some time was spent providing clarifying information on the
next steps for the Shura Council, Muslim Women’s Fund, and portal; and the mechanisms for
conference participants to be involved in these key components of WISE.
An ‘open mike’ session was then held in which a few participants spoke about their own work and
their experience at the conference. These women included the Honorable Sophie Abdi Noor from
Kenya, and a few representatives from Afghanistan who spoke on behalf of the Afghani constituency.
Polling was conducted during the closing ceremony and participants indicated that the 2010 WISE
conference should be held in Morocco.
There also was time for feedback from the participants.
•
•
•
•
•
There was great enthusiasm expressed for WISE and the conference’s mission, purpose, and
quality of content.
Participants especially valued the professional and personal relationships that they were
establishing.
They also were inspired by the possibilities of
using what they had learned and sharing what
they had heard in their own organizations and
communities.
Some participants found the amount of
content and pace overwhelming. They would
have preferred more in-depth inquiry, specific
training, and opportunities for discussion and
reflection.
Some participants voiced their opinions that
there should have been more consultation and
collaboration on the conference’s content and
organization. They also felt that there should have been greater diversity in the presenters,
Fund, and Shura Council. Some said that it seemed as if the conference was designed to
confirm previously determined ideals instead of providing opportunities for deciding those
ideals.
32
•
The majority expressed concern that there was insufficient time and opportunity for feedback
and reflection.
After this session, the WISE Compact was distributed to all participants and a short video (See
Appendix 10) was shown highlighting the importance of the Compact in relation to the maqasid al
Shari’a. Previous to the conference, the Compact had been sent out to each participant to allow them
to read through the tenets and provide feedback. At the conference, each participant was asked to
endorse WISE by signing the Compact (See Appendix 1)
The conference ended with a performance performed by Samina Ahmad and Camille Helminski, titled
‘I am a woman’ and a group prayer circle.
Conclusion
The second conference of the WISE program, the 2009 international WISE Conference introduced the
initiatives, institutions and change strategies that have been developed since their conceptualization
at the inaugural WISE conference in 2006. The 2009 conference was an important turning point for
WISE as the movement has expanded their global network and created a solid foundation of support.
Outcomes
 The conference successfully convened over 200 Muslim women leaders from over 42
countries around the world to further strengthen the WISE movement.
 In addition to the exchange of ideas and best practices between participants, the WISE
women sharpened their skills through leadership, political, media, spiritual and various other
skill building training sessions offered at the conference.
 The Shura Council announced their first international declaration, “Jihad against Violence” and
officially launched the new campaign under the same name. This was followed by the
presentation of a digest, a poster, and a symbolic pledge being made amongst WISE women
to end violence.
 The conference saw the formal endorsement of the WISE Compact by conference
participants.
 The Muslim women’s web portal, the online platform for the WISE network, was launched.
 The Muslim Women’s Fund was launched.
 The conference’s ‘Marketplace of Ideas’ successfully showcased multiple initiatives founded
and led by artists, philanthropists, social entrepreneurs, opinion leaders, civil society leaders,
and religious leaders – that all aim for positive
Inspired by you, now I'm engaging in
change.
educational work on China's Muslim
 The conference increased the visibility of the WISE
women, and I cooperate with
women through wide media coverage in a variety of
China's major Muslim women
outlets around the world. These included Al-Ahram
charitable organizations. This work is
and The Yemen Times..
still weak in China, but we believe
 The conference laid the groundwork for the launch
there
will
be
big
of three in-country partnerships in Egypt, Pakistan
development. Frankly speaking, your
and Afghanistan.
organization and the meeting was a
 The WISE conference further strengthened the
first-class.
WISE program brand through professional
-Hongwei Musa, China
branding, marketing and publicity.
Lessons Learned
Based on our post-conference reflections, ongoing discussions with the WISE Steering Committee
33
and the formal and informal feedback we received from the members of the WISE community, many
lessons were learned. Key lessons on the application of effective methods used and
recommendations for alternative approaches in other areas requiring improvement include:
Procedural
Set up more formalized system for current
Steering Committee members to nominate/recruit
other members. Establish criteria for new
members based on current needs within the
group including professional specialty, time
commitment and geographic region.
Allow more time for conference planning and reevaluate the provisional schedule for subsequent
conferences.
Start the visa procurement process earlier.
Engage more ASMA Muslim Leaders of
Tomorrow (MLT) network in various countries to
assist with the visa process.
Schedule conferences during off-peak travel
season.
Collaborate further with other ASMA networks,
including the Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow (MLT)
program.
Establish clear cut off dates for video
submissions to be played at conference.
Effective vetting and selection process for case
study presenters was very effective to ensure
that all speakers were compelling and articulate
presenters.
Provide participants with more programmatic
information before the conference.
Develop media strategy in time for conference.
Logistical
Be mindful of what sessions are scheduled
towards the end of the conference when
participants are exhausted. Schedule ‘lighter’
sessions during these times.
Monitor
volunteers
involved
throughout
conference.
Rationale
This allow for more diversity within the group
and enabling it to act as a global unit.
This avoids last minute issues and allows
WISE team to adequately prepare for onsite
changes.
Engaging with Afghani MLT to assist us in the
visa procurement process was very successful
and enhanced overall quality.
This will save costs and optimize participant
attendance.
Enables WISE to tap into the value add of
ASMA’s other networks. For example, MLT
Maulana Azad, the Imam of a prestigious
mosque in Pakistan, attended the WISE
convening and as a result he is now serving as
an advisor for our in-country collaborative plans
for a gender sensitive Imam training program in
Afghanistan.
This will minimize last minute requests that we
are unable to preview in advance.
Continue to expand and formalize this process
to ensure a robust selection for future
conferences. This will ensure a robust selection
of presenters for future conferences.
This will adequately prepare them and optimize
engagement during 3 days of packed
programming.
Having a solid media strategy including press
releases for pre- and post-conference prepared
ahead of time, and a follow up media strategy,
the media coverage of the conference will
increase.
To minimize participant fatigue/info overload
during critical sessions.
Ensure that each volunteer completes his/her
task.
34
Programmatic
Release beta version of web portal to conference This will give participants time to explore first
participants via a password protected link prior to hand, test the portal and offer suggestions, new
the conference.
content and ways that they can incorporate the
portal as a tool into their work and
communities.
Assign seating at conference.
In order to optimize participant engagement
and ensure geographic, ideological and
professional diversity in discussions and work
group sessions at each table.
Have each work group present a summary of Enhance common learnings and engage the
their discussions to the entire convening body.
whole WISE members at conference.
Have more time for networking.
This will help to strengthen bonds between
participants both at and after the conference.
Have more ‘open mike’ and Q&A time for This will optimize participant engagement.
participants to share feedback on programming
throughout the conference, not just at the end of
the conference.
Be mindful of information overload.
To avoid inundating participants about the work
of WISE.
If additional funding can be secured, have Allow us to better engage those with limited
translators available for participants with limited English language skills.
English skills.
Have the ‘Market Place of Ideas’ session at the This will facilitate networking, socializing and
beginning of the conference, rather than at the serve as an icebreaker for the participants.
end.
Better integration of instant polling questions into Be mindful of polling-fatigue in order to
the conference sessions.
optimize
participant
engagement
and
participation.
Prior to the conference, advise all presenters to This will help to optimize participant
be mindful of the geographical and ideological engagement especially those with limited
diversity of the participants and to use less English language skills.
technical
jargon
and
clichés
in
their
presentations.
Case study presentations at the conference were Our in-country collaborative project for a
very effective and should be used in the future.
gender-sensitive imam training program in
Afghanistan was modeled after the case study
of a similar program in the Philippines that was
presented by WISE woman Laisa Alamia. Ms.
Alamia is now serving as an advisor to our
project in Afghanistan.
Continue to include more informal knowledge A good compliment to the more formal
sharing and exchange of experiences sessions sessions at the conference and an important
like Chair, Chai, Chat in future conferences.
part of our multi-faceted approach to social
change.
35
Next Steps
WISE is at an important turning point in developing a sustainable plan for the growth and development
of the movement. Some key steps were established at the conference and which have been
developed post-conference:
 Immediately following the 2009 WISE conference, WISE held meetings with in-country
collaborative partners from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Egypt.
• WISE will initiate its first chapters in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Egypt.
• The Pakistan meeting at the conference was well-attended and the
participantsemphasized the need for more skill-building trainings for themselves and
their respective communities back in Pakistan. There was a collective decision to
organize a focused skill building training conference in Pakistan with WISE (following
the model of the ASMA Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow media training conference
that was held in New York in the Spring of 2008). WISE is working with the
participants to put together a proposal for planning and fundraising for this
conference (see regional conference below). Bedari, a women’s rights organization
based in Islamabad, has begun making use of the conference learning in their own
work by using terminologies and strategies presented during the Change through
Communication presentations. WISE is collaborating with them on a domestic
violence awareness campaign in district Jhelum.
• The Afghanistan meeting was successful with a post-conference outcome of two
proposal papers by Jamila Afghani of the Noor Educational Center (NEC) in Kabul.
One of the projects, whose goal is to provide Imams in Afghanistan with gendersensitive religious training, was inspired by a case study presented at the conference
by Laisa Alamia, a WISE woman from the Philippines. WISE accepted the NEC
proposal, has established an international project advisory committee from the WISE
community to oversee the project and the project results will be presented at the next
WISE conference.
• The Egypt meeting engaged a diverse group of WISE women and many possible
ideas for future in-country collaborations were discussed including political training for
women and a campaign to increase the numbers of she-governors in Egypt. The
current project taking place in conjunction with the Egyptian Association for Society
Development will continue its efforts to eliminate Female Genital Cutting (FGC) from
communities in the Cairo area.
> Given the demand from the WISE community to replicate the WISE conference model on a
smaller and regional level in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, work on regional conference planning
and fundraising.
> The conference has led to the organization and coordination of several regional
WISE
conferences, replicating the WISE model on a smaller-scale. Locations suggested include
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
> Engage WISE conference participants who signed up to work on various WISE initiatives
during the work group sessions (i.e. portal, Shura Council etc.)
> Geographic (and professional expertise) expansion of the WISE Shura Council and Steering
Committee.
> Work with the WISE Shura Council to further develop the Muftiyyah Training Program
> Develop global strategies to promote the usage of the Muslim women’s web portal and
increase the content in all areas.
 Start phase two of the Muslim Women’s Web Portal development, including more interactivity
and social networking, possible translation of the site into other languages and building the
36
>
>
>
>
virtual mosque.
Expand WISE social networking efforts online (i.e. Facebook, Twitter etc.)
Develop global strategies to increase the number of individuals signing or supporting the
WISE Compact.
Work with Dr. Nafis Sadiq, WISE woman and Under Secretary General of the United Nations
and Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General, and Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Asia and
the Pacific, to get Muslim women Heads of State and First Ladies to sign the WISE Compact.
Begin planning next WISE global conference in Morocco. Engage WISE women from
Morocco and others from the WISE community who expressed interest in working on the next
conference.
The 2009 WISE Post-Conference Evaluation
Introduction
In August 2009, approximately one month after the Women's Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and
Equality (WISE) Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, all of the Conference participants were asked
to complete a short online evaluation.
Participants were asked to rate:
•
•
•
•
the quality of the Conference components’ content and process,
the relevance of the Conference topics and discussions to their own and their communities’
needs,
the usefulness of the Conference training sessions for their development as leaders, and
the overall achievements of the Conference in terms of sharing important information and
expertise, fostering dialogue, and promoting change.
Participants also were asked about their anticipated needs for training and other assistance in the
near future as they work on issues concerning Muslim women, and the ways that they might want to
be involved with WISE. (See Appendix 14)
Major Findings
One hundred twenty-five of the 215 participants (57.3%) who attended the Conference completed the
post-Conference evaluation. These respondents came from 35 countries.
Quality of the Content and Process of the Conference Components
The respondents were asked to rate the quality of the content and process (time, organization, and
management) of all the Conference components they attended using a five-point scale that ranged
from Very Low (1) to Very High (5). The components and the respondents’ mean or average rating
are displayed in the following table.
As the Table 10 shows (see below),
•
•
The respondents’ mean ratings were moderately high (about 3.8 to 4.1 out of a possible 5) for
both the quality of content and process of all the Conference components, suggesting their
high satisfaction overall.
There was some variation, however, in the respondents’ ratings of content quality with two of
the case study sessions (Communication and Interpretation) and the film screening receiving
37
higher ratings than the other components. The film screening also received a much higher
rating for process quality.
Table 7
Conference Components
Change through Communication Case Studies
Change through Philanthropy Case Studies
Change through Collaboration Interfaith Panel
Change through Interpretation Case Studies
Change through Action Community Organizing
Session Workgroups
Web Portal Launch
Muslim Women's Fund Panel and Launch
Muslim Women Interpreting Panel
Shura Council Launch
Jihad Against Violence Announcement
WISE Compact Signing
Skill-Building Training
Film Screening: Pray the Devil Back to Hell
Chair, Chai, Chats
Tea & Marketplace of Ideas
Mean Rating
Of Content
4.08
3.87
3.79
4.15
3.84
3.90
3.94
3.71
4.00
3.73
3.80
3.84
3.85
4.43
4.04
4.01
Mean Rating
Of Process
3.86
3.82
4.00
3.70
3.79
3.68
3.84
3.74
3.95
3.67
3.78
3.71
3.78
4.26
3.91
3.83
Relevance of the Conference Topics and Discussion
The respondents also were asked to assess the relevance of the Conference topics and discussions
to their own and their communities’ needs by showing their levels of agreement with certain
statements using a four-point scale that ranged from Do Not Agree (1) to Strongly Agree (4).
The statements and the respondents’ mean ratings are displayed in the next table.
The respondents’ mean levels of agreement (averaging 2.8 to 3.1 out of 4) reflect their general
concurrence with the positively worded statements regarding the relevance of the Conference topics
and discussions. The respondents were somewhat less positive about the relevance of the strategies
to their own communities, the sessions’ global perspective and reflection of collaboration and
cooperation, and the adequacy of opportunities for peer interactions.
Table 8
Statements Regarding Conference Topics and Discussion
The topics covered in the sessions related to my needs concerning
change for Muslim women.
The strategies discussed were relevant to my community’s and/or
country’s needs for changes for Muslim women.
I learned information and skills that I will be able to use in my work.
The sessions reflected a global perspective.
The sessions reflected collaboration and cooperation.
The sessions appeared connected by WISE’s overarching change strategies.
I had ample opportunities to share experiences and ideas with my peers.
Mean Rating
Of Agreement
3.12
2.86
3.08
2.84
2.84
3.11
2.79
38
Support for Professional Development in the Training Sessions
In addition, the participants were asked to rate the extent to which the training sessions that they
attended supported their professional development as leaders using a using a five-point scale that
ranged from Very Small (1) to Very Great (5). Again, their mean ratings on all the sessions were
moderately high.
Table 9
Training Sessions
Creating a More Just World: Women & Transformative Leadership
Running for Office
Polishing the Mirror of the Heart: A Path to Spiritual Growth
Media, Networking and Censorship
How Women Can Empower Themselves by Becoming Conscious Cultural
Creators
Public Narrative for Community Organizing
Mean Rating
3.97
3.91
3.90
4.03
4.10
4.00
Accomplishments of the Conference
Using a four-point scale that ranged from Not well (1) to Extremely well (4), the participants were
asked to indicate how well the Conference achieved various desired outcomes. Their high average
ratings on the outcomes are shown in the next table. Higher ratings were given regarding
accomplishments of networking and inspiration.
Table 10
Outcomes
Changed how I think of myself as a Muslim woman leader
Changed how I feel about being part of a movement of change for Muslim
Women
Changed how I think about strategies to effect change for Muslim women in
my community and/or country
Changed what I think about global strategies to influence change for Muslim
women
Inspired me to be more active in promoting change for Muslim women
Increased my visibility as an advocate for Muslim women
Introduced me to other Muslim women I would not have met otherwise
Introduced me to specialists and trainers I would not have met otherwise
Mean Rating
2.90
3.13
3.03
2.93
3.37
3.16
3.62
3.34
Overall Rating of the Conference
When asked to rate the conference overall as compared with other international meetings that they
had attended, the respondent gave it a mean rating of 4.18 out of 5, indicating high value.
Getting Involved After the Conference
Sizable proportions of respondents indicated that they wanted to be involved with WISE in different
ways after the conference, as the next table indicates.
39
Table 11
Ways Of Being Involved With WISE
I would like to help establish a local WISE chapter
I would like to contribute content regularly to the
WISE web portal
I would like to get involved with the Muslim
Women's Fund
I would like to get involved with the Shura Council
I would like to volunteer for the WISE program
I would like to collaborate with WISE on an in-country
project
Percent Responding Affirmatively
27.2%
39.2%
25.6%
28.0%
37.6%
52.0%
When asked whether certain activities would help them in the near future in their work on Muslim
women issues, the respondents responded most positively about attending a leadership retreat and
networking with peers, as the next table shows.
Table 12
Activities That Would Help In Their
Work
Training on media
Leadership retreat
Public speaking seminar
Training on running for public office
Training on conflict resolution
Training on organizational development
Training on proposal and grant writing
Peer networking
Percent Responding Affirmatively
36.0%
47.2%
25.6%
12.0%
28.0%
33.6%
36.8%
40.0%
Reactions to the Instant Polling Process
The respondents were asked several questions about the instant polling process used at the
conference because it was new to many participants. Rating how well the process did on a 3-point
scale ranging from not very well to very well, the respondents gave it moderately high mean ratings
for capturing their own positions and opinions (2.25), the position and opinions of all conference
participants (2.18), and the changes that occurred over the session (2.14). Several respondents
commented that some of the questions used in the polling did not offer the answers that they would
have chosen and instead they were lead to particular answers. Others felt that the polling questions
and answers were written with too much of a US perspective in mind. A few respondents said that the
questions were not relevant to their societies. Others praised the polling process for “making the steps
of change visible immediately” and for “showing the dynamics of the group.”
Open-Ended Questions
While most of the post-conference evaluation questions asked for numerical ratings, two were openended permitting respondents to give their opinions and other recommendations in detail. The two
questions and select answers illustrative of the total sample’s responses organized by theme are
presented below.
What is the most valuable thing you learned from the training you attended?
40
Change Is Possible Now With Women Working Together
“The coordination of all women can make a good change.”
“Women have a lot of rights and should be practiced.”
“The power of NOW. The training was incredible- and definitely the highlight of the conference for me.
It provided really useful skills which would be transferable to my individual context. I was also really
pleased to be 'doing' something active, and productive- because I could implement what I had learnt.”
“So many intellectual women all together under WISE platform made weight (power), especially that
documentary about female empowerment was incredible.”
“Muslim sisters can change the world together.”
“How clever and patient are women when it comes to achieving their goals in very difficult contexts
like the Gulf one.”
The Place of the Scripture and Spiritual Life in Promoting Change
“Strategies to connect spiritual needs and concrete objectives and goals.”
“I learned and understand that Qur'an is protecting woman in all sphere of her life, we should only to
interpret Qur'an correctly, and I draw a conclusion that we women have a power of influence on it.”
“How important spiritual growth is to women and the lack of opportunity to do more of this work.”
“The spiritual motivation and fufillment can play an effective role in women's leadership in all aspects
of life.”
“Spiritual growth needs time and sincerity to develop and practice.”
The Fit of The Personal And Professional
“The insight that a lot of things I did for my projects in the past, and the quite "personal" way I acted
(which I always doubted to be wrong and not professional) were not so bad. And that it was not just
chance or kismet or luck, when I succeeded... Unconsciously I took a "good path" - but KNOWING
details about those strategies and bringing them into an order now is much better, it gives me a new
confidence and clarity about how to proceed. And even about how to "inspire myself"...”
“One has to be proactive to create change, just willing to do something but not being involved
personally does not advance the cause. I have come to admire many of the women present for their
courage and effort in creating change.”
Applicable Strategies For Promoting Change
“Despite learning quiet lots of things that can be applicable in our country, I learned how
interpretations can effect people and their views and what ways to choose when you want a change
as change is not a one day work, but a process that will take longer and longer time.”
“Meanwhile the tips I got … helped me fight with many issues that I was helpless with despite being a
woman activist.”
“First of all, exchange of experience and information is a technical short cut for women to get more
empowered and more strong to struggle for development. Secondly, Islamic teaching is a strong tool
41
for empowerment of women.”
Diversity Among Muslim Women Yet Common Experiences And Goals
“The most valuable thing that I learned was that despite differences of culture and community, people
share common experiences and lessons in life, as I did with many who attended this training session.
It was exhilarating to know that.”
What was missing from the Conference? What recommendations do you have for changes?
More Time For Social Interaction And Exchange of Experiences
“Wish there had been more time to get to know more people.”
“I wish to know more about Muslim women in USA and may be other countries not represented.”
“Quite simply having more time to hear the stories of other women around the table in sessions so
that tasks were built with that purpose in mind more frequently would have been very appreciated.”
“I feel like enough time was not allowed for the sharing of individual experiences in concretized ways.”
“I think Muslim women for each county or area should have had the opportunity to share with the
whole group their particular challenges and successes. This may be achieved through the portal but is
also helpful experientially for each person to voice one word or story that defines them at the onset
and again at the time of closure, as it helps the group dynamic gel.”
Would Like More Skill-Building Sessions
“I would have liked to attend more skill-building sessions and didn't have to choose only one. Also
adding training on peace education and conflict resolution skills would have been a big plus.”
“I would have liked to have workshops or sessions where we could focus on partnerships and
collaborative working.”
More Diversity In Plenaries
“I hoped that there would be more opportunity to hear from the diverse voices of women who attended
the conference during plenary sessions. I was surprised that there was no real discussion at all about
the plight of Palestinian Muslim women. Additionally, the voices of (sub-Saharan) African descended
Muslim women both in the West and in African countries was basically mute and this is a tremendous
problem. I'm always struck and disturbed by the fact that in the international arena, African-American
Muslim women's voices are very rarely heard.”
“The conference was too American-centered. There were huge groups of women that we did not hear
from particularly women from black Africa, Arab women (not based in the US), Iranian women, etc.
I would have liked to have seen greater diversity of experience amongst the presenters, in terms of
race, class, geographic location and lived experiences of gender subordination. I would have liked to
see some discussion on issues of poverty and how these contribute to the disempowerment of
women.”
Select Comment Of Overall Praise
“I am deeply grateful for the opportunity WISE presented me with to meet Muslim women from around
the globe. An absolute honor. I also want to thank all of you for your hard work, passion and ambition.
The positive energy from the organizers and those who collaborated with you was for all to see. I think
42
positive change can be challenging for some. That too is part of the process of real change. It can be
painful... I support your convictions and applaud all your work to date. I am continually unconsciously
redefining my own next steps in life and am also inspired by MLT and WISE. I do count myself lucky.”
“I left the WISE conference feeling extremely blessed. It was a truly incredible experience where
women from around the world came together in one room. … What WISE has achieved in such a
short time is truly commendable.”
“The WISE 2009 conference was for me personally nourishing and vitalizing at multiple levels. The
sense of belonging and more so connecting to a global community of empowered and caring Muslim
women and finding strength in each other and our collective voice was an experience that gives me
hope and purpose in these trying times. I feel blessed to be part of this growing initiative and am
further inspired to go forward with the work that is yet to be done both individually and collectively. I
continue to feel the love of so many new friends I made at the conference. The depth of connection a
short period of time feels miraculous.”
MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE CONFERENCE
The Conference received a significant amount of print and television media coverage through
Canadian, Egyptian, UAE, US, and Yemeni outlets during the event and the two months that followed,
as the analysis table included in the Appendix shows (See Appendix 11 and 12). These outlets have
an estimated print and broadcast circulation of 3,104,019, and page views of approximately
1,643,200.
The WISE staff worked with the MAKE Agency and select Conference participants who are
professionally involved in media and/or have strong media contacts to achieve this coverage. Two
press releases were circulated, one just before the Conference on 7/13/09 and another afterwards on
7/21/09 (See Appendix 11). WISE staff monitored the media coverage through Google alerts, the
WISE women, and other professional connections, in part to feature the stories on its new web portal.
The media coverage focused on a range of topics including the Conference itself, violence against
women, women’s progress and empowerment, plans for female muftis, and the hijab. Substantial
attention was paid to violence against women and the Jihad Against Violence.
WISE staff and the MAKE Agency media consultants cite several key lessons learned that will
influence media coverage moving forward.
1. Develop to the extent possible a precise media strategy prior to the Conference and launching
of major initiative components.
2. For the WISE audience, translate press releases and other important documents into many
languages. (The coverage achieved was heavily directed at English-language speakers.)
3. Sustain media efforts for a longer period both before and after the Conference.
4. Enlist WISE women to a much greater extent to reach media outlets.
5. Use other forms of media such as radio, local newpapers, blogs, etc.
6. Expect media competition. (Bombings in Indonesia at the time of the Conference limited some
coverage.)
43
CONFERENCE PHOTOS
The following are a selection of photographs taken throughout the four-day conference. More photos
can be viewed at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/33568201@N07/collections/72157621904287452/
(Photo caption, left) Nevin Reda (Canada), Dr. Fawzia Al-Attia (Iraq) and Ndeye Andujar (France)
(Photo caption, right) Malaysian Quranic reciter performing the opening du’a.
(Photo caption, left) WISE women praying during the woman led and women’s only Friday prayers.
(Photo caption, right) Shanaz Taplin-Chinoy (US), Rushda Majeed (India), Sayyeda Mirza Jaffrey (US),
Melissa Samuelson (US), Eman Fawzy (Egypt) after the Change through Philanthropy session
(Photo caption, left) Diverse women gather at WISE conference in Malaysia.
(Photo caption, right) Sa’diyya Shaikh (South Africa), Siti Musdah Mulia (Indonesia) and Amina Wadud
(US) from the Change through Interpretation session.
44
(Photo caption, left) Shura Council members Tayyibah Taylor (US), Dr. Asma Afsaruddin (US), and
Gonca Aydin (Germany) read Jihad against Violence statement.
(Photo caption, right) Anjum Malik (US), Livia Iskandar (Indonesia), and Abida Mahmood (Pakistan)
during a work group session.
(Photo caption, left) Magda Amer (Egypt) and Nimah Ismail Nawwab (Saudi Arabia)
(Photo caption, right) Amina Wadud (US), Sadiyya Shaikh (South Africa), Gwendolyn Simmons (US),
and Aishah Simmons (US) enjoying the Marketplace of Ideas.
45
APPENDIX
46
APPENDIX
Table of Contents
1. WISE Compact Principles………………………………………………………….………..48
2. WISE Testimonials…………………………………………………….…………………49-52
3. 2009 WISE Conference Program……………………………………….…….………..53-57
4. Conference Participants List ………………………………………………………...…57-66
5. Taking the Pulse (colored paper exercise) ……………………………………………66-68
6. Instant Polling Questions………………………………………………….…………….68-75
7. Case Study Abstracts……………………………………………………..………..……75-84
8. Jihad Against Violence Digest…………………………………………………………85-113
9. Jihad Against Violence Poster…………………………………………………………….114
10. WISE Conference Videos………………………………………………………………….115
11. WISE Media Analysis………………………………………………………..………..115-116
12. Press Releases and Select Articles………………………………….……………...116-139
13. Post-Conference Evaluation Survey…………………………………..……………140-144
14. Work Group Sign-Up Sheets…………………………………………………….…..145-159
47
1. WISE Compact Principles
The WISE Compact Principles represent the core of the WISE movement. The Compact is also
available in 6 other languages online at http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/resources/
48
2. WISE Conference Testimonials
I was overwhelmed by the conference. It was so well organized that there was never a moment that I
felt I was not a part of it. Total strangers became instant friends as if I had known them all along. I
learned so much in those three days…reinforced my strength and courage that yes it is the woman
that has the capacity and strength to bring about a change in the world and bring peace to it…..The
skill building training by Nisreen and Maura was extremely helpful to the work I do as the Behbud
organization has been struggling for the last so many years to bring a change in grass root level. It is
amazing
that
how
a
little
tip
can
help
achieve
a
whole
lot.
-Abida Malik, Pakistan
I enjoyed the occasion to meet and listen to so many super-active and super-bright Muslim women
who are doing challenging things!
-Sara Silvestri, UK
Back already in The Gambia, lessons learnt during the session on leadership are being of great help.
-Professor Adriana Kaplan Marcusan, Gambia and Spain
Since my return from Kuala Lumpur, I have been sharing with my friends in Istanbul, Turkey, the
knowledge I have gained from you. Just meeting you and listening to your experience helped me
understand what kind of problems the Muslim Women is facing in different countries of the world. I
have so much respect to each and every one of you. I feel that the connection and the
communication between us should be strengthened and we should let each other know what is
happening in our part of the Sphere. This will definitely help us to act in solidarity. In this respect I
would like to thank WISE and their organizers for bringing us together and raising our awareness
about our sisters struggling to make a difference in their countries.
-Beyza Zapsu, Turkey
Inspired by you, now I'm engaging in educational work on China's Muslim women, and I
cooperate with China's major Muslim women charitable organizations. This work is still weak in
China, but we believe there will be big development. Frankly speaking, your organization and the
meeting was a first-class.
-Hongwei Musa, China
The meeting gave me a lot of inspiration. I am now involved in training the future Chinese Muslim
women leaders. I hope in the coming year to open a meeting about Chinese Muslim women leaders.
Dear sisters, to participate in the meeting you is my honor, I hope to continue to participate in the
next.
-Li Shuhuan, China
It was such a pleasure. The various sessions were most enlightening - and discussion topics
concerning Muslim women very relevant and interactive amongst the participants.
-Shahana Agha, Pakistan
This joint work is a good example for partnership between civil society organizations.
-Wajeeha Al-Baharna, Bahrain
The experience was truly rewarding and stimulating. It was overwhelming to be in the company of
such accomplished women (and men), who are all working diligently to further the cause of Muslim
49
women. I’m especially eager to see how WISE can communicate a boiler marriage contract among
its membership to assist in the first step of aiding women with their rights.
-Laila al-Zwaini, The Netherlands
The conference was indeed a turning point and a positive moment for all of us. This is what we
needed, Muslim women supporting the cause of other Muslim woman and you have done it so
wonderfully. Whether it was the lectures, panel discussions, or simply networking with other women,
we all really enjoyed being there and learn from the experts.
-Sima Quraishi, United States
At the very outset, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to you, for inviting me to such a lovely
conference. I truly felt strong commonality in the vision and mission of ASMA[WISE] and in my
perspective of Islam and women in Islam…I was absolutely honored to be in the midst of such great
women doing great things in the Muslim world. It truly was an experience worth remembrance.
- Farheen Syeed Kapra, India
…it sure was a great event that would certainly bring its fruits soon to the Muslim women, I was ever
so honored to meet such a big number of women with whom I shared so many thoughts and
experiences, I was so moved and touched by the different stories presented in the case studies, I was
much interested to witness a woman leading the Juma’a prayer and reciting the Quran I didn't know
that could be possible until I asked some religious leader who gave me further explanations)…
-Salwa Baccar, Tunisia
I need to thank you for the wonderful opportunity you provided to Islamic Women's Welfare Council. In
Australia we are rarely invited to these events and for the Council especially, we often feel extremely
isolated with our work on early marriage, family violence and polygyny…It was really important for me
to be around other women who do this work. It was wonderful to feel part of a bigger community and
have the opportunity to discover other women's work and discuss issues without defensiveness and
anger.
-Joumanah El Matrah, Australia
I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to ASMA and WISE for their kindness and
hospitality, the professional manner in which they conducted the event and listened to the concerns of
participants…I think that only by working together will we be able to address some of the main
concerns that we have and which we all face either in the Muslim World or in the West. Many which
are not dissimilar but vary in scale.
-Rohema Miah , United Kingdom
I was really honored to be part of the past conference it was a great experience that taught me a lot, &
it is a great thing to see all these smart, ambitious, strong women all gathered together under one
roof.
-Hanan Gewefel, Egypt
Providing a chance for your Afghan sisters to share our pains with others was very important and I
found that almost all sisters was coming to me hugging me and express their support and believe me I
felt enriched with the kindness and care in the very lost moments of the conference.
-Jamila Afghani, Afghanistan
I thank you and your dynamic, committed team for organizing such a wonderfully sensitive
conference and your hospitality which connected the participants and organizers through a strong yet
invisible thread reflecting and absorbing our own perspectives of spirituality which resulted in some
50
forward-looking strategies for the future. Many of the issues raised forced us to look within ourselves
for answers and share genuine responses to benefit all our sisters sharing diverse views and beliefs. I
sincerely thank you for making that happen.
-Nageen Hyat, Pakistan
It was indeed a pleasure to be at the WISE conference and I have come back with a lot of new ideas
and renewed commitment to continue my work which is to sensitize the media on women issues and
also to change the mindsets of listeners through our radio programs on crucial women and human
rights issues.
-Tasneem Ahmar, Pakistan
I feel at home and find my space which I have been looking for long time. I have been engage in
women movement for more than 23 years. And I think WISE is a unique one since it is strongly
coloring the movement with strong spirituality and beliefs in Islam, yet fighting for our women's rights.
-Nani Zulminarni, Indonesia
I appreciate and salute you for your dynamic leadership during the conference with such big gathering
of people with different understanding, needs, suspicion, appreciation and challenges. Also i salute
you for being the engine in initiating, planning and implementing the wise conference.
The WISE conference has provided many of us with the space to review and reflect on our
understanding of faith and the role of faith in humanity and development. The participants were of
different levels of education, but the style of Wise easily connected everyone and the most important
identity was being a woman! The result is connectivity: a symbiotic relationship of women around the
globe: What a beautiful human network!
-Hubbie Hussein, Kenya
Thank you for providing us with such an invigorating and enriching experience. I feel refreshed to my
soul. The energy that we received from this conference will definitely make help us to go further with
our dreams and aspirations to make this world a better place to live. Never have I attended such a
conference where I shed tears, laughed my head off and questioned my capabilities to its end.
I feel privileged to have joined such a gathering. Thank you once again for uplifting us spiritually,
morally and emotionally.
-Abida Mahmood, Pakistan
I wish to congratulate you and your wonderful team from ASMA and Cordoba Initiative for staging a
most impressive event. It takes female minds and hands to make an event of this kind substantial in
content, fruitful for most participants, and at the same time friendly, colourful and fun as well….I was
most inspired by the many women with courage who have gone all out and against all odds
to struggle for the truth they believe in.
-Rosey Ma Wang, Malaysia
As you know I have attended many international conferences that have provided me with invaluable
insights and diverse perspectives. But none of them have impacted me at such a profound level as
the 2009 WISE Conference. I feel intensely spiritual and wired.
-Meeran Karim, Pakistan
You and the WISE staff and supporters have done it again! You have provided a cutting edge and
empowering opportunity for Women to speak and act from the strongest part of their being: their
hearts and minds. I witnessed the transformative power of this conference over the last four days and
saw Women who were tentative in some part of their being leave us in full voice. The lessons
51
learned will make WISE wiser, stronger and more powerful and the successes will provide a strong
foundation
for
future
vision
and
accomplishments.
-Ayisha Jeffries, United States
I just wanted to say thank you so much for everything regarding this past 2009 Wise conference.
Participating in this conference for me has been very enlightening, thought provoking, inspirational,
and educational!
-Houda al-Jarrah, United States
Please accept my personal gratitude for all of the hard work you did to organize a successful
conference. It brought together amazing women from around the world and our connections will last
a long, long time. The Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW) was honored to be part of the
event and looks forward to ongoing collaboration.
-Nuzhat Jafri, Canada
I am deeply grateful for the opportunity WISE presented me with to meet Muslim women from around
the globe. An absolute honor. I also want to thank all of you for your hard work, passion and
ambition. The positive energy from the organizers and those who collaborated with you was for all to
see. I think positive change can be challenging for some. That too is part of the process of real
change. It can be painful... I support your convictions and applaud all your work to date. I am
continually unconsciously redefining my own next steps in life and am also inspired by MLT and
WISE. I do count myself lucky.
-Sobia Malik, UK
The WISE 2009 conference was for me personally nourishing and vitalizing at multiple levels. The
sense of belonging and more so connecting to a global community of empowered and caring Muslim
women and finding strength in each other and our collective voice was an experience that gives me
hope and purpose in these trying times. I feel blessed to be part of this growing initiative and am
further inspired to go forward with the work that is yet to be done both individually and collectively. I
continue to feel the love of so many new friends I made at the conference. The depth of connection
in such a short period of time feels miraculous.
-Anonymous, USA
52
3. 2009 WISE Conference Program
The program for 2009 WISE international convening “Muslim Women: Building Institutions, Creating
Change” can be viewed at
http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/pdfs/wise2009-program.pdf
Muslim Women: Building Institutions, Creating Change
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia July 16-19, 2009
CONFERENCE PROGRAM
Thursday, July 16, 2009
12:00pm – 6:00pm
Registration & Relaxation
6:00 – 7:00pm
Welcome & Opening Ceremony
Opening Du'a and Supplication
Welcome Remarks: Daisy Khan, Dr. Nafis Sadik, WISE Team &
Steering Committee
Piano Recital: Aylin Aykan (Turkey)
7:00 – 8:00pm
Dinner (at hotel)
8:00 – 9:30pm
“Taking the Pulse”: The Need for Change Group Discussion and
Activities
7:30 - 9:00am
Breakfast
9:00 – 9:15am
Supplication and Du'a
9:15 – 10:00am
The WISE Story: Past, Present, and Future
Presenter: Daisy Khan
10:00 – 10:45am
Change through Communication Case Studies
Moderator: Tayyibah Taylor (US)
Case Study 1: Nadia al-Sakkaf (Yemen): The Yemen
Times Early Marriage Campaign: the Story of Nujood
Case Study 2: Dilshad Ali (US): Beliefnet: New Media & New
Understanding of Muslim Dress Code
10:45 – 11:15am
Change through Communication Web Portal Launch
Virtual Tour of www.wisemuslimwomen.org
Presenter: Ambreen Qureshi
53
11:15 – 11:45am
Tea / Networking
11:45 – 1:15pm
Change through Communication Work Groups & Instant Polling
1:15 – 2:45pm
Lunch / Jum’a Prayers
2:45 – 3:30pm
Change through Philanthropy Case Studies
Moderator: Nadia Malik (US)
Case Study 1: Nani Zulminarni (Indonesia): Achieving Prosperity &
Dignity: From Economic Empowerment to Social Movement
Case Study 2: Shireen Zaman (US): Leveraging Corporate Social
Responsibility for Women's Progress
3:30 – 4:00pm
Change through Philanthropy Muslim Women’s Fund Launch
Moderator: Shahnaz Taplin-Chinoy (US)
Panelists: Sayyeda Mirza-Jafri (US), Melissa Samuelson (US), Eman
Fawzy (Egypt)
4:00 – 5:30pm
Change through Philanthropy Work Groups & Instant Polling
5:30 – 6:00pm
Group Photo
6:00 – On
Free Time and Dinner (on own)
Saturday, July 18, 2009
7:30 – 9:00am
Breakfast
9:00 – 9:15am
Supplication and Du'a
9:15 – 10:00am
Change through Interpretation Case Studies
Moderator: Asma Afsaruddin (US)
Case Study 1: Shahina Akbar (Pakistan): The Pakistani Marriage
Contract: Filling in the Salient Clauses & Teaching Girls their Rights
Case Study 2: Laisa Alamia (Philippines): Advancing Gender Equality in
Muslim Mindanao: Training & Promoting Gender-Sensitive Religious
Leaders to Affect Change
10:00 – 10:45am
Change through Interpretation “Muslim Women Interpreting”
Moderator: Asma Afsaruddin (US)
Panelists: Amina Wadud (US), Sa’diyya Shaikh (South Africa), Musdah
Muliah (Indonesia)
10:45 – 11:30am
Change through Interpretation: Shura Council Launch
Shura Council 2009 First Statement “Jihad Against Violence” Preamble
Presenters: Afra Jalabi, Daisy Khan and Shura Council Team
54
Special acknowledgement of WISE advocates of peace
11:30 – 12:00pm
Tea / Networking
12:00 – 1:30pm
Change through Interpretation Work Groups & Instant Polling
1:30 – 2:30pm
Lunch
2:30 – 6:30pm
Concurrent Skill-Building Trainings
Creating a More Just World: Women and Transformative Leadership
(Women’s Learning Partnership), Wajeeha al-Baharna (Bahrain), Betty
Yeoh, Haslinah Yacob, Ho Wai Ling, Abigail de Vries (Malaysia)
Running for Office Giovanna Negretti (US)
Polishing the Mirror of the Heart: A Path to Spiritual Growth Aisha
Rafea (Egypt), Camille Helminski (US), Khalilah Karim-Rushdan (US)
Media, Networking, and Censorship Mahdis Keshavarz (The Make
Agency)
How Women Can Empower Themselves by Becoming Conscious
Cultural Creators: Strategies for Building Greater Influence and Using it
Consciously Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk (The Memnosyne Foundation)
Public Narrative for Community Organizing Nisreen Haj-Ahmed
(Jordan), Maura Clarke (US)
6:30 – 7:30pm
Free Time
7:30 – 8:30pm
Dinner (at hotel)
Keynote Address: Tun Jeanne Abdullah, Former First Lady of Malaysia
8:30 – 10:30pm
Film Screening Pray the Devil Back to Hell
The inspirational story of Muslim and Christian women in Liberia and
their efforts to bring peace after decades of civil war.
A Conversation with Film Producer, Abigail Disney
Sunday, July 19, 2009
7:30 – 9:00am
Breakfast
9:00 – 9:30am
Multi-Faith Blessing and Reflections
9:30 – 10:30am
Change through Collaboration Interfaith Panel
Moderator: Mehnaz Mona-Afridi (US)
55
Panelists: Rev. Serene Jones (US), Rori Picker-Neiss (US), K.
Thilagawathi Kanagaretnam (Malaysia)
10:30 –11:30am
Change through Collaboration Q&A & Instant Polling
11:30 – 12:00pm
Tea / Networking
12:00 – 1:30pm
Chair.Chai.Chats
Challenges Facing Girls in Kenya and the Road to Leadership by Muslim Women Sophia Abdi
Noor (Kenya)
Lost in Translation: Reclaiming the Rights of Women and Children Lena AlHusseini (US)
Magda’s Calling: An Egyptian Women’s Work to Educate Her Fellow Sisters Dr. Magda Amer
(Egypt)
Sexuality and Islam: Do We Need a Sexual Revolution? Seyran Ates (Germany)
Coming to Feminism: Our Own Stories Margot Badran (US)
Discovering the Heart of Islam: One Woman’s Journey on the Sufi Path Sadia Dehlvi (India)
The Pink Story: Breast Cancer Has No Home: Dr. Hanan Gewefel (Egypt)
Western Feminism: Has it Helped or Hurt Muslim Women’s Struggle for Equal Rights?
Abigail Disney (US)
Headscarves and Hymens: Writing about and as Muslim Women Mona Eltahawy (US)
Muslim Women and Journalism: Creating Change Samar Fatany (Saudi Arabia)
The Qur’an for Change: Mobilizing for Women’s Justice in the Gambia Binta Jammeh-Sidibe
(The Gambia)
Bringing Muslims to the U.S.: How You Too Can Be Guaranteed Acceptance into an
American University Anjum Malik (US)
Muslim Women Professionals in the West and Muslim World: What Do We Compromise and
What Do We Gain? Rohema Miah (UK)
Muslim Women and the Media Atiqa Odho (Pakistan)
Women in Afghanistan: Taliban, Post-Taliban, and Beyond Suraya Pakzad (Afghanistan)
Improving Women's Health: 50 Years of Struggle Dr. Nafis Sadik (Pakistan/US)
A Day in the Life of a Muslim Woman MP Fuziah Salleh (Malaysia)
Ottoman Women: Myth and Reality Asli Sancar (US)
1:30 – 2:30pm
Lunch
2:30 – 5:00pm
Change through Action Community Organizing
Presenter: Nisreen Haj-Ahmed
5:00 – 6:00pm
Tea & Marketplace of Ideas
6:00 – 7:00pm
Closing Ceremony WISE Compact Signing
WISE Team
Poetry Recital: Nimah Niwwab (Saudi Arabia)
Farewells
56
“May your journey be pleasant and may our time together brighten
everyone’s future.” ASMA/Cordoba Initiative Team
7:00 – On
Free Time and Dinner (on own)
4. Conference Participants List
The following list contains the names, countries and professions of each participant attending
the 2009 WISE Conference.
1
Title
Ms.
Name of Participant
Abaida Mahmood
Country
UK
2
Mr.
Abdul Shukor
Afghanistan
3
4
Ms.
Ms.
Abeer Nasif
Abida Malik
Saudi Arabia
Pakistan
5
Ms.
Adriana Kaplan Marcusan
Spain
6
Ms.
Afra Jalabi
Canada
7
Ms.
Aisha Rafea
Egpyt
8
Ms.
Aishah Simmons
USA
9
Dr.
Alaa Naseif
Saudi Arabia
10
Ms.
Amal Fayed
Egypt
11
Ms.
Amina Zuberi
Kenya
12
13
Dr.
Ms.
Amina Wadud
Anbreen Ajaib
USA
Pakistan
14
Ms.
Anissa Naqrachi
Morocco
15
Ms.
Anjum Babukhan
India
16
Ms.
Anjum Malik
USA
17
Ms.
Anne Harmer
Thailand
Profession
Administrator and teacher trainer
at the Qurban & Surraya
Educational Trust
Financial Officer, Help Poor
Women Organization (HPWO)
Senior Vice President, Behbud
Association of Pakistan
Senior Professor, Department of
Social Anthropology, Universitat
Autonoma of Barcelona (UAB)
Columnist for the Saudi daily Al
Yaum
Co-leader, The Egyptian Society
for Spiritual and Cultural Research
(ESSCR)
President/Documentary
Filmmaker/Lecturer, AfroLez®
Productions, LLC
Founder and General Manager of
Hadara
Secretary General, Forum for
Women in Development
Chairlady, Tangana Women
Development Group
Islamic scholar, consultant
Program Manager Women’s
Rights, Bedari
President and Founder, Nour
Association for Solidarity with
Rural Women
Director of Education, Glendale
Academy
CEO of the Alhambra US
Chamber of Commerce
UNFPA
57
18
Ms.
Arifa Nazle
Pakistan
19
Ms.
Asha Samad
USA
20
21
Ms.
Dr.
Asli Sancar
Asma Sadiq
Turkey
USA
22
23
Dr.
Ms.
Asma Afsaruddin
Atiqa Odho
USA
Pakistan
24
Ms.
Ayisha Jeffries
USA
25
26
Ms.
Ms.
Aylin Aykan
Azza Kamel
Germany
Egypt
27
Ms.
Betty Yeoh
Malaysia
28
29
Ms.
Ms.
Betül Yilmaz
Beyza Zapsu
Germany
Turkey
30
Ms.
Binta Jammeh-Sidibe
Gambia
31
Ms.
Camille Helminski
USA
32
33
Ms.
Ms.
Carla Power
Christina Tobias-Nahi
USA
USA
34
Ms.
Claire Alkouatli
Saudi Arabia
35
Ms.
Dawood Sharifa Khanam
India
36
37
Ms.
Ms.
Dilshad Ali
Dina Zaman
USA
Malaysia
38
Ms.
Djingarey Maiga
Mali
Manager of Communications,
Shirkat Gah Women’s Resource
Centre
Professor and Human Rights
Specialist, City University of New
York
Author
Director of Child Development at
the Beth Israel Medical
Center/Assistant Professor of
Pediatrics at the Albert Einstein
School of Medicine
Professor, Indiana University
Media personality, CEO of Odho
Productions and Odho Cosmetics
Vice President of Global Affairs
and Senior Policy Advisor on
Gender Equity, President of the
African-American Islamic Institute
(AAII)
Pianist and Composer
Director, Appropriate
Communication Techniques for
Development/Founder of Women
Research Centre
Programme Manager, All
Women’s Action Society
Cofounder, Muslim Voices
Founder and Chairperson, Young
Lives Foundation (Genc Hayat
Vakfi)
Executive Director of the
Association for the Promotion of
Girls’ and Women’s Advancement
in the Gambia (APGWA)
Co-Director (and co-founder) of
the Threshold Society
Journalist
Director of Public Affairs, Islamic
Relief USA
Founder and Research &
Development Manager, Enchanted
Garden Child Enrichment
Founder, STEPS Women’s
Development Organization
Editor, Beliefnet.com
Writer, Media Personality, and
Public Relations Consultant
President of Femme et Droits
Humains/Women and Human
58
39
Ms.
Dora Abbas
Australia
40
Ms.
Eman Fawzy
Egypt
41
42
Ms.
Ms.
Esha Mwinyihaji
Faeeza Vaid
Kenya
UK
43
Ms.
Faiza Shahrukh
Pakistan
44
45
46
47
Ms.
Ms.
Ms.
Ms.
Famile Arslan
Farah Zeb
Farheen Kapra
Farkhondeh Keyhani
Netherlands
UK
India
Iran
48
Ms.
Farkhuunda Saamy
Afghanistan
49
50
Ms.
Ms.
Farzana Hassan
Fatima Seedat
Canada
Canada
51
Ms.
Fatima Outaleb
Morocco
52
53
Ms.
Ms.
Fatma Hyder
Fatou Waggeh
Kenya
Gambia
54
Ms.
Fatuma Abass
Kenya
55
Ms.
Fawzia Khondker
Bangladesh
56
Dr.
Fawzia Al-Attia
Iraq
57
Ms.
Fehime Zulfikar
USA
58
Ms.
Fuziah Salleh
Malaysia
59
Ms.
Giovanna Negretti
USA
Rights
Vice Chair, Muslim Women’s
Association of South Australia
Executive Director, Egyptian
Association for Society
Development
Lecturer, Maseno University
Coordinator of the Muslim
Women’s Network/Chairperson of
Sister 2 Sister
Head of the Sanjan Nagar Public
Education Trust School
Lawyer, Arslan Lawyers
Services Manager for Refuge
Lawyer
Senior Television
Producer/President of Eghlime
Noor Institute
Gender Advisor in the
Independent Administrative
Reform and Civil Service
Commission
Author
Ph.D Candidate, McGill
University/Co-Founder Shura
Yabafazi
Founding Member and Executive
Board Member, Union de l’Action
Feminine (Union of Women’s
Activism)
Executive Director of JOMWA
Executive Director, Foundation for
Research on Women’s Health
Productivity and the Environment
Executive Director, Pastoralist
Girls Initiative (PGI)
National Gender Specialist for the
Scope Project
Professor of Sociology, Baghdad
University
Associate Director of The Carolina
Center for the Study of the Middle
East and Muslim Civilization at the
University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill
Member, Malaysian Parliament
(People’s Justice Party)
Trainer in Leadership
Development, Civic Education,
Not-For-Profit Managerment,
59
60
Ms.
Gonca Aydin
Germany
61
62
Ms.
Ms.
Goolshan Chinoy
Gulnara Karakulova
USA
Kazakhstan
63
Dr.
Gwendolyn Simmons
USA
64
Ms.
Habiba Akter
Bangladesh
65
Ms.
Hadil El Khouly
Egypt
66
Dr.
Hamidah Marican
Malaysia
67
Dr.
Hanan Gewefal
Egypt
68
Dr.
Hartini Zainudin
Malaysia
69
Ms.
Haslinah Yacob
Malaysia
70
Ms.
Hawanatu Sesay
Sierra Leone
71
72
Ms.
Ms.
Heba Amin
Heidi Primo
Egypt
Malaysia
73
Ms.
Hind El Jarrah
USA
74
75
Mr.
Ms.
Hong Wei Musa
Ho Wai Ling
China
Malaysia
76
77
Ms.
Ms.
Houda El-Jarrah
Hubbie Hussein Al-Haji
USA
Kenya
78
Dr.
Huma Jamshed
Spain
79
Ms.
Iman Abou Zeid
Egypt
80
Ms.
Indre Monjezi-Brown
Germany
81
Ms.
Irfana Anwer
USA
82
Amb.
James Keith
USA
Politics and Advocacy
Vice-President, Union of Muslim
Theologians and Islamic Religious
Researchers
Doctor
Founder and Director, Women’s
Resource Center
Assistant Professor of Religion,
University of Florida
Founder and Executive Director,
Ashar Alo Sociey (AAS)
Young Women’s Caucus
Coordinator for Musawah
Principal Consultant, Dubai
Consultant Sdn Bhd
Founder and Senior Breast
Imaging Consultant at Women and
Fetal Imaging Center
Managing Director/Founder,
Rumah Jagaan Kanak Kanak
NurSalam
Vice President and CoCoordinator, All Women’s Action
Society’s Ethnicity and Religion
Committee and a Member of the
Working Collective
Administrative Secretary for the
Sierra Leone Muslim Missionaries
Professor, Artist
Head, King Abdullah Scholars
Program
Co-founder, Texas Muslim
Women’s Foundation
Student/Activist
Co-Coordinator, All Women’s
Action Society’s Violence against
Women Committee
Executive Director, Womankind
Kenya
President and Founder of
ACESOP
Member, New Women Foundation
(NWF)
Co-Founder, Bildungs-und
Beratungskarawane e.V
Lawyer/Deputy Director of the
Community Legal Interpreter Bank
at Ayuda
US Ambassador to Malaysia
60
83
Ms.
Jamila Afghani
Afghanistan
84
Dr.
Jamilah Ariffin
Malaysia
85
Ms.
Jamileh Abu Za’nouneh
Jordan
86
Ms.
Johaira Wahab
Philippines
87
Ms.
Joumanah El Matrah
Australia
88
Ms.
Katherine Clark
USA
89
Ms.
Khabeer Amina
Pakistan
90
91
92
Ms.
Ms.
Ms.
Khadija Haffajee
Khalilah Karim-Rushdan
Kulsum Dawood
Canada
USA
Pakistan
93
94
Ms.
Ms.
Laila al-Zwaini
Laila Al-Askari
Netherlands
USA
95
Ms.
Laisa Alamia
Philippines
96
Ms.
Lana Antaki
Syria
97
Ms.
Lena AlHusseini
USA
98
Ms.
Li ShuHuan
China
99
Ms.
Livia Iskandar
Indonesia
100
Atty.
Loren Hallilah Lao
Philippines
101
Ms.
Magda Amer
Egypt
102
Ms.
Maha Akeel
Saudi Arabia
103
Ms.
Maha Alkhateeb
USA
Head, NOOR Educational Center
(NEC)
President, Asia-Pacific Forum on
Families
Board Member, Arab Women
Organization of Jordan (AWO)
Secretary General and a founder
member of the Alliance of Muslim
Advocates of Law (AMAL)
Executive Director, Islamic
Women’s Welfare Council of
Victoria
Assistant for Administration and
Program Initiatives, Union
Theological Seminary
Vice Chairman, Interfaith Council
for Peace and Harmony
Educator and Community Activist
Former chaplain to Smith College
Trustee on the Board of Dawood
Foundation
Independent scholar and advisor
Director of Administration and
Finance, The Brick Presbyterian
Church
Program Manager and co-founder
of Nisa Ul Haqq Fi
Bansamoro/Partner at ALCAP Law
Offices/Program Coordinator and
Secretary of the Board of the
Bangsamoro Lawyer’s Network
Board member and a trainer Al
Moubadara Al Nissa’yeh
Executive Director, Arab-American
Family Support Center (AAFSC)
Masters candidate in Ideological
Political Education
Co-founder/International Director
of PULIH Center for Trauma
Recovery and Psychosocial
Intervention
Treasurer, Young Moro
Professionals Network, Inc
Biochemist, Naturopath, and
Caller of Islam
Managing Editor of OIC Journal
(Organization of the Islamic
Conference)
Co-director, Peaceful Families
Project
61
104
Ms.
Maha ElGenaidi
USA
105
Ms.
Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh
Iran
106
107
Ms.
Ms.
Mahdis Keshavarz
Mahfuza Folad
USA
Afghanistan
108
Ms.
Malina Fahiz
Afghanistan
109
110
Ms.
Mr.
Manal Radwan
Maratbek Mansurov
Egypt
Kyrgyzstan
111
112
Ms.
Dr.
Marfua Tokhakhodzhaeva
Margot Badran
Uzbekistan
USA
113
Ms.
Marhabo Zununova
Tajikistan
114
115
Ms.
Ms.
Mariama Shaheed-Carson
Mary-Ann Thompson
USA
USA
116
117
118
Ms.
Ms.
Dr.
Mas Elati Samani
Massouma Kabir
Mastura Badzis
Malaysia
Afghanistan
Malaysia
119
Mr.
Maulana Azad
Pakistan
120
Ms.
Maura Clarke
Jordan
121
122
Ms.
Ms.
Meeran Karim
Mehnaz Mona-Afridi
Pakistan
USA
123
Dr.
Melissa Samuelson
USA
124
Ms.
Mona Eltahawy
USA
125
126
Ms.
Ms.
Mouna Ghanem
Mozn Hassan
Syria
Egypt
127
Ms.
Siti Musdah Mulia
Indonesia
128
129
Ms.
Ms.
Nabila Freidji
Nadia Malik
Morocco
USA
130
Ms.
Nadia Al-Sakkaf
Yemen
President, CEO of Islamic Network
Groups
Founding member of several
initiatives to promote women’s
rights
Principal, The Make Agency
Director, Justice for All
Organization
Managing Director of the Afghan
Women Enterprise Network
Legal Expert for Citizens against
Corruption
Author/Journalist
Historian of the Middle East and
Islamic societies/Specialist in
Gender Studies
Founder and Chairperson of
Marriage and Family
Assistant Principal
President/Co-Founder of The
Memnosyne
Foundation/Author/Artist
Manager, Jalal Foundation
Assistant Professor at Institute of
Education, International Islamic
University Malaysia
Chairman, Nizami Foundation
Pakistan
Programs Manager, Queen Rania
Teacher Academy
Political activist and organizer
Professor, Antioch University and
National University
Program Manager, Women’s
Entrepreneurship
Programs/Professor
Columnist and International Public
Speaker
Director, Center for Development
Head of Nazra for Feminist
Studies
Researcher Professor, Indonesian
Institute of Sciences (LIPI)
CEO, Cash One
Board Member/Treasurer, Muslim
Women’s Fund
Editor in Chief of the Yemen
Times
62
131
132
Mr.
Dr.
Nadia Khan
Nafis Sadik
Malaysia
USA
133
Ms.
Nageen Hyat
Pakistan
134
Ms.
Nahida Ellahi
Pakistan
135
Ms.
Nani Zulminarni
Indonesia
136
137
Mr.
Ms.
Nausherwan Hafeez
Nawal Haddaddin
Malaysia
Jordan
138
Ms.
Ndeye Andújar
France
139
140
141
142
Ms.
Ms.
Ms.
Ms.
Nevin Reda
Nazreen Nizam
Nik Shah
Nimah Nawwab
Canada
Malaysia
Malaysia
Saudi Arabia
143
Ms.
Nisreen Haj Ahmad
Jordan
144
145
146
147
Ms.
Dr.
Ms.
Ms.
Norhayati Kaprawi
Normah Dali
Nur Laili Rahmah
Nurah Amat’Ullah
Malaysia
Malaysia
Indonesia
USA
148
Dr.
Nurjannah Ismail
Indonesia
149
Ms.
Nuzhat Jafri
Canada
150
Ms.
Pamela Taylor
USA
151
152
Ms.
Ms.
Puan Fadhlou Binti Mochtar
Rabia Harris
Malaysia
USA
153
154
Ms.
Ms.
Raheemah Abdulaleem
Raissa Jajurie
USA
Philippines
Under-Secretary-General, United
Nations/Special Adviser to the UN
Secretary-General and Special
Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Asia and
the Pacific
Rights Activist and
Curator/Founder-Director of the
Nomad Gallery
Advocate of the Supreme Court of
Pakistan
National Coordinator, PEKKA
(Women-headed Household
Empowerment)
General Secretary at the Arab
Women Organization of Jordan
Co-founder and Vice-President,
Junta Islamica Catalana
PhD Candidate
Author
Poet, Writer, Photographer,
Activist
Senior Academic Manager, The
Columbia University Middle East
Research Center
Muslim Women Activist
Leader of “Salafiyah Syafi’iyah”
Manuscript librarian in the
Manuscript, Archives, and Rare
Books Division at the Schomburg
Center for Research in Black
Culture
Lecturer, Faculty of Letter, State
Institute for Islamic Studies (IAIN)
Ar-Raniry
Executive Director, Office of the
Fairness Commission (Ontario)
Co-founder of Muslims for
Progressive Values
Founder/Director of Muslim Peace
Fellowship and Resident Elder at
Dar Anwar as-Salam
Attorney
Moro Program Coordinator,
Alternative Legal Assistance
Center
63
155
156
157
158
Ms.
Ms.
Ms.
Ms.
Raja Hamayel
Rasha Elass
Rasha Hefzi
Rashida Razaqi
Palestine
UAE
Saudi Arabia
Afghanistan
159
160
Ms.
Ms.
Ratnawati Osman
Rebecca Rafique
Malaysia
UK
161
Ms.
Robina Niaz
USA
162
163
Ms.
Ms.
Rohema Miah
Rori Picker
UK
USA
164
165
Ms.
Ms.
Rosey Ma
Rosnani Sahardin
Malaysia
Indonesia
166
Ms.
Rumana Mahomed
South Africa
167
168
Ms.
Ms.
Sabah Al Hallak
Sadia Mehmood
Syria
Pakistan
169
170
Ms.
Ms.
Sadia Dehlvi
Sadiyya Shaikh
India
South Africa
171
Ms.
Sajia Behgam
Afghanistan
172
173
Ms.
Ms.
Sajida Sabjee-Khan
Saltanat Baetova
South Africa
Kyrgyzstan
174
Ms.
Salwa Baccar
Tunisia
175
Ms.
Samah Said
Egypt
176
177
Ms.
Ms.
Samar Fatany
Samina Bashir
Saudi Arabia
Pakistan
178
Ms.
Samina Ahmad
USA
179
Sen.
Santanina Rasul
Philippines
180
Ms.
Sara Silvestri
UK
Teacher
Journalist, The National
MD of Think N Link Cooperation
Interpreter/Report Writer for Help
Poor Women Organization
(HPWO)
Sisters in Islam Program Manager
Senior Consultant, Whitepaper
Consultancy
Executive Director/Founder for
Women and Families
Director, Whitepaper Consultants
Co-Editor, “InterActive Faith: The
Essential Interreligious
Community-Building
Handbook”/Consultant
Senior Lecturer, Research and
Teaching Assistant, Syiah Kuala
University, Banda Aceh
Chairperson of the Coalition of
Muslim Women
Member, Syrian Women League
Project Officer for the Youth
Program of the UNFPA Pakistan
Columnist
Senior Lecturer, Department of
Religious Studies at the University
of Cape Town
Gender and Policy Advisor in the
GTZ Gender Mainstreaming
Project
Educator/Artist/Activist
Member of the Supervisory Board
of the PA Human Rights Center for
Citizen against Corruption (CAC)
English teacher, High Institute of
Management, University of Tunis
Team Leader of Violence against
Women Project for the National
Council for Women in Cairo
Chief Broadcaster, Radio Jeddah
Assistant Professor, Faculty of
Shariah & Law, International
Islamic University
Chair, Salman and Samina Global
Wellness Initiative
Chair, Magbassa Kita Foundation,
Inc
Lecturer of International Politics,
64
181
Ms.
Sara Shroff
USA
182
Ms.
Sarah el-Khatib
Lebanon
183
184
185
Ms.
Ms.
Dr.
Sarwat Malik
Sayyeda Mirza-Jafri
Serene Jones
USA
USA
USA
186
187
188
189
Ms.
Ms.
Ms.
Ms.
Seyran Ates
Shahana Agha
Shahina Akbar
Shahnaz Taplin-Chinoy
Germany
UAE
Pakistan
USA
190
Ms.
Shamsi Sharifi
Afghanistan
191
Ms.
Sheikha Hanan Al-Thani
Qatar
192
Ms.
Shireen Zaman
USA
193
Ms.
Sima Quraishi
USA
194
195
196
Ms.
Ms.
Hon.
Sirad Abdirahman
Sobia Malik
Sophia Abdi Noor
USA
UK
Kenya
197
198
199
200
Ms.
Ms.
Ms.
Dr.
Sri Wahyuni
Sulaiha Kunheen
Sumbul Ali-Karamali
Syeda Razia
Indonesia
Malaysia
USA
Bangladesh
201
202
Ms.
Ms.
Tasneem Ahmar
Tayebeh Asadi
Pakistan
Iran
203
Ms.
Tayyibah Taylor
USA
204
205
206
Ms.
Ms.
Dr.
Tengku Raihanah
Tengku Aira
Thilagawathi Kanagaretnam
Malaysia
Malaysia
Malaysia
207
Ms.
Uzma Farooq
USA
208
Dr.
Wajeeha Al-Baharna
Bahrain
209
Ms.
Yamine Mermer
USA
Cambridge University and City
University of London
Senior Director, Changing Our
World
Social worker/Project Coordinator
at the Women Charity League
Strategic Philanthropy Consultant
16th President, Union Theological
Seminary
Lawyer, Writer and Publicist
Attorney, High Court
Executive Director, Shahnaz
Taplin-Chinoy and Associates
General Director, Help Poor
Women Organization
Business trainer at the Qatar
Foundation
Director for Middle East and North
Africa, Vital Voices Global
Partnership
Executive Director, Muslim
Women Resource Center
Educational Consultant
Member of Kenya’s 10th
Parliament
Director, PATIMADORA
Lecturer/Author
Associate Professor of
Engineering Technology,
Bangladesh University
Director, Uks Research Centre
Project Manager, Aid Facilitator
Institute
Founding Editor-in-Chief and
Publisher, Azizah Magazine
Vice President, Sri Kandaswmy
Temple
Vice President of the Muslim
Women’s Coalition
(MWC)/Director of the Greater
Washington DC Area office
Vice President, Bahrain Women’s
Association
Associate Professor of Islamic
65
Studies at Carthage College
210
211
212
Ms.
Mr.
Ms.
Yeoh Yeoh Kim
Youssouf Oomar
Zainab Paiman
Malaysia
Malaysia
Afghanistan
213
Ms.
Zarizana Abdul Aziz
Malaysia
214
Ms.
Zeinaba Kane
Senegal
215
Dr.
Zeinabou Hadari
Niger
UNICEF Malaysia Representative
Project Manager, GTZ Women
Employment Promotion Project
(WEPP)
Lawyer/Director, Women Living
Under Muslim Laws (WLUML)
President of Women of the
Rassemblement Islamique du
Senegal (RIS)/Alwahda
5. Taking the Pulse (Colored paper exercise)
At the beginning of the conference, each WISE participant responded to two questions regarding the
changes they would like to see impact Muslim women as well as examples of how each woman is
involved in making change. The following are four examples.
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67
6. Instant Polling Questions
Thursday July 16, 2009
During Taking the Pulse
Which region are you from?
1. Middle East-North Africa (including Turkey/Iran)
2. Asia
3. Europe/Australia
4. North America
What is your age range?
1. Under 30
2. 30-40
3. 40-50
4. 50-60
5. Over 60
How hopeful are you about positive change for Muslim women?
1. Not hopeful
2. Somewhat hopeful
3. Hopeful
4. Very hopeful
5. Undecided
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When do you think we will see significant positive change for Muslim women?
1. Never
2. In more than 10 years
3. In the next 5 to 10 years
4. In the next 2 or 3 years
5. Change is happening now
Who will make positive change happen for Muslim women?
1. No one (change will not happen)
2. Muslim women alone
3. Muslim women with women of other faiths
4. Muslim women with Muslim men
5. Muslim women with other women and men of all faiths
Which sector holds the largest responsibility for making positive change for
Muslim women?
1. Traditional religious institutions
2. Government
3. Civil Society
4. Business
5. Other
What is the biggest barrier to Muslim women’s advancement in your country?
1. Lack of funding
2. Negative media
3. Harmful religious interpretation
4. Resistance from other
5. Undecided
How important is accurate media coverage about Muslim women in making
this positive change?
1. Not important
2. Somewhat important
3. Important
4. Very important
5. Undecided
How important is funding for this positive change?
1. Not important
3. Important
4. Very important
5. Undecided
How important is egalitarian (equal) scriptural interpretation in making this
positive change?
1. Not important
3. Important
4. Very important
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5.
Undecided
How important will you be in making positive change?
1. Not important
3. Important
4. Very important
5. Undecided
Change through Communication
At Start Of Case Studies
Which of the following best describes how Muslim women are presented in
media in your country?
1. Oppressed
2. Angry
3. Exotic
4. Balanced
5. Other
How much difference could effective media or other communications
strategies make in promoting positive change for Muslim women in your
country?
1. No difference
2. A small difference
3. A large difference
4. A very large difference
5. Undecided
How knowledgeable are you about using the media or other communications
strategies to create positive change for Muslim women?
1. Not knowledgeable at all
2. Somewhat knowledgeable
3. Knowledgeable
4. Very knowledgeable
5. Undecided
At Conclusion of Work Groups
How visible are Muslim women in your country’s media (e.g., newspapers and
other print media, radio, television, electronic media like websites and blogs)?
1. Not visible at all
2. Somewhat visible
3. Visible
4. Very visible
5. Undecided
How much does negative media coverage of Muslim women create
misinformation in your country?
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Not at all
A small amount
A large amount
A very large amount
Undecided
Do you know of examples in your country where media is being used
effectively to create positive change for Muslim women?
1. No, I do not know of any examples
2. Yes, I know of some examples but not much about them
3. Yes, I know of some examples and a moderate amount about them
4. Yes, I know of some examples and a lot about them
5. Undecided
Would better connection to other Muslim women working on similar issues
help you create change for Muslim women in your country?
1. No improvement
2. A small improvement
3. A large improvement
4. A very large improvement
5. Undecided
How much difference could effective media or other communications
strategies make in promoting positive change for Muslim women in your
country?
1. No difference
5. Undecided
How knowledgeable are you on using the media or other communication
strategies to create positive change for Muslim women?
1. Not knowledgeable at all
2. Somewhat knowledgeable
3. Knowledgeable
4. Very knowledgeable
5. Undecided
How likely are you to try some of the communication strategies that you heard
about in this session?
1. Not likely
2. Somewhat likely
3. Likely
4. Very likely
5. Undecided
Overall, how important will the information on the web portal be for you?
1. Not important
3. Important
4. Very important
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5.
Undecided
How important will the opportunities for communicating with others on the web
portal be for you?
1. Not important
3. Important
4. Very important
5. Undecided
How often do you think that will you use the web portal?
1. Never
2. Less than once a month
3. About once a week
4. Several times a week
5. Daily
Change through Philanthropy
At Conclusion of Work Groups
Where does your organization or institution receive the majority of its funding?
1. Government
2. Private foundations
3. Members fees and/or payment for services
4. Individual donors or your own personal contributions
5. Combination of the above
How important is it for Muslim women to lead philanthropic efforts?
1. Not important
3. Important
4. Very important
5. Undecided
How much difference do you think the Muslim Women’s Fund could make in
promoting positive change for Muslim women worldwide?
1. No difference
5. Undecided
How much difference do you think the Muslim Women’s Fund could make in
1. No difference
5. Undecided
How likely are you (or your organization) to seek funding from the Muslim
Women’s Fund?
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Not likely
Somewhat likely
Likely
Very likely
Undecided
Saturday July 18, 2009
Change through Interpretation
Start of Case Studies
What area(s) do you confront the most harmful interpretations?
1. Marriage and divorce (family law)
2. Employment and career opportunity
3. Financial security
4. Gender-based violence
How important is it for Muslim women to take leadership roles in religious
interpretation and spirituality?
1. Not important
3. Important
4. Very important
5. Undecided
End of Jihad Against Violence
“Do you support this ‘Jihad Against Violence’ Statement?
1. Yes
2. No
3. Undecided
Sunday July 19, 2009
Change through Collaboration
Before Panel
How connected are Muslim women’s efforts for change with the efforts of
women of other faiths?
1. Not connected
2. Somewhat connected
3. Connected
4. Very connected
5. Undecided
How helpful could collaborations with women of other faiths be for promoting
change for Muslim women?
1. Not helpful
2. Somewhat helpful
3. Helpful
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4.
Very helpful
At Conclusion of Question &Answer Period
How helpful could collaborations with women of other faiths be for
promoting change for Muslim women?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Not helpful
Somewhat helpful
Helpful
Very helpful
How helpful could collaborations with men be for promoting change for Muslim
women?
1. Not helpful
2. Somewhat helpful
3. Helpful
4. Very helpful
Change Through Action
At End Of Session
How important is community organizing to your work?
1. Extremely important
2. Important
3. Mildly important
4. Not important
Have you received any education or training in community organizing?
1. Yes
2. No
Have you been involved in any form of community organizing in the past?
1. Yes, during the last 2 years
2. Yes, during the last five years
3. Never
Does your organization have enough resources to create a good campaign on
your issue of focus?
1. Mostly yes
2. Yes
3. No
Of the following theories of change, which one is the *most* effective in
making a difference?
1. Create awareness on women’s rights and challenges
2. Change the laws (religious, tribal, national) relevant to women’s
status
3. Enable women financially to be independent and agents of change
4. Enable women’s presence in decision making and governance
systems
5. Enable women through education in religion and all fields of life
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During The Closing Ceremony
How hopeful are you now about positive change for Muslim women?
1. Not helpful
2. Somewhat helpful
3. Helpful
4. Very helpful
5. Undecided
Should “Jihad Against Violence” be changed to “Jihad For Peace?”
1. Yes
2. No
What is your overall assessment of the 2009 WISE Conference?
1. Below Average
2. Average
3. Good
4. Very Good
5. Excellent
Have you been able to form partnerships at this meeting?
1. Yes
2. No
What did you enjoy the most at the conference?
1. Making new friends
2. Becoming inspired by the stories of other sisters
3. Knowledge-sharing
4. Feeling spiritually transformed
With what change modules are you interested in assisting WISE?
1. Muslim Women’s Fund
2. Shura Council
3. Web Portal
4. Interfaith Partnerships
5. Grassroots Community Organizing
What is the best time for the 2010 WISE Conference?
1. April
2. May
3. June
In which country should we hold the 2010 WISE Conference?
1. Morocco
2. Egypt
3. Turkey
4. Saudi Arabia
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7.Case Study Abstracts
Change Through Communication
The Yemen Times Early Marriage Campaign: the Story of Nujood
http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/pdfs/case_study-communication1.pdf
http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/pdfs/article-communication1.pdf
The Yemen Times Early Marriage Campaign: the Story of Nujood
Nadia Al-Sakkaf
Publisher and Editor in Chief, Yemen Times
Background
The issue of early marriage is a controversial one in Yemen. Mainly because it is a male dominated
society and many Yemeni men do not want to be told that marrying someone below 18 is a crime. The
law does not prevent child marriage; the age is left to the parents or guardians.
Therefore, although early marriage was prevalent in Yemen, the Yemeni media except for a few
attempts triggered by either conscious journalists or events organized by international and national
organizations working in the field. A 2006 field study revealed that child marriage among girls reached
52.1%, compared to 6.7% among males. This means that one in two Yemeni women get married
before 18 years old, average age for this half is 15.
The first time we heard about Nujood was from her lawyer who is a friend of Yemen Times. Shada
Naser called us saying that there is a nine years old girl [we thought she was eight at the time] in the
court who had run away from home to the court house seeking divorce from her 33 years old husband
whom her father forced her to marry.
She had been with her husband for two months, where she played the role of a wife in all senses of
the word. Her environment was/ is more than poor. She lives with her 12 siblings in a shabby house
and sleeps with two of her sisters in the kitchen. She had no education, and before marriage spent
her day time begging in the streets.
Strategies for Change
When Yemen Times received Nujood’s case, we decided this would be a turning point for the issue of
early marriage in Yemen and that we as English media will raise issue locally and internationally until
something gets done. Hence Nujood was our front page story for several weeks. We conducted
interviews, researched other case studies and gathered background information, all the while keeping
Nujood as a symbol of our war against early marriage in Yemen.
Since the story of Nujood we campaigned for a law against child marriages strongly. Every month
there was a report on early marriage or one of its aspects. It usually held front page or the features
page with photographs and illustrations. We have taken up the issue from a legal, social, medical,
humane, cultural and even economical point of view. We lobbying youth, women, local and
international organizations, religious leaders and most importantly decision makers and
parliamentarians. We did this through interviews, news stories and events which we hosted at Yemen
Times. If you search the key words early marriage in Yemen Times website, you will come across
more than a hundred articles and more are to come.
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We were attacked by local media and some social figures that we are showing our dirty laundry to the
world. Yet we persisted and we had to do something more than publishing about Nujood’s story and
lobbying international media to put pressure on the Yemeni parliament. We had to make the story of
Nujood and the other victims real for people. So we created an event, a celebration to the girls and we
invited everyone who might be related to this issue even remotely.
The event was a success, more than two hundred people attended, the hall was overflowing with
people and we raised the issue and campaigned with the parliamentarians. People left the hall in
shock as they saw the little three girls walking in front of them and sitting awkwardly staring at the
cake and toys that many of the guests brought. I heard many women and especially men saying: “that
could have been my daughter or sister.” Finally we made the issue of early marriage an issue of real
life and not just a number of a title in the newspaper.
Challenges and Successes
Some Yemeni media did the opposite of Yemen Times had done and endorsed the issue of early
marriage through either religious statements confirming the Prophets marriage to Aiysah while she
was nine and wedded her when she was 12, or through cultural norms that displayed a teenage
woman as the best catch for any man as she would be a virgin and not know much about life so the
man could dominate her.
The dominant saying is that young woman are like clay, you can form them they way you want. This is
why it is the men who oppose any law against marrying girls below 18.
In February 2009, after a little less than one year of campaigning against early marriage in Yemen,
members of the parliament have finally approved setting the minimum age for marriage for both boys
and girls at 17 years old.
In less than a week this law was debated again in the parliament and a petition was signed by 23
“religiously oriented” MPs to cancel it, legally it is still valid. However, an implementing mechanism for
it is yet to be devised by the parliament itself and concerned authority.
And we are still on the case until today.
Beliefnet: New Media & New Understanding of Muslim Dress Code
http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/pdfs/case_study-communication2.pdf
Beliefnet: New Media and New Understanding of the Muslim Dress Code
Dilshad D. Ali
Editor, Beliefnet
A study of how www.beliefnet.com, a popular multifaith, inspiration and spirituality website has utilized
all angles of new media to create a cache of content demystifying the Muslim dress code for women.
Background:
One of the biggest and most persistent issues that Muslim women face in how they are viewed and
perceived by the Western (non-Muslim) world still is how we choose to dress. Some Muslim women
wear the hijab (or headscarf) with their clothes, others wear abayas or burqas, or chadors, some add
a niqab (face veil) to the ensemble, while still others choose not to cover up and view modesty as an
inner quality and not dependent on their outerwear. The hijab story never seems to go away, whether
three years back when British politician Jack Straw created a stir when he requested his niqabwearing constituents to remove their veils before speaking with him (because it would create a more
77
open line of communication, he said), or whether it was the novelty of Muslim women wearing the
hijab and competing in the last summer Olympics, to the latest story out of France, where in June
French President Nicolas Sarkozy made a major policy speech in which he criticized the burqa,
likened it to “enslavement” and advocated for legislation to ban it. (“The issue of the burqa is not a
religious issue. It is a question of freedom and of women’s dignity,” Mr. Sarkozy said. “The burqa is
not a religious sign. It is a sign of the subjugation, of the submission, of women.”) See this link for full
article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/23/world/europe/23france.html?_r=1
Non-Muslims are still plagued by misconceptions about the various forms of Muslim dress, about why
some women choose to cover up and some don't, and about the different variations in the dress. Is it
mandated by the Qur’an? Does covering your hair but wearing form-fitting clothes constitute
modesty? Why do some women shroud themselves so much? Are they forced to do so by the men in
their lives? Why don’t men cover up? Does it get hot and uncomfortable when one covers up? These
questions persist amongst non-Muslims, making the symbol of the hijab one synonymous with the
simultaneous visions of liberation and subservience—depending on where you are coming from.
Among Muslim women themselves there is debate on whether the hijab is mandated in the Qur’an,
and if the way you dress reflects on the kind of Muslim you are. The question for me was, how do we
take the power of new media and create a comprehensive package of content that addresses these
questions from all angles?
Strategies for Change:
If you look on the internet, do a simple Google search on the term, “hijab,” you come up with more
than 6,030,000 hits. But in my search for a comprehensive, easy-to-digest package of material
covering the topic of the hijab and Muslim women’s dress styles, I found too much unwieldy
information. With the idea “change through communication,” I decided to harness Beliefnet’s new
media tools to create a package of content that addressed this big issue from a variety of angles: We
created a slideshow/gallery about the different types of dress that Muslim women wear (and the
issues around these styles of dress), a FAQ about the hijab, an essay from a women who decided to
stop wearing the hijab, the promotion of some discussion groups on our social networking site about
various problems (and successes) women have with wearing the hijab, and continuous posting on our
various blogs about these issues.
Our theory was that by addressing this evergreen topic from all angles of new media (slideshows,
essays, blogging, social networking), we could facilitate a change in the perception of this topic
amongst our majority non-Muslim readership as well as create a platform for Muslims to have deeper
discussion about this topic and be able to share these links with each other. After creating this
content, we promote it on the Islam page at Beliefnet.com, on Beliefnet’s homepage, and in our
various newsletters. We sent it out to a vast range of media outlets for their use, and we posted it on
sites like Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter. By zeroing in on the widespread sharing of information
backed by Beliefnet’s strong editorial reputation, we feel we’ve been able to provide answers to many
questions that our readers have about this topic.
URLS developed by Beliefnet about the topic of hijab and Muslim women’s dress:
• Social Networking: in Beliefnet Community -- "My Hijab or My Job?"
http://community.beliefnet.com/go/thread/view/43861/13155619/My_hijab_or_my_job and
http://community.beliefnet.com/go/thread/view/59723/15284583/Banning_the_Burqua_in_France__Is
_Sarkozy_going_too_far (two of many others)
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• Essay: “Taking off My Hijab”: http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Islam/2008/08/Taking-Off-MyHijab.aspx and “Girls Just Want to have Fun”: http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Islam/2004/05/GirlsJust-Want-To-Have-Fun.aspx
• FAQ: “All You Want to Know about the Hijab”: http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Islam/2008/07/YourHijab-Questions-Answered.aspx
• Gallery/Slideshow: “What are the Hijab and Muslim Dress All About?”
http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Islam/2008/09/What-is-the-Hijab-and-Muslim-Dress-All-About.aspx
• Blog Posts: “At the Beijing Olympics the Hijab Emerges”:
http://blog.beliefnet.com/idolchatter/2008/08/at-the-beijing-olympics-the-hi.html
• Other Blog Posts about the Hijab: http://blog.beliefnet.com/cityofbrass/2008/09/french-hijabban.html, http://blog.beliefnet.com/windowsanddoors/2009/06/freedom-of-religion-includes-w.html
Challenges and Successes:
The challenges, as always with new media, are sheer size of the Internet and social networking sites,
and how to spread information to the greatest audience possible. It’s all about search engine
optimization, proper headlining of content, and reaching out to the right media outlets, advocacy
groups, and bloggers to spread the word about what we’ve created. We’ve taken a full-bodied
approach to spreading our hijab coverage, by reaching out to our own bloggers and other well-read
blogs to link to our content, and we’ve shared our content with a variety of media outlets as well.
We’ve had moderate success in dispelling myths and explaining facets of the hijab story, or hijab
issue, call it what you will. Traffic numbers, which will be discussed in the powerpoint presentation,
have been average, and not nearly as high as some of our other Beliefnet faith galleries and content.
Anecdotally we’ve heard much positive feedback about how the content we’ve created and the variety
of platforms we’ve used have facilitated good discussions and the sharing of information. Anecdotes
and pageviews are what we have to go on at this time, and that remains the challenge of creating
content in new media – such content never dies, such content is ever growing, and such content is
increasingly unedited. Our challenge remains to separate our well-researched and edited content from
the other stuff out there, and to move such content to the top of search engines for maximum viewing.
Change through Philanthropy
Achieving Prosperity & Dignity: From Economic Empowerment to Social Movement
http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/pdfs/case_study-philanthropy1.pdf
Achieving Prosperity and Dignity: From Economic Empowerment to Social Movement
Nani Zulminarni
National Coordinator, PEKKA
Objectives/Background:
The 2007 National Economics Census Data of Indonesia (SUSENAS) shows that 13.6% or
approximately 6 million households in Indonesia are headed by women. However, Indonesia Marriage
Law No 1/1974, states that the head of a household can only be a man. Due in large part to the
Indonesian social and legal structures, women are not considered heads of households. Such
households are, in a majority of cases, among the poorest in Indonesia.
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430 grassroots organizations in Indonesia together form PEKKA. PEKKA members are usually
between 20 – 60 years with up to 6 dependents. Approximately 38.8 % of them are illiterate. Many of
them work on farms or other informal sectors such as trading, earning as little as $1 a day. Sadly,
most of them have experienced domestic and/or state violence.
PEKKA improve the welfare of women-headed households by providing increased access to
resources. It empowers the women to actively participate in every phase of their economic
empowerment. PEKKA encourages them to take control of their lives by making their own decisions,
and gives them information about their human and civil rights.
PEKKA aims to strengthen women-headed households so that women can contribute to a society that
affords equal opportunities to all. PEKKA’s four pillars for empowering women-headed households
include:
 Visioning
 Capacity building
 Organization and network development
 Advocacy and change
In light of its mission, one of PEKKA’s programs focuses on the financial independence of PEKKA
women. The program achieves this by:
 Encouraging savings; and
 Supporting businesses through microfinance and small business loans.
These two key areas of activity complement each other. Savings and loans then become an important
first step towards empowering women-headed households.
Challenges & Successes:
Over the last 8 years, PEKKA affiliated groups have achieved several milestones. Their constituents
have benefitted from the resources that have increasingly become available to them. PEKKA groups
now:
 Own and control 32 micro finance institutions that form the backbone of their financial activity;
 Mobilize savings of approximately $200,000 yielding a profit of $50,000 annually;
 Manage a revolving fund of $500,000 from the development projects currently underway; and
 Administer the 19 community centres established by PEKKA to run workshops and trainings that
empower women.
Leveraging Corporate Social Responsibility for Women's Progress
http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/pdfs/case_study-philanthropy2.pdf
Leveraging Corporate Social Responsibility for Women’s Progress
Shireen Zaman
Director, Middle East and North Africa
Vital Voices Global Partnership
In 2006, Vital Voices, with local partners in the Middle East and North Africa, launched a groundbreaking project to promote public-private partnerships for social and economic progress. The focus
of the project is to promote sustainable and profitable partnerships that positively impact communities,
especially women.
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Regional governments and civil society have traditionally been the vehicles for social progress. With
enhanced economic prospects in recent years, the private sector now has both the opportunity and
responsibility to become an effective partner in social and economic growth. As a result, a number of
private sector firms and individuals have set early examples of business investment in the community.
The Vital Voices public-private partnerships program is designed to:
 Inform, encourage and inspire cross-sector collaborations;
 Support and highlight these efforts in the region; and
 Build a more comprehensive approach.
Partnership and philanthropy are not new concepts in the region, but this project encourages local
entities to think about these principles differently. Vital Voices empowers grassroots women’s
organizations to form partnerships with companies and governments, eager to meet their corporate
social responsibility goals.
This program focuses on building relationships and partnerships. Often, companies and governments
want to create relationships with women’s NGOs but do not know local organizations. Vital Voices’
project begins with a Forum for Public Private Partnership, which meets regularly and brings all
parties together to discuss their work and interests. Vital Voices then works with both the sectors to
build their partnering capacity. This is done by providing key training to NGOs, through partnering and
proposal writing workshops, and working with them to seek in-kind funding and support.
We also train private sector companies and governments on corporate social responsibility and
marketing. As relationships develop, projects and areas of partnership emerge. Vital Voices then
works with local partners to provide specialized technical expertise to support the projects.
In many places “women’s issues” are sensitive and companies may be reluctant to work on them. We
help local partners make a “business case” for investing in women’s issues. One success story is that
of a breast cancer awareness program “Making it Our Business” in Jordan and Dubai that has
engaged more than 30 leading companies. In Jordan, a partnership project has focused on
establishing service centres for victims of domestic violence. Two such centres will open this fall.
Another challenge revolves around “ownership” and “credit” for the work. Through case studies and
pilot projects, program partners are shown that they are more successful and efficient when they work
together.
Change through Interpretation
The Pakistani Marriage Contract: Filling in the Salient Clauses & Teaching Girls their Rights
http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/pdfs/case_study-interpretation1.pdf
The Pakistani Marriage Contract: Filling in the Salient Clauses and Teaching Girls their Rights
Shahina Akbar
Advocate, Pakistani High Court
To raise awareness amongst girls and women in Pakistan on the marriage contract and the
possibilities for inserting terms more favorable towards women.
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In Pakistan, women are frequently left trapped in a marriage, with no recourse to divorce or financial
compensation in the mahr. This is largely the result of ignorance regarding the marriage contract and
the possibilities for inserting clauses that will grant them greater rights. The Pakistani marriage
contract is typically given to the engaged couple for their signatures at the moment of their wedding
ceremony and reception. In fact, despite the contract’s enormous impact on their future lives,
especially in cases of diverse and the terms and conditions evoked, these most effected parties are
rarely familiar with its details. In fact, the families of the engaged couple seldom discuss the contract
prior to its signing; instead, a few elder men handle the entire process, neglecting to inform the boy
and girl what they are signing for and what is omitted. They are told to simply fill out the columns of
the contract (including dower, maintenance, right of divorce, monthly pocket money, conditions on the
arbitrary exercise of divorce from the husband, etc.), in many cases forgoing their legitimate rights
within the Qur’an and Pakistani law.
I visit women’s homes, speaking to both individual engaged couples and large-groups. At their homes,
I distribute copies of marriage contracts (as well as divorce deeds). We then read aloud each clause
and explain it in further detail, especially those clauses that affect the marriage and the conditions for
a future divorce. In doing so, I demonstrate the lack of contradiction between Pakistani marriage law
and the Qur’an, encouraging the women to know their both know their marriage rights and increase
these rights by inserting legitimate clauses into the contract. At the end of the lecture, I always hold a
question and answer session, in order to ensure that the participants have understood and benefited
from the discussion. With certain engaged couples, I work with them and their families to fill in the
clauses in a manner that benefits the bride and ultimately, the marriage.
The cultural obstacles to this work are great. The women in my sessions frequently discuss the
numerous challenges they face in seeking to review the contract and insert clauses that will benefit
them. They recognize that they must solicit the help of an elder brother, married sister (who can talk to
their husbands), or uncle to speak with the family elders about the contract. The mothers recognize
that they are of little help, since they have never seen their own marriage contract. Furthermore, direct
approach from the girls will result in failure and simply cause agitation. The greatest challenge is
always to act within the culture yet also strike a change. Our methodology, therefore, is critical, as we
must demonstrate that what these girls are demanding is fully within their rights as Pakistani citizens,
Muslim women, and human beings. As I work in my community, I am witnessing more and more girls
(and their families) accepting that these God-given (and Pakistani law affirmed) rights can become
part of the marriage contract.
Advancing Gender Equality in Muslim Mindanao: Training & Promoting Gender-Sensitive
Religious Leaders to Affect Change
http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/pdfs/case_study-interpretation2.pdf
Advancing Gender Equality in Muslim Mindanao: Training and Promoting Gender-Sensitive
Religious Leaders to Effect Change
Laisa Masuhud Alamia Program Manager, Nisa Ul Haqq Fi Bangsamoro, Inc.
The context in which Moro (The minority Muslims in the Philippines, collectively known as the “Moros”,
comprise roughly 10 percent of the Philippine population. Once proud peoples with at least 2
sultanates in Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan, the Moros are now concentrated in only five provinces
and one city, together known as the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in the
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southern part of the Philippines. The Moros have been waging a war against the Philippine
government in their struggle for self-determination since the late 60s. Once comprising 75% of the
Mindanao population at the turn of the century, the Moros have been reduced to 18% thereof.
Displaced from their ancestral domains, discriminated against, and suffering from the effects of longstanding armed conflict, the Moros are at the bottom of the human development index.) women in the
Philippines live is dire, having suffered numerous social, political, cultural and historical injustices. At
present, poverty, banditry, kidnapping, clan feuds, the unresolved Moro claim to self-determination,
and the continuing decline of agriculture and homegrown industries have made life in the region highly
unstable. Against this backdrop of poverty, war, and displacement, Moro women face other forms of
oppression and discrimination. Under formal laws such as the Code of Muslim Personal Laws, as well
as traditional and cultural practices, they are susceptible to early, arranged, and/or forced marriage,
polygyny, gender-based violence, inequitable rights and responsibilities between husband and wife,
and the loss of inheritance rights, among others.
In the past few years, discussions on gender issues in the context of Islam have begun to surface,
especially in three areas of concern: marriage and family, economic rights, and political participation
and decision-making. One of the chief concerns that emerged from these dialogues is that gender
issues often arise from differing interpretations of the Qur’an by Muslim religious leaders coming from
different schools of Islamic thought. Thus, among the recommendations was to return to the basic
teachings of the Qur’an in order to clarify the roles of women and men and to enlighten the community
insofar as these roles and rights are concerned. The project is a concerted effort of both women
advocates and Muslim religious leaders (MRLs).
Among the pressing gender issues which the project intended to address are (1) early, arranged,
and/or forced marriage and (2) violence against women. NISA research has shown that early
marriage is prevalent in the ARMM among girls as young as 13, with a number of harmful and wideranging consequences. Violence against women, including rape, prostitution, trafficking, wife battery,
the taking of mahr, and violence to women in situations of armed conflict and displacement is also
occurring in the ARMM with alarmingly increasing rates.
Through concerted efforts of women advocates and gender-sensitive MRLs (both muftis and
members of the Assembly of the Darul Ifta), 15 khutbas (sermons) were drafted and rigorously
scrutinized through several consultations and workshops by MRLs and other experts to guarantee
their authenticity and faithfulness to the basic teachings of the Qur’an and human rights principles.
These khutbas tackle various issues on gender and reproductive health that have been considered
contentious in the context of Islamic traditions. These issues were included in mainstream discussions
on gender and human rights advocacy and were given appropriate explanations and support by
Qur’anic verses and hadith. The khutbas were compiled in a handbook, originally in English and later
translated into five widely spoken dialects in the ARMM provinces, for use by the imams of mosques.
The handbook will be used by these imams during Friday sermons, marriage counselling, nasihat,
and in other appropriate occasions as a reference for gender equality in the Islamic context.
Capability-building activities for the MRLs began prior to and continued throughout the khutba project.
Those MRLs immersed in gender advocacy were brought together with those just beginning the
process, in order that the authority and expertise of the more seasoned MRLs could benefit the newer
ones. Prior to the finalization of the 15 khutbas, a more intensive training was conducted which helped
in settling unresolved differences and in finalizing the khutbas. The MRLs were trained using a fourpronged approach:
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1) Gender justice in the context of Islam using the Qur’an, hadith and fiqh, particularly on the
issues of early and arranged marriage, polygyny, and violence against women, with
techniques on how to deliver the compiled khutbas;
2) National laws and instruments on women’s rights, such as the Anti-Violence Against Women
and Children Act;
3) International human rights instruments on gender, particularly the provisions of the CEDAW
and its Committee’s Concluding Comments to the last Philippine report; and
4) The lived realities of Moro and other Muslim women in predominantly Muslim countries
through the social sciences and research projects on the impact of such practices.
The above four-pronged approach has proven effective since the drafters of the khutbas came up with
more progressive interpretations of the Qur’an and hadith. Confronted with the lived realities of
Muslim women vis-à-vis international and national human rights instruments, the MRLs applied
Qur’anic principles of justice and equality to the khutbas they drafted.
The khutba on early marriage, for example, provides that “Islam clarifies important requirements
before marriage can take place, which include the age of maturity or capacity to distinguish right from
wrong, mental capability, emotional preparation, and physical grounding...financial capability and
finally, the consent of the concerned parties.” Although no specific age for marriage has been
recommended, nevertheless, the khutbas do not take the stand that puberty is equal to marriage-age.
On the issue of violence, the khutbas recognize the existence of many forms of violence against
women in the Moro communities, declaring that women are equal partners of men and that Islam’s
mandate is equality between men and women. This necessitates that all forms of violence against
women must be eradicated, “for so long as women suffer abuses, women cannot achieve their full
potential as free and equal members of society”, citing relevant Qur’anic text and hadith.
Although our work has been effective, we have also encountered challenges when the khutba
compilations are used on the ground. Many imams, especially those who have not undergone the
capability-building training, retain the same traditional, discriminatory and repressive beliefs on
women. Thus, the challenge for us is to continue to advocate at the grassroots level, training more
gender-sensitive MRLs and promoting their work.
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8. Jihad Against Violence Digest
The Jihad Against Violence Digest can be downloaded online at
http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/pdfs/jihad-report.pdf
Jihad Against Violence:
Muslim Women’s Struggle for Peace
The Digest
The first campaign of the WISE Muslim Women’s Shura Council
(July, 2009)
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Special Acknowledgements
The following women are members of the WISE Muslim Women’s Shura Council: Afra Jalabi,
Asma Afsaruddin, Daisy Khan, Fawzia Afzal-Khan, Gonca Aydin, Hedieh Mirahmadi, Irfana
Hashmi, Laleh Bakhtiar, Margot Badran, Necva Solak, Nevin Reda, Sabeeha Rehman,
Sumbul Ali-Karamali, Tayyibah Taylor and Ziba Mir-Hosseini.
In addition, a number of women were active in establishing the Shura Council vision, mission,
and structure, but were not involved in the Jihad Against Violence project. They include Alia
Hogben, Asma Sayeed, Durre S. Ahmed, Fatima Hyder, Hava G. Guney-Ruebenacker, Indre
Monjezi-Brown, Laila al-Zwaini, Lena Alhusseini, Nafis Sadik, and Robina Niaz.
The WISE Muslim Women’s Shura Council wouild like to thank the following women in
particular for their contributions to the Jihad Against Violence Digest: Afra Jalabi, Asma
Afsaruddin, Hedieh Mirahmadi, Irfana Hashmi, Nevin Reda, and Sumbul Ali-Karamali. Aisha
Rafea and Ayesha Chaudry contributed a number of important suggestions to the Digest.
Sumbul Ali-Karamali and James King helped with editing.
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“Jihad Against Violence” Digest
Table of Contents
I. Preamble
4
II. Domestic Violence and Refutations
6
III. Violent Extremism and Refutations
10
IV. Connections between All Forms of Violence
14
V. Conclusions
16
VI. Bibliography
19
VII. Partial Directory of Organizations Working on Violence
Against Women
20
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I. Preamble
A. Declaration
Violence is a human phenomenon that exists across diverse cultures and faith communities.
It remains an ever-present reality in the lives of millions of Muslims, preventing entire
societies from flourishing in religious, cultural, political, and economic spheres. Throughout
the world, violence destroys the ability of Muslim women to thrive within their families,
communities, and nations. Violent extremism and domestic violence, in particular, continue
to devastate individual lives, families, and societies. This is a clear injustice to those who
suffer such indignities, as well as a violation of the teachings of Islam, whose mantle is
wrongly used to justify such violence.
Therefore, we the members of the Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality
(WISE) and its Muslim Women’s Shura Council, in keeping with our belief that justice,
fairness, and equality are core values of Islam, assert the following:
(1) as vicegerents of God, we must struggle to make life on earth safe and peaceful,
resisting violence in all its manifestations;
(2) violent extremism and domestic violence are absolute corruptions of Islamic
doctrine, as represented in the Qur’an and Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH);
(3) violent extremism and domestic violence violate the right of human dignity – one of
the six principle objectives (maqasid) of the Shari’ah – of their victims, women and
others;
(4) violent extremism and domestic violence infringe upon the fundamental right of
every human being to enjoy peace and security in society, as well as tranquility in
the home;
(5) while violent extremism and domestic violence result from a diverse set of factors,
it is important for Muslims to reclaim the discourses of non-violence and peace
from within the Islamic traditions;
(6) Muslim families and communities must be made peaceful, secure and thriving, as
Islam means wholeness-making, peace-making, safety-making, and well-beingmaking; and
(7) the troubling link between family and societal violence, as well as between private
and public violence, must be explored further.
This is our Jihad Against Violence.
B. Why We Must Reject Violent Extremism
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“The good deed and the evil deed are not alike. Repel the evil deed with one which is better, and then one
between you and whom there was enmity (will become) as a friend” Surah 41, v 34.
Islamic teachings seek to unify people in order to engender harmony, cooperation, collective
achievement and prosperity. Violent extremism, on the other hand, fractures individuals,
families, and communities, preventing people from reaching their full potential as social and
spiritual beings. It cripples societies, causing them to implode; across societies, it generates
relationships based on mistrust and intolerance. Violent extremism mars the name and
reputation of Islam globally, spreading gross distortions of the Qur’an and example of the
Prophet Muhammad.
C. Why We Must Reject Domestic Violence
“None but a noble man treats women in an honorable manner. And none but a dishonorable man treats
women disgracefully” The Prophet Muhammad (Sunan Tirmidhi).
The Prophet’s life, a model of excellence, dignity, and justice, never included violent behavior
towards women or toward members of his household. Rather, he treated women and children
with the utmost kindness and respect. Violence cannot be compartmentalized into public and
private spheres, because even though a seemingly private offense like domestic violence first
involves individuals and families, it poisons the next generation and percolates throughout
society. A household is a miniature community and if we foster safe families, we will foster
safe communities. Similarly, dysfunctional families in which women are stripped of their
dignity lead to dysfunctional communities.
D. Why We Have Chosen to Address Violent Extremism and Domestic
Violence in Tandem
“For that cause We decreed for the Children of Israel that whoever kills a human being for other than
manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all humankind, and whoever saves the
life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all humankind” Surah 5, v 32a.
Through critical engagement with dominant interpretations, the WISE Muslim Women’s
Shura Council endeavors to connect Islamic principles to society’s most pressing issues and
develop holistic strategies for creating positive social change. Violent extremism and domestic
violence have widespread effects and are of tremendous importance to women and society at
large. The prominence of violence in the public discourse surrounding Islam is unmatched.
Therefore, as Muslim women, we hereby affirm our authority on these vital issues and declare
our Jihad Against Violence.
In addition, while many would assume domestic violence and violent extremism to be
separate, we see connections between both forms of violence. Consequently, Jihad Against
Violence examines violent extremism and domestic violence in tandem, taking a stand against
all manifestations of violence.
E. Why Muslim Women in Particular Must Speak Out
“The male believers and the female believers are allies of each other; they enjoin good and forbid harm; they
establish prayers, practice charity and obey God and His messenger. On them God will have mercy, for God is
exalted in power, wise.” Surah 9, v 71.
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The Shura Council, in keeping with its mission to discuss pressing issues of Muslim women’s
rights, roles and responsibilities, claims a space of peace and non-violent resistance to
injustice and to violence in all its forms, all from the unique and strong perspective of Muslim
women.
While many have spoken out against domestic violence and violent extremism, those most
affected by the violence often remain unheard. They are frequently muted, whether due to
unsympathetic institutions silencing them or a disinterested media failing to tell their stories.
In response, we draw upon our rich legacy as peacemakers, leaders, caregivers, and teachers
and scholars of sacred text and law. Working with our colleagues and constituents, we are
reclaiming this space of authority in order to promote the principles of gender equality, as
well as social, economic, and political justice in Muslim communities.
F. Why We Have Chosen the Path of Shura
“Those who respond to their Lord, and establish regular Prayer; who (conduct) their affairs by mutual
Consultation [shura]; who spend out of what We bestow on them for Sustenance;” Surah 42, v 38.
Shura is the process by which we confer and collaborate to reach important decisions for
collective action. In order to further our vision for broad, open dialogue with diverse groups,
we draw upon this “classical” tradition of consultation.
In accordance with Islam, the Qur’an and Sunnah, and the Islamic traditions – and as citizens
of the 21st century – we employ extensive expertise in Islam, the humanities and social
sciences, and specific grassroots contexts. We have adopted a “conversational framework”
which seeks to work with all people – including men and non-Muslims – committed to
reducing violence and promoting peace.
G. Why a Jihad Against Violence
“O you who believe! Be careful of (your duty to) God and seek means of nearness to Him and strive hard
[jahidu] in His way, that you may be successful.” Surah 5, v 35.
Jihad means “striving or endeavoring in the way of God.” We are dedicated to combating all
forms of violence – especially violence carried out in the name of Islam – across the spectrum
of violent extremism to domestic violence. We, Muslim women, must reclaim the mantle of
cultural, intellectual, and religious authority, declaring our opposition to violence with a
powerful and unified voice.
We must announce our commitment to resisting injustice generally and violence specifically
through peaceful means and from the unique perspective of women. We must speak
comprehensively and holistically to a diversity of discourses to effectively oppose violence.
We must act upon our positions by preventing our children and members of our communities
from subscribing to a deviant understanding of our faith and by creating institutions,
mechanisms, and systems able to successfully combat violence. Already, thousands of
organizations led by Muslim women courageously and effectively tackle violence on a daily
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basis. We must support these efforts, unifying our individual efforts to ‘command the good
and forbid the evil,’ as decreed in the Qur’an.
Most importantly, we must affirm peace. We must think, speak, and act, both wisely and
courageously, overflowing with a powerful spirit of mercy, justice, and peace.
This is our Jihad Against Violence.
II. Domestic Violence and Refutations
Some Muslims excuse domestic violence 1 on the basis of Surah 4, verse 34 of the Qur’an.
Likewise, some non-Muslims point to 4:34 to condemn Islam as sexist and violent towards
women. Both of
these groups assume that this verse specifically gives husbands the right to beat, or at least
physically chastise, their wives.
In most English translations, the second half of this verse is translated as follows:
As to those women on whose part you fear disloyalty [nushuz], first admonish them, then abandon
their sleeping places, then beat them [lightly] [udribuhuna].
While at first glance the meaning of this verse may seem apparent, in order to properly apply
it, several factors must be taken into account. Together, these provide a compelling refutation
of the view that domestic violence is sanctioned by Islam.
1. a linguistic analysis of the word daraba;
2. confusion over the meaning of nushuz;
3. intertextual analysis of the Qur’an;
4. the general message of the Qur’an;
5. the Prophet’s example;
6. the Maqasid al-Shari’ah; and
7. historical context and the Qur’an’s pattern of gradually eliminating certain practices.
We recognize that jurists of the pre-modern tradition largely understood daraba in 4:34 to
mean “beat”. Although their methodology was sound, it was informed by the context of their
patriarchal societies. We consider our understanding to be more relevant, constructive, and
just for contemporary Muslim families and societies. This conscious departure is similarly
backed by sound methodology, especially as jurists have always been comfortable developing
different meanings of words or interpretations of verses in light of new evidence and changing
circumstances.
A. Linguistic Analysis of Daraba
1. In classical Arabic, the word daraba has 25 different meanings. “Beat” or “chastise” are
two of them, but another is “go away from.” Therefore, the verse could be rendered:
1
While domestic violence can be defined more broadly to include child abuse, emotional abuse, or any form of violence in the home,
this project considers it in a more limited sense to include only physical violence carried out against the wife or female domestic
partner.
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As to those women on whose part you fear disloyalty, first admonish them, then abandon their
sleeping places, then go away from them.
In fact, in her The Sublime Quran, Laleh Bakhtiar translates 4:34 in a similar manner:
But those whose resistance you fear, then admonish and abandon them in their sleeping place,
then go away from them.
B. Confusion over Nushuz
1. However daraba is defined, the Qur’an clearly makes its application conditional upon the
fear of nushuz. In other words, without nushuz, which in many translations and
interpretations is rendered “disobedience,” “disharmony,” or even “disloyalty,” the
subsequent steps outlined in the verse cannot be applied.
2. Linguistically, the word nushuz means “to stand up,” as from a seated or sleeping position
with the intent to leave that specific location. This is how it is consistently used in other
parts of the Qur’an (for example, 58:11 and 2:259). In the context of 4:34, therefore,
nushuz must mean to get up and leave the marriage. In contemporary usage, a “nashiz
wife” has left her marital home and is living elsewhere, but is not yet divorced.
3. Nushuz can also be associated with the husband. Thus, if a wife fears it from her husband,
steps may be taken to remedy this situation as well (4:128). Yet interestingly, nushuz is
never understood as “disobedience” on the part of the husband; instead, interpretations
often change when applied to a man versus a woman. This discrepancy indicates that the
cultural norms of the interpreters significantly affected their interpretations. The
understanding of nushuz as “disobedience” seems to reflect gender roles within the
medieval mindset more than the actual semantic range of the word. Thus, although later
jurists may not have considered it acceptable for a wife to disobey or leave her, the early
hadith literature contains instances of wives doing so. Similarly, these jurists could not
imagine that husbands should be required to obey their wives.
C. Intertextual Analysis
1. It is generally acknowledged among both classical and modern scholars that the preferred
method for interpreting the Qur’an is by means of other Qur’anic passages, known as
“interpreting the Qur’an by the Qur’an” (tafsir al-Qur’an bi’l-Qur’an). Significantly, while
no other passages support the “beating” interpretation of 4:34, there are other passages
that support the “distancing” or “going away from” meaning. For example, in 2:226-227,
“separating from the wife” (iyla’) is a prelude to either reconciliation or divorce. It gives
the husband the opportunity to decide in private whether he wishes to continue with the
marriage or choose divorce. This period of separation cannot go on indefinitely, but is
limited to a maximum of four months, upon which the husband must make up his mind.
In polygamous marriages, iyla’ is not preformed against one wife and not the others, but is
undertaken against all wives simultaneously.
2. Translating daraba as “beat” also produces a contradiction between Qur’anic verses if
4:34 is compared to those verses on divorce, which offer a picture of non-coercion in
marriage, even in ending it. For example, Surah 2, verse 231 says:
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When you divorce wives and they are about to reach their term, then hold them back honorably or
set them free honorably; but do not hold them back by injuring them so that you commit
aggression.
In other words, husbands are urged to divorce their wives if they desire, but to not inflict
injury on them. But if the Qur’an also tells husbands to beat their wives while married, this
gives women more incentive to be divorced than married. This contradicts the Qur’an’s
clear preference for marriage over divorce. This contradiction do not arise if 4:34 is
translated as “go away from.”
3. In addition, the Qur’an uses three words other than daraba to mean “strike” or “beat,” in
verses 28:15, 38:41, and 51:29. Furthermore, the d-r-b root carries at least seventeen
distinct connotations in the Qur’an, including “hold up as an example” (43:57), “travel
through” (4:101), and “cover” (3:112), just to name a few. Often, this root suggests a
figurative meaning: moving away, separating, distancing from, or setting up a barrier
(including in the home). Within the context of marital conflict, this is the most likely
meaning, as a husband separates from his wife before ending the marriage. This is
consistent with the Prophet Muhammad’s practice with respect to his wives (see below).
D. General Message of the Qur’an
1. The broader message of the Qur’an is the promotion of harmony and affection between
husband and wife. Marriage is depicted as a sacred bond of love and mercy. Surah 30,
verse 21 says:
And among His Signs is that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that you may live
in tranquility with them, and He has put love and mercy between your (hearts): verily there are
Signs in that for those who reflect.
Interpreting daraba in 4:34 to mean “to beat” would seem to contradict with this message
of tranquility, love, and mercy in the home.
2. The earliest Muslims, including such figures as Ali ibn Abi Talib and Umar ibn al-Khattab,
followed a holistic methodology of interpreting the Qur’an. They did not read a single
verse in isolation and assume it covers an entire issue. Instead, they examined all possible
factors, including the entire Qur’an, traditions of the Prophet, reason, common sense, and
the interests of their particular society.
E. The Prophet’s Example
1. The Sunnah, which is taken as a reflection of how the Prophet understood the Qur’an,
contradicts an interpretation of daraba as “beat.” We do not have a single report of the
Prophet striking his wives. Instead, we read from Anas ibn Malik, a Companion of the
Prophet: “I have never seen anyone more kind to one’s family than (the Prophet
Muhammad)” (Sahih Muslim).
2. He ordered, “Never beat God’s handmaidens” (Sunan Abu Dawud), and he commended
those who treated their wives with kindness: “The most perfect of the believers in faith are
the best of them in moral excellence, and the best of you are the kindest to their wives”
(Sunan Tirmidhi). He encouraged harmony and mutual respect in the home: “The believer
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should not harbor hatred towards his wife. If he dislikes something in her, then surely he
will be pleased with another quality in her” (Sahih Muslim). These reports clearly went
against prevailing norms, and some of the Prophet’s followers even viewed him as too softhearted for taking this position. Yet he never wavered from it in his actions.
3. When the Prophet experienced conflict with his wives (especially during the strained
period when they requested a higher living standard, which he could not afford), he simply
left his marital home and stayed away from them. If he had understood 4:34 to demand
physical discipline, he would have done so. Instead, based on his actions, the Prophet
interpreted 4:34 to mean “go away from,” not “beat.”
F. Maqasid al-Shari’ah
1. The “principle objectives” (maqasid) of the Shari‘ah demand the protection and
promotion of religion (din), life (nafs), mind (‘aql), family (nasl), dignity (‘ird), and wealth
(mal) in society. Inflicting injury on one’s spouse is a violation of at least three of these
fundamental principles – the objectives of Life, Dignity, and Family – which the Shari‘ah
aims to protect and which undergird Islamic law.
Under Shari‘ah, the objective of Life upholds the sanctity of human life according to the
dignity God bestowed on humankind, and it protects against bodily harm of any kind.
Furthermore, the objective of Dignity maintains the dignity of each human being, which
he or she is given by God. It protects against slander, the breach of privacy, everyday fear,
and disrespect; it also promotes basic human freedoms. Thirdly, domestic violence
violates the objective of Family, which makes the family a safe refuge for all of its
members.
G. Historical Context: The Qur’anic Approach of Gradual Elimination
1. In pre-Islamic Arabia, a wife was considered property and could be treated however her
husband wished. This was not exceptional; well into the 19th century, European law
allowed a man to beat his wife as long as he did not endanger her life. Even today, wife
abuse has not been eradicated. In the United States for example, on average, three women
are killed each day by their husbands or partners. When the Prophet told his followers not
to beat their wives in the 7th century, this concept considered weak, not a compassionate
position fulfilling the protection of dignity.
2. In addressing spousal abuse, the Qur’an takes a familiar approach: it introduces a concept
and applies a method of gradual elimination. It qualifies existing norms through
safeguards and limitations. In the 7th century, men did not need permission to abuse their
wives. Therefore, the Qur’an was not giving permission for abuse in verse 4:34; rather, it
was restricting it. Consequently, there is no reason to assume that the existence of 4:34
meant that the Qur’an intended the practice of wife-beating to be allowed indefinitely.
3. Even the early jurists restricted the application of the verse. Most regarded beating as
barely permissible or symbolic, and some said that beating should be carried out with a
toothbrush or folded handkerchief. Ibn Rushd, for example, insisted that even a man who
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caught his wife in bed with another man could either forgive or divorce her, but nothing
beyond that. The fact that these jurists, products of their time and place, restricted the
scope of spousal violence to this degree is remarkable. These restrictions were quite
progressive for their time.
III. Violent Extremism and Refutations
The religious justification used by Muslim extremists to commit societal violence is usually
jihad. Derived from the root j-h-d, which implies the exertion of energy, “jihad” has layered,
varying, and contested meanings, though all relate to a “struggle towards excellence in the
way of God.” Although sometimes translated as “holy war,” jihad does not mean warfare.
Rather, the Arabic word for warfare is harb; “armed combat” is qital. Warfare and armed
combat are not holy in Islam; they are simply justified or unjustified.
Nevertheless, extremists have evoked the language of jihad – and its Qur’anic references – to
justify violence. Consequently, any challenge to violence committed in the name of Islam
must examine these particular passages and clarify their meanings. In doing so, several
factors must be taken into account:
1. a holistic analysis of Qur’anic verses;
2. the literary context of the relevant verses;
3. the Prophet’s example;
4. the historical context of the verses’ interpretation;
5. jurists’ limitations on military jihad;
6. the principle of fada’il al-sabr;
7. contemporary understandings of jihad; and
8. the maqasid al-Shari’ah
Utilizing these widely-accepted interpretive techniques, legal and literary traditions and
discourses, and our contemporary contexts, we demonstrate that violent extremism cannot be
carried out in the name of Islam and that the Qur’an sanctions only defensive warfare.
A. Holistic Analysis of Qur’anic Verses
When read singly, various passages of the Qur’an seem to treat warfare differently.
However, when the Qur’an is read as a whole and against the historical circumstances
within which verses were revealed, we find a consistent pattern.
i. Meccan Jihad
1. While the Prophet and his followers were in Mecca for twelve years, the Qur’anic verses
revealed during this period recognized the right of self-defense in cases of wrongdoing. Yet
these verses did not give permission to the Muslims to use force. Instead, the Qur’an
commanded them to endure patiently and forgive the wrongdoers. For example, Surah 16,
verse 125 says:
Invite (all) to the Way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them
in the best and most gracious ways; for the Lord knows best who have strayed from His Path
and who receive guidance.
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2. Jihad in the Meccan period, which was longer than in the Medinan period, entailed nonviolent resistance to persecution. This took the form of: a) first secret and then public
preaching of their faith; b) freeing slaves who had converted to Islam; and c) emigrating to
Abyssinia and later to Medina. It is interesting to note that the Prophet sent the early
Muslims west towards the Christian empire of Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) and told them
they would find safety there. He did not send them with a message of war or conquest.
ii. Permission to Use Force in Self-Defense
1. After the Prophet and his followers emigrated to Medina, the Qur’anic message often
responded to the Muslims’ particular historical and political situation. In Medina, the
Prophet held together a coalition of political allies representing inhabitants of diverse
religions, whose rights were recognized as full members of the community, according to
the Constitution of Medina. As the Meccan Arabs continued to attack the Muslims and
their property, the Qur’an gave permission to use force in defending themselves and their
right to practice religion freely.
2. The first verses (22:39-40) which allow fighting (“qital,” which is one aspect of jihad under
specific conditions), state:
Permission is given to those who fight because they have been oppressed, and God is able to help
them. These are those who have been wrongfully expelled from their homes merely for saying ‘God
is our Lord.’ If God had not restrained some people by means of others, monasteries, churches,
synagogues, and mosques in which God’s name is mentioned frequently would have been
destroyed.
It is noteworthy that these verses clearly state that apart from resisting oppression,
Muslims may only resort to fighting to defend the basic religious freedom of all righteous
people (not just Muslims) to worship the one God.
iii. Medinan Jihad
1. After war broke out between the Muslims and the Meccans, who never ceased to persecute
the Prophet and his followers, the “sword verses” (below) were revealed. These verses have
been frequently taken in isolation and out of their literary and historical context, both by
those trying to prove Islam to be a violent religion and by Muslims to justify violence. Yet
these passages must be read in the holistic context of the entire Qur’an and in light of the
historical context they were addressing.
Surah 9, verse 5:
And when the sacred months are over, slay the polytheists wherever you find them, and take them captive,
and besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every conceivable place.
Surah 9, verse 29:
Fight those who—even if they are People of the Book— do not believe in God or the Last Day and do not
consider forbidden that which God and His messenger have forbidden, and do not follow the religion of the
truth, until they pay the poll tax willingly, as subjects.
2. These verses must be read with the earlier passages that prohibit Muslims from initiating
warfare, as well as the many verses that urge Muslims to incline to peace if their enemies
incline to peace. When read this way, they allow battle only in defense. Qur’anic verses
should always be taken together – to ignore one verse and rely upon another is to ignore
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part of God’s word. So although fighting in the defense to practice religion was permitted,
2:190 specifically prohibits Muslims from initiating hostilities.
B. Literary Context of the Sword Verses
1. When 9:5 and 9:29 are read within the literary context of the entire passage (9:1-29),
verses 1-4 clearly show that this passage is addressing a particular group, the polytheistic
Meccan Arabs at the time of the Prophet. A segment of this group repeatedly broke their
treaty with the young Muslim community. In fact, the historical sources indicate that they
had attacked and killed allies of the Prophet. Thus, the sword verses instruct Muslims on
how to deal with this unprecedented situation involving those who have broken their
treaty obligations. According to the Qur’an, the cancellation of the treaty is to be
announced at the tribes’ annual gathering during the pilgrimage, treaty-breakers are given
four months clemency, and war should be resumed when these months have passed. Verse
9:4 makes it very clear that these actions do not apply to those who have not broken the
treaty, as the Muslims are instructed to honor their engagements with them.
2. The eminent early jurists understood the sword verses in this manner, stressing both the
Meccan Arabs’ aggression against the Muslims and their violation of treaties. The
command to wage war against these particular people resulted from these two factors, in
addition to the threat they posed. While 9:5 and 9:29 refer to this special case of treatybreakers, the general Qur’anic rules of warfare are established in 2:190-195.
3. To summarize, when the divine command permitting jihad was revealed, it was only after:
 The persistent refusal of the Meccan leadership to allow the peaceful propagation of
Islam in Mecca;
 Continuous persecution of the Muslims remaining in Mecca;
 Meccan military campaigns against the Muslims at Medina with the sole objective of
eliminating Islam;
 Key security pledges being rejected unilaterally by a number of tribes allied to the
Prophet, forcing him into a vulnerable position.
C. Prophet’s Example
1. The Prophet Muhammad, the ultimate model of Qur’anic behavior, never waged a war
except in self-defense, and he never initiated warfare against unbelievers during his
lifetime.
2. The Prophet demanded gentleness. He is recorded to have said, “God is gentle and loves
gentleness. He rewards for gentleness what he does not give for violence” (Sahih Muslim).
He also declared, “He who is deprived of forbearance and gentleness is, in fact, deprived of
all good” (Sahih Muslim).
D. Historical Context of the Verses’ Interpretation
1. After the Prophet’s death, the young Muslim community found itself with a new religion to
defend, persecution to resist, radical social reforms to implement, and novel laws to
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develop. Predominant international law at the time was to conquer or be conquered. This
was simply how states and empires operated. Muslims generally did not convert the
conquered peoples to Islam, but let them pay a tax in return for keeping their religion and
obtaining exemption from military duty.
In order to justify the expansion of the territory of Islam, the early Muslims interpreted
jihad to allow for the spread of Islamic rule. To accomplish this, many of the early jurists
(though not all) claimed that the sword verses superseded or abrogated those verses
prohibiting violence or allowing it in self-defense. “Abrogation” (naskh) became a
standard technique for interpreting the Qur’an at that time.
2. Even this notion of expansionist jihad was a limitation on the violence of the time, since it
outlawed all forms of warfare except jihad. Nevertheless, although the Muslim community
may not have survived in the 7th century Near East without an effective strategy of
expansion, this doctrine no longer applies to the current geopolitical world.
E. Limitations on Military Jihad
1. In situations when military jihad was allowed by the jurists, they developed an entire body
of law that outlined specific rules and limitations. For example, they required that a call to
war could only come from a publicly recognized caliph or imam. An individual may not
legitimately issue a call to war. This requirement is especially relevant today, as there is no
such recognized leader of the worldwide Muslim community (ummah).
2. Moreover, jurists developed very clear prohibitions on warfare. Those waging jihad were
not allowed to do the following (below), among other things. These prohibited actions are,
nevertheless, among the hallmarks of many of those who engage in violent extremism in
the name of Islam today:
 attack noncombatants and civilians of any kind;
 arbitrarily destroy property;
 commit suicide;
 engage in the secret and clandestine use of force (as opposed to a declared and formal
war);
 engage in cheating and treachery;
 commit rape;
 terrorize populations;
 wage war against other Muslims.
F. Fada’il al-Sabr
1. While some Muslim scholars developed the military doctrine of jihad, others were
developing alternative views on jihad. In particular, they developed the doctrine of the
“jihad of active forbearance,” based on the holistic understanding of jihad in the Qur’an.
This is reflected in the literature which praises the “excellences of armed struggle” (fada’il
al-jihad) and the competing literature which describes the “excellences of patience”
(fada’il al-sabr).
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The doctrine of patient forbearance (sabr) as part of jihad was brought into the
mainstream by the 12th century jurist, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali. Al-Ghazali asserted that
patience and gratitude were the two halves of faith, and he noted that over 70 Qur’anic
verses refer to patient forbearance. He specifically contended that patient forbearance is
part of jihad.
2. This is the non-violent resistance to persecution that the Qur’an urged the Prophet and his
followers to adopt in the Meccan period. It has always been a part of Islam’s divine
message, and throughout the centuries, a number of prominent jurists elaborated this
doctrine.
G. Modern and Contemporary Understandings of Jihad
1. In the 18th and 19th centuries, when many Muslim lands were under colonial rule, Muslim
scholars began to revisit the doctrine of jihad and Qur’anic interpretation in general. The
principle of abrogation was rejected by many of these scholars, including Muhammad
‘Abduh, the famous rector of al-Azhar University in Cairo. They insisted that abrogation
was merely a temporal technique to understand the Qur’an.
2. Numerous contemporary jurists argue that any verse must be understood in relation to
the Qur’an’s larger message. In other words, all Qur’anic verses on a subject must be
studied in relation to one another. These scholars interpret the sword verses only within
the context of other verses on warfare and conclude that this permission was given to the
Prophet in a specific situation. The larger message of the Qur’an restricts violence and
permits only defensive warfare.
3. Thus, jihad was reaffirmed as the use of force only in self-defense. Sayyid Ahmad Khan,
for example, insisted (controversially) that even colonization by a foreign power was an
insufficient condition for jihad unless there was active suppression of the practice of
Islam. Abduh agreed that jihad was defensive war only, though he asserted that invading a
country and colonizing its people justified self-defense. During India’s fight for
independence, Badshah Khan, a pacifist and devout Muslim, led his fierce Pushtun army
in an unarmed, peaceful protest march against the British. Acting from his religious
convictions, Khan waged a remarkable jihad of active, patient resistance.
H. Maqasid al-Shari’a
1. Because violent extremism entails the unjust taking away of human life and destruction of
property, it absolutely violates at least two of the principle objectives of the Shari‘ah: Life
and Wealth. Inflicting injury on a person, taking away life, and destroying property violate
these objectives of the Shari’ah and cannot be justified in any way as fulfilling Islamic
values.
IV. Connections between All Forms of Violence
Although domestic violence, military jihad, and other types of violence may spring from
different jurisprudential sources, they are linked in other ways: societal, sociological,
psychological, and textual (Qur’anic), among others.
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Muslims cannot legitimately rely on Islamic texts to engage in domestic violence or to wage
violent extremism. A fundamental principle of the Qur’an is peace, harmony, and the
elimination of all forms of violence, and Islam restricted cultural norms regarding both
domestic violence and violent extremism. The 7th century right of men to beat their wives was
taken for granted, and the Qur’an restricted, even abolished, the right. Similarly, it decreed “a
life for a life” in certain circumstances, and this was a vast improvement over ten – or even a
hundred – lives for a life. These were limitations on existing violence. Therefore, to take these
passages ultimately sought to eliminate violence and use them to legitimize more violence
than our current norms accept, is to greatly violate the spirit of the Qur’an.
Furthermore, the principle objectives of the Shari’ah, which provide the Shari’ah’s
foundation, ensure the protection of life, religion, mind, wealth, family, and human dignity.
All interpretations of Islamic law must conform to these maqasid, and clearly, both domestic
violence and violent extremism violate these protections. Muslim jurists understood that
violence begets more violence, contravening the maqasid. In the domestic sphere, boys whose
fathers abuse their mothers have a greater probability of growing up to be abusive husbands.
Similarly, in the public sphere, violent acts provoke retaliatory violence, which results in
escalating conflict. In this way, modern political conflicts perpetuate violence in a vicious
cycle similar to the pre-Islamic blood feuds of the Hijaz. This is precisely what the Qur’an and
the Prophet sought to eliminate.
Finally, the Qur’an extols patience (sabr), which can be applied to both domestic violence and
violent extremism. In fact, jihad as patient forbearance is equal in value to jihad as force. This
does not, however, mean passive indifference; but rather, it is an active, patient, and nonviolent resistance to injustice. According to the Prophet, jihad is both the greater struggle to
rid oneself of sin and the lesser effort to defend against oppression. It can be considered an
internal jihad of the soul and an external jihad of correcting injustice in society. This external
jihad is of many types: for example, jihad by the word (using verbal persuasion to correct an
injustice); jihad by the hands (doing good works to correct an injustice); and jihad by the
sword (using force to get rid of an oppressor). It is important to recognize that jihad by the
sword is merely a last resort, only after all other forms of jihad have been attempted, and even
then, it may only be used in self-defense.
The greater jihad is an attempt to control one’s self in ways that serve God. The Prophet is
reported to have said during the Farewell Pilgrimage: “… The fighter in the way of God is he
who makes jihad against himself (jahada nafsah) for the sake of obeying God.” Taming their
tendency to transgress, these mujahidin exert energy to overcome the selfish promptings of
their egos. For this reason, the Qur’an equates them with “the patient ones” (saberin): “We
shall put you on trail so that We know those among you who strive in the cause of God
(mujahidin) and are the patient (saberin)” (47:31). These mujahidin are promised guidance:
“Those who do jihad for Our sake, We will certainly guide them to our Paths” (29:69).
We can apply the sabr doctrine to verse 4:34 and conclude that patient forbearance, selfcontrol, and taming of ego in the matter of marital strife is preferred, just as these qualities
are preferred in the matter of societal strife. Any act of physical violence in the home greatly
violates this principle. Spouses must be patient with one another in a context of love, mercy,
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and patience. If the marriage continues to deteriorate, according to the Qur’an, spouses
should separate from one another, to consult with others and reflect on the health and
viability of the marriage. While reconciliation is preferred, if impossible, then divorce is
permitted. However, at no point is violence or physical force recommended as an effective or
appropriate step in resolving such marital problems. Added to the historical evidence of
Muslim jurists minimizing domestic violence, this clearly demonstrates that the Qur’an did
not authorize the practice but sought to curtail and even eliminate it.
Violence can be imagined like a wheel with a center and numerous spokes. The center of the wheel is
the home. The circumference of wheel, the outer circle, represents the community and society. The
spokes represent the many factors that keep this "circle of violence" turning. These factors include:
androcentric interpretations of the primary sources of Islam, ineffective leadership, continual reliance
on militaristic solutions, and the disempowerment of women. Violence moves back and forth between
the center (home) and the circumference (community) through these spokes. For example, domestic
violence in the home travels through the spoke of non-egalitarian interpretation to the community,
where it sets a model for a misogynistic community. In reverse, a misogynistic societal model travels
back from the circumference to the home center and inspires domestic violence.
As the WISE Muslim Women’s Shura Council, we are committed to stopping such violence – in our
homes, our communities, and in our world. We are committed to replacing the destructive spokes of
the wheel of violence with those representing non-violent solutions, equitable and representative
leadership, and interpretations of Islam that are not constrained by patriarchal culture. We must all
work together to find such alternative solutions and redraw the circle.
V. Conclusions
“Jihad Against Violence: A Non-Violent Call for Building a Gentler World and Overcoming
the Models of Tyranny and Victimhood"
For thousands of years, people on our planet have decried the ugliness of violence. We have
strived to stop aggression. We have sought an end to war. Yet what have we continued to do?
We use aggression to stop aggression. We use violence to stop violence. We share one generic
universal belief: You kill, and therefore, we will kill you and create a better world without
you. We are still caught in the perpetual cycle of this ancient thinking. Though we have
walked on the moon and achieved virtual connectivity across all corners of the globe, when it
comes to human relationships, societal interaction and global politics, our families and
communities remain mired in this old paradigm: the belief in the power of force to destroy
evil.
A. Incorrect Thinking Leads to Tyranny:
According to the Qur’an, physical and material conditions are created by our thoughts and
ego. This is a central theme: conditions do not change unless people change themselves.
“Verily never will God change the condition of a people until they change that which is in
themselves” (13:11). In other words, a given behavior results from certain thought patterns
and attitudes.
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The Qur’an describes the malaise of humanity in the first passage revealed to the Prophet
Muhammad: “A human being leans towards tyranny” (96:6). Some translate this verse as “a
human being transgresses all bounds” since the Qur’an uses the word tagha, which comes
from the verb “to overflow and transgress.” It presents this tendency to dictatorship as a
negative universal human trait afflicting us all, and we can trace it over the landscape of
different contexts and different characters, which represent archetypes of human leadership.
People, according to the Qur’an, have a tendency to dictate. Instead of questioning our own
ideas about the world, we want the world to change according to our ideas and comply with
our wishes. The “change” verse (13:11) turns all this upside down. Instead of changing the
world, dictating and acting like disillusioned gods, we are invited to surrender to the AllSupreme Sovereign God and examine our own ways of thinking. This is how the Qur’an
presents the Prophets: Yusuf (Joseph), for example, while unjustly detained, enjoins his cellmates, “What you are worshipping other than Him are merely names which you and your
forefathers have named, and which God has not endowed with authority. Sovereignty
belongs only but to God” (12:40). Such false names, which lack any authority, limit our
perception of reality and cause us to transgress peace. The Qur’an links false thinking to
aggression and violence, because those who think they can dictate reality will use different
means to control such reality. They will coerce others and enforce change.
The “change” verse creates an important paradigm shift. Instead of changing the world, the
Qur’an tells us to first change our own attitudes, thinking and ultimately, ourselves. Only then
will the world around us change. Change yourself and others will change. In Surah 11, all the
prophets are presented as coming to their societies to invite them to repentance as a way to
prosperity, not just for the hereafter, but the here and now. Instead of dictating to the world,
we are asked to observe, to marvel at the grand design of the universe around us. The Qur’an
repeatedly tells us to look at the stars, the way day and night fold into each other, the sun and
moon, and the beauty of animals moving together in flocks. It speaks of the signs of the
Creation, both within and outside ourselves: “We shall show them Our signs in the horizons
and within themselves” (41:53).
If this is the prescription, the Qur’an also gives us the diagnosis of our malaise. It explains
why we resort to violence and coercion. In scenes throughout, we come across different
models of behavior in which some characters dictate reality and resort to coercion, while
others – those at peace and willing to change themselves– achieve change gently.
B. The Nimrod Paradigm: Violating the Principles of Nature
The contrast between these two models is shown in the dialogue which takes place between
Ibrahim (Abraham), the father of the prophets, and Nimrod. Ibrahim uses moral persuasion
to convince people to peacefully accept and surrender to Supreme Intelligence, which is in
charge of the universe. Nimrod, on the other hand, thinks he controls reality. He mocks
Ibrahim and flaunts his controlling power, using his ability to kill as proof. “He said: I endow
life or death” (2:258). Ibrahim then asks him, “But it is God that brings the sun from the
East: Do then bring it from the West?” (2:258) While Nimrod is left speechless, to Ibrahim
the matter is clear. If he thinks he can dictate and transgress the principles of nature, then he
is living in a state of disillusionment.
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Ibrahim shows Nimrod that even if he killed and tortured people, reality does not conform to
his wishes, for he cannot control the movement of planets and starts. One such principle of
nature is human dignity, which according to the Qur’an, is endowed by God: “We have
dignified (honored) the children of Adam” (17:70). Hence, we have no choice in this matter,
just as we do not control the eternal immutable laws which govern the universe. For example,
when God established the principle of two particles of hydrogen and one particle of oxygen
making water, we were not consulted. “I called them not to witness the creation of the
heavens and the earth, nor the creation of their own selves” (18:51). Similarly, just as we can
interact with water but cannot change H2O, we cannot undermine this principle of “human
dignity,” for we were not consulted on it by God.
Yet for thousands of years we have been disillusioned. We still believe we can control others
by threatening their lives or undermining their dignity. We remain tangled in the Nimrod
paradigm, dictating reality and attempting to coerce the world around us. This paradigm
extends to our attempts to subdue nature, rather than living in harmony with it. It permeates
all levels of our thinking, from the way we complain about the weather to our building
weapons to destroy nations. And just like Nimrod, we can actually do the latter. We can take
life away (and of course, we do), though in complete delusion and violation of gentleness,
mercy and human dignity, all principles of nature for which we cannot rightfully challenge.
In this coercive paradigm, a person is in a state of war – with nature, with others, but most
importantly, with one's self. Confusion is the real problem in human thinking according to the
Qur’an, where the phrase “eloquent confusion” is repeated throughout. We find ourselves in
perpetual resistance to reality. Yet when we dictate reality, we become one of two archetypes,
according to the Qur’an: the Tyrant or the Victim. Both are violent. When I am not in
harmony with reality as it unfolds, I will either use coercion to change it and become the
tyrant, or I will feel helpless and victimized and begin overturning my situation whenever
given the chance. I become the victim. Thus, the “tyrant” and “victim” are interlocked in a
powerful cycle: the oppressors and the oppressed. These two sides simply exchange positions
during times of victory – the victim becomes a tyrant, the tyrant a victim – instead of
breaking down the cycle.
The Qur’an presents a third alternative: the Prophetic model, neither tyrant, nor victim.
These actions are not in resistance to reality, but in peaceful alignment with it, in active and
loving surrender to reality in a true state of “islam.” Those following the prophetic model
work from a place of gratitude and love, when they are threatened with death or exile. As we
read in the Qur’an: “We have none other than to put our trust in God. Indeed, He has guided
us to our Ways. We shall certainly withstand with patience all the hurt you may cause us.
For those who put their trust, should put their trust in God” (14:12).
Their sense of empowerment in this non-violent prophetic discourse does not emanate from a
belief in their physical ability to use force, nor does it reflect the resignation of victims.
Rather, their power comes from standing in truth and firmly standing being its power in
gentleness and without the need to coerce it upon others. The ability to speak with such
power is a testament to their lack of faith in the power of evil, and as a consequence, the
complete lack of fear in the face of threat. This is beautifully illustrated in the encounter
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between these three categories of people in the story of Pharaoh, Moses and the Oppressed in
the Land.
C. The Pharaoh Model: Coercive, Violent, and Rash
The Pharaoh represents the archetype of the tyrant in the Qur’an. In discourse, attitude and
actions, he is intoxicated with his own power and force, mired in “eloquent confusion.” It is
worth noting how the wrath of Pharaoh is directed towards women and children in particular,
as he and his men say: “Slay the sons of those who believe with him [Moses] and keep their
women alive but in humiliation (or violate their women)” (40:25). The Qur’an specifically
demonstrates the dynamics of the model of tyranny, not just as warfare or injustice in the
public sphere, but also as a form of abuse and violence against children and women within the
confines of their homes. This link between the domestic and the public is a repetitive theme in
the Qur’an, and we see it in many of the narratives and prayers.
For example, in Surah 25, we are given the qualities of the true worshippers of God: “And
those who say, Our Lord grant unto us from our spouses and children the bliss of our eyes,
and make us leaders to the virtuous ones” (25:74). This verse directly links leadership of the
family to good public leadership; in order to qualify for the latter, bliss and comfort in the
family are prerequisites. In fact, the Qur’an presents the virtuous life as that which is
consistent and genuine, privately and publicly. It establishes a strong ethos for leaders
creating a healthy, enlightened domestic atmosphere before attempting to transforms the rest
of society. Once again, this is linked to the theme of changing one's self before changing
society and the world at large.
It is also interesting that Pharaoh considers himself a model of good leadership, protecting
the truth of his ancestors. However, he is not aware that through his use of force, he has
created a coercive atmosphere that violates his own tradition: He says, “Let me kill Moses and
let him call on his Lord, What I fear is lest he should change your religion or lest he should
cause mischief to appear in the land” (40:26). Here again, Moses responds in the tradition of
the prophets: “I have turned to my Lord and yours from every dictator who believes not in
the Day of Account” (40:27). There are many similar scenes with Pharaoh in the Qur’an. In
fact, it is the Quran’s most repeated story, establishing the traits, qualities and patterns of the
violent, coercive model in governance and also in its treatment of children and women.
D. The Queen of Sheba Model: Non-Coercive, Peaceful, and Wise
In contrast, Surah 27 gives us scenes from another court, that of the Queen of Sheba. The
Queen of Sheba represents a different Qur’anic archetype of governance and leadership: the
non-coercive, wise leader. Upon receiving a threatening letter from King Solomon, the Queen
decides to consult with her people: “She said, Advise me in regard to my situation, for I
never decide any matter without your presence” (27:32). Even upon receipt of this serious
threat to her kingdom, she does not react hastily or unilaterally; instead, she creates a process
for collective and democratic decision-making.
What were the consequences of the Queen’s actions? By yielding power to her people, they
trusted her further and became more willing to follow her, though out of conviction rather
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than fear (as we saw in the Pharaoh’s court). In fact, she is rendered even more powerful by
her court. “They said: ‘We are endowed with strength, and given prowess in warfare, but
the command is with you; therefore see what you shall order’” (27:33). In response, the
Queen makes an interesting observation: “She said, ‘When kings enter a town, they despoil it,
spread corruption and make the noblest of its people its most humiliated, and this they
always do’” (27:34).
Remarkably, the Qur’an not only describes the court of a powerful queen, but it also
introduces us to the Queen of Sheba’s worldview and the way she views kings’ destructive
patterns, as well as her decision to break away from this history. “She said, ‘But I am going to
send him a gift and then see what answer the messengers bring back’” (27:35). Of course,
Solomon was displeased with this move; however, because of the wisdom, power and
gentleness of a non-violent queen, the story shifts from warfare to conflict resolution.
The importance of the Sheba story is that, like the Prophets, her refusal to reenact the old
paradigm of coercion is not the result of her lack of power. Rather, her decision comes from a
conscious decision to break away from a historical pattern and reject the paradigms of force.
And she succeeds. The Queen of Sheba is capable of resolving her conflict with Solomon
peacefully and non-violently, showing us the effectiveness of this third alternative model. The
resolution, which averted the destruction of both sides, came through her wisdom and
diplomacy, as she offered respect and exhibiting generosity in the face of threats and
aggression.
In all these models, we observe consistent patterns which represent divergent worldviews.
Each results in different attitudes and behaviors towards people, governance and the ways
change can be achieved. This is why Muslims read the Opening Surah of the Qur’an, praying
that God will keep us steadfast to the third path - neither that of tyrants nor victims, but
rather, the path of peacemakers seeking compassion, mercy, and justice. In fact, every chapter
in the Qur’an opens to, “In the Name of God, the All-Compassionate, the All-Merciful,” as
compassion and mercy are amongst the Beautiful Names of God. We repeat these names at
numerous occasions, because as the mystical philosopher Ibn ‘Arabi said, those who believe
in God as Creator do not necessarily know these divine attributes which are the underlying
principle to the universe. Conversely, when God declares in the Qur’an, “My Mercy extends to
everything” (7:156), mercy is truly rendered a principal law of all creation.
Therefore, we ask God to “Guide us to the Straight Path, the path of those whom You blessed”
(1:7). In doing so, we invoke the “non-coercion” verse: “Let there be no coercion.... It is the
tightest knot which can never be undone” (2:256). If only all Muslims included this verse
with the Chair verse, which hangs on the wall of almost every Muslim home.
VI. Bibliography
Khaled Abou El Fadl, Conference of the Books: The Search for Beauty in Islam (Lanham,
MD: University Press of America, 2001).
Abdulhamid A. AbuSulayman. Marital Discord: Recapturing the Full Islamic Spirit of Human
Dignity. (London/Washington DC: The International Institute of Islamic Thought, 2003).
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Asma Afsaruddin, “Competing Perspectives on Jihad and Martyrdom” in Witnesses to Faith?
Martyrdom in Christianity and Islam, ed. Brian Wicker (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing,
2006), pp 15-31.
Asma Afsaruddin, “The Excellences of Patience: Counter-Narratives about Striving in the Path of
God,” in the forthcoming Jihad and Martyrdom in Islamic Thought and Praxis (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2011).
Ahmad Ali, Al-Qur’an: a Contemporary Translation (Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press, 2001).
Sumbul Ali-Karamali, The Muslim Next Door: The Qur’an, the Media, and that Veil Thing
(Ashland, OR: White Cloud Press, 2008).
Abdullahi Ahmed an-Naim, Toward an Islamic Reformation: Civil Liberties, Human Rights, and
International Law (New York: Syracuse, 1990).
Muhammad Asad, The Message of the Qur’an (Dar-Andalus, 1980).
Margot Badran, “Gender in the Qur’an,” ed. Jane McAuliffe, Encyclopedia of the Qur’an, Vol. 2
(Leiden: Brill, 2002).
Laleh Bakhtiar, The Sublime Quran (Chicago: Kazi Publications, 2007).
Ayesha Chaudhry, “The Problem of Conscience and Hermeneutics: A Few Contemporary
Approaches,” Comparative Islamic Studies 2, no 2 (2006): 157-170.
Amina Wadud, Qur’an and Woman: Rereading the Sacred Text from a Woman’s Perspective
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990).
VII. Partial Directory of Organizations Working on Violence Against Women
Africa
Organization
Country
Website
Contact
Description
BAOBAB for
Women’s Human
Rights
Nigeria
www.baobabwomen.org
Sindi Medar-Gould
Executive Director
baobab@
baobabwomen.org;
(+234) 1-496-2302
(+234) 1-474-7931
Addresses women’s rights in
three legal systems:
customary, statutory and
religious; provides public
interest litigation services in
domestic violence cases
Australia and Asia
Organization
Country
Website
Contact
Description
Acid Survivors
Foundation
Bangladesh
www.acidsurvivors.org
[email protected]
(+88)9891314
(+88)9880142
Works towards eliminating
acid and other forms of
burn violence; protects and
promotes survivors’ rights,
including access to medical,
106
Bedari
Pakistan
www.bedari.org.pk/defaul
t.aspx
Casa Raudha
(Tranquil Home for
Women)
Komnas Perempuan
Singapore
Indonesia
http://www.komnaspere
mpuan.or.id/
Mission of Hope
Australia
http://www.missionofhop
e.org.au/
Sisters in Islam
Malaysia
www.sistersinislam.org.m
y/
Vimochana
India
Voice of Women
Organization
Afghanistan
www.vwo.org.af/
Suraya Pakzad (Founder)
[email protected]
[email protected]
War against Rape
(WAR)
Pakistan
www.war.org.pk/
[email protected]/
Women’s Crisis
Centre (WCC)
Malaysia
www.penang.org
Lalitha Menon,
President
[email protected]
(+60) 4-2280342
Yayasan PULIH
Indonesia
www.pulih.or.id/english.p
hp
Livia Iskander
Founder
[email protected]
(+62) 21-78842580
Anbreen Ajaib
Program Manager
[email protected]
(+92) 51 4862877
(+65) 9878 9054
mail@komnasperempuan.
or.id
(+62) 21-3903963
Hanan Dover
Senior Project Manager
[email protected]
rg.au
[email protected]
u
Zainah Anwar
Executive Director
[email protected]
(+60) 3-7785 6121
[email protected]
legal, social and
Provides support to women
survivors of violence
through psychological
counseling, legal aid and by
referring them to other
services such as hospitals
and shelters.
Shelter for women
Support program for
women who suffer from
domestic violence
Domestic violence program
with Q&A booklets and a
helpline offering free legal
advice on Shari’ah laws and
other issues faced by
Muslim women
Provides counseling,
services, education and
outreach, mobilizing
Women’s shelter provides
legal advice and counseling,
gender-based violence
training
Raises awareness about
sexual violence and rape;
helps survivors legally,
psychologically and
medically; works to
improve laws relating to
rape and other forms of
sexual abuse and violence
Provides immediate
assistance for women
needing crisis intervention;
programs to promote
gender equality in our
society
Helps with comprehensive
recovery and empowerment
of survivors of violence and
natural disasters
Middle East / North Africa
Organization
Country
Aisha Yateem
Family Counseling
Center
Bahrain
Website
Contact
Description
[email protected]
(+973) 17430488
Provides emergency
accommodation for abused
women and offers legal
advice and counseling
107
Arab Regional
Resource Centre on
Violence Against
Women
Asuda
Jordan
www.amanjordan.org
Iraq
www.asuda.org
Manal Omar, Chair,
Board of Directors
[email protected]
Khanim Rahim Latif
Pregramme Manager
Awal Women’s
Society
Bahrain
http://arabinformall.b
ibalex.org
Fowziah Hassim Al-Khajah,
President
[email protected]
(+973) 17678947
Beit Hawa – House
of Eve
Egypt
City of Hope
UAE
Dubai Foundation
for Women and
Children
UAE
KAFA – Enough
Violence and
Exploitation
Lebanon
http://www.kafa.org.l
b/homepage.html
[email protected]
(+96)11392220
The Lebanese
Council to Resist
Violence against
Women
Mor Cati Foundation
Lebanon
www.lebanesewomen.
org
[email protected];
(+961) 1 612 846 –
(+961) 1 612 899
Turkey
http://www.wavenetwork.org/start.asp?
ID=20811
Gülsun Kanat,
[email protected]
Najdeh Association
Lebanon
[email protected]
National Family
Safety Program
Saudi Arabia
http://almashriq.hiof.
no/lebanono/300/360
/362/najdeh/
www.nfsp.org.sa/en/in
dex.htm
Oasis
Omid E Mehr
Charity
Syria
Iran
Tilila
Morocco
Dr. Iman Bibars,
endviolenceinegypt@yahoo.
com
[email protected]
Sharla Musabih
Director
[email protected]
Afra Rashed Al Basti,
Executive Director
(+971)4-6060300
www.omid-emehr.org/home.html
[email protected]
Youmn Abou Alhosn
UK: Marjaneh Halati
[email protected]
Iran: Eshrat Gholipour,
[email protected]
[email protected]
Combats violence against
women to enhance
women’s status and
strengthen civil society
through the participation of
women
Hotline and legal support
center with programs and
workshops to raise
awareness about women’s
rights
Shelter for women suffering
from domestic violence
Shelter and other social
services provider for
women who have suffered
Seeks to mitigate causes
and results of violence and
exploitation of women and
children through advocacy
lobbying, and social and
legal services
Addresses cases of violence
against women, raises
awareness and lobbies for
legal reform
Provides shelter and
protection to women who
have been subjected to
violence in and out of the
family
Works with Palestinian
refugees
Fights against domestic
violence and defends the
rights of victims through
awareness, partnership and
solidarity at the official and
public levels and
programming to care for
these victims
Shelter for abused women
Helps victims of violence
and domestic, sexual and
emotional abuse in Tehran
108
UAE Red Crescent
Authority Women’s
Shelter
Union de l’Action
Feminine
UAE
Shelter for abused women
Morocco
Women for Women’s
Human Rights
Turkey
Group for the
Campaign for the
Protection Order
against Domestic
Violence
Women’s Resource
Center
Kazakhstan
www.swrc.kz
Organization
Country
Website
Al-Baitu Nisa
(Sisters Transitional
Home)
Apna Ghar
Gaithersburg,
MD
Chicago, IL
www.apnaghar.org
Arab American
Action Network
(AAAN)
Chicago, IL
www.aaan.org
Arab American
Family Services
Palos Hills, IL
http://www.arabameric
anfamilyservices.org/
Arab-American
Family Support
Center
Brooklyn, NY
www.aafscny.org
Arab Community
Center for Economic
and Social Services
(ACCESS)
Dearborn, MI
www.accesscommunity.
org
Baitul Hemayah,
Inc.
Newark, NJ
http://ksharif.com/abo
ut_us.html
Baitul Salaam
Network
Atlanta, GA
http://www.baitulsalaa
m.net/index.html
Central Texas
Muslimaat
Austin, TX
www.ctmuslimaat.org
Fatima Outaleb
(+212) 037 70 09 64
[email protected]
Efsa Kuraner
[email protected],
[email protected]
(+90) 212.251 00 29
Gulnara Karakulova,
Director
[email protected]
[email protected]
+77252221071
Provides advocacy,
lobbying, and widespread
and sustainable human
rights education programs
for women; offers trainings
on women rights issues
Aims to combat trafficking
and violence against
women and to promote
women’s rights through the
active participation of
women and youth in society
US/Canada
Contact
Description
(301) 840-9440
Shelter for Muslim women
Sharon Kayser
Executive Director,
[email protected]
[email protected],
(773) 334-0173
Rania Shkairat
[email protected]
[email protected]
(773) 436-6060
Shelter for South Asian and
other immigrant
communities
Provides prevention and
intervention services to
individuals and families in
the Arab and Muslim
communities
info@arabamericanfamily Programs include Women
and Children Crisis Fund
services.org, (708) 599AAFS(2237)
Provides comprehensive
Lena Alhusseini,
social services to ArabExecutive Director,
American immigrant
[email protected],
families and children
(718) 643-8000
Aims to change social
Hassan Jaber
attitudes toward domestic
Executive Director
hjaber@accesscommunity violence, empower
individuals at risk, and
.org ,
decrease domestic violence
(313) 842-7010
in the Arab American
community
[email protected], Empowers women to
(973) 242-1922
confront cycles of domestic
violence, abuse,
exploitation, and ignorance
Hadayai Majeed
Shelter housing Muslim
Co-founder
women
[email protected]
(404) 608-8649
Provides housing and other
Adeela Gill, President
[email protected],
services for the South Asian
1-888-437-7402
community
109
DAYA, Inc
Houston, TX
www.dayahouston.org
Nusrat Ameen,
Transitional Home
Coordinator & Client
Advocate
[email protected]
(713) 981-7645
Shaida Khan,
Executive Director
[email protected],
[email protected]
Domestic Harmony
Foundation
Long Island,
NY
www.dhfny.org
Foundation for
Appropriate and
Immediate
Temporary Help
(FAITH)
Herndon, VA
http://www.faithus.org
/index.htm
[email protected],
[email protected]
(571)323-2198 and
(571)323-2199
Hamdard Center for
Health and Human
Services
Chicago, IL
http://www.hamdardce
nter.org/
Chicago Office,
(773) 465-4600
Housing Outreach
for Muslim Sisters
(HOMS)
Arlington, TX
http://www.geocities.co
m/homs99/
ISTABA Family
Support and
Resource Center
Karamah
Tampa, FL
www.i-familyresources.net
Tanya, Director
[email protected]
om
1-877-335-4667
[email protected]
et
Washington
DC
www.karamah.org/
Azizah al-Hibri,
President and Founder
[email protected]
(202) 234-7302
Manavi
New
Brunswick, NJ
http://www.manavi.org
/index.php
Muslimat al-Nisaa
Home Center
Baltimore, MD
http://www.mnisaa.org
/index.html
Maneesha Kelkar,
Director
[email protected]
(732) 435-1414
Asma Hanif
Executive Director
[email protected]
(410)466-8686
Muslim Community
Center for Human
Services
Richland Hills,
TX
www.mcc-hs.org
[email protected]
(817)589-9165
Muslim Family
Safety Project
Ontario,
Canada
http://www.lfcc.on.ca/
mfsp.html
[email protected]
(519) 679-7250
Provides housing and other
services for the South Asian
community
Provides services in
response to the social,
emotional, and
psychological needs of
South Asian and Muslim
women and their children
suffering from domestic
violence
Connects domestic violence
victim to county and
private resources and
provides court advocacy
and translation services,
transportation to shelters,
and financial assistance
Provides culturally tailored
multilingual services to
domestic violence victims
and abusers, including a 24
hour crisis hotline and a
shelter facility
Domestic violence shelter for
Muslim women
Provides public education,
direct Islamic legal advice,
advocacy for the rights of
Muslims in American
courts, and referrals to pro
bono or reduced fee
attorneys
Shelter for South Asian
women
Provides health, education,
shelter and other social
services to Muslim women
and children
24-hour confidential
helpline and culturallysensitive peer counseling
and support; referrals for
legal services
Facilitates dialogue between
Muslim communities and
local anti-violence agencies
to bolster services, conduct
effective outreach, and
support Muslim women
needing or seeking safety
110
Muslim Women’s
Help Network
Jamaica, NY
Muslim Women’s
League
Narika
Los Angeles,
CA
Berkeley, CA
New Star Family
Center
CA
http://www.starfamilyc
enter.org/Home.asp
NISA
Palo Alto, CA
http://www.asknisa.org
Niswa Association
Los Angeles,
CA
Philadelphia,
PA
http://niswa.org
Peaceful Families
Project
Great Falls, VA
www.peacefulfamilies.o
rg
Rahama
Buffalo, NY
Rahima Foundation
Santa Clara,
CA
Rochester, NY
www.rahima.org
SAHELI - Boston
Burlington,
MA
www.saheliboston.org
Sakhi
New York,
NY
www.sakhi.org
SAW Community
Center
SAWERA (South
Asian Women’s
Empowerment and
Resource Alliance)
Quebec,
Canada
Beaverton, OR
SEMAH
Newark, CA
No! The Rape
Documentary
Saathi
http://home.earthlink.n
et/~hanan/mwhelpnet.
htm
http://www.mwlusa.org
/
http://www.narika.org/
http://notherapedocum
entary.org/
http://www.saathiofroc
hester.org/welcome.ph
p?section=home
http://www.sawera.org
/oldsite/
http://www.semah.org/
index.html
[email protected]
m
(718) 658-8210
[email protected]
(626) 358-0335
Provides advocacy, support,
Sangeetha Ragunathan,
information, and referrals
President
within a culturally sensitive
[email protected]
model for South Asian
women suffering from
domestic violence
[email protected] Provides education,
enrichment, and
, 310-281-3368
preservation
Helpline and other services
[email protected],
including housing,
[email protected]
counseling, legal assistance
1-888-275-6472
and social services using an
Islamic framework
[email protected]
Shelter for Muslim women
310-748-9087
Documentary committed to
Aishah Shahidah
ending rape, sexual assault,
Simmons
and other forms of violence
(215) 701-6150
against women
[email protected] Conducts Islamically(703) 474-6870
grounded peaceful family
dynamics and violence
awareness programs;
provides cultural sensitivity
trainings for service
providers and professionals
serving Muslim clientele
[email protected],
(716) 908-6505
[email protected]
(408) 845-0050
Shashi Sharma
Shelter for South Asian
President of the Board of
women
Directors
[email protected]
om
[email protected], Provides awareness on
(866) 4-SAHELI
domestic violence among
South Asian communities
in the US and abroad
Purvi Shah
Committed to ending
Executive Director
violence against women of
[email protected]
South Asian origin
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected], (503) Provides free and
641-2425
confidential culturallysensitive services to South
Asian women victims of
domestic violence
Programs for prevention of
[email protected]
domestic violence and
1-866-99-SEMAH
promotion of healthier
lifestyles through education
and awareness of options
111
Sista2Sista
Philadelphia,
PA
www.sista2sista.org
Sister Nafisa Cooper
President
[email protected]
Provides resources, referrals
and advocacy services for
women affected by
domestic violence
[email protected]
Works to empower women
(860) 658-4615
of South Asian origin
violence
[email protected]
Provides services to women
and children who have
suffered from domestic
violence
Robina Niaz
Addresses the needs of
Founder and Executive
victims of domestic
Director
violence through crisis
[email protected] intervention, counseling,
advocacy, outreach, and
training
Dorria Fahmy
Provides assistance in
counseling, therapy, and
[email protected]
services for victims of
domestic violence
SNEHA, Inc
West Hartford,
CT
www.sneha.org
Stepping Together
Los Gatos,
CA
www.amila.org
Turning Point
Flushing, NY
http://www.turningpoi
nt-ny.org/index.html
WAFA House
Clifton, NJ
http://www.wafahouse.
org/
Organization
Country
Website
Contact
Description
Agisra
Germany
http://agisra.org/
[email protected]
+49 221 – 124019
AMINA – The
Muslim Women’s
Resource Center
Dannerhuset
Scotland
http://www.mwrc.org.u
k/
[email protected]
+44 0141 585 8026
Information, counseling,
and Centre for Female
Migrants and Refugees
Provides counseling with a
specific Islamic approach
Denmark
www.dannerhuset.dk
FATIMA Women’s
Network
UK
www.fatimanetwork.com/main/Ho
me
Vibe Klarup
Voetmann
Director
[email protected]
Parvin Ali
Executive Director
[email protected]
+44845 331 2373
Iranian and Kurdish
Women’s Rights
Organization
Women against
Violence
UK
http://www.ikwro.org.u
k/
UK
http://www.womenagai
nstviolence.org.uk/
Papatya
Germany
www.papatya.org/index.
php?id=uk
Terre des Femmes
Germany
www.terre-desfemmes.de/
Women against
Violence
UK
www.womenagainstviol
ence.org.uk/
UK and Europe
Diana Nammi
Director
+44 207 490 0303
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected].
uk
[email protected]
[email protected]
+49 (0)30 – 61 00 63
[email protected]
+49-7071-79 73 0
[email protected]
[email protected].
uk
Crisis center and shelter for
women and children
violence
Addresses women’s issues
through consultation,
representation and
advocacy in local and
national policy and all
levels of service delivery
Provides services to women
violence
Helps Middle Eastern
women experiencing
domestic violence
A crisis and transitional
center for women and
children
Supports women and girls
through international
networking, public
relations, campaigns, and
case-by-case assistant
Helps Middle Eastern
women experiencing
domestic violence
112
Global
Organization
Country
Website
Contact
Description
Musawah
www.musawah.org/
[email protected]
+603 7785 6121
Women Living
Under Muslim Laws
(MLUML)
www.wluml.org/english
/index.shtml
A global movement for
equality and justice in the
Muslim family
An international solidarity
network that provides
information, support and a
collective space for women
whose lives are shaped,
conditioned or governed by
laws and customs said to
derive from Islam
113
9. Jihad Against Violence Poster
The Jihad Against Poster can be downloaded online at
http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/pdfs/jihad-poster.pdf
114
10. WISE Conference Videos
WISE introduction video
http://www.youtube.com/asmasociety#p/a/u/2/p7B
3XbsUaBw
WISE Compact Principles
http://www.youtube.com/asmasociety#p/a/u/1/bf
9lqp7JzYU
11. WISE Media Analysis
ANALYSIS OF 2009 WISE CONFERENCE &
POST-CONFERENCE MEDIACOVERAGE
DATE
7/17/09
7/18/09
7/18/09
7/20/09
7/27/09
7/29/09
7/30/09
7/31/09
8/4/09
8/25/09
ARTICLE TITLE
& AUTHOR
“Guiding light for gender
progress” Rasha Elass
“Conference targets ends
to violence” Rasha Elass
“Muslim women call for
change” Rasha Elass
“Conference told of plan for
female muftis” R. Elass
“Muslim women set the
record straight” Nadia AlSakkaf
“Women’s meet offers
WISE advice” Samar
Fatany
‘Empowering the Muslim
women” Samar Fatany
“These heroes are
fearless, inspiring” Mona
Eltahawy
Muslim women – ‘culture
triumphs faith’” Rasheeda
Bhagat
“Sisterhood is Islamic: an
interview with Daisy Khan”
MEDIA OUTLET
COUNTRY
LANGUAGE
The National
U.A.E.
English
80,000
The National
U.A.E.
English
80,000
The National
U.A.E.
English
80,000
The National
U.A.E.
English
80,000
Yemen Times
Yemen
English
30,000
Arab News
Saudi
Arabia
English
110,000
Est.
25,000
Khaleej Times
Saudi
Arabia
Canada
English
75,000
English
Est. 50,000
Est.
20,000
Est.
12,000
Business Line
United
States
English
130,000
Est.
130,000
Religion
Dispatches
United
States
English
Est. 4,000
Est.
4,000
Metro News
Toronto
CIRCULATION
PAGE
VIEWS
Est.
20,000
Est.
20,000
Est.
20,000
Est.
20,000
Est.
7,000
115
9/1/09
9/4/09
9/9/09
9/10/09
9/14/09
9/10/09
Rene Rosechild
“Spiritual Economics: Our
Morals and Our Money”
Tayyibah Taylor
“Pittsford doctor’s efforts
help Muslim women
worldwide” Denise Marie
Santiago
“Moroccan single moms
cope with hostility and
shame” Daljit Dhaliwal
“Exercise tailored to a
Hijab” Abby Ellin
“At global ASMA
conference: No to violence
on the Muslim woman”
Ablah Al Saaty
“WISE Muslim Women
Standing Up” Sumbul AliKaramali
Azizah Magazine
United
States
English
35,000
Est. 200
The Democrat and
Chronicle
United
States
English
154,599
Est.
40,000
Worldfocus
television show on
PBS
New York Times
United
States
English
Est. 75,000
Est.
75,000
English
1,120,420
650,000
Al Ahram
United
States
Egypt
Arabic
1,000,000
Est.
600,000
www.huffington
post.com
United
States
English
22 million unique
users
12. Press Releases and Select Articles
Pre-Conference Press Release
For immediate release
MEDIA ADVISORY
Contact:
Mahdis Keshavarz
+1.425.591.8781 (U.S.); +6.012.641.2030 (Malaysia);
[email protected]
“Our common prosperity will be advanced by allowing all humanity, men and
women, to reach their full potential… I am convinced that our daughters can
contribute just as much to society as our sons.”
-President Barak Obama
Over 200 Muslim Women Worldwide to Release “Jihad Against Violence,”
Launch Muslim Women’s Online Portal, and Inaugurate Muslim Women’s
Fund
New York City, NY--July 13, 2009—Over 200 Muslim women activists, academics, religious
scholars, lawyers and community leaders will meet to launch the first Global Women’s Shura
Council, Muslim Women’s Fund and Muslim Women’s Online Portal this summer. They will
come from over 40 countries to meet in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia July 16-19, 2009 at a
conference entitled Muslim Women: Building Institutions, Creating Change. As part of the
larger Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality (WISE) program, the event aims
to build a network of Muslim women to challenge distorted interpretations of Islam, increase
116
the socio-economic self determination of Muslim women worldwide, and create positive social
change.
“The Muslim Women: Building Institutions, Creating Change conference is a historic
moment for Muslim women’s activism and an opportunity to build on the change President
Obama highlighted in his speech in Cairo,” said Daisy Khan, WISE founder. “We’re thrilled to
build upon the collective experiences of Muslim women from around the world and establish
a true global support network of Muslim women working for social change at the dawning of
this new political era.”
The event will launch three initiatives aimed at empowering Muslim women and increasing
their connectivity and socio-economic capacity. They include the following:
o Global Muslim Women’s Shura Council, an all-women’s advisory council that will
promote women’s rights within an Islamic framework. At the conference, the Shura Council
will issue its first statement, Jihad against Violence.
o Muslim Women’s Fund will fund strategic and innovative grassroots initiatives
supporting Muslim women around the world.
o Muslim Women’s Online Portal will connect Muslim women globally and serve as an
authoritative source for a diverse range of issues relating to Muslim women.
Among the attendees are a number of prominent Muslim women leaders, including:
o Aisha Rafea, Egyptian spiritual leader
o Amina Wadud, first women to lead a mixed congregation prayer in the U.S.
o Dawood Sharifa Khanam, activist who plans to build the first all-women’s mosque in
India
o Samar Fatany, Saudi radio host
o Suraya Pakzad, recently named by TIME Magazine as one of the World’s 100 Most
Influential People
o Masouda Jalal, past presidential candidate in Afghanistan
o Laila Al Zwaini, Dutch lawyer specializing in Yemeni and Afghani tribal law
o Seyran Ates, activist of Turkish descent fighting honor killings in Germany
The 2009 WISE Kuala Lumpur Conference is organized by the American Society for Muslim Advancement
(ASMA) in collaboration with the Cordoba Initiative (CI). It is supported by the United Nations Population Fund
(UNFPA) and the Dutch Foreign Ministry’sMDG3 Fund. Additional supporters include the Sister Fund and the
Rockefeller Brothers Fund. For more information on the conference, to set up interviews with participants or
media accreditation, please contact Mahdis Keshavarz at +1.425.591.8781(U.S.); +6.012.641.2030
(Malaysia); [email protected]
The Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality (WISE): Empowering Muslim Women Around the
Globe. The WISE program aims to empower Muslim women to fully participate in their communities and nations
as well as to amplify their voices at all levels of political, economic, religious and social discourse. By creating
the infrastructure and processes for Muslim women to join together and challenge the distorted interpretations of
Islam and increasing their social and economic self-determination, WISE aims to change the status of Muslim
women around the globe. This global network of individuals, groups, organizations, institutions and communities
uses the teachings of Islam – both as inspiration and justification – for Muslim women’s empowerment.
117
###
Post-Conference Press Release
MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JULY 21, 2009
Contact: Mahdis Keshavarz
+1.425.591.8781 (U.S.)
+6.012.641.2030 (Malaysia);
[email protected]
Over 200 Muslim Women from Around the World Gathered to Sign “Jihad
Against Violence”
Women Condemned Violence in Indonesia, Promoted Peace and Opportunity
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA —Over 200 Muslim women from around the world were in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia for the Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality (WISE)
Conference. The women, comprised of activists, academics, religious scholars, lawyers and
community leaders gathered to launch initiatives targeted towards ending violence and
empowering their communities around the globe. In light of the recent tragedies in Indonesia,
the meeting was especially significant.
On Saturday, July 18 the organizers announced the launch of the Global Muslim Women’s Shura
Council, an all‐women’s advisory counci l that will promote women’s rights within an Islamic
framework. The first statement by the Shura Council will be titled, “Jihad against Violence.”
“Recent events in Indonesia are a stark reminder that violence and violent extremism in
particular will continue to destroy the fabric of our communities,” said Daisy Khan, Executive
Director of the American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA) and WISE Conference
organizer, “Today women are taking the lead in campaigning for a global Jihad (struggle) Against
Violence and taking a stand against these types of atrocities.”
The Global Muslim Women’s Shura Council wants their actions to contrast directly with those of
perpetrators of the Indonesia attacks. Speaking for a global majority of Muslims, they feel great
anguish for the victims of the Jakarta bombings and their families. The women of the council are
committed to a world of peace, pluralism, justice and spiritual opportunity for those of all faiths
and view the perpetrators, and those like them, as enemies of Islam and of all civilizations. They
intend to combat such twisted ideologies through commitment to a world of understanding and
opportunity for all ‐‐ where all parents can dream of better lives for their children regardless of
religion, race or origins.
The 2009 WISE Kuala Lumpur Conference is organized by the American Society for Muslim
Advancement (ASMA) in collaboration with the Cordoba Initiative (CI). It is supported by the
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Dutch Foreign Ministry’sMDG3 Fund.
Additional supporters include the Sister Fund and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
118
About the Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality (WISE), Empowering Muslim
Women Around the Globe: The WISE program aims to empower Muslim women to fully
participate in their communities and nations as well as to amplify their voices at all levels of
political, economic, religious and social discourse. By creating the infrastructure and processes
for Muslim women to join together and challenge the distorted interpretations of Islam and
increasing their social and economic self
‐determination, WISE aims to change the status of
Muslim women around the globe. This global network of individuals, groups, organizations,
institutions and communities uses the teachings of Islam – both as inspiration and justification –
for Muslim women’s empowerment.
119
Select articles on WISE Convening
Select articles on WISE Convening can be found online at http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/media/
Al Saaty, Ablah, ‘At global ASMA conference: No to violence on the women’, al-Ahram September 14,
2009.
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http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?section=opinion&xfile=data/opinion/2009/july/opinion_july1
50.xml
Empowering the Muslim Women
Samar Fatany 30 July 2009
An international group of 200 women who attended the 2009 Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality (WISE)
conference in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur truly inspired a movement for global justice. For four days of fruitful and
constructive sessions, the WISE women debated and discussed global issues of concern to Muslim women today.
Many scholars presented research papers and case studies that portrayed the sorry situation of Muslim women
discriminated against in the name of Islam. One of the interesting sessions was an open forum called “chair chai
chats” in which participants discussed topics of interest to Muslim women. I was asked to lead one of these
forums and share my experiences as a woman journalist in Saudi Arabia dedicated to addressing gender
issues, creating awareness about the legal rights of women in Islam and exposing discrimination against women
in a male-dominated society.
After an hour-and-a-half of discussions and heated debate, which centered around Saudi culture and lifestyle,
the diverse group of Muslim women leaders from Malaysia, Germany, Canada, Pakistan, Morocco, Jordan and
the United States remained unconvinced that there is a genuine reform movement in Saudi Arabia, and that
many Saudis are indeed moderate and tolerant in nature.
One of the participants in a very apologetic tone told me that I was trying to portray a rosy picture of Saudi
society and a more humane picture of the Saudi people; whereas many who have come for Haj and Umrah
have experienced the exact opposite. Some women have been insulted in the Grand Mosque in Makkah; some
Saudi men did not treat them with respect.
Another participant was critical of “the adherence to a rigid interpretation of Islam that has harmed the image of
Muslims all over the world.” At the end of the session, I felt frustrated because I was unable to defend the
intolerant behaviour of some in my country, and I could not deny the distorted ideology that many still adhere to
in our part of the world.
There was a time when Muslims all over the world felt privileged to make friends or even meet people from
Makkah and Madinah. It is unfortunate that we are not living up to the expectations of the global Muslim
community.
It is important that we highlight the progressive reforms of King Abdullah and focus on his call for women’s
participation, dialogue among nations and tolerance among all.
Our media should take a more active role in combating the racism and extremism that has crept into our society, and
work to reverse this negative image alien to our Muslim nature. We all need to strive to regain our pride and respect in
Islam. As guardians of the most sacred places in Islam, we need to confront our demons rather than pretend they
don’t exist.
We need to separate our tribal heritage from our religious precepts, rejecting the former and embracing the
latter to lead our faith to a position reconcilable with modernity and a world containing many different
121
values and beliefs. Another session highlighted case studies from different Muslim communities in which
women activists have influenced change and addressed social injustice.
One particular case study of the Muslim women in Mindanao could very well apply to the situation of women in
Saudi Arabia — especially in the areas of marriage and family, economic rights, political participation and
decision-making.
The project was initiated based on an alliance between Muslim women advocates and Muslim religious leaders
to clarify the roles of men and women in accordance with the basic teachings of the Holy Qur’an and the
Sunnah. It aimed to influence Muslim religious leaders who insisted on retaining traditional, discriminatory and
repressive beliefs on women.
Consultations and workshops were conducted by Muslim religious leaders and social scientists to guarantee
respect for the basic teachings of the Qur’an and the Sunnah as well as human rights principles. The project
proved to be very effective with 15 drafted khutbas that were more progressive interpretations of Qur’an and
Sunnah. Ultimately a handbook was produced for Imams to use during Friday sermons and marriage
counseling.
The session on empowering women as peace advocates was the most moving and the most powerful event of
the conference. A documentary about the struggle of women in Liberia was heartbreaking but at the same time
most inspiring.
It delivered a very powerful message of peace and recognised the vital role of women in peacemaking and
conflict resolution.
The conference hosted many women from war zones like Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Kenya who
shared the stories of their struggles. Many of them definitely took home an experience that could empower them to act
as peacemakers, although the peace they seek may be more difficult to attain.
At the closing session, the participants took a pledge to support a movement of Jihad against Violence as part
of the Muslim women’s struggle for peace, and a group of women scholars and activists formed a global Muslim
women’s Shoura Council to promote women’s rights within an Islamic framework through education and
advocacy.
There are many lessons to be learned from such conferences. I hope that we encourage and host such
conference in order to support Muslim women’s initiatives for peace and social justice. Saudi women could also
use the support of their sisters in Islam; they can no longer afford to live in isolation from the rest of the global
Muslim community.
Moreover, Saudi Arabia is now challenged more than ever before to take a more affirmative role and act as the
true leader of the Muslim world.
Samar Fatany is a Saudi radio journalist. [email protected]
122
These heroes are fearless, inspiring
Global View by Mona Eltahawy
METRO CANADA
July 31, 2009 5:37 a.m.
Tina Turner was wrong — we do need another hero. Especially fearless women. As a special gift for my 42nd birthday I met
two such women in Kuala Lumpur, where we were attending the Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality
(WISE), a program aimed at improving the status of Muslim women worldwide. Seyran Ates, 46, a lawyer and women’s
rights advocate, was born in Istanbul and has lived in Germany since her family moved there when she was six. She ran away
from home at 17 to escape patriarchal traditions and sought refuge in a shelter for battered women. When she was 21 and
living at a women’s centre, young men of Turkish descent broke in and started firing guns. Ates was shot in the throat and
almost bled to death. The woman next to her was killed. Two years ago, as she was about to enter a Berlin courtroom with a
client filing for divorce, the husband assaulted the two women. That attack, as well as direct threats against her infant
daughter, have persuaded Ates — a single mother who is open about the fact that she never married her daughter’s father —
to close her legal practice. She continues to fight for women in other ways. She’s written several books condemning political
Islamic organizations for their misogyny, the right wing in Europe for its racism and hatred, and the left wing for its silence
over the violations of Muslim women’s rights. Her latest book is called Islam Needs A Sexual Revolution. I can’t wait for its
English translation. All I can tell you about my second new hero is she is Iranian. Anything else could jeopardize her safety.
Her life has closely mirrored Iran’s ebbs and flows since its 1979 revolution. She was a teenage supporter of that revolution.
As a conservative young woman who chose a headscarf she supported its Islamic aspects, which eventually pushed aside the
other political strands that had united against the Shah. But within a decade she became disillusioned with Iran’s direction
and embraced instead her country’s feminist movement. I, too, had been a more conservative, headscarf-wearing teenager
and it was comforting to trace our parallel moves away from orthodox interpretations of Islam. They tried to kill Ates twice.
They imprisoned my Iranian hero twice. Solitary confinement was “like death,” she said, and only her spirituality saved her.
She is now a “backpack activist” — the regime shut down her organization’s office — and creates online a space activists don’t
have in the “real world.” With women like Ates and my Iranian hero around, we’re well on our way to being wise indeed.
123
Conference targets end to violence
Rasha Elass
• Last Updated: July 18. 2009 11:38PM UAE / July 18. 2009 7:38PM GMT
KUALA LUMPUR // Members of a new female shura council that was launched this weekend
publicly committed themselves yesterday to a “Jihad Against Violence”. The pledge took place
during the Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality, a five-day conference in the
Malaysian capital that ends tomorrow.
“This is to tell the world once and for all that Muslim women are against violence and that we’re
waging jihad against violence,” said Daisy Khan, a conference organiser and executive director of
the New York-based American Society for Muslim Advancement. The 15 members of the council
pledged to ask their families and friends to work against all forms of violence. The commitment
followed the announcement of the shura council, an unprecedented move to create a body of
female scholars devoted to reframing discourse within Islam from a female perspective.
Although the council will not be issuing fatwas from its inception, it has begun developing a
curriculum to train the next generation of female muftis, organisers said. One of the council
members is Afra Jalabi, an academic from Canada who is about to publish her research on
reinterpreting the longest sura in the Quran “in a holistic way”, as opposed to the conventional
verse-by-verse interpretation that has been the norm for centuries.
“Nothing in Islam prevents a woman reaching the highest spiritual point with God,” she said.
Female Islamic scholars reiterate that they are simply reinterpreting the original text. Islamic
teachings, they argue, are the result of patriarchal interpretations that have dominated discourse
to the exclusion of women for at least 1,000 years.
Earlier records show that women were involved in the development of Islamic jurisprudence and
Quranic interpretation, the scholars assert.
Dr Amina Wadud, an American and a trailblazer in this field, is the daughter of a Methodist
minister. She converted to Islam and has become a prominent scholar of Islamic studies. Dr
Wadud gave a sobering example of how she said Islam has been interpreted from a narrow and
patriarchal, at times even elitist, perspective. She had been studying tafsir, the Islamic tradition
of Quranic interpretation, which is guided by a number of approved texts, all written by men.
Interpretations that fall outside the conventional view are quickly dismissed and would not be
used by sanctioned muftis as, for example, a basis for fatwas. “When we got to a point where he
[her instructor] said, ‘This means a slave owner can do whatever he wants with his female slaves’,
I challenged him on that,” she said, “because there’s text that says a slave owner cannot violate the
purity of a female slave.”
124
Early in her career, Dr Wadud decided that it was time for a woman to offer an interpretation of
Islam and devoted her doctoral thesis to that objective. Among her publications is her
dissertation book offering an alternative tafsir to the conventional, patriarchal one that has at
times inspired outrage among other Muslims. She is also the first woman on record to lead men
and women together in prayer at a public place.
She did so in New York City in 2005, in spite of the refusal of all the city’s mosques to host the
landmark event, and despite bomb threats against the art gallery that had originally agreed to host the
prayer. She finally held it in a nondenominational space belonging to New York City’s Cathedral of St
John the Divine. [email protected]
125
Conference told of plan for female
muftis
Rasha Elass
• Last Updated: July 20. 2009 8:27PM UAE / July 20. 2009 4:27PM GMT
Rori Picker-Neiss, right, Rev Serene Jones and K
Thilagawathi Kanagaretnam, left, speak at the
interfaith panel. Stuart Taylor for The National
KUALA LUMPUR // They did not always agree,
but most – if not all – heard. The issue of diversity
and lack of representation was dominant theme
among those attending the Women’s Islamic
Initiative in Spirituality and Equality in the
Malaysian capital. Pakistani activists addressed
family law and a woman’s rights in marriage and
divorce; a German Muslim complained of hostility towards the hijab in her country. Some
activists said the discussions were too American-centred, while at the very end, an Afghan woman
delivered an emotional plea for “emotional support”. “We don’t need money,” Farkhunda Saamy
said. “Afghanistan is full of organisations that have funding. But we need your support. Things are
very hard for us.” On the fourth and final day of the Islamic women’s conference, the president of
Union Theological Seminary in New York City announcing her institution’s plan to prepare
women to become muftis. The Rev Dr Serene Jones is the first female president of the 173-yearold institution, a non-denominational seminary affiliated with Columbia University. She made
her announcement during an interfaith panel discussion. “My school is committed to shaping
women spiritual leaders,” said the Rev Jones. “We developed feminist theology, African-American
and Black theology, and now we want to bring the muftiyya training.”
The Rev Jones was flanked by two other women aiming to be spiritual leaders in their
communities. Rori Picker Neiss, 23, aims to become an Orthodox rabbi. She is an interfaith
activist in New York and co-editor of InterActive Faith: The Essential Inter-religious CommunityBuilding Handbook. She attended the conference to represent the Jewish faith to Muslim women
and talked about some of the challenges she faces. “It’s interesting you say future ‘rabbi’,” she
said, referring to her introduction. “Because I will receive the same training as a rabbi and be able
to perform the same functions as a rabbi, but my title will be ‘Maharat’.” Maharat is a new term
devised just two months ago as an acronym for the Hebrew meaning of "leader in Jewish law,
spiritual, pastoral, counseling and teaching the Torah", according to Ms Picker Neiss. “It’s a title
that tells people you can do almost everything a rabbi can do, but you’re not quite a rabbi.”
Earlier, she spoke about similarities in experience between women in Judaism and Islam. The
barriers presented to those who wish to become spiritual leaders, she said, are a problem facing
both Jewish and Muslim women. “Entering leadership positions in scholarly religious
126
interpretations is still very rare in our community,” she said. The Jewish tradition of
jurisprudence is similar to Islam’s, whereby accepted interpretations of scripture are largely those
of male scholars. Dr Mehnaz Mona Afridi, an American professor of Islam and Judaism at
Antioch University New England and National University in California, kicked off the interfaith
discussions with a reminder about geocentrism. “We’re not all from the US,” she said. “And we
don’t all have minorities, for example.” European attendees spoke about challenges that face
Muslim minorities in their country, include a feeling of hostility toward Muslim women’s dress,
barriers to integration, Islamophobia and an alienated generation of Muslim Europeans who are
struggling to clarify who they are and where they belong.
As Dr. Mona-Afridi pointed out, Muslims in Muslim countries face fundamentally different
issues. “In Pakistan, society is pretty homogenous. It’s 98 per cent Muslim. Sure there are Yazidis
and Hindus and other groups, but they are truly a minority.” Several presenters spoke about the
conditions facing women in Pakistan, with one activist highlighting how women and their
families, along with the clergy, have for too long overlooked the rights of a woman under Islamic
family law. One activist described her campaign to show a woman’s rights as prescribed by the
Islamic marriage contract as “one bride at a time”. With diversity comes also a broad spectrum of
stereotypes, which for Muslim women include oppressed, docile, caged, marriage material,
maternal, unprofessional, domineering, sinister and, most recently, potential suicide bombers,
said Dr Mona-Afridi. She showed a caricature of two women staring at a flyer that said: “Jihad
wants you”, a pun on the classic American flyer “Uncle Sam Wants You” recruiting men and
women for military service during wartime in the last century. One of the caricatured women,
wearing an abayya, says: “Finally, gender equality has arrived.” Jewish women share some of the
Muslim stereotypes too, often depicted as the domineering mother, or maternal, or as tough
Israeli soldiers. For Hindu women, it is the stereotype of Sati, the Hindu widow who is burnt to
death, or Tantra, a form of meditation that is often misconstrued as purely sexual. Christian
women have over the centuries also faced stereotypes as debilitating, which Dr Mona-Afridi said
was still evident across women’s magazines today.
“There was the archetype of Eve, the temptress,” she said. She is to blame for having seduced
Adam. Then there is the Virgin Mary on the other end of the spectrum. And women who
challenged the Bible were stereotyped as witches.” Another example of diversity is the range of
orthodoxy from conservatives to the secular. Some attendants said it was very important to
include as part of the Shura council the voices of conservatives. One participant addressed the
Rev Dr Jones with bold questions about her faith. “In this conference we’ve been talking about a
solution to gender equality through scripture,” the woman said. “But do you sometimes think that
the problem is the scripture itself?” “Of course I do,” said the reverend. “I struggle with that
every day. And if we can find an answer to that, we wouldn’t be the complicated creatures that we
are.” The push for female muftis – muftiyya – has been gaining strength in the Middle East of
late. In May, recruiting began in the UAE for the such first female religious scholar after a
landmark.
127
http://www.th
enational.ae/a
pps/pbcs.dll/a
rticle?AID=/2
0090718/NAT
IONAL/70717
9787
KUALA
LUMPUR //
There is an
abundance of
effort spent on
educating the
West
about
Islam, but not
as much, it
seems,
on
dispelling
misconceptions about the religion among Muslims themselves. A women’s initiative in Malaysia
hopes to change that. The ambitious “shura council”, to be announced today in Kuala Lumpur at
the second conference of the Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality (WISE), aims
to reinterpret the traditionally patriarchal take on the Quran, Sunnah and Shariah law, for
Muslim communities all over the world.
“Shura is a tradition within Islam,” said Daisy Khan, head of the American Society for Muslim
Advancement, referring to the Arabic word for “consensus”. “And our aim is to be a guiding light,
representing not just scholars, but activists and historians and anthropologists and other
grassroots. And we don’t want to stick to scholarly work, but to distil it into language everyone
can understand, and transform it into action.”
Ms Khan said that although the programme was ambitious, it was rooted in tradition. “Sure,
WISE is bold,” she said. “But we consider our initiative to be authentic to the Islamic tradition.
We are not in any way contradicting Islamic teachings here.” The conference, Muslim Women:
Building Institutions, Creating Change, has brought together 15 female Muslim academics and
activists to serve on the council – people who know first-hand about the challenges women face in
their communities. Attended by more than 200 female scholars, community leaders and activists,
128
the conference also envisages the establishment of a fund for grass-roots initiatives supporting
Muslim women, and a web portal where Muslim women worldwide may go for help and advice on
social and religious issues.
As an example of how the new council could help, Ms Khan mentioned the case of a PakistaniAmerican woman who needed to be reassured that Islam did not require forced marriages, and
that she had a right to choose her own spouse. “She is now 35,” Ms Khan said. “She ran away
from her Pakistani family at age 18 because they wanted to force-marry her to a relative in
Pakistan.” The woman was born and raised in the US, a country, Ms Khan said, in which
education about Islam is lacking. “She found me somehow, and when I told her nothing in Islam
allows forceable marriage, she was shocked,” Ms Khan said. “She said she had always been told
otherwise, and that was the excuse everyone used to try to force-marry her off.” Under the
framework for the council, women would be able to submit queries through the web portal. The
council would offer religious reasoning to help them assert their rights under Islam. The council
also would mobilise intervention, if necessary, using non-governmental organisations,
counselling centres and shelters. “It’s a safe ether space for women to meet and discuss,” Ms Khan
said. Ambreen Qureshi, charged with setting up the portal, recounted an ongoing project that she
expects will be replicated many times. “We collaborated with activists in Egypt, and the target
was a barber,” she said. “He used to perform illegal female genital mutilation, also known as
female circumcision. “Through a grant from WISE, we paid him to stop. Then we helped him
refurbish his barber shop, and now he makes more money than before.” The entire effort cost
about $2,000 (Dh7,300), she said, and it is now replicated throughout other barber shops in
Egypt. Ms Qureshi is now seeking local collaborators in Afghanistan and Pakistan to combat
domestic violence. Though the council does not plan to issue fatwas in the near future, it is
developing its own curriculum of Islamic studies and recruiting women to be its future muftis: “a
jurist for the 21st century who understands contemporary challenges and international law within
an Islamic context,” Ms Khan said.
In time, she said, there would be shura members in every country who understood local law and
customs and could address specific issues affecting women in their communities. The members
would act as the arms, eyes and ears of the council, disseminating information to the locals and
sending back information to the council about conditions and challenges in the community, as
well as implementing plans of action.
WISE is funded by the UN Population Fund and MDG3, a fund managed by the Dutch Foreign
Ministry to improve the condition of women. Ms Khan estimated the annual budget at around
$1.5 million. A WISE poll repeated periodically since the first conference in 2006 has consistently
shown a majority of Muslim female activists concerned about the interpretation of Islam. That
notion again prevailed in the latest poll, taken over the weekend, which showed 74 per cent of the
attendees citing “harmful religious interpretations” as the biggest challenge facing Muslim
women. But they were also overwhelmingly optimistic about the future, with 85 per cent saying
they were hopeful or very hopeful that positive change would happen for Muslim women, 72 per
cent saying change was already happening or would unfold in the next five to 10 years, and 86 per
cent saying they saw themselves as important or very important to bringing change. Those
attending the conference were enthusiastic about the prospects for success.
“I was very surprised to see all these Muslim women,” said Marfua Tabhta-Khodgaeva, 65, a
writer from Uzbekistan and author of Between the Slogans of Communism and Laws of Islam.
“My country is very secular, and here I met so many Muslim women who are practising.” She said
129
one of the main challenges facing women in her country was the infiltration of “random” imams
from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and other places.
“They come with their own interpretation and say that women should stay home and cook and
reproduces and do nothing else,” Ms. Tabhta-Khodgaeva said. “So I am very happy to see many
Muslim women who are comfortable like this with Islam. We will work together.”
The council will operate this year under an umbrella campaign called Jihad Against Violence that
grapples with everything from female circumcision to domestic violence and terrorism. “The
history of Islam has been interpreted as violent,” said Afra Jalabi, 40, a council member who
studied anthropology and political science. “But if you look closely, and you reinterpret it, you
find it so fundamentally non-violent that in certain cases it forbade Muslims to fight in selfdefence.” The American Society for Muslim Advancement is co-hosting the conference along with
the Cordoba Initiative, a forum for inter-faith dialogue, and WISE. The four-day event will end
tomorrow.
[email protected]
130
Muslim women call for change
Rasha Elass
• Last Updated: July 18. 2009 12:54PM UAE / July 18. 2009 8:54AM GMT
KUALA LUMPUR //
More than 200
female Muslim scholars
and community
leaders from around the
world
have
gathered
in
the
Malaysian
capital this weekend to
launch
an
ambitious initiative to
reinterpret
Islamic teachings, in the
hope
of
improving the lot of
Muslim women
around the world. They
will establish a
shura council as well as
a
fund
to
support local initiatives
and a website.
Daisy Khan, one of the
organisers, said
the conference was an
“historic
moment for Muslim
women’s
activism
and
an
opportunity to
build on the change President Obama highlighted in his speech in Cairo.
“We’re thrilled to build upon the collective experiences of Muslim women from around the world
and establish a true global support network of Muslim women working for social change at the
dawning of this new political era.” The 15-member shura council will operate this year under an
umbrella campaign called Jihad Against Violence, which will tackle issues from female
circumcision to domestic violence and terrorism.
Yesterday’s bombings at two Jakarta hotels provided added urgency to its first official statement:
“It is time for peace. We, the Muslim women’s shura council, stand for non-violent and peaceful
means alone to create change. In the wake of yesterday’s tragic incidents in Indonesia, we
unconditionally denounce violence, regardless of who perpetrates it and for whatever objectives.
We urge all to join our global Jihad Against Violence.”
[email protected]
131
Sisterhood is Islamic: an Interview with Daisy Khan
By Rene Rosechild Posted on August 25, 2009, Printed on September 2, 2009
http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/international/1764/
A month ago, in late July, over 200 Muslim women leaders and activists met at the Women’s
Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality conference in Kuala Lumpur. The women launched
a Global Muslim Women’s Shura Council, an all-women’s advisory council that will promote
women’s rights within an Islamic framework. The first action of the Shura Council was to launch a
“Jihad Against Violence.”
I spoke with Daisy Khan, executive director of the American Society for Muslim Advancement,
(and member of the Religion Dispatches Advisory Council) about the conference and the
worldwide Muslim women’s movement.
What’s the impetus behind the WISE conference? Its long-term goals?
It’s change through institution-building. One of the gaping holes that we’ve seen is that we have a
very large constituency of Muslim women that are left unrepresented through institutions; so we
don’t have an institution that really speaks for us, even though we are half a billion around the
globe.
What do you see as the greatest obstacles to Muslim women’s advancement?
I was quite shocked that when polled, 93% of the women at the conference said te greatest barrier
to their advancement was distorted religious interpretation.
That’s almost a consensus.
And I think that 97% said that women should be in the forefront of interpreting and becoming
authorities on interpretation.
You have to organize in such a way: you have to create women who have the authority to
interpret, and that requires a longer-term educational program, which we did launch and have
already seeded here, called the Muslim Women’s Muftiyya Program. Basically a Muslim woman
jurist, a scholar; a woman who would be able to look at religious text, interpret it, and give a legal
opinion, also known as a fatwa.
And if a woman achieves that level of scholarship, is there any barrier to her
authority being recognized?
No—the recognition, the authority, lies in her scholarship.
So in a way you could say that Islam is non-sexist in that if the individual achieves
the correct level of learning, she has authority.
It has always been that way. Because of social pressures women have not entered that field, and
this is the one area in which we want to revive this tradition. There has never been any objection
to women being jurists. What we are doing is we’re just reviving the tradition of women being
such authorities.
Are you getting resistance?
We have not really received resistance in this area yet because we are doing it in a very thoughtful
way. But the consensus that we have heard is that women themselves, the constituency—and
they’re grassroots women, very tapped into their local communities—they know what is needed.
And given that, we do not believe that we will be resisted. In fact we believe we’ll be welcomed,
because the world needs it.
132
It seems that in various different countries Muslim women are seeking specific
change, and are making some big changes. What progress do you see being made on
those fronts?
The challenges for Muslim women in different countries are different. Some who are living in
conflict-ridden zones are literally working toward survival threats; for instance in Afghanistan.
They are concerned about basic education of their children, they are considering home-schooling,
they need assistance with how to maintain their basic standard of living.
Then we have countries like Iran where women are highly educated and want their rightful place
in society. For them, the challenge is how to get more equal status within society. You have
women in Turkey who are struggling to express their religion; they want that recognition. The
landscape of the Muslim world is different and the challenges are different from region to region,
country to country, because of the political instability or economic development of that country.
What we are trying to do through WISE is create a little bit of a level field through education,
through a compact that we have signed as women that we must lift up the status of women
throughout societies; and that there must be consistency of how women are to be seen and are to
be treated in every society that calls itself Muslim.
Do you see any inherent conflict between Islam itself and full women’s equality?
No, actually we declare gender equality to be an intrinsic part of the Islamic faith. It’s something
that people have long forgotten. And this is why we are stating our case from an Islamic
jurisprudence point of view. We believe that Muslim women are worthy of respect and dignity.
According to Islam, they’re legal individuals; they’re spiritual beings; they’re social people. These
are all God-given responsibilities.
They are even responsible agents, so they are held accountable for their actions. They are free
citizens. True, they’re servants of God; but they hold fundamental equal rights to exercise their
abilities and talents in all human areas of activity.
And we can prove this through our scripture. This is not something we made up; this is not a 21stcentury concept. Societies may have forgotten these concepts. We understand that some people
may think that women have different roles. Different roles doesn’t mean that she is inferior. It
just means that men have certain qualities; women have other qualities, but we are partners. This
is how we’re referred to in the Qur’an. So we need to revive that.
As women, we have a responsibility to make our case; because if we don’t make our case, others
won’t be able to. This is not to say that because we are equal it is in any way to be seen as a threat
to other people.
We will need to educate people about what women’s rights are, and how when women exercise
these, they become a very important part of society’s flourishing. We want women to be seen as
assets, not as burdens anymore. This is critical because women represent half of the population, if
not more, especially in the Muslim world. They are the glue that holds the family together. They
are the glue that holds the community together, and ultimately a good woman produces a good
child produces a good citizen produces a good future. So we want people to understand and
recognize that women are central to the society flourishing.
They have always had a very high status in the eyes of the prophet. The Qur’an says that paradise
lies at the feet of the mother, and what does that mean? Why does a mother have such a high
status, and then people think that women are inferior? The two just don’t make sense—they’re not
parallel. So we’re just remaking our case in such a way that it is accepted.
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We did a test on several male scholars: we asked them to review this document and we were quite
shocked at some of the responses we got. One of the imams said, “Not only do I agree with this
entire thing, I’m also going to give a Friday sermon on this, and then I’m going to translate it into
Urdu, and I’m going to have it sent to every madrassah so every young boy knows who women are
and what their rights are.” So people see this as a welcome sign, because some male scholars and
male imams need our help to make our case for them.
The women’s jihad against violence—let’s talk about that. First the goals?
We first started with domestic violence because that was something that we wanted to rid our
communities of, especially when it’s done in the name of our religion. We wanted to make sure
that we let everybody know that there is no justification for domestic violence.
That verse [4:34] people cite that claims that men have ultimate authority in
marriage—what do you say about that?
I think the general consensus in that verse is that the purpose of marriage is to create harmony in
the home; not to create this kind of discord and pain and suffering. The prophet was known to be
the walking Qur’an. When he had a family dispute, he never struck a woman; in fact he was very
respectful to women. He always walked away. So number one, there is no prophetic precedent.
So again, that’s a point where scholarship is going to help.
And that is where great minds can come in and say, “What does this really mean?” and Laleh
Bakhtiar, a Saudi scholar, has gone through the entire Qur’an in analysis and said that daraba has
several meanings: yes, one of them is “beat,” but it has also been translated as “go away.” So that
seems to be the more appropriate one.
When you present that to women, they say, “Of course. That’s what it should be.” And that’s what
makes sense, and that’s what the prophet did. So why was this verse translated differently?
So you started with domestic violence, that’s an important issue...
It’s an important issue, but what is really pressing right now for the entire global community—and
most importantly for the Muslim community, because Muslims are getting impacted by violence
more than anybody else—is violent extremism. We believe that violence is creating great suffering
and pain everywhere. It’s not only devastating individual lives, it’s crippling entire societies. It
destroys property, it’s impoverishing nations because there’s no economic development, and it’s
violating the essential dignity of all humans. What it does to the future is even more dangerous,
because it develops and generates a lot of mistrust and intolerance which poison an entire
generation. It mars the name and reputation of Islam. Islam gets linked to terrorism and violence
as if the two are so integrally married, and that’s bad for Islam.
And also, finally, it’s un-Islamic.
It’s un-Islamic because you’re not supposed to take an innocent life; that’s it! So why has it
become the norm? The norm should be peace. Violence—when it has to be done—there is a
process, there is an entire theory on what is just war, and those are all rules that have to be
followed. Killing innocents is not part of that.
On the other hand, what peace brings: Human development is taking place, people are getting
educated, minds are expanding. You are creating relative tranquility in the home. It increases
wealth and builds prosperity in the nation.
It heightens respect and appreciation of others; you’re not suspicious of your neighbor, you have
respect and tolerance for others. For us it also affirms that Islam truly is a religion of peace.
This is why we juxtapose the two against one another. Violence is bringing nothing—there is
nothing in it, it has no solutions. And look at what peace can bring! Let’s pledge that we will join
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the movement, to take a pledge, to ask everybody to join this jihad against violence, or jihad for
peace.
There’s a feeling that women have a special role or special opportunity to have a
positive impact by taking leadership.
Yes. We decided to start it with the individual first. Each woman will take a pledge herself. Then
she will extend that pledge to her family. Then that pledge they will continue to their community.
So we would like to start this movement in Ramadan of this year, when it’s fasting month, and
there’s also an international day of peace where we will ask people to create small gatherings
where they can extend this pledge.
It’s such a resonant word, jihad, for both Muslims and non-Muslims. The decision
to choose that word—what do you think about that?
We chose that word because we felt the word has been hijacked by others. The word, “jihad” is
something that Muslims use in their vernacular as a way of saying “this is my big struggle, or my
big challenge in life,” but it has been completely hijacked by people: the word has been distorted,
it has only been given one meaning, and so we wanted to reclaim the word for ourselves and give
it the true meaning, which is that it’s going to be a big struggle to even push away violence from
our communities and to usher in an era of peace. We felt that a strong word like that would be
important.
A question that might be a little trivial, but comes up in any discussion of modern
Muslim women is the issue concerning dress, freedom of dress both ways. Is it
something that comes up within your movement? Do you think it’s even something
that needs to be talked about?
People have gone beyond the issue of dress, because there are more pressing issues; there are
some women who are struggling to survive. We have to focus on big issues that really impact us
all. We have to once and for all improve the status of Muslim women, how they are seen and how
they are treated around the world. There is a radical internal debate going on in the Muslim
community that is not being recognized by anybody out there. It’s not even about projecting
ourselves any more. It’s about who we are, and how we define ourselves as a global community.
Where are we falling short? Where do we need to improve? We women, who are usually very
secure in our faith; we are more nurturing, we are open to collaborating, we are prepared to have
this discussion. We are not afraid to have this discussion. And we think it’s critical to have this
discussion.
Muslim; at least half are women. If all of those women’s lives can be improved, and
if they can speak as a voice for peace, then that will also have a positive impact on
the rest of the world.
It’s important that women begin to talk of peace and to resist collectively, because if we can bring
together an ambiance where we talk to one another, we create a buzz for ushering in an era of
peace. Islam actually means peace; so why shouldn’t we work toward peace?
Rene Rosechild is a freelance writer and lawyer. She lives in Denver, Colorado, with her
collaborator-in-life and 1.5 of her three children.
© 2009 Religion Dispatches. All rights reserved. View this story online at:
http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/international/1764/
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One thing that occurs
to me is that a huge
percentage of people
in the world are
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WISE Web Portal
I would like to contribute content to the WISE Web Portal.
83 women from 29 countries
Farkhunda Saamy
Malina Fahiz
Sajia Behgam
Dora Abbas
Jourmanah El Matrah
Afra Jalabi
Farzana Hassan
Nuzhat Jafri
Azza Kamel
Eman Fawzi
Mozn Hassan
Ndeye Andujar
Binta Jammeh-Sidibe
Fatou Waggeh
Hanan Gewefel
Betul Yilmaz
Indre Monjezi Brown
Seyran Ates
Anjum Babukhan
Farheen Syeed Kapra
Rosnani Binti Sahardin
Siti Musdah Mulia
Mahboubeh
Abbasgholizadeh
Jamileh Abu Za'nouneh
Nawal Haddadin
Amina R. Zuberi
Esha Faki
Fatuma Kinsi Abass
Sarah El Khatib
Jamilah Ariffin
Lynda Heidi Primo
Maselati Samani
Normah Dali
Rosey Wang Ma
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Australia
Australia
Canada
Canada
Canada
Egypt
Egypt
Egypt
France
Gambia
Gambia
Gambia
Germany
Germany
Germany
India
India
Indonesia
Indonesia
Iran
Jordan
Jordan
Kenya
Kenya
Kenya
Lebanon
Malaysia
Malaysia
Malaysia
Malaysia
Malaysia
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Tangku Aira
Zarizana Abdul Aziz
Maiga Djingarey
Anissa Naqrachi
Laila al-Zwaini
Abida Mahmood
Abida Malik
Arifa Nazle
Faiza Shahsakli
Meeran Karim
Nageen Hyat
Sadia Mehmood
Samina Bashir
Tasneem Ahmar
Raja Hamayel
Santanina Rasul
Maha Akeel
Manal Radwan
Nimah Nawwab
Rasha Hefzi
Hawanatu Sesay
Rumana Mahomed
Adriana Kaplan
Mouna Ghanem
Salwa Baccar
Faeeza Vaid
Rebecca Rafique
Rohema Miah
Sara Silvestri
Sobia Malik
Aishah Shahidah Simmons
Anjum Malik
Asha Al Samad
Asma Asfaruddin
Ayisha Jeffries
Camille Helminski
Dilshad D. Ali
Gwendolyn Zoharah
Simmons
Irfana Anwer
Lena Alhusseini
Maha Alkhateeb
Mehnaz Mona-Afridi
Mona Eltahawy
Nurah Amat’Ullah
Sara Shroff
Sima Quraishi
Tayyibah Taylor
Nadia Al-Sakkaf
Honan Altheim
Malaysia
Malaysia
Mali
Morocco
Netherlands
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Palestine
Philippines
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
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Sierra Leone
South Africa
Spain
Syria
Tunisia
United Kingdom
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United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United States
United States
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United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
Yemen
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I would like to have work featured on the WISE Web Portal.
Fankhunda Saamy
Jamila Afghani
Malina Fahiz
Rashida Razaqi
Shamsia Shariti
Zainab Paiman
Syeda Sultana Razia
Afra Jalabi
Farzana Hassan
Nevin Reda
Azza Kamel
Eman Fawzy
Heba Amin
Mozn Hassan
Ndeye Andujar
Binta Jammeh-Sidibe
Fatou Waggeh
Hanan Gewefel
Indre Monjezi Brown
Betul Yilmaz
Anjum Babukhan
Farheen Syeed Kapra
Sadia Dehlvi
Fawzia Al-Attia
Amina R. Zuberi
Esha Faki
Fatuma Kinsi Abass
Sarah El Khatib
Jamilah Ariffin
Rosey Wang Ma
Zarizana Abdul Aziz
Maiga Djingarey
Anissa Naqrachi
Fatima Outaleb
Laila al-Zwaini
Abida Malik
Arifa Nazle
Faiza Shahzukli
Nageen Hyat
Sadia Mehmood
Shahina Akbar
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Bangladesh
Canada
Canada
Canada
Egypt
Egypt
Egypt
Egypt
France
Gambia
Gambia
Gambia
Germany
Germany
India
India
India
Indonesia
Iraq
Jordan
Kenya
Kenya
Kenya
Lebanon
Malaysia
Malaysia
Malaysia
Mali
Morocco
Morocco
Netherlands
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
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Laisa Alamia
Loren Hallilah Lao
Raissa Jajurie
Maha Akeel
Manal Radwan
Nimah Nawwab
Rasha Hefzi
Samar Fatany
Rumana Mahomed
Adriana Kaplan
Lana Antaki
Mouna Ghanem
Sabah Al Hallak
Marhabo Zununova
Rebecca Rafique
Rohema Miah
Sara Silvestri
Anjum Malik
Asha Al Samad
Asli Sancar
Asma Afsaruddin
Ayisha Jeffries
Camille Helminski
Carla Power
Dilshad D. Ali
Faeeza Vaid
Gwendolyn Zoharah
Simmons
Irfana Anwer
Lena Alhusseini
Maha Alkhateeb
Mehruz Afridi
Mona Eltahawy
Pamela Taylor
Robina Niaz
Sara Shroff
Sobia Malik
Tayyibah Taylor
Nadia Al-Sakkaf
Philippines
Philippines
Philippines
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
South Africa
Spain
Syria
Syria
Syria
Tajikistan
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
Yemen
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I would like to promote the WISE Web Portal to the media, funders or
my contacts.
Fankhunda Saamy
Jamila Afghani
Malina Fahiz
Rasheeda Razaqi
Dora Abbas
Jourmanah El Matrah
Afra Jalabi
Farzana Hassan
Nevin Reda
Nuzhat Jafri
Azza Kamel
Iman Abdul Wahed
Shireen Zaman
Ndeye Andujar
Binta Jammeh-Sidibe
Fatou Waggeh
Hanan Gewefel
Betul Gilmaz
Indre Monjezi Brown
Anjum Babukhan
D. Sharifa
Nur Laili Rahmah
Siti Murdah Mulia
Esha Faki
Fatuma Kinsi Abass
Hubbie Hussein
Sarah El Khatib
Fuziah Salleh
Hamidah Marican
Maselati Samani
Nazreen Nizam
Rosey Wang Ma
Tengku Aira
Maiga Djingarey
Anissa Naqrachi
Laila al-Zwaini
Abida Malik
Anbreen Ajaib
Anjum Malik
Arifa Nazle
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Australia
Australia
Canada
Canada
Canada
Canada
Egypt
Egypt
Egypt
France
Gambia
Gambia
Gambia
Germany
Germany
India
India
Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia
Jordan
Kenya
Kenya
Kenya
Lebanon
Malaysia
Malaysia
Malaysia
Malaysia
Malaysia
Malaysia
Mali
Morocco
Netherlands
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
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Meeran Karim
Nageen Hyat
Sadia Mehmood
Johaira Wahab
Laisa Alamia
Loren Hallilah Lao
Raissa Jajurie
Manal Radwan
Maha Akeel
Rasha Hefzi
Rumana Mahomed
Adriana Kaplan
Huma Jamshed
Mouna Ghanem
Anne Harmer
Faeeza Vaid
Rebecca Rafique
Rohema Miah
Sara Silvestri
Sobia Malik
Asma Afsaruddin
Ayisha Jeffries
Dilshad D. Ali
Gwendolyn Zoharah
Simmons
Irfana Anwer
Laila Al-Askari
Lena Alhusseini
Maha Alkhateeb
Mehnaz Afridi
Melissa Samuelson
Mona Eltahawy
Nimah Nawwab
Pamela Taylor
Rori Picker Neiss
Sara Shroff
Sima Quaraishi
Sirad Abdirahman
Tayyibah Taylor
Nadia Al-Sakkaf
Anjum Nawwab
Honan Altheim
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Philippines
Philippines
Philippines
Philippines
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
South Africa
Spain
Spain
Syria
Thailand
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
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United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
Yemen
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Muslim Women’s Fund
I would like to apply for a Fund grant.
Farkhuunda Saamy
Jamila Afghani
Mahfuza Folad
Malina Fahiz
Rasheeda Razaqi
Sajia Behgam
Shamsi Sharifi
Dora Abbas
Ashen Alo Society
(Bangladesh)
Masjid Council (Bangladesh)
Nuzhat Jafri
Eman Fawzi
Hanan Gewefel
Binta Jammeh-Sidibe
Fatou Waggeh
Aylin Aykan
Indre Monjezi-Brown
Anjum Babukhan
Farheen Syeed
Nur Laili Rahmah
Rosnani Sahardin
Fuziah Salleh
Maselati Samani
Sisters in Islam
Maiga Djingarey
Anissa Naqrachi
Abida Malik
Anbreen Ajaib
Faiza Shahrukh
Nageen Hyat
Tasneem Ahmar
Johaira Wahab
Laisa Alamia
Loren Hallilah Lao
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Australia
Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Canada
Egypt
Egypt
Gambia
Gambia
Germany
Germany
India
India
Indonesia
Indonesia
Jordan
Kenya
Malaysia
Malaysia
Malaysia
Mali
Morocco
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Philippines
Philippines
Philippines
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Raissa Jajurie
Nimah Nawwab
Hawanatu Sesay
Marhabo Zununova
Faeeza Vaid
Rebecca Rafique
Rohema Miah
Sara Silvestri
Asha Samad
Lena Alhusseini
Sima Quaraishi
Sirad Abdirahman
Nadia Al-Sakkaf
Philippines
Saudi Arabia
Sierra Leone
Tajikistan
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United States
United States
United States
United States
Yemen
I would like to support the Fund financially.
Jamila Afghani
Hanan Gewefel
Betul Yilmaz
Manal Radwan
Lena Alhusseini
Nadia Al-Sakkaf
Afghanistan
Egypt
Germany
Saudi Arabia
United States
Yemen
I would like to promote the Fund to my local media, contacts, or
potential funders.
Malina Fahiz
Shamsia Sharifi
Dora Abbas
Ashar Alo Society
(Bangladesh)
Syeda Sultana Razia
Nuzhat Jafri
Hanan Gewefel
Binta Jammeh-Sidibe
Aylin Aykan
Betul Yilmaz
Indre Monjezi Brown
Farheen Syeed
Sadia Mehmood
Sri Wahyuni
Farkhondeh Kenyani
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Australia
Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Canada
Egypt
Gambia
Germany
Germany
Germany
India
India
Indonesia
Iran
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Sarah Khatib
Fuziah Salleh
Sisters in Islam
Zeinabou Hadari
Anbreen Ajaib
Faiza Shahrukh
Meeran Karim
Nageen Hyat
Shahina Akbar
Tasneem Ahmar
Laisa Alamia
Loren Hallilah Lao
Raissa Jajurie
Nimah Nawwab
Rasha Hefzi
Hawanatu Sesay
Marhabo Zununova
Faeeza Vaid
Rebecca Rafique
Rohema Miah
Sara Silvestri
Lena Alhusseini
Camille Helminski
Gwendolyn Zoharah
Simmons
Hind El Jarrah
Maha Alkhateeb
Maha ElGenaidi
Sima Quraishi
Nadia Al-Sakkaf
Kenya
Lebanon
Malaysia
Malaysia
Niger
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Philippines
Philippines
Philippines
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
Sierra Leone
Tajikistan
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
Yemen
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I would like to serve in the Fund’s Global Advisory Network to help
select projects and set regional priorities.
Farkhuunda Saamy
Jamila Afghani
Mahfoza Folad
Malina Fahiz
Sajia Behgam
Zainab Paiman
Dora Abbas
Fawzia Khondker
Fatima Seedat
Nuzhat Jafri
Hanan Gewefel
Aylin Aykan
Gonca Aydin
Indre Monjezi-Brown
Sadia Mehmood
Sri Wahyuni
Fawzia Al-Attia
MasElati Samani
Tengku Aira
Maiga Djingarey
Zeinabou Hadari
Abida Mahmood
Anbreen Ajaib
Faiza Shahrukh
Meeran Karim
Nageen Hyat
Samina Bashir
Shahina Akbar
Tasneem Ahmar
Johaira Wahab
Laisa Alamia
Loren Hallilah Lao
Raissa Jajurie
Manal Radwan
Nimah Nawwab
Rasha Hefzi
Hawanatu Sesay
Adriana Kaplan
Marhabo Zununova
Salwa Baccar
Faeeza Vaid
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Australia
Bangladesh
Canada
Canada
Egypt
Germany
Germany
Germany
India
Indonesia
Iraq
Kenya
Malaysia
Malaysia
Mali
Niger
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Philippines
Philippines
Philippines
Philippines
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
Sierra Leone
Spain
Tajikistan
Tunisia
United Kingdom
156
Rebecca Rafique
Rohema Miah
Sara Silvestri
Camille Helminski
Gwendolyn Zoharah
Simmons
Hind El Jarrah
Lena Alhusseini
Maha Alkhateeb
Maha ElGenaidi
Sara Shroff
Sima Quaraishi
Sirad Abdirahman
Nadia Al-Sakkaf
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
Yemen
157
WISE Muslim Women’s Shura Council
I would like to join the Shura Council or contribute research.
Aisha Rafea
Ndeye Andujar
Farheen Syeed
Livia Iskandar
Sri Wahyuni
Tayebeh Asadi
Gulnara Karakulova
Esha Faki
Sophia Abdi Noor
Dina Zaman
Hartini Zainudin
Famile Arslan
Abida Mahmood
Nageen Hyat
Samina Bashir
Tasneem Ahmar
Loren Hallileh Lao
Santanina Rasul
Alaa Naseif
Zeinab Kane
Hawanatu Sesay
Sadiyya Shaikh
Salwa Baccar
Rebecca Ratique
Rohema Miah
Sobia Malik
Anjum Malik
Camille Helminski
Katherine Clark
Lena Alhusseini
Mehnaz Mona-Afridi
Pamela Taylor
Yamina Mermer
Marfua Tokhtakhodjaeva
Nadia Al-Sakkaf
Hada Hilal
Egypt
France
India
Indonesia
Indonesia
Iran
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kenya
Malaysia
Malaysia
Netherlands
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Philippines
Philippines
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Sierra Leone
South Africa
Tunisia
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
Uzbekistan
Yemen
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I would like to work on the Muftiyyah-Training Program
Abdul Shukur
Dora Abbas
Nevin Reda
Iman Abdel Wahed
Binta Jammeh-Sidibe
Farheen Syeed
Sadia Dehlvi
Nani Zulminarni
Nur Laili Rahmah
Amina Zuberi
Esha Faki
Fatuma Kinsi
Sophia Abdi Noor
Samina Bashir
Rebecca Ratique
Rohema Miah
Asma Sadiq
Pamela Taylor
Nadia Al-Sakkaf
Hada Hilal
Rasheeda Ahward
Afghanistan
Australia
Canada
Egypt
Gambia
India
India
Indonesia
Indonesia
Kenya
Kenya
Kenya
Kenya
Pakistan
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United States
United States
Yemen
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I would like to connect the Shura Council to other scholars.
Syeda Razia
Binta Jammeh-Sidibe
Fatou Waggeh
Indre Monjezi-Brown
Sri Wahyuni
Fawzia Al-Attia
Amina Zuberi
Esha Faki
Fauma Kinsi
Heidi Primo
Tengku Aira
Nadia Khan
Narreen Nram
Famile Arslan
Faiza Shahrukh
Raja Hamayel
Rumana Mahomed
Sadiyya Shaikh
Sajida Sabjee-Khan
Huma Jamshed
Rohema Miah
Anjum Malik
Katherine Clark
Maha Alkhateeb
Mehnaz Mona-Afridi
Rebecca Ratique
Nadia Al-Sakkaf
Hada Hilal
Bangladesh
Gambia
Gambia
Germany
Indonesia
Iraq
Kenya
Kenya
Kenya
Malaysia
Malaysia
Malaysia
Malaysia
Netherlands
Pakistan
Palestine
South Africa
South Africa
South Africa
Spain
United Kingdom
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
United States
Yemen
160
I would like to promote the Shura Council to the media, my contacts,
or potential funders.
Dora Abbas
Nyede Andujar
Binta Jammeh-Sdibe
Fatou Waggeh
Betul Yilmaz
Anjum Babukhan
Nur Laili Rahman
Tayebeh Asadi
Sophia Abdi Noor
Amina Zuberi
Dina Zaman
Hamidah Marican
Hartini Zaunudin
Tengku Aira
Anbreen Ajaib
Arifa Nazle
Meeran Karim
Nageen Hyat
Tasneem Ahmar
Adriana Kaplan
Rebecca Ratique
Rohema Miah
Sobia Malik
Katherine Clark
Maha Alkhateeb
Pamela Clark
Sima Quraishi
Mehnaz Mona-Afridi
Nadia Al-Sakkaf
Australia
France
Gambia
Gambia
Germany
India
Indonesia
Iran
Kenya
Kenya
Malaysia
Malaysia
Malaysia
Malaysia
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan
Spain
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United States
United States
United States
United States
Untied States
Yemen
161

2009 WISE Conference Report

Transcription

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