Program 12: The Other Face of Eve:
Women and Family in Muslim Society
The
status and role of women in Muslim society remains one of the most
grossly misunderstood and misrepresented aspects of Islam and is undoubtedly
the source of much of the prejudice against Islam that is current
in the non-Muslim world today.
Most
of us probably believe that Islam is inherently hostile to women.
The Muslim woman is usually seen as the victim of a religion which
maintains her in a state of ignorance, degrading segregation and sexual
servitude.
Only
recently have we begun to realize that the position of women in Muslim
societies may be far more complex and diverse than our conventional
stereotypes. Are Muslim women really second-class citizens, prisoners
of the veil, the harem and ignorance? How much do Muslim women in,
say, Indonesia or Pakistan really have in common with their counterparts
in West Africa, Egypt or Saudi Arabia?
What
are the issues facing Muslim women today? And how relevant is Islam
to their solution?
People
interviewed in this program: Gamel Abdul Azayem, Massarat
Ali, Aleya Shakoor, Asma Bahurmoz, Leila al-Sawi, Leila al-Ibrahim,
Khalijah Salleh, Suher al-Calamawy, Khalijah Salleh, Hasan al Turabi,
Abdullah Omar Naseef, Mian Tufayl, Rizwhana Ghias, Rashida Patel,
Nawal al Saadawi, Maha Saleh, Naguib al-Attas, Khalijah Salleh, Dawan
Rahardjo, Fatimah Mernissi, Fatou Sese