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