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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Muslim Women's Struggle |
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| jannah |
| 03/10/03 at 17:55:12 |
| Muslim Women's Struggle On LI, a backlash feared if war comes By Bart Jones STAFF WRITER March 10, 2003 They hail from Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Egypt and other nations. They share the same religion: Islam. They gathered yesterday at the Islamic Center of Long Island in Westbury to celebrate International Women's Day and to talk in part about what it is like to be a Muslim woman in the United States after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and as the country appears poised to unleash war against Iraq. For many, Long Island has been a generally accepting place to live even after the terrorist attacks, but some fear a backlash against Muslims if the United States goes to war against Iraq. "People are in a state of panic," said Nazli Chaudhry, a native of Pakistan who lives in Commack. "It's kind of brewing. It's going to burst out - that hatred can't be contained." Still, many of the women said they were hopeful that the goodwill most Long Islanders have shown Muslims would continue even in the event of war. About 50 women and 40 men attended the three- hour meeting, which came a day after the official March 8 International Women's Day was celebrated in nations around the world. The Long Island Muslims said part of their goal was to dispel some of the stereotypes people hold about women who adhere to the Islamic faith. They said it is true that women in Saudi Arabia cannot vote or drive or leave home unless they are accompanied by a man. They also said women under Afghanistan's Taliban regime were badly repressed - unable to study or even show their faces, which were covered by burkas. But the women yesterday said all that had nothing to do with Islam, and were simply traits of some national cultures. They said that in many other heavily Muslim nations, women share equality with men and excel in professions across the board. Homaira Mamoor, a native of Afghanistan who lives in West Islip, noted that in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia women have served as heads of state - something the United States has yet to achieve. "Islam does not limit women to go out in society," said Isma H. Chaudhry, a physician originally from Pakistan who now lives in Manhasset. "It is more of a cultural limitation." Indeed, yesterday's meeting included several doctors along with social workers, psychiatrists and women pursuing graduate degrees. While many of the women said attacks against Muslims have not been widespread on Long Island, relations haven't been completely cordial, either. Nazli Chaudhry said one boy in her son's first-grade class kept taunting him by saying, "Your father is Osama bin Laden," prompting a fistfight between the two. Eventually it was ironed out in meetings with the boys, their parents and the principal. Chaundhry stressed that Islam is a religion of peace and has nothing to do with terrorism. She hopes that kind of understanding will become the norm among both children and adults. "My dream," she said, "is that one day Islam will be just another American religion," like Catholicism or Judaism. |
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