From the keynote speech of Amina Rasul delivered at the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy 8th Annual Conference, George Washington University, Washington DC, on April 27, in 2007 to address the conference them: “Women’s Rights in Muslim Communities and Islam:”

A friend told me that women’s rights in democratizing or democratic Muslim societies are like canaries in a coalmine during the industrial age of the West. If the canaries are safe, so is the coalmine. Thus if women’s rights are strong, so is the society.

The widening of the democratic space throughout the Southeast Asian region, which allows for freedom of expression and pluralism, has also opened the door further to radicalism and fundamentalist ideologies. On the extreme end, fundamentalist interpretations of Sharia endanger the equality between men and women, as very orthodox ulama move for interpretations close to the Taliban model of Sharia.

However, if the democratization process is home- grown and nurtured, it will take root and balance the more radical influences. Witness the successes in Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia and Malaysia in discussions of women’s rights. Even as more fundamentalist interpretations of Islamic jurisprudence are entering Southeast Asia from the Middle East, our Malaysian and Indonesian sisters continuously engage the male-dominated leadership of the community to define a more gender-fair, more just, legal framework for both women and men. Even in the Philippines, as burdened as we are, Muslim women still have opportunities provided by law to participate as equals.

Rasul's speech concludes with these words:

Sura 49, Verse 13 of the Holy Koran states: "O mankind! We created you from a single pair of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other, not that ye may despise each other." Not only are we Muslims enjoined to be part of a pluralistic society, but Muslim men and women are recognized equally as father and mother of all nations. Thus, Muslim men and women are recognized equally as members of society. We women must join the war for this is a war for our hearts and minds, to defend our space here on earth. We must therefore fight with our hearts and minds. We Muslim women must not allow ourselves to be silenced.

You can read the entire speech here...

h/t to El Cid for the link

Photo: source