International Women’s Day 2007

Peace, one and all…

Today is International Women’s Day 2007.  A day to celebrate the contributions women have and continue to make to this world.  Also, a day to set our sights firmly on breaking new ground in helping our mothers, aunts, sisters, wives and daughters to attain their God-given human rights.

I was reading The Independent newspaper on my way into work this morning.  It featured a harrowing article on women’s rights in the developing world.  A range of figures were quoted, which all go to show just how far we as a species have to go in ensuring equality.  I wanted to quote some of them here (source):

1. Two-thirds of the world’s 800 million illiterate adults are women as girls are not seen as worth the investment, or are busy collecting water or firewood or doing other domestic chores.
2. Two million girls aged from five to 15 join the commercial sex market every year.
3. Domestic violence kills and injures more people in the developing world than war, cancer or traffic accidents.
4. Seventy per cent of the world’s poorest people are women.
5. Violence against women causes more deaths and disabilities among women aged 15 to 44 than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents or war.
6. Women produce half the world’s food, but own less than two per cent of the land.
7. Of the more than one billion people living in extreme poverty, 70 per cent are women.
8. Almost a third of the world’s women are homeless or live in inadequate housing.
9. Half of all murdered women are killed by their current or former husbands or partners.
10. Every minute a woman dies as a result of pregnancy complications.
11. Women work two-thirds of the world’s working hours, yet earn only a tenth of its income.
12. One woman in three will be raped, beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime.
13. 43 million girls are not able to go to school.
14. Last year, one million HIV-positive women died of AIDS-related illnesses because they could not get the drugs they needed.
15. Human Rights Watch, in reports on 15 countries including Afghanistan, Brazil, Morocco, Papua New Guinea, Togo and South Africa, has identified violence against schoolgirls, child domestic workers and those in conflict with the law as on the rise.
16. Women across the developing world are the victims of systematic abuse.

I was particularly struck by the pictures of some of the victims of such crimes.  One, in particular, struck me.  It featured a young Pakistani woman who had been savagely raped for disobeying tribal custom (in a manner similar to Mukhtaran Mai).  Her wounded eyes just stared out from the page at me.

Ya Allah!  The more I reflect, the more I realise that any spirituality which fails to challenge such wickedness is not deserving of the name!  O Beloved!  Help us to fight against injustice, wherever we find it.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Reflections on Spiritual Courtesy (Adab)

Peace, one and all…

As Allah willed, I was at the Cardiff University Islamic Society’s Islam Awareness Week event.  It was an excellently produced film on Islam, by the students themselves and unusually for such things, injected a real touch of humour into the proceedings.  A refreshing change indeed from the overly dour and serious approach more usually adopted.  As such, I commend the Islamic Society for its innovative effort.  May Allah reward them all.  The food was excellent too!  Well done guys.

During the journey home, I began to reflect on a number of past events, finally putting some of them into some kind of perspective.  In particular, I’m at last coming to terms with some of the issues connected with leaving a former employer (who shall remain safely anonymous).  I’ve no wish to go over old ground here (and I’ve no wish to bore you all).

At any rate, when I left my former employer I made a promise to myself: I would never belittle another person’s spirituality again (astaghfiruka wa atubu ilaik).  At the time, although I knew that this was a profound point, I wasn’t entirely sure why I’d made such a vow.  After all, my issues weren’t connected directly with such things.

However, as I was on the train home tonight, I realised that promising not to rubbish another’s spiritual insights means two things.  Firstly, in the context of spiritual growth, such a promise means adab (roughly, ’spiritual courtesy’).  If you want to grow closer to God, you need adab – that sense of the sacredness of things.  By consciously remembering adab and putting it into practice, you grow closer to the source of all sacredness, which is Allah.

The second thing I realised is connected to the ability to converse.  If you’re arrogant in your beliefs, and proud in your sense of superiority, then what more do you feel you need to learn?  There are two levels here.  Speaking of spiritual matters in an arrogant, overbearing manner closes hearts and minds.  On a deeper level, it also shows a deeply egotistical streak, as if you have nothing to learn. 

May Allah protect us all from such unhealthy attitudes.

Wa akhiru da’wana an il hamdu lillahi rabbil alameen

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman