The Myth of Male Guardianship, posted by request
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Category: Travel and Places
| ..> And thanks to Tariq another piece which gives one plenty of food for thought: The Myth of Male Guardianship Tariq A. Al-Maeena, close_encounters@gawab.com |
| As best as I can understand it, the male guardianship in Islam was meant to protect and preserve the honor, integrity and the legitimate rights of womenfolk. But watch how this responsibility is exercised in certain segments of our society and you get an entirely different picture. Recently, I came to know of a welfare house in need of certain household items to alleviate the suffering of the residents. This particular welfare resident housed over 20 women whose ages ranged between 27 and 55. Among the items much needed were air-conditioners to stave away the summer heat, a freezer to store perishable foodstuff given by charitable individuals, a washing machine to clean the few items of clothing these women possessed, among their other needs. As I came to know of the pitiful conditions of some of these women, I wondered how is it possible that we are a rich nation and still some of our own people are plunged into such regrettable circumstances. And as I delved into the circumstances that forced some of these women into this home, the stories that came out were indeed tragic. In one instance, a middle-aged lady was forced out of her home when her husband remarried a much younger wife. With no family to turn to and no marketable skills, the shelter run by a humanitarian was her only lifeline. A 27-year-old tribal girl was forced out by her family when she refused to marry the man of their choice. Again, she was not prepared for the outside world and soon found herself isolated and destitute. Homeless and with no options, she turned to the shelter for survival. Another woman was subjected to the violent beatings of an abusive husband. After constant threats of divorce her mate literally discarded her on the streets to fend for herself. Again, with very little education and no skills, she had nowhere to run to except to the shelter. And then there is the story of a sickly woman, one who worked all her life turning in all her earnings to her family. She was prevented from entering into marriage for fear her family would lose their only source of income. When she fell sick and was no longer able to work, the family literally had no use for her and turned her out. She was no longer their meal ticket! Stripped of dignity and their legitimate rights, these women and others like them have indeed pathetic tales to tell. And were it not for the generosity of the benefactor who provided these women with a roof over their heads and the bare necessities to get by, I shudder to think where would these women have eventually ended. In a society that is obsessed with male guardianship, where was the protection of these women’s honor and rights? Where are the men of these womenfolk — men who have stripped them of their privileges? Men, who flaunt their badges of guardianship, but have discouraged their women from the marriage of their choice or education or the learning of skills, and are the first to exercise total domination in the form of exclusive guardianship. How can these men, perverted by their own traditions, be given such absolute power to rule over the lives of women and place them in such vulnerable conditions, and to dictate with total authority their warped interpretation of male guardianship? Do we really want our mothers, sisters and daughters to fall prey to the abuses of such authority with no legal recourse? The spouse, provided with such exclusive authority, can subject his wife to any cruelty without hindrance or reprisal. Our courts have traditionally favored the point of view of men, and rarely one hears of a woman winning her rights lawfully. And the absence of women lawyers or judges does not bode well to a just resolution. Current laws dictate that a woman cannot travel without consent, or obtain a business license without having a male go-between. Cases of deceptive practices and business fraud fill our newspaper columns about women who have been cheated of their financial dues. It is time the issue of male guardianship was re-evaluated in a genuine effort to protect women the way Islam had originally intended…> |
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Filed under: gender, Saudi Arabia, Saudi culture, Saudi customs
