|
Happy women’s month! I would like to pay tribute to the millions
of Muslim women in the Philippines who work against great odds to
keep their families safe and are praying that peace will come.
I have been taught by my mother that Islam
liberated women by giving them rights previously denied to them:
rights of ownership and inheritance, decision-making in marriage and
divorce, among others. Over the last couple of decades, influential
groups like the Malaysian Sisters in Islam have reviewed the
Qur’an and Hadith (words and deeds of Prophet Muhammad) to remind
us of the basis for the equality of men and women. Both men and
women are equally enjoined to do what is right and abstain from
wrong doing in all aspects of life.
Unfortunately, from the early years of Islam,
politics have intervened, changing many of the original principles.
Today, Muslim women in many communities have lost the rights given
to them during the time of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.
Sura 49, Verse 13 of the Holy Qur’an states:
“O mankind! We created you from a single pair of male and a
female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each
other, not that ye may despise each other.” Thus, not only are
Muslims enjoined to be part of a pluralistic society. Muslim men and
women are recognized as father and mother of all nations, as equal
members of society. Thus, partnership defines the Islamic ideal
relationship between men and women.
Islam gave women freedom and rights. If men were
to be solely responsible for women, then the Holy Qur’an would not
have instructed, “And whatever wrong any human being commits rests
upon himself alone; and no bearer of burdens shall be made to bear
another’s burden.”
Women in Muslim Mindanao share the burden. They
live and work to protect their families under tremendous pressures
most Filipino women cannot even imagine. And yet they persevere
because they are the glue that holds the family together. They hold
the trust of their children to keep them safe. As Kofi Annan said,
“There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with
children. There is no duty more important than ensuring that their
rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their
lives are free from fear and want and that they grow up in peace.”
I was in Bali last week, participating in the
Regional Ethics in Leadership Conference organized by the St. James
Ethics Center of Sydney, Australia. The Center brought together
representatives of business, professional and community groups from
Asean and Australia to discuss issues of common concern.
Simon Longstaff, center director, explains that
the conference identifies some of the major ethical issues facing
the region and facilitates discussion of these issues, including the
articulation of different perspectives from around the region so
that the participants, especially the Australian fellows of the
Center, can explore how to accommodate our differences as we focus
on the role of leaders in developing regional awareness and
cooperation.
The subject of the conference this year was
Peace. Exactly what is ‘peace?’ Is it merely the absence of war?
Is peace possible without justice and trust that government can
provide justice?
All throughout the discussions, I thought of how
elusive peace has become in the country, especially in Muslim
Mindanao. Muslim women who suffer from deprivation, oppression and
human rights violations believe in a just peace as described by
Frederick Douglass: “Where justice is denied, where poverty is
enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one is made to
feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and
degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.”
Seems to me that the nation believes there is
such an organized conspiracy. As the Catholic majority observed
Lent, I wondered about the role of the church in the search for a
just peace. The church leaders have decided not to interfere in
politics. It is all well and good that the princes of the church
call on their faithful to look within for the inner strength to
fight their personal demons and find peace. However, in the current
state of the nation, we cannot merely contemplate our navels; else
we might not notice the body rotting for want of justice to cut off
the evil of corruption.
Didn’t St. Augustine say, “In the absence of
justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery?”
mlatimes@gmail.com
|
