Women in Tribal Culture and True Islam

When we look at today’s Islamic world, we see that throughout history it has been tribes that have shaped many Muslim societies. These societies have gained the appearance of modern states; however, the rooted customs and everyday practices of those tribes are still influencing their current life.

The main victim of this situation is the women of these communities. The culture of tribalism continues to view women as “inferior and second class people”, and it is for this reason that women are:

• Exposed to domestic violence.
• Excluded from social life.
• Married off without their consent.
• Have their freedoms restricted.
• Killed in the name of honor or moral law.

It is again the women who suffer because of some men’s psychological issues. It is for this reason that women are:

• Forced to cover themselves from head to toe, even when at home.
• Forbidden to go out on the street.
• Forbidden to talk with or smile at other people.
• Forbidden to oppose their husband’s wishes.
• Forbidden to get divorced.

This misogyny takes various forms within the Islamic world:

• In Indonesia, if a woman goes out into the street without her veil then her head is shaved.
• Female circumcision is widespread in Egypt.
• 75.8% of women in Afghanistan are illiterate. In Yemen the figure is 45%, in Pakistan 54.2%, while in Bangladesh it is 41.5%.
• In countries such as Bangladesh, India, Afghanistan and Cambodia, it is a widespread custom for a man to throw acid in a woman’s face as an act of revenge.
• In Kuwait, Djibouti, Algeria and many other Islamic countries, there are no laws forbidding sexual violence against women.

• Within the Islamic world, an honor killing takes place every 90 minutes.

The Qur’an condemned and forbade all of these perverted customs of tribal culture 14 centuries ago. However, tribal culture has been maintained in some form or another. Fanaticism inherent in that culture has been installed in social life in the name of religion. Perversions reinforced with superstitions have been attributed to the Islamic religion. Yet, absolutely none of these appear in the Qur’an.

Today, some uneducated and uninformed people in the Islamic world adopt tribal culture assuming that they are living an Islamic life. In order to be purified from the brutal, dark, primitive and fanatical culture which is defined in the Qur’an as "the religion of the ancestors", it is essential for Muslims to return to the Qur’an, “relieving them of their heavy loads and the chains which were around them.”

This film is based on the article of Harun Yahya in The Jakarta Post.