Show My Muslim friends another view of Muslim women Susan Roylance Contributing Writer The word Muslim for many people in the United States conjures up memories of 9 11 and fears of terrorism But for me the word invokes deep gratitude for my dear Muslim friends and also for official Delegates to the United Nations from Muslim countries who work tirelessly on international treaty and document policies that protect families While you hear much about the he subjugation of women in Islamic cultures the women I have met portray a totally different image Dr Rasha is professor of Islamic Studies at the University of California I Imet Imet Imet met her at the UN U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women in China where she served as a translator and interpreter for Arabic speaking delegates As we parted for home at the Beijing airport I hugged her as a sister But later I was embarrassed to learn that while I slept she and other Muslim women stayed up all night during the final negotiations to support the delegates from Muslim countries Their efforts helped remove the words sexual orientation from the document and a paragraph proposing abortion on demand They also retained language which supported cultural and religious values A few weeks later Dr Rasha stayed in our home as she prepared to participate in a Women and Development seminar at Brigham Young University I observed her respect for the modest clothing and head cover of the Muslim women and her diligence in performing daily prayers and sacred washings She was a devout Muslim but she was was also a well educated woman a teacher of Islamic Studies at the s University of California She was also grateful for her role as a mother and wife I met Laila in Rome atthe atthe at atthe the World Food Summit As we talked about the various proposals in inthe inthe inthe the Summit document we discovered that we had much in common Later she invited me to participate In a Women's Conference in her home country of Sudan I soon discovered that Laila owns several businesses in Khartoum and exerts considerable political influence II Laila and I shared our Muslim and Christian faiths at the close of the conference We were struggling to compile the conclusions of several workshops into a proposed Khartoum Declaration I asked if she would mind if I said a Christian prayer to ask God to help us in preparing the Declaration She agreed and after the prayer she asked if I would say a prayer at the end of the conference I hesitated but finally agreed to say a Christian prayer if she would also say a Muslim prayer To say the least it was an unexpected experience for forthe forthe forthe the conference participants but a spiritual unity we will not forget Camilla is a happy bubbly woman from Egypt I met her in the halls of the UN U.N. in NewYork New NewYork NewYork York City At the time I was also struggling to learn Arabic By example she taught me three phrases thank you God willing and thank God Whatever the project or plan we discussed she always added allah Camilla had great faith that Allah would help us if we gave all honor and glory to Him Eleven IF F months before 9 11 9 I was invited to speak at the creation of a Pakistan Islamic Women's organization and the opening of a new Women's University in hi Islamabad My guide and interpreter in Pakistan was another well educated woman but she had to give up her participation in theater and music when she married a devout Muslim I was sad for her But she was not sad she loved her husband and her children The invitation to Pakistan followed an amazing pro-family pro victory at the year five-year review of the Women's Conference in Beijing It was the Pakistan delegation that saved the family friendly language in the final document It was the Iranian Delegation that provided leadership at the UN U.N. Commission for Social Development to re reestablish reestablish reestablish re- re establish the International Year of the Family And the country of Qatar hosted an international conference which drafted the Doha Declaration a landmark document recognizing the importance of the family unit in society Through my experiences with Muslim women I discovered that they are just like me They love their husbands and their children they children they and wanton want to preserve a world where their children can live in peace |