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Along with being a senator, Dr Kouser Firdous is the Secretary General of
the Jamaat-e-Islami, Women's Wing, as well as the Asian Region President of
the International Muslim Women Union (IMWU). Below is a talk which was held
with her on the topic of women's development.
Q1. You are representing women nationally and internationally at the
present; what is your point of view about women's progress?
Dr Kouser Firdous: A country which does not give rights to its women on the
basis of equality, can never progress in the true sense. We must give
representation to women in areas of education, health and politics, or the
future of our next generations cannot be improved. However, it is important
to define clearly what 'women's progress' means. One thing is equality, one
is progress; what is our meaning?
The Qur'an tells us that in reward, men and women are equal, in other words,
as human beings, to Allah, we are equal to men in terms of reward, and in
society, we are equal to them in terms of our lives, respect, education, and
business shares. We are equal in accountability, and in giving our opinion;
we have as much a right to criticize or to advise, as a man does. But the
second point is very important. In a society, the basic unit is the family,
and in a family, there is a role arrangement, a distribution of duties and
responsibilities which have been given to us by Allah the Creator.
A woman's biggest duty is to bear and rear children, and because of this
responsibility, she has not been given economic responsibilities; the man is
in charge of that. State duties have not been given to women, however she is
not totally exempt from them either. To bring up her children so as to make
them good citizens, to teach them good conduct—these are important for the
making of a society. This is a kind of progress which is not economic,
without which economic progress may be possible, but not peace and
happiness.
An example of this can be seen in the West where men and women are treated
in the same way, which brings bout a social downfall. This is why I would
like to say that there should be 'women's progress', but not at the price of
the institution of the family. There shouldn't be free intermixing of the
sexes, and we shouldn't judge ourselves by Western standards, but should
have our own ideological bases, social norms and cultural traditions.
Q2. How far do you think 33% representation of women in Parliament will be
helpful?
Dr Kouser Firdous: We very happily say in every forum that we have 33%
representation, we are 18% in Senate, and 21% in National Assembly. I'd like
to present a picture before you of the Inter-parliamentary Union. They have
prepared a list in which women's representation in all Parliaments of the
world have been mentioned. No 1 is Rwanda, no 2 is Pakistan, no 49 is UK and
at 59 is the US. India is 87th.
We should estimate that if are going to make jumps such as these, how far
ahead will we be of theses countries which we ourselves say give women great
freedom and rights. If we gave 98% representation to men, have we solved all
of men's problems? If women are given such representation, their problems
will remain the same, because this has been happening for 50 years—the
problems lie elsewhere, and we search for the solutions elsewhere. We should
concentrate on solutions;
merely giving representation will not help.
Q3. What is your opinion about the fact that Jihad is internationally being
represented as terrorism?
Dr Kouser Firdous: The meaning of Jihad in the Qur'an is clear. In Ayah 75
of Sura Nisa, it is said to do away with a human being's rule of another
human, and to establish Allah's authority, and for this, to try one's
utmost., but we have made this concept of Jihad disputed. It is being given
new meanings internationally, whereas we have it recorded where and when we
must perform Jihad.
Our people among ourselves are saying that moderate people should stand up
against extremists. What is Jihad…one is an offensive Jihad, and one is
defensive. The offensive Jihad will be for the weak, and to raise the Truth
against Falsehood. We should understand this trick of the enemy, so that the
meaning of Jihad may not be changed.
Q3. Your message for today's woman…?
Dr Kouser Firdous: In our society, a woman is not an Imam, we are mother,
sister and daughter. We should keep this status and its sacredness. This is
why such a civilization should be created with the mutual understanding of
men and women, to create a healthy society. We should identify our own
priorities, and never forget our customs.
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