Talking about equality for Muslim women

Last week I was on the Voices show on BanglaTV again (don't ask!) this time talking about equality and Muslim women along with a few other guests. We discussed what we thought equality for women meant in the wider context, and whether and how this had influenced our own perceptions of equality within Islam.

Surprisingly (for me anyway), the discussion veered sharply into whether equality for women as a concept really exists in Islam. I was shocked at this, and made reference to the verse in the Qur'an that talks about how all human beings are equal in the eyes of God differentiated only by their religious devotion and faith (iman). But somehow we still spent a lot of time (and we were all Muslim women on the show) talking about whether equality for men and women really exists in Islam or not. I also referred some of the other panel members to verses of the Qur'an that talked of how Allah created all human beings "from one soul" and "created everything in pairs" and only in pairs would we find peace and contentment.

Having said all that, we all agreed that whatever the specifics of utopia, we had a lot of work to do on the ground. Muslim women still do not enjoy the status and rights that are agreed at even the most basic level. It was a good feisty discussion but I came home feeling empty. We were discussing the rights of women, to other women who already agreed that women should have rights. It felt like preaching to the choir. And we can't make changes of our own - that is the great fallacy. Balancing rights and creating a harmonious society has to be a communal project. That is (to spell it out) men and women need to do it together.