Muslim+Women+in+Afghanistan

= = =Women's Rightstoc= Throughout Afghanistan and other Islamic countries, women are treated poorly and are inferior to men. Before the 90s when the Taliban weren't in control, women and men were considered equal. Women could have jobs and were aloud to be seen out in public. When the Taliban came in power, pretty much of all of the women's rights were lost. The Taliban made rules that made women not equal to men. Even though the Taliban is officially out of rule, there rules are still in place in Afghanistan today. Government officials and husbands in Afghanistan are still using the Taliban's rules today. Some of these rules include women not being able to walk on the streets alone. Women are also not allowed to have occupations and cannot contribute to family income. These are not rules but they are more as guidelines and there can be severe punishment if these rules are not followed. Some of these horrible punishments include the women getting beat. Some punishments get so severe as the husbands of the women cutting off the women's body parts including their noses and ears. Ever since the war started, women in Afghanistan fear that the Allies will make a deal with the Afghan government to end the war and in return the Americans won't question the Afghans with how they treat the women. The situation in Afghanistan is grim for women, but it is improving slow and steadily. == =The Taliban= The Taliban is a fundamentalist group that ruled Afghanistan until 1972 the USSR came in, and they regained control of Afghanistan in 1996. They then enforced a strict Islamic government, or so they think. The reason why it was not that strict is because when the Taliban came back into rule, the foul treatment of women began. The Qur'an says that men and women should be equal. If the Taliban ruled with a strict Muslim rule, then men in women would be equal. But the Taliban stripped all of the womens rights, and made them live a strict, regulated life that contradicted Islamic beliefs. The Taliban have even made rules on what women have to wear. Women have to wear a Burka, or a head to toe outfit that makes it so only the women's eyes are visible. The purpose of the Burka is so that women show modesty, but the Taliban wanted every woman to wear them, or be punished by the law. When the Taliban were in control, women could not get medical attention unless there husband approved. Even though the Taliban fell out of official control in 2001 when the US came into Afghanistan, there rules are still being enforced unofficially. Even though the law says now that everybody should be equal, it is not like that. The situation has substantially improved in Afghanistan, but it will still take years for it to finally be resolved and back to the way it was before the Taliban. =Religion= There are many basic beliefs of the Islam religion. Some of these basic beliefs include praying to their god (Allah), and that family is an essential part of Islamic life. Family is one of the only places where women's rights are secured, but even those simple rights in a family are regulated by husbands. When inside a household, women are aloud to take off their Burka and do things without their husbands. Even if this may be the case in many households, some husbands may go as far as physically abusing there wives because they think there wives have broken rules. Even though men can abuse women, women can't abuse men for breaking a rule. This is breaking the basic beliefs because the Qur'an says that all men and women are equal. This is breaking the rules because now women are inferior to men. Other Islamic countries see Afghanistan to be abandoning Islam because if they even break one belief, they aren't following the religion to its fullest extent. Hopefully Afghanistan will change it so that women are equal with men, and they will truly follow Islam.

=What Women Can Do= Most women in Afghanistan are either in house arrest, or in fear of being neglected or abused. More than half of them don't even have jobs and rely on their husbands to support their families financially. Most women there are not even aloud to get jobs even if they applied for them, but some women have overcome the odds and have gotten careers for themselves. Fatima Hakim Zada is one of these women. She is the owner of her own construction company. Around her house in the capital city, she has a metal fence and armed guards that she has hired to protect her. She has hired these guards to protect her from extremists who would try and kill her for what she has done. Many women do not follow in her footsteps because they know the consequences. The women that do it know that if captured they would probably get mudered. The reason why these women have jobs is because they want to break rules and show how corrupt the system is. They also do it because they want to show other women that they can try and get jobs and that they will persivere. These women feel that they are doing it so the next generations will not have to live through such horrible times and they want to show how strong women are. They are not only doing this for women, but they are doing it to make men and women equal, and restore the peace in Afghanistan. Many women nnow have jobs and are prosperous now, but it is still going to take Afghanistan a while to return to the way it was.

=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gpp7mduj48= =Bibliography=

Works Cited 1.“Afghan Woman Rising.” //Council on Foreign Relations//. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2011. .

2.“Afghan Women Need Seat at the Table.” //Council on Foreign Relations//. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2011. .

3.Osman, Muhammed Fathi. “Muslim Woman.” //USC//. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2011. .

4.“The Plight of the Afghan Women.” //Afghan-web//. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2011. []. Andrew and Theo