Muslim Women: Separating Religious Truth from ‘Cultural Baggage’ : PLATFORM

Muslim women in America are constantly confronted with images from other countries: from the Middle East, a rise in “honor killings” of Arab Muslim women who have had sex outside marriage, of harassment of women dressing in Western styles in Algeria, of women refused the right to drive in Saudi Arabia. Such images confuse cultural issues with the Muslim religion, say immigrant and American-born Muslim women. They talked with JAMES BLAIR about their experiences. LAILA AL-MARAYATI

Gynecologist, Glendale; president of Muslim Women’s League

At this point in my life, I’ve come to terms with so much of being Muslim and Arab and American that the stresses I experienced during adolescence and young adulthood seem to have dissipated. Through high school and college, I spent a lot of time trying to understand my background, learning religion from the very, very basics--reading the Koran in the English translation. Now I am much more comfortable with my identity as an American Muslim woman of Palestinian background.

One issue that really matters to me tremendously: We are a minority in this country, but very much participating in the American process. We’re Americans with a different religion. One of the advantages, to me, of being a Muslim in America is that I didn’t have to deal with a lot of cultural baggage--the blurriness between what the culture is and what the religion says.

For example, when I went to visit relatives in the Middle East, all of a sudden they were telling me what we couldn’t do. They’d have a gathering and segregate men and women. Everybody said, “This is Islam.” Being an American woman and used to a certain level of freedom, I questioned it. I would say, “Where in the Koran does it say this?”

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L. KHADIJAH LANG

Family and obstetrics physician, Los Angeles

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Converting to Islam was not a radical change. My parents were Christians and raised me with very strong moral values. For me, Islam was only intensifying the values my parents raised me with.

I had converted in high school, but never really told anyone until I got into college. Once I did come out with it, the big concern among family members and close friends was: “This is a religion that is going to lock you up in some man’s house to be barefoot and pregnant for the rest of your life. What’s going to happen to all the years of studying?”

For me, that just never registered. I had studied Islam before I accepted it and I didn’t see anything in the religion that was going to prevent me from pursuing my academic or professional goals.

The religion, in fact, encourages that. The religion specifically states that it is an obligation on every Muslim man, woman and child to seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave. And it does not limit the knowledge to secular knowledge versus spiritual knowledge.

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TALAT KHAN

Family physician, Los Angeles

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I emigrated from India to Canada in 1975 when I got married and have been (in North America) since then.

There are challenges faced by all women in the United States--sexual harassment, less pay, racism. Muslim women face more of these challanges while at the same time protecting their religion.

Muslim schoolgirls, for instance, face constant harassment--anything that happens in the Muslim world, they are singled out because of wearing the head scarf, the hijab . They face problems practicing their religion, for example, if they are fasting during the month of Ramadan or if they are praying on school premises. Most of the time, Muslim women cannot participate in physical education activities, like swimming, because they would have to expose their bodies.

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FIRDOSI WHARTON-ALI

Screenwriter, Los Angeles

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I haven’t found my religion is really an issue professionally. Most people I’m working with are aware of my religious standpoint and that I’m a practicing Muslim. I don’t relate to any of the caricatures derived from the Hollywood imagery.

My parents are immigrants. I grew up here and in Las Vegas. Culture has never been a big issue in my family because everyone is from such a diverse background. I’ve never thought of myself as being an Indian Muslim. My parents are very liberal and open-minded. We’ve acculturated well without having lost any of our religion.

I’ve noticed a lot of my friends and peers who are Muslims are very attached to their language or culture or backgrounds. I’ve been able to differentiate my religious inclinations from cultural ones. I’m not sure everybody--and not only Muslims--does that so successfully.

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WAFAA ELDEREINY

Islamic bookstore and publications

administrator, Los Angeles

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I was born in Egypt and came here in 1975 when I was four years old, so I basically grew up (and went to) school here.

Our family had a very strong religious background. My parents would try to give us some explanation so that when we were at school or with other people we could explain things to them. In my junior year in high school, I started to wear the hijab , and that’s when I found it more challenging. I would get remarks like, “What’s that towel on your head?” or “Go home!”

In college, though, it was very easy because people were more mature and they would come up to me and ask me why (I wore the hijab ) . I just explained and would gain a lot of respect.

I have a brother and sister, 15 and 11. They want to go out and do this and that. They speak more English at home. They’re more into American culture.

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FATIMA CASH

Benefits administrator, Pasadena

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The process that brought me to Islam is a complex one. I was attracted by some of the basic qualities of Islam, (which are) actually very similar to traditional American values: justice, equality and peace. Muslims are very family oriented and there is equality for women.

I don’t think Americans have a very good understanding of this. We’re distracted by the headlines and sensational news about Muslims or Muslim countries. I think that it is the cultural issues about Muslims that are the hardest things for people in America to understand and, quite frankly, sometimes I struggle with them myself.

Just as all religions, Islam has some very concrete, basic ideas that you have to believe in. But Islam is very flexible as to how you apply it to societies across the world. Since there is that freedom, down through the centuries where people were applying Islam to their own societies, often times it didn’t, for example, change the very basic ways women were involved in that society. You have to understand what is the cultural aspect and what is the religion.