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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
By Margaret Besheer
Washington
05 March 2007
International Women's Day Thursday highlights women's struggle for equality, justice, peace and development. For many it is a day to celebrate progress. For others, it is a reminder1 of just how far they still must travel. VOA's Margaret Besheer reports that, positive changes affecting women in the Islamic world are coming slowly, but steadily2.
The principle of equality between men and women is deeply rooted in Islam. The Prophet Muhammad was known for his equal treatment of the sexes. All his children were female, and he advocated women's rights. He required that a dowry be paid directly to a bride, rather than to her father or guardian3, and he offered special protection to widows and orphans4.
Mishkat al-Moumin, a scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington, says that has interpretation5 has changed.
"Later on, when Prophet Muhammad died, and so many other interpretations6 came to exist, again, it goes back to controlling society," said Al-Moumin. "If you want to control society, if you want to control families, then you control women."
Muslim women listen to Mexican Amina Teslima al-Yerrahi during a workshop at the Islamic Feminism conference in Barcelona, November 3, 2006
Today, Muslim women are working to break free of restrictions7. Al-Moumin says economic and social empowerment are the keys to women's advancement8 in the Islamic world.
"You cannot expect a woman to stand up for herself, if she has no income, or if she cannot afford to put food on the table for her children. There are so many widows and divorced women," said Al-Moumin. "They are responsible for a whole family -- sometimes three or four kids. If there is no social or economic program to support them, it will be so difficult for them to survive."
Education is another area where Muslim women lag behind. U.N. statistics show that, in 2005, more than 75 million women in the Middle East and North Africa -- a large part of the Muslim world -- could not read or write.
Wadeer Safi, a professor of law at Kabul University, says illiteracy9 is also a serious problem in Afghanistan.
Safi said, "The main problem in front of female students in Afghanistan is the illiteracy, which is prevailing10 all over the country."
Mishkat al-Moumin says uneducated girls grow up to be unprepared mothers, who often lack strong parenting skills. This leaves them unequipped to deal with modern problems, such as drugs, crime and religious extremism.
"When you make women suffer, you make the whole family suffer. That is why women's rights are important. It is not about women. It is about families," said Al-Moumin.
Women are advancing at different speeds across the Muslim world. In Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, the pace of modern change is coming more slowly, with women still denied the right to vote or drive.
Munira Nahid, a sociologist11 at King Fahd University in Riyadh, "Saudi women, because of the restrictions, and because of this unequal kind of opportunity that they are facing in this society, have become great fighters, and they have become great achievers."
Iraqi women deputies chat with each other prior the start of the parliament session in the heavily fortified12 Green Zone, in Baghdad, Iraq (Dec 2006 File)
Such determination is not limited to Saudi women. Elsewhere in the Muslim world, women are beginning to develop a voice in politics. In Iraq, women are playing an active role in government, while, last June in Kuwait, women voted and ran as candidates in parliamentary and local elections for the first time.
In the Gulf13 nation of Bahrain, the king appointed the first female judge last year. She joins the ranks of other women judges in Jordan, Lebanon, Iran and several other Muslim nations.
A handful of Muslim women, including Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan, have been leaders of their countries. But a long road still stretches ahead.
1 reminder | |
n.提醒物,纪念品;暗示,提示 | |
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2 steadily | |
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地 | |
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3 guardian | |
n.监护人;守卫者,保护者 | |
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4 orphans | |
孤儿( orphan的名词复数 ) | |
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5 interpretation | |
n.解释,说明,描述;艺术处理 | |
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6 interpretations | |
n.解释( interpretation的名词复数 );表演;演绎;理解 | |
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7 restrictions | |
约束( restriction的名词复数 ); 管制; 制约因素; 带限制性的条件(或规则) | |
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8 advancement | |
n.前进,促进,提升 | |
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9 illiteracy | |
n.文盲 | |
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10 prevailing | |
adj.盛行的;占优势的;主要的 | |
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11 sociologist | |
n.研究社会学的人,社会学家 | |
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12 fortified | |
adj. 加强的 | |
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13 gulf | |
n.海湾;深渊,鸿沟;分歧,隔阂 | |
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