Women's Fight For Individual Freedom

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 7 February 2025 A shocking video of an Iranian woman stripping down and jumping naked onto a police car in an apparent protest against the country's oppressive clothing laws for women. The incident reportedly took place in Iran's second-largest city, Mashhad. The explicit footage soon went viral on social media. In the video, the woman yelled at police officers. She also stood on the hood of the police vehicle. Notably, cops did allow commuters to halt. Safiya, a 51-year-old resident of Kerala’s Alappuzha district, is an activist who calls herself an “ex-Muslim”. She says her organisation raises awareness about patriarchal practices in various religions, including Islam. Talking about how most religions do not give equal rights to women, she says, “If a religion keeps telling you that you are only half a human being with half the rights, why would you want to follow it?” This reminds me of Irshad Manji's famous statement, "Muslims need to wake up. They also need to start drinking wine, embrace any and all homoerotic tendencies, write some poetry and for the most part free themselves from the fundamentalist chains they have created (for themselves and everyone else!). The Muslim world will only be free when bars fill the streets and women show off their natural, feminine beauty. Muslims need to grow up and stop expecting everyone to be mindless sheep before a 1,400-year-old oral tradition. Nakedness will free Dar-el-Islam!” (From, ‘Allah, Liberty and Love: The Courage to Reconcile Faith and Freedom'). Mind you, Irshad Manjhi is not an advocate of provocative nudity. The Iranian woman's act of disrobing in public is a metaphor for individual freedom, esp. the freedom of a woman. She didn't do that to titillate men. Whether it's Safiya, the unnamed Iranian woman or Irshad Manji, people who act on their moral courage will always encounter disapproval. All acts of emancipation are frowned upon by our patriarchal society. To have moral courage is to challenge conformity within our own tribes--be they religious, cultural, ideological or professional--and to do so for a more universal good. Safiya's demand for a non-religious and casteless identity, Iranian woman's crusade against the oppressive sartorial diktats and Irshad Manji fighting against the gender bias in Islam or for that matter, any other religion has a common thread: Thread of equality and irrelevance of religious bias. That women are no longer secondary humans in any man-made faith is the core message these intrepid women are trying to put across. Remember Simone De Beauvoir's famous observation that one is not born, but rather becomes a woman. Femininity is not an innate characteristic bestowed upon an individual at birth, but rather a social construct that is shaped and constructed by society. The concept of womanhood is a product of cultural, religious and societal expectations, norms, and values imposed upon individuals simply based on their biological sex. By recognizing the fluidity and malleability of gender identity, De Beauvoir's quote urges us to think beyond the confines of biological determinism, encouraging us to embrace the complexities and diversities of womanhood. It prompts us to question and challenge the rigid definitions and expectations imposed upon individuals based solely on their gender, opening up possibilities for a more inclusive and egalitarian society. But a religion, esp. Islam, is reluctant to give complete unconditional freedom to a woman. Good to see that more and more women are fighting and questioning the hegemony of faiths. That they happen to be Muslims or ex-Muslims is an icing on the cake! These women are fighting for freedom and to be free is not to have the power to do anything you like; it is to be able to surpass the given toward an open future. The essence of freedom is a transformative force that empowers individuals to challenge the status quo, embrace change, and carve their own paths toward a meaningful existence. May other women from all parts of the world, regardless of their religions, also join a handful of such brave women. ----- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URl: URl: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/fight-individual-freedom/d/134546 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism