Fighting for women’s rights has perhaps never been as important throughout history as it is at present. The world has come to a point where the patriarchal nature of society, which is almost always backed up by religion, has started to receive significant amounts of criticism. People in the most conservative of societies have now started questioning the fundamentals that deny women their basic rights and subject them to unfair treatment. 

Of course, since this means questioning religion, which is the main source of power for many who rule the masses, this is met with fierce opposition. The world is at a junction where those who control the masses with the help of religion feel the power slipping from their hands. Power, however, is something nobody lets go of easily. This is the main reason behind why the fight for safeguarding women’s rights has become more difficult than ever.

Throughout history, it can be seen that women have been subjected to the status of a lower human being. Even if a community states that it treats its women better than the rest, its claims come with hidden clauses. Many religious communities very proudly state that women are given the highest of ranks according to the teachings of their religion. The secret clause here is that this rank is with reference to a woman’s relationship with a man. A woman on her own is never as important as a man.

Very often I have heard how ‘important’ the role of a woman is in the world. Clerics go on about saying how the mechanism of the universe would fail if it weren’t for women. Justifications are given to women to force them into giving up their careers and staying at home. While there is nothing wrong with being a housewife by choice, being forced into something of the sort is a violation of a woman’s basic right to freedom – a right which is often violated in conservative societies such as the Pakistani society.

From all that is said about the role that women have to play as a mother, sister, daughter and wife, it almost seems as if men are trying to delude women into believing that they are empowered. It is almost as if a child is being hushed by letting him believe that he is grown up and independent when, in fact, he is neither.

Popular athletes, when asked about whether women should also play sports, have blatantly suggested that women’s roles are to be restricted to the kitchen. Our beloved Junaid Jamshed has gone as far as to say that women should not drive. When these celebrities, that the masses look up to, make such absurd remarks, they promote patriarchy in a society that is already plagued by gender inequality.

The fundamental error lies in the fact that the world in general, and the Muslim community in specific, go on about how women are the backbone of any society, how women are to be empowered and how women are given the highest of ranks in society, yet they fail to allow these claims to materialize.

Paradise lies under the feet of a mother, yet her testimony in court is half as reliable as that of a man’s. Goddesses are all powerful, yet a woman is to be burned alive if her husband dies. A virgin gave birth to a miracle baby, yet prophethood can only be bestowed upon men.

Every religion comes to a point where, in order to remain relevant in the modern world, some old practices and beliefs need to be altered. Certain communities have already started doing that as a result of which not only are they allowed to follow their religion in peace but are also appreciated for transforming the violent elements present in religion into peaceful ones. It is, perhaps, time that the Muslim community realized that about its treatment of women too since the Muslim world has started attracting more criticism than ever before.