How I celebrate March 8 as a Muslim woman?

It’s saturday. I’m glad it is. It is the only day that I have time to rest in every week of our calendar. I wake up early still. Spend at least 5-minute time to pray, then execute some crunches to stay fit (to tone my abdomen). Then sleep again till 10am. That’s my usual routine every Saturday (if I don’t have business to tender).

Islam liberates women from ignorance – there are enumerable rights of women in Islam that women activists and feminists are still fighting for until now. It is education in Islamic teaching which is very significant to open the door from ignorance to freedom.

And today is somewhat special. Today is March 8. It’s Women International Day. In every corner of the world, women celebrate their day in various and different ways. Some spend time in the streets and roads to picket and demonstrate against the President of the Philippines (I saw it in national television flash report). Others are tackling issues affecting women over radio, tv, and print (my friends in ISIS-Women International with AMARC are one of those proactively doing this). My colleagues in Oxfam marched inside the office yesterday calling everyone to celebrate women’s day today. It was so great! Real fun!

Some women I know greet other women and friends. Many, like rural women who doesn’t know this special day, continue to work hard for family’s living. Unfortunately, some women might be oppressed right now in many ways – battered, harrassed, suppressed emotions, no food, struggling to survive from conflict, or forced marriage.

Mine, I simply celebrate it today by reading a book. It is entitled “The Ideal Muslimah” by Muhammad Ali Al-Hashimi. It is a book quoting verses in the Holy Qur’an and Sunnah the true Islamic personality of the Muslim Woman.

By instinct, I browsed directly to chapter of “Muslim Woman and Her Husband” with subcontent on Marriage in Islam. It is a big thing for me to know how Islam defines my right as woman in marriage. Because there are many cases of women falling into trap of forced marriage by their parents and ends disastrous. Mostly, these are the women who don’t have enough education on their rights in Islamic faith. And I fear to be one of them. So I continue reading and learning in the best way I can to learn and learn my Faith.

From the book, I learned that, I made no mistake of choosing the person I want to marry. Quoting the book “Islam does not want to impose an unbearable burden on women by forcing them to marry a man they dislike, because it wants marriages to be successful, based on compatibility between partners; there should be common grounds between them in terms of physical looks, attitudes, habits, inclinations, and aspirations.”

I also read in the book an example of a similar situation I am going through. A non-Muslim man wants to marry a Muslim woman. The non-Muslim man Abu Talhah offers luxury as dowry to the Muslim woman Umm Sulaym bint Milhaan. But the Umm Sulaym is firmed not to accept it. Abu Talhah asked her why she keeps on resisting him to marry. The Umm Sulaym answered “Abu Talhah, do you not know that your god whom you worship was carved by the carpenter slave of so-and-so? If you were to set it alight, it would burn.” And it shocked Abu Talhah and rethinks if Lord does burn. That was the start when he utters worship to oneness of Allah and Muhammad is His sealed Prophet.

She married Abu Talhah when he embraced Islam. She knew that she did not only win herself a worthy husband, but she also earned a reward from Allah that was better than owning dowry such as red camels in this world. Umm Sulaym heard the Prophet says:

“If Allah were to guide one person to Islam through you, it is better for you than owning red camels.”

That is also a case of mine. However, obstructions from family’s pride, reputation, and tradition are my struggle as a woman for the meantime. The Muslim scholar I asked for a counsel adviced that there is no other means of breaking the barriers, but Islam.

I believe in it. I believe it will help me to overcome my struggle to still have my family, to nurture my own family, and to keep my Faith. Maybe, this case is not only true to me. But also true to many in my homeland Mindanao. I fear that one day that the Islamic teachings will be alienated by the existing traditional practices in each culture. I will pray hard that it won’t happen.

Rights education for women whether they are Muslim, Christian, Protestant, or whatever race, colour, and ethnicities is one of the priorities to live in a world where women are agent for change, justice, prosperity, and tranquility.

It is me. My way of celebrating March 8 with all the women in the world!

: : : : : : : : : : :