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According to the American stereotype, Muslim women live under oppressive Islamic laws and even more oppressive fathers and husbands. Muslim women have not always had it easy, according to Western critics, but times have changed.
With the exception of a few select societies, Muslim women typically are not oppressed or forced to wear a veiled head covering, the "hijab." They are not servants to their husbands and children. People often mistakenly believe Muslim women "...basically have no identity. We follow whatever the man of the house says," said Aya Sasi, a student at the Community College of Denver.
"That's totally wrong, we are second-year college students and we have bigger goals in life," said Marziya Kaka, a Metro State student. "Muslim women are able to go to school, go to work and have a social life."
Around the seventh century, the Prophet Muhammad revealed the faith of Islam to Arabia. At the time, women in Arabia endured very harsh treatment, which improved significantly after the faith of Islam was introduced.
"Historically, we should all realize that the rights granted to women in the Holy Qur'an, were a vast improvement in comparison to the situation of women in Arabia, prior to the advent of Islam," said Dr. Amin Kazak, Professor of Political Science at CU-Denver.
Another controversial issue regarding Muslim women is the practice of women wearing the veiled head covering. A common misconception held by Westerners is that Islamic men force all Islamic women to be covered from head to toe. In fact, this practice is not clearly stated in the Holy Qur'an, which consists of many messages that are largely misinterpreted and taken out of context by Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
"In Islam, the scarf or the veil is a sign of modesty for women. What people do not know is that men also have to be modest and have to cover to a certain degree. But, women cover to a higher degree because they have more beautiful features. The veil represents modesty," Sasi said.
Further, the Prophet Muhammad believed every religion has a specific characteristic and that "modesty" would represent Islam.
"The veil is a part of my life; I started wearing the scarf when I was nine years old. When I go into a meeting, a conference, or somewhere, people accept who I am, they say, 'Oh, she's a Muslim woman' . . . so I am easily recognized. I am not just another woman walking on the street. I am a Muslim woman walking on the street," said Kaka.
"But we don't mind that label; we want to be recognized as Muslim women," Sasi said.
Kaka added: "We're proud of who we are, and in a way it also helps with relationships; people come and ask us who we are and we really get out there in the community. People see us not just as women, but women with the scarf. It's not a wall anymore; it opens doors."
Living in an Islamic society is far different from life in America. Having lived in Kenya for the majority of her life, Kaka moved to America just three years ago.
"The main difference is back home it's so natural for you wear scarves, it's a Muslim environment. When you walk down the street you see women with their veils, you see men with their long dresses and their caps. When I came to America, it was a totally different culture," she said.
Although she grew up in the United States, Sasi adheres to her Muslim upbringing and visits her family in Libya annually.
In 1975, the illiteracy rate among women in Iran was 90 percent in rural areas and more than 45 percent in towns. Numbers now show the literacy rate nationwide for girls between the ages of 15 and 24 has risen to 97 percent. For the first time, female students outnumber male students in the state universities.
Kaka and Sasi are involved in numerous campus and community organizations. Kaka is th
e Vice President of Diversity for Metro State Student Government, an active member of the Afghan Students Association, and on the Volunteer Board of the Office of Student Media. Both women are members of the Muslim Student Association (MSA) at Auraria and the organization Muslim Intent on Learning and Activism (MILA).
"We're pretty active in our communities, we participate in panel discussions, we just volunteered for the 9-News Health Fair," Kaka said.
"We do it out of love, because we love to do these things, not because we have to or because we are on a mission to tell people who we are. It just happens naturally," Sasi said. "In the media we've been vilified and made into monsters or like poor little oppressed women, when we are not. Our men are not terrorists, our women are not oppressed," Sasi said. "Sure there is a handful of them, but that does not represent the entire Muslim nation; there are over a billion of us in the world."
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