By Seeme Hasan
(Editor’s Note: Mrs. Seeme Hasan is filling in this week for her daughter, Asma Gull Hasan, weekly Link columnist. Seeme will occasionally fill in for Asma, and both of them invite you to submit your questions to them about women’s issues and mother/daughter questions to asmaauthor@aol.com).
The day Benazir Bhutto covered her head with white dupatta in 1989, I went into a state of mourning. Thousands of miles away, sitting in Southern Colorado, I was feeling the pain of the women’s struggle, which was dying a slow and painful death back in Pakistan. I was angry that the contributions of women like my grandmother Begum G.A. Khan and my aunt Sahibzadi Mehmooda Begum were slowly being disintegrated at the stroke of Benazir’s wrists that placed the veil on her head. These women, and others, had struggled before Pakistan was made and especially after 1947 to raise the quality of life of the Muslim women of Pakistan. Now women’s role would be defined by whether or not they paid homage to the rules of acceptable dress.
Did Benazir sell out the cause of women, in exchange for votes from tribal men? Or did she wear the veil to expedite funding to her political campaigns from certain conservative agenda-pushing parties? Maybe her upbringing in a feudal environment with her family’s power and money was more important than women’s rights. Whatever the reason, the cause of sisterhood suffered. For those who say that I am being too harsh, my initial response would be that I agree. Yet, isn’t the essence of statesman-like leadership to transcend the personal trappings of one’s own experiences in order to elevate those who are unable to take control of their own destinies?
Were it not for the current leader of Pakistan, I would say that such leadership in Pakistan is impossible. Who would have thought an army general, generally regarded by the world as a dictator, would come to the rescue of woman, not just Pakistani women but maybe all Muslim women. With initiative and drive, Musharraf is taking on those Muslims who want to define Islam as a religion of guilt, shame, and oppressing women. The tragedies of September 11 empowered two men, beyond previously imagined, to help Muslim women - General Musharraf and President George W. Bush. No head of a Muslim country has been bold enough to challenge the extremist Muslim definition of the word jihad or to question the motives of power-hungry clerics or to explain Islam based on its true text and not hearsay the way Musharraf has. No other head of a non-Muslim country has done similar acts the way Bush has. Except for these two and a few others, most Muslim heads of state are, like Benazir Bhutto, working hard to preserve their positions. They have no regard or thoughts about 50% of their population: women. Even though two years ago, Bush did not know Musharraf’s name, he has now become practically his best friend, talking almost daily.
General Musharraf is an answer to the prayers of women all over the Muslim world. From his pulpit, of a Muslim country that is making every effort to join the international community and be a part of the new millennium, he has become a leader to listen to. His voice will reach the masses, erasing the memory of Bhutto’s white dupatta. General Musharraf will help empower Pakistani and all Muslim women by his emphasis on the exact Qur’anic text. Muslim women have equal rights under the Qur’an. As General Musharraf has agreed to grant more seats in the National Assembly to women, he can also put forth the correct view that women under Islam are not required to wear the white color of mourning or any fabric on their head for that matter. He can bring us back to the point that what is important is not what is on a women’s head but what is inside it. Let’s bring the Muslim women from the basements and balconies of mosques back to the main level and back to Islam. After all, when we visit the house of God in Mecca, women stand shoulder to shoulder with men, in commemoration of God’s oneness and unity. And after all, if General Musharraf can manage to change the image of the words “military dictator”, he can certainly help out his sisters and re-invigorate what Islam really stands for. From Algeria to Atlanta, from Sweden to Singapore, women are buried under the weight of the wrong Islam. It will take a military dictator to lift that weight so we Muslim women can climb out.
To read more about Seeme Hasan, see her daughter, Asma Gull Hasan’s book, American Muslims: The New Generation. Seeme is also the Chair of the Hasan Family Foundation and serves on the board of The Groton School and HealthTrio.