The novel Tales from the thousand and One Nights is a large collection of different stories that consists of fables,fairy tales, legends, adventure tales, parables, morality tales, etc. The novel has been translated from Arabic to English. The book that I am reading is Dawoods edition which is a much shorter version of the much longer versions. The tales consist of Indian, Persian and Arabian roots. They say it goes back to the Sassanid Kings predating the rise of Islam. The stories in a thousand and one nights are inspirations for other works through the centuries. Some of the things inside the tales is going to help me relate to the novels that I am going to read about the treatment of Muslim women in different regions.
Muslim Women
OH YESS!!! We are going to learn about the true beauty of women behind their veils.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Tales from the Thousand and One nights
The novel Tales from the thousand and One Nights is a large collection of different stories that consists of fables,fairy tales, legends, adventure tales, parables, morality tales, etc. The novel has been translated from Arabic to English. The book that I am reading is Dawoods edition which is a much shorter version of the much longer versions. The tales consist of Indian, Persian and Arabian roots. They say it goes back to the Sassanid Kings predating the rise of Islam. The stories in a thousand and one nights are inspirations for other works through the centuries. Some of the things inside the tales is going to help me relate to the novels that I am going to read about the treatment of Muslim women in different regions.
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The story starts off by introducing us to a Sassanid King who lived in the lands of India and China. He had two sons who inherited his kingdoms. One of the sons Shahriyar wanted to go see his brother Shahzaman. He started to leave but went back to his house because he had forgotten the present that was for his brother. So he went back to find his wife in the arms of a black slave. He killed his wife and his slave. Then he went to his brothers and the same thing was happening to his brother with his wife. From that day on he made an oath saying he would sleep with a different virgin a night. After it happened there was no more virgins but one. Then Dunyazad, the girl who started to distract the king of sleeping with other girls started to tell him a different story a night. This then took place for a thousand and one nights.
In the tales we see how they portray women as the ones who are unfaithful to their husbands. The women call themselves the slaves. For example from the book, her women will plead with me, saying: "Our lord and master, here stands your wife, your slave, waiting for you to honor her with a gracious look." they will kiss the ground before me. (63) This is how men back then and even in some countries today look at the women. The men think that they are the only ones who are in control. This book also makes the women the ones who are cunning, cruel individuals. They make the men the ones who are better than the women. This connects with how societies are like the men in the tales. In some of the Arab countries the women are not allowed to do as they please, have an education, or leave the house alone. Most of the women are forced to cover themselves and are not allowed to choose to wear the Hijab, which is what God has asked them to do. Other countries like China, America, and Latin America have also treated women to be less and unequal to men. In America the women here were viewed as only to get married and take care of their families. They were not allowed to go out and work. Today the women are allowed to work but our country is still covering up the truth of how women are still unequal to men. In the work force woman could have the same job as a man but are paid less than them. We also tend to see only the women wearing less and less clothes (like Jessica Wong had mentioned in her comment) to have to look good for everybody while the men just sit around and not do anything. They don't have to shave their legs, are not called anything if they have been with more than one women, or are viewed as the weak ones. If a woman or girl has been with more than one man they are called "sluts" or "whores". This doesn't fall only happen in America but in every other country. Why don't we see women as presidents of dictators? The reason is because people tend to say that women are not emotionally unfit for a tough job as being the ruler or president of a country. They think that we will be too emotional to handle the power and the problems that happen in ruling a country. In China women are treated differently as well. Back then the women were supposed to bind their feet because the men thought it was attractive for women to have small feet. The women had to struggle through so much pain just to make the men happy. When do you hear about any man struggling to make women happy? The answer to that is NEVER. Also, I learned that if Chinese women were born with a girl they had to get rid of it and keep trying to have a baby until they have a boy. They did this because the boys are the ones who will stay with the family and never leave them while the girls are the ones who will leave their family and not be useful. These tales show us how women were treated and viewed back then. We start to relate those tales and look at the differences between the past societies and today’s societies.
1,001 Nights is a book about fairy tales. It's not going to prepare you for what the average Muslim woman goes through; it's a book about idealistically-portrayed aristocracy.
If you're preparing yourself for reading about Muslim women, I suggest Jasmine and Stars: Reading past Lolita in Tehran, by Fatemeh Keshavarz. Although she concentrates on Iranian women, her points are applicable to a wide range of books that claim to speak for Muslim women now. I also suggest Edward Said's Orientalism.
Also, about the slave comment, I just have to point something out. In Middle Eastern culture, the term "slave" is seen as a courtesy-related term when applied to people, or a devotional term when applied to religion. It is seen as a GOOD thing to be God's slave, and it is seen as a polite thing to tell someone, "I'm your slave." It doesn't literally mean "I will work for you in bondage and without pay," the way it means in the west.
I appreciate the feminist lens you've put on 1,001 nights. But there is also an ancient cultural lens that you're missing!
The story of Sassanid is really interesting and I'm compelled to go read it. But here's a few things you might want to touch upon.
Why did God ask the women of Islam to wear the Hijab? What were the reprecussions of not wearing one? At what age was it mandatory for a girl to start wearing it?
Do you think that making women cover up shows society's preoccupation with sex and sex appeal because they hide bauty in order to not be tempted about it? If true, what does it say about society?
I'll come back soon to see how thigns are going. Try and narrow your focus just a little and develop your assertions just a little more. Otherwise, great start!
Hii everyone!!!
Okay, now to answer chelle's questions.
The Qur'an lays down the principle of the law of modesty. In Surah 24: An-Nur: 30 and 31, modesty is enjoined both upon Muslim men and Muslim women:
Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: that will make for Greater purity for them: And God is Well-acquainted with all that they do. And say to the believing women That they should lower their gaze And guard their modesty: and they should not display beauty and ornaments expect what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that They must draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husband's fathers, their sons, their husband's sons, or their women, or their slaves whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their ornaments.
"The Quarns views on society is that the social and moral values have to be upheld by both Muslim men and women. There also must be justice for all;(Between man and man and man and women). The Quarn regarding women is to protect them from unlimited polygamy, killing small infants, being molested, etc. This did how ever all happen in the pre- Islamic Arabia."
"the main purpose is to establish to equality of man and woman in the sight of God who created them both in like manner, from like substance, and gave to both the equal right to develop their own potentialities. To become a free, rational person is then the goal set for all human beings. Thus the Qur'an liberated the women from the indignity of being sex-objects into persons. In turn the Qur'an asks the women that they should behave with dignity and decorum befitting a secure, Self-respecting and self-aware human being rather than an insecure female who felt that her survival depends on her ability to attract or cajole those men who were interested not in her personality but only in her sexuality."
This is all from Islamfortoday.com
(YOU SHOULD LOOK INTO THIS WEBSITE WHEN YOU HAVE A CHANCE)
To answer the question it is true because it says that society, especially today only looks at peoples sexuality. We see it in the movies, tv, and advertisments. It's everywhere!!! Which causes our society to only look at one thing; sexuality. It's rare these days with people only looking at who the person is. But when you wear the hijab you are covering your body and that person is actually getting to know who you are inside which shows that they really know you and if its someone for example a male. You know that when he says he loves you he must mean it because he knows who you are. (He didn't have to have sex with you, see how your body looks, etc. just to like or love you). Which I believe is so much better than having to look good everyday just to please people that only want you for one thing.
I'm not really sure why Allah has asked women of Islam to wear the hijab or what the repercussions were if they did not wear it. I will though research more about it and get back to that question soon.
This is it for now. I hope it helps a little. If not please ask.
Farrah ;)
P.S. Thanks :)
I also, know that the required age to wear the hijab is 9 years old or when a girl goes through puberty.
Your last post cleared up a lot! Thank you for that.
I see where you're coming from when you say that the idea of wearing the hijab is a good one because it gets rid of most of the focus on a woman's sexuality. We could probably use some modesty laws in our own culture to get rid of the idea that women should be viewed for only one thing. In today's society, the belief is that appearance is what's important; the focus isn't on what lies inside a person or the person's personality/heart.
A lot of cultures have traditions that start on the onset of puberty. It might be worthwhile to look into these and compare them to the Islamic traditions to find similarities or differences.
What is the most interesting part of the culture to you? What made you initially want to do this as your project?
I'm glad that I helped you understand the religion better. I went and made sure before I gave you an answer about the repercausions and I found out that you will get a punishment from God if you don't wear the hijab. No one knows exactly what the punishment is because it will be decided when judgment day comes for that person.
And I have to agree with you if society was more like that we would have less people worrying about how they look and focus more on life itself.
What I think is the most interesting part of my culture is our five pillars.
1.Faith or belief in the Oneness of God and the finality of the prophethood of Muhammad 2.Establishment of the daily prayers
3. Concern for and almsgiving to the needy
4. Self-purification through fasting
5. The pilgrimage to Makkah for those who are able.
My favorate out of the pillars is Ramadan because it brings my family together and shows my self restraintent from not only food but to swearing, listening to music, etc.
What made me initially want to do this project was growth of love towards my religion this past year. I've always done most of the things my religion has asked but not really had an understanding of why other than to show my love for Allah. Reading these books are also going to help me understand my religions past and help me learn more about the Muslim women in other countries.
Farrah ;)
There are a lot of parallels to the Christian religion and I like your 5 pillars too. Christianity asks those of a certain age to fast during Lent (time before Easter) and to abstain from eating meat on every friday of the holiday. I don't know anyone that really fasts for it though and I was never asked or told to. I just knew that it meant no cheeseburgers or steaktips on Fridays.
Christianity also has the last judgement of sins. It's really cool to see how religions can be so much alike.
Yea it is really cool how all religions are alike. Well in the the Muslim relgion we are not allowed to eat pork or any non-Kohsur meat because its a sin.
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