Muslim Women’s Group Meets with Ellison, Carson

Community News - Community News

Written by Amalia Rehman Muslim Link Contributing Writer

Thursday, 23 July 2009 12:03

Set in an intimate meeting room, in the bowels of Capital Hill, both Andre Carson and Keith Ellison, the two Muslim Congressmen on Capitol Hill, expressed words of high expectation for the legal ladies of the women’s organization Karamah who the Congressmen met with on Friday July 17, 2009.

The Karamah group consisted of “twenty- five amazing and inspirational women” as described by Sister Lubabah Abdullah, the event coordinator.

Karamah is an organization of female lawyers whose primary concern is global human rights. Each summer they hold a series of workshops and bring together women from around the world who are struggling in their community to make a difference. Part of the summer program was this meeting with Andre Carson and Keith Ellison. This summer the group consisted of seven Belgians, two Egyptians, one Saudi, two Bengalis, two Afghanis, seven Americans and two Canadians. Among the attendees was Ilyassah Shabbaz, the daughter of Malcolm X.

Andre Carson referred to women as “future rulers of the world.”

“Look at Hilary Clinton, she almost made it, considering the history of sexism in this country, this was great progress,” said Carson.

Representative Carson referred to himself as “I was raised by women to be a man… but I have sensitivities…” He went on to describe the abuse of women in this country as a taboo subject. “Just a few months ago a women was beheaded by her husband and we don’t hear a word about it. We need women at the forefront in order to change the situation in this country. “

Keith Ellison spoke about how our present society is a global one and that the world needs “urgent actions of women now”. He went on to say, “It is so important that you see yourselves not as just leaders of tomorrow but as leaders of today. There are these fundamental and rudimentary issues such as malaria and clean water [maternal mortality rate at child birth]…they needed to be solved. We have seen women stepping up to the plate and devoting themselves to causes such as the prevention of [maternal mortality rate]. For example we now have midwives in areas where there are no doctors…”

Congressman Ellison continued, “[We need to] help elevate the feminine personality with the male personality so that the world will be in balance.”

The women of the Karamah group talked openly about the barriers they face in their efforts to work in their communities with the enthusiasm that youth lends to all subjects. Sister Ihsane, who is working on a Master in Management Sciences in Belgium, stated, “Women in Belgium get less pay even in Beligum where women’s rights are well developed. You have to make yourself better. You have to have confidence. You have to expect that you will be evaluated on an individual basis [on your own merit].”

A Karamah associate named Prianka who studies economics in Bangladesh stated, “The hijab is criticized very much in Bangladesh. It is seen as extremist. It is viewed in a discriminating way. [These women] have the lowest pay and the worst positions. But someway or another women always win.”

Sister Dua, a law student from Canada, commented “There has been a recent debate about reasonable accommodation [in Canada] and the main focus was women with hijab. The issue was about people professing their religion in public places. The idea was to limit the wearing of the hijab in certain professions like law, police, education, etc. This debate brought Muslim groups and women in general out to protest. Although it was very negative in its origin and in the back of your mind you think that it could turn out like France, the communication brought out awareness in the general community so it turned out to be a good thing.”

Rahila is a political science student from Afghanistan. She also spends her free time teaching Afghan women how to read and write. She commented, “There is a profound problem in Afghanistan. The problem is the misunderstanding between religion and culture. Many women have accepted that they are not as good as men. They are brainwashed and believe it is their duty to be second class citizens. The biggest problem I have in teaching is to convince these women that they deserve to be educated. It is very common in my village that if a woman serves dinner fifteen minutes late she is beaten. So now, non-Muslims see this as Islam, not just culture.”

Nancy, a diplomacy and International Relations student from New Jersey, commented that Karamah brings women together and we learn about women’s roles in other countries. “This really puts things in perspective… It has been inspirational to see women facing such barriers and having persevered.”