In the traditional interpretation of Islam in South Africa, people usually believe that a pious woman is serving and obedient, stays at home, and doesn’t rock the boat; meaning she does not instigate change. But where did this attitude come from?

About 20 years ago, the situation surrounding Muslim women was very different to what we have now. If a woman worked, she was not allowed to wear hijab. Women were generally unable to demand their Islamic rights. So the women who worked were those who were forced to by necessity (poverty) or those who didn’t mind compromising their Islamic values. This made the Muslim society, including men, feel aversion toward women working and leaving the house—it was seen as parallel to losing one’s Islamic identity and values. As time passed, the gap between working Muslim women who compromised their Islamic identity and values, and women who stayed at home and wore hijab, widened.

Ten years ago, during that period before freedom, the Muslim women in my community wanted to start an Islamic school. I was part of the committee. I was not wearing hijab at that time and I was working. This was my first time to work on a committee in the Muslim community and work alongside women who wore hijab. The main differences between these two groups were that the Muslim women who stayed at home and wore hijab knew more about the religion and their Islamic rights, but not so much about the world. These women did more charity work. The working women were financially independent and experienced in life, but they lacked knowledge of the religion and were usually too busy to do a lot of charity work. The result was that both groups benefited from each other.

It was noticeable that the women who were educated and who mixed more in society were also more confident and able to speak in public, express themselves clearly, and present their case. Even among the housewives, it became apparent that most of the women, from both groups, did not really understand the extent of their rights in Islam and had been conditioned to be quiet, apathetic, and in the background. These attitudes came from lack of education. Most women didn’t read books or attend lectures where they could improve and develop themselves.

Most of the women, myself included, learned whatever we knew about Islam by attending the madrasah after school every day. The madrasah was organized by the community, and children attended for a few hours everyday after regular school. It was a time to meet friends and learn the basics of the religion, but sadly, what was lacking was the knowledge and skills of how to put Islam into practice in our everyday lives. A lot of cultural, traditional-based interpretations of knowledge were passed down through the parents and imams in the madrasah. It did, however, serve a great purpose in maintaining the teachings of Islam throughout many generations, but the understanding was limited and often failed to teach us how to view Islam as a world view.

Some of the old attitudes toward working women remain; that is, the more pious a woman is, the more she stays at home. The moderate view is more often than not missed, in that women can be active in the community and still maintain their interest in their houses. The two do not necessarily have to be contradictory.

These days, we see the emergence of more and more Islamic institutions, colleges, and so on, for men and for women. Things are changing, and Muslim women are becoming more educated in religion as well as in everyday life knowledge. At last, Muslim women and men are beginning to realize that they can combine the two.

Now the society in South Africa is open, so people are free to have their identity. A Muslim woman can work, be educated, have a voice, give of herself, and give to society. The government in South Africa accommodates working women and has passed laws that companies must employ a certain number of women.

Now there is no stigma attached to Muslim women working, because they can work and practice Islam freely. The problem is that there are some women who don’t want to practice Islam, and they often make things difficult for those who do want to practice the deen. For example, many Muslim women want to take time off to attend the Friday Prayer, but non-practicing women don’t, so employers are often confused. Also, nowadays, if a Muslim woman practices Islam—she prays, fasts, wears hijab, and so on—she is sometimes seen as a fundamentalist and perhaps a terrorist, which reflects the general misunderstanding of people regarding Islam.

Generally, South African society tends to be nonjudgmental, but the media has had a great impact on people’s thinking and on the emergence of stereotypes. Traditionally, Muslims are respected in South African society as trusted and moral members of the community, but now, with growing media bias, this positive attitude is at risk. To maintain this positive attitude, both Muslim men and women must be involved in identifying the mistakes that are being made and fixing them. It is necessary to break out of the patriarchal, traditionalist, isolationist mentality concerning women and encourage and facilitate Muslim girls to be educated in every way—Islam and everyday knowledge.

This is necessary because, as a counselor, I found that when counseling married couples, the women didn’t know their Islamic rights and the men could easily manipulate them. This kind of manipulation is not restricted to the home; it is also present in the mosque. Here is a real situation I heard about some time ago.

Traditionally in South Africa, money in the mosques is given by private donors; there is no central agency that controls the funds. Every mosque has its own bank account. The Muslim women in this particular area wanted to open a bank account for the educational part of the mosque, which was separate from the imam’s salary, electricity bills, and so on. The women were the ones who were doing the fund-raising and they were the ones who were buying the books and equipment for the youth and children, but the women couldn’t buy these things without the permission of the men and this took up a lot of time.

So finally, after much negotiation, the women said they would resign if the men didn’t lighten up—this would mean no more fund-raising. The men backed down, the women got their own bank account, fund-raising continued, books and equipment were purchased, and programs for the youth and children were developed at a quicker pace. The women gave in a monthly report of all activities and expenditure to the men’s committee, so the amount of trust and consultation developed.

After some time, the women found that it was difficult having to run to the bank all the time when there were always so many demands on them, so eventually the women and men joined together and cooperated to have their own accounts under the name of the same Islamic organization. The consequence of this was that the brothers were pleased to help and go to the bank and do the tedious tasks, and that saved the women a lot of time and energy. The Muslim men and women learned to work as a team. It took two years to reach this stage, but it was worth it.

There is a lot of work to do in the Muslim community. If Muslim men and women can learn to cooperate and pool resources, expertise, experience, and so on, a great deal of good can be done.

More facilities for convert women are needed so they can learn about Islam in a clear, non-cultural way. New Muslim women need to know their rights and duties so as not to be targeted and mistreated. If a Muslim woman has a certain level of knowledge and her husband demands something unreasonable and un-Islamic, then she will know what’s right and wrong, and she can do something positive. We have far to go. In Cape Town, out of 15 mosques, only three have convert classes, yet there are many people turning to Islam every day.

Islam is being studied in schools in South Africa and there is a lot of work to do to put together curricula and send out properly qualified teachers. Such work requires coordination and consultation between men and women.

Premarital classes have begun in certain parts of South Africa, where the soon-to be-married couple learn about each other’s rights and duties and receive tips on marital life.

In conclusion, I pray that Allah the Most Merciful will bless the men and women of the Ummah and open our hearts to each other as servants of Allah. May He remove our ignorance and pride and replace it with true knowledge, humility, and sincerity to serve Him, to serve mankind.