Equity and Peace: No Individual Stands Alone Nahid Angha, Ph.D

Equality & Peace

No Individual Stands Alone Nahid Angha, Ph.D.

Nature in her wisdom and intellect has selected male-sperm and female-egg as equal partners for the continuation of human life. Further, in that great scope of life, nature has entrusted the female species with that life, and granted her the potentiality to receive, to hold, to grow, to give birth, and to care for the generations of humankind; and, thus, become the mother of all humanity.

However when equal partnership and the great scope of life fall into the dimensions of cultures, religions and political ideologies, the scenario may change most of the time.

When that equal partnership falls into the dimensions of religions, what we begin to practice has not much to do with the teachings of those great teachers of religions.

If the recorded history is accurate, Moses, who was raised in the pharaoh’s royal family, having the same lifestyle and probably following the same Egyptian religion as pharaoh, accepted and followed his mother’s religion when he found her; he leaves the life of power and luxury behind and travels to his mother’s promise land. However, when we come across some of the old Jewish prayers, we may be surprised to hear: praise be to the Lord, our God, who has not created me a woman.

In a most difficult environment, Mary gives birth to Jesus. She nourishes, educates and plants the seed of spirituality and morality in his heart. However, we continuously praise the Father, and even though the mother is holy, she cannot compete with the Father figure. We honor male disciples of Jesus but hardly mention the significance of Mary Magdalene, a female disciple of the same teacher.

Muhammad was raised by a single mother (Ameneh) 1400 years ago in Arabia. When he begins his prophecy he immigrates to Yathrib, the birthplace of his mother. He calls Yathrib, Madinat-al-Nabi, the City of the Prophet; the Illuminated Medina; the City of Light; and Yathrib/Medina becomes one of the three most important cities in the world of Islam. His generation continues through his daughter; he remains one of the most powerful advocates and supporters of women’s rights and equality. Yet those historical records hardly became the foundations of equality in Muslim lands.

When nature’s equal partnership falls into the dimensions of political ideologies, women have to fight for their rights, whether rights to vote, to equal pay, to land ownership, to financial freedom, and more. In one land a woman is demoted from her position as judge to a simple

lawyer, and in another land a woman judge is fired for upholding the law and standing against the dictate of a male authority.

Yet we cannot and should not underestimate the contributions of women to the advancements of our civilizations. Previous United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, said that women had proved instrumental in “building bridges rather than walls.” They had also been crucial in preserving social order when communities collapsed.

There are many examples of women’s leadership roles implementing peace, education and equal rights that sometimes remain unnoticed. Liberian women, for example, stopped civil war in their homeland and brought their nation to order and peace; Egyptian women challenged the traditions of educating boys but not girls, and initiated the education of girls; Brazilian women changed policies to benefit women’s equality; Swedish, Italian and Mexican women have been working hard to initiate and change the journey from gender gap to gender dialogue; women from Syria, the Netherlands and Bangladesh emphasize the role of spirituality as a source of strength. We hear the voices of women from Venezuela, Uganda, Kenya, and Cameroon advocating for health and equal rights to education and to land ownership – voices that have brought successful and positive changes in policies.

From Iranian women who walked for women’s rights to vote, to women of color who stood against racial oppression and Algerian women who were instrumental in Algeria’s nationalism movement, from the political role of women in India, to the role of American women changing the traditional idea of women and the idea of women as political leaders, women have worked for change. Women have been the torchbearers of peace in Palestinian and Israeli; they have joined forces and advocated for peace. Women in politics, in cultures, in religions, often unseen, are bringing peace to their lands and keeping the door of equality open.

No individual stands alone; we cannot underestimate the strength and determination of the women of our past, who began the journey towards women’s equality long ago, nor should we underestimate the women of the world who continue to keep a peaceful transformation alive in our communities. It is our collective advocacies, our courage, our persistence, and our determination, that has contributed towards universal peace. We have journeyed this road towards equality, accompanying the brave men and women of our past, of our cultures, of our religions, of our family, in the hope of creating a safe passage for the women of future.