In this op-ed, women’s rights activist Shahnaz Taplin-Chinoy makes the excellent point that Islam has always provided excellent female role models – from the Prophet’s first wife, Khadijah, who was a successful businesswoman to today, with women like Zainah Anwar, a dedicated Malaysian lawyer who is a “tenacious fighter” for the legal rights of women in her home-country and the founder of Sisters In Islam (SIS). And it is not the faith, itself, that is what is holding some women back, and has to do with local and cultural issues.
Ms. Taplin-Chinoy notes that Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak recently asserted: “Those who argue against educating women do so as a result of a cultural bias, one which frustrates the aspirations of Muslim women — and holds back economies.”
