|
Women in Iraqi Kurdistan
worry that the wording of the draft charter could
open the way to Sharia law.
In the largely secular Kurdish-dominated north of
Iraq, many women are concerned about references to
Islam in the country’s new draft constitution.
The draft document which was approved by lawmakers
on August 28 includes the provision that Islam, as
the official state religion, is “a basic source of
legislation”.
It also states that “no law can be passed that
contradicts the undisputed rules of Islam.”
Such clauses, say many Kurdish women, who are used
to living in the relatively liberal environment of
the Kurdistan region, could open the door to Islamic
governance.
The constitution was drafted mainly by Shia Arab and
Kurdish politicians, whose political parties took
first and second places respectively in the January
election to the National Assembly.
The document may yet be rejected, if two thirds of
the voters in at least three out of Iraq’s 18
provinces vote against it in a referendum scheduled
for October 15.
Sunni Arabs – who boycotted the January elections
and played a lesser role in the drafting process –
have vowed to do all they can to make sure that
happens, as they feel the wording on federalism, in
particular, will disadvantage them.
But there is also much dissatisfaction with the
document amongst women in Iraqi Kurdistan, albeit
for different reasons.
Ala Talabani, head of the Women’s Empowerment
Organisation in Sulaimaniyah, says her group will
lobby for votes against the constitution, with its
blanket ban on legislation that contradicts Islam.
Dr Awreng Mohamad Qadir, a pediatrician and also a
women’s rights activist, says she is concerned about
the citation of Islam as a basic source of law. “We
are afraid of having a religious state,” she said.
Before the draft was finalised, there was concern
among Iraqi women’s groups that Islam would be named
the principal source of legislation, rather than “a
source”.
“I have got my freedom here in this region,” added
another Kurdish woman, Shireen Osman, “and I will
not allow any law to force me to do something I
don’t like.”
Many women in the region would prefer to see a clear
divide between religion and state.
“There should be a new civil and secular society to
match other communities in the world,” said Sara
Ahmed, a law student at Sulaimaniyah University.
“That would present new opportunities for women to
demonstrate their qualifications and capacity.”
Some in the region, though, welcome a role for Islam
in state affairs.
Amina Kareem, a single mother of six who works as a
cleaner in a hotel, said she knows little about the
constitution. But she hopes that it will help to
address the fact that young women of today have
forgotten many customs of the past.
“I want a religious state to keep our inherited
traditions,” she said.
Samah Samad and Safaa al-Mansoor are IWPR
trainees in Iraq.
www.iwpr.net
Top |
® 