KYRGYZSTAN TODAY Policy briefs on - Department of Geography

Daniyar Muradilov,
Research Fellow, Institute of Strategic Research,
Kyrgyz Russian Slavic University,
Expert in Theology
Righteous Woman: Blessing of This World!
The Prophet Muhammad said:
‘’All of this world is a utility
and the best utility is a righteous wife’’.
The process of an active revival of religion has recently been evident. The number of
believers among youths is increasing, and many believers are women. In this context, the
question of religion’s attitude toward woman becomes topical. Of particular importance
is the question of women’s place in society.
One view holds that there is some contradiction between the principles of religious
regulation of a woman’s life and her desire to achieve equality in modern society. In my
view, the main reasons for that view are stereotypes that prevail in today’s world about
women in general and women in Islam in particular.
The conflicting trends in the modern worldinclude the clash of Western and Oriental
traditions and resistance to Westernization of cultures and traditionalism in the East.
Those trends have also affected the distribution of social and family roles between man
and woman, as well as women’s place in society.
As part of the process of historical development, in every nation the views of women
have changed depending on her social situation and social dependence, which perhaps
stem from economic, political or religious dependence. The status [see 2] of women
have been both high and low.
Context and Importance of the Problem
Public interest in gender issues in Europe and the U.S.A. emerged around the mid-
1960s [7]. Today the wave of this interest has reached us. In the West, this interest later
evolved into a broad interdisciplinary research area. Research in that area are based
mainly on the material of European and American cultures [7]. However, it should be
noted that every nation has its own view of the place and role of woman in society, and
her situation has a specificity that depends on various factors.
At this time in Kyrgyzstan, a problem of “Westernization” is found in all spheres
of life, including gender issues. Westernization has brought “feminist” stereotypes
about women to the East. There have also been attempts to assess an Eastern woman
by Western standards [8]. An example is the stereotype that the most important thing
in the life of a girl is a giddy career, using all the arsenal of sexual attractiveness and
stunning appearance, has been increasingly spread. The media and glamour couturiers
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