The mission of the U.S. Army’s Human Terrain System (HTS) is to fill sociocultural knowledge gaps in order to expand the knowledge base and frame of reference in which courses of action and subsequent orders are being developed. More detailed and timely awareness of cultural dimensions within a community or area may help to refine and focus the target sets of planned operations, and perhaps surface potential non-lethal approaches to problem resolution that formerly—without detailed cultural knowledge—might not have been evident.
I worked as a Social Scientist for a Human Terrain Team (HTT) in Kapisa Province, Afghanistan from June 2010 to June 2011, conducting sociocultural research for French Command Task Force LaFayette (TFLF) and its supporting United States’ Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT).
While I was working in Kapisa Province, the PRT became interested in understanding the Afghan woman’s perspectives and concerns on economic development, governance, and security issues. In Afghanistan, women constitute approximately 49 percent of Afghanistan’s population, but were not fully engaged by Coalition Forces (CF) in the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom. To effectively understand Afghan women, CF decided to reach out to and cooperate, with women throughout Afghanistan when feasible. Understandably, there has been resistance among CF to interact with women due to cultural norms. In certain Afghan societies, it is taboo for foreign men to approach Afghan women and not permissible to build a platonic working relationship with women. As a result, ad hoc Female Engagement Teams (FETs) were developed and used to interact and work with local Afghan women prior to August 2011. FETs have enabled CF to comprehend the positive and negative dynamics of operations through the eyes of Afghan women.
Learning about and working with Afghan women became the focal point for the Human Terrain Team (HTT) and PRT in Kapisa Province. On a personal level, as a social scientist and as a Muslim woman raised and educated in the western world, I was extremely interested in Tajik Muslim women’s societal roles, responsibilities, and obligations in Nijrab District based on Quranic Surahs and Hadiths. Tajiks are the second largest ethnic group in Afghanistan, constituting 27.0 percent to 38.1 percent of the population, but are the majority in Kapisa Province. Tajik women were also more accessible and approachable than Pashtun women, who mostly live in Southern Kapisa.
Were the Tajik women actually treated adversely by their male relatives and village elders, as so widely believed in the western world; or were the rights accorded to women in the Holy Quran actually provided for and honored by men primarily practicing the Hanafi School of Islamic Jurisprudence?
To answer these questions, my HTT collaborated with Kapisa’s PRT-FET to reach out to local women. I would like to emphasize that my interaction with Tajik women was limited due to the non-permissive nature of Kapisa, Afghanistan. Security forces always accompanied HTS team members collecting observations, and such security constraints did limit the time available to interview women in the field. These security restrictions coupled with the sensitive nature of interviewing women meant that I was unable to interview a significant number of Tajik women. Therefore, my observations cannot be generalized for all Tajik women throughout Afghanistan and pertain to my personal experience only.
To learn about Tajik women’s roles in Afghanistan, our HTT initiated groundwork by speaking with key female leaders, shuras, and local Afghan women to collect their attitudes and perceptions. In Afghanistan, to obtain accurate and genuine answers, it is important to build strong relationships. Conducting spontaneous surveys or semi-structured interviews of random Afghans walking the streets will generate artificial and superficial answers. It was our experience that the Afghans with which we had not established rapport previous to the interview often told interviewers what they thought the interviewer wanted to know with minimal concern for the truth. However, the greater familiarity and interaction we had with Afghans over time resulted in the conveyance of what we believed were more truthful and genuine responses from Afghans.
The following study focuses on two main issues: 1) a Tajik woman’s opinions and attitudes regarding her roles and responsibilities in the household; and 2) the Qur’anic rights accorded to Muslim women regarding divorce, studied through Qur’anic Surahs (verses) and Hadiths (accounts of the Prophet Mohammad “traceable to his contemporaries or immediate descendants.”) that justify and validate the actions of these women under the authority of Islam.
The team first interviewed the wife of the Chairman of the Development Committee of the Afghan Social Outreach Program (ASOP—also known as Shura Mahali). On the day of the interview, the shura Chairman’s wife, wearing a blue burka, was escorted by her nephew, as it is obligatory under sharia law that women be chaperoned by a male relative in order to safeguard them. Women living in the provinces rarely travel outside their homes alone, unlike their female counterparts in urban centers such as Kabul.
As the interview began the wife lifted the heavy, blue garment that covered her face. She looked older than her stated age, a reflection of the adversity and hardships women face in provincial areas of Afghanistan. The woman appeared petite, fragile, timid, and spoke softly. The nephew’s role was to passively oversee the interview and at times dictate her responses. During the interview, at times when a question was asked, the wife would look at her nephew for approval before answering the question. Despite her nephew’s supervision, it appeared the wife answered most of our questions honestly.
Household Responsibilities
The wife was in charge of household management and delegated chores around the house, whether cooking, cleaning, farming, or taking care of the children. She was the major disciplinarian of her sons and daughters both in and outside the household. She also directed both the personal and professional lives of her sons and daughters, deciding whom they would marry and suggesting career paths.
We decided to also seek a male perspective on women’s roles and responsibilities in the household and the issue of divorce. The authority women exercise in their households became evident during a conversation I had with one of my two male interpreters, a Tajik from Kabul. According to him, in Afghan culture sons are obligated to venerate and obey the directives of their mothers. He emphasized the bond between mothers and sons is undeniably strong, and most children revere their mothers.
An HTS Social Science Research and Analysis (SSRA) report entitled “Women in the Home and Community” supported this, indicating that: “Respondents in most regions of Afghanistan said that women have influence in the home mainly over areas of childrearing and maintaining the home, family health, and cooking. Respondents in Regional Command Capital (RC [C]) said that women also had significant influence in economic matters. In the other regions, few respondents mentioned control over economic issues as a major area of women’s influence in the home. Women appear to have greater influence in the home when they are more educated.”
The Holy Qur’anic Surah 31:14 Luqman, supports this and discusses the importance of children obeying and respecting their parents:
“And we have enjoined on man
(To be good) to his parents: In travail upon travail
Did his mother bear him,
And in years twain
Was his weaning: (hear The command),
‘Show gratitude
To Me and to thy parents;
To Me is (thy final) Goal.”
According to Islamic scholar Mawlana Abdullah Yusuf Ali, the above Surah can simply be translated into: “We must be good to mankind, beginning with our own parents.”
Hadiths further support this, explaining that the obligation of a child to respect and obey his/her mother will facilitate the path to paradise:
“I know of no other deed that brings people closer to Allah than kind treatment and respect towards one's mother.” [Al-Adab al-Mufrad Bukhârî 1/45]
“A man came to the Prophet and said: O Messenger of Allah! Who from amongst mankind warrants the best companionship from me? He replied: "Your mother." The man asked: Then who? So he replied: "Your mother." The man then asked: Then who? So the Prophet replied again: "Your mother." The man then asked: Then who? So he replied: "Then your father." [Sahîh Bukhârî 5971 and Sahîh Muslim 7/2]
“Paradise lies at the feet of your mother.” [Musnad Ahmad, Sunan An-Nasâ’i, Sunan Ibn Mâjah]
Divorce
Another topic of conversation was the right women have to divorce their husbands through the formal and informal justice system in Nijrab District. According to the shura Chairman’s wife, Tajik women often do get divorces if they feel their husbands are mistreating them in accordance with the guidance of the Holy Quran. She stated she had a close relative who successfully obtained a divorce.
The rise in divorces taking place in Nijrab District was repeated by a few shura members, particularly the Chairman of the ASOP’s Security Committee, a passionate and blunt individual. He explained that a woman from his village was abused by her husband, so she divorced him, moved back with her family, and eventually relocated to Kabul to search for a new job and future.
Obtaining a divorce is a right given to women in accordance with the Holy Qur’anic Surah 4:128 Al Nisa:
“If a wife fears
Cruelty or desertion
On her husband’s part,
There is no blame on them
If they arrange
An amicable settlement
Between themselves;
And such settlement is best.”
Islamic scholar Mawlana Abdullah Yusuf Ali interprets this as: “…the sanctity of marriage itself is greater than any economic interests. Divorce is, all things permitted, most hateful to Allah. Therefore if a breach between husband and wife can be prevented by some economic consideration, it is better to make that concession than to imperil the future of the wife, the children, and probably the husband also.”
Nonetheless, Hadith note that a woman being ill treated is not a requirement for divorce: “The wife can claim a divorce for any good reason, even though there is no ill-treatment on the part of the husband (h. 3).”
If the wife feels she wants a divorce from her husband, according to Holy Qur’anic Surah 4:35 Al Nisa, both parties can obtain a divorce through the formal or informal court justice system: “And if you fear a breach between the two, then appoint a judge from his people and a judge from her people; if they both desire agreement, Allah will effect harmony between them.”
These interviews negate the “stereotypical” image of submissive Afghan women as perpetrated in the Western media. While the shura Chairman’s wife appeared physically weak, she was powerful in her household. In actuality, women in Afghanistan exercise a pertinent role within households that supports the upbringing of families and addresses personal and professional needs and concerns, which in turn makes families stronger units.
Furthermore, through the support of their communities, they are able to leave marriages where they feel mistreated, reintegrate with their families, and start a new life. Islam redresses this way of life; however, in reality, divorced women may suffer adverse consequences. A recently divorced woman may be limited if she does not have the skills to earn an income. If she chooses to return home, she may become a burden to her family, and as a consequence may be quickly married off to another man. A viable development option for Coalition Forces to consider would be the creation of vocational training programs geared towards divorced and widowed women. Learning or enhancing skills in income-generating activities, including tailoring or beekeeping, can set the conditions for women to start businesses that generate revenue, subsequently assisting other women in the community as well as supporting families economically.
Are Afghan women really subordinate to their male counterparts? Women and men have their own roles in society, and in a country where Islamic Law trumps Afghan Constitutional Law, it seems as most are practicing Islam in accordance with the Quran and Hadiths. If this is the case, should the western world judge?
Photo: Tajik Women discuss their roles in food security on the eve of International Women's Day. Copyright Oxfam.
This article was originally published in the Diplomatic Courier's March/April 2013 print edition.
a global affairs media network
Tajik Hope: Reflections on Engaging Women in Kapisa Province
March 25, 2013
The mission of the U.S. Army’s Human Terrain System (HTS) is to fill sociocultural knowledge gaps in order to expand the knowledge base and frame of reference in which courses of action and subsequent orders are being developed. More detailed and timely awareness of cultural dimensions within a community or area may help to refine and focus the target sets of planned operations, and perhaps surface potential non-lethal approaches to problem resolution that formerly—without detailed cultural knowledge—might not have been evident.
I worked as a Social Scientist for a Human Terrain Team (HTT) in Kapisa Province, Afghanistan from June 2010 to June 2011, conducting sociocultural research for French Command Task Force LaFayette (TFLF) and its supporting United States’ Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT).
While I was working in Kapisa Province, the PRT became interested in understanding the Afghan woman’s perspectives and concerns on economic development, governance, and security issues. In Afghanistan, women constitute approximately 49 percent of Afghanistan’s population, but were not fully engaged by Coalition Forces (CF) in the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom. To effectively understand Afghan women, CF decided to reach out to and cooperate, with women throughout Afghanistan when feasible. Understandably, there has been resistance among CF to interact with women due to cultural norms. In certain Afghan societies, it is taboo for foreign men to approach Afghan women and not permissible to build a platonic working relationship with women. As a result, ad hoc Female Engagement Teams (FETs) were developed and used to interact and work with local Afghan women prior to August 2011. FETs have enabled CF to comprehend the positive and negative dynamics of operations through the eyes of Afghan women.
Learning about and working with Afghan women became the focal point for the Human Terrain Team (HTT) and PRT in Kapisa Province. On a personal level, as a social scientist and as a Muslim woman raised and educated in the western world, I was extremely interested in Tajik Muslim women’s societal roles, responsibilities, and obligations in Nijrab District based on Quranic Surahs and Hadiths. Tajiks are the second largest ethnic group in Afghanistan, constituting 27.0 percent to 38.1 percent of the population, but are the majority in Kapisa Province. Tajik women were also more accessible and approachable than Pashtun women, who mostly live in Southern Kapisa.
Were the Tajik women actually treated adversely by their male relatives and village elders, as so widely believed in the western world; or were the rights accorded to women in the Holy Quran actually provided for and honored by men primarily practicing the Hanafi School of Islamic Jurisprudence?
To answer these questions, my HTT collaborated with Kapisa’s PRT-FET to reach out to local women. I would like to emphasize that my interaction with Tajik women was limited due to the non-permissive nature of Kapisa, Afghanistan. Security forces always accompanied HTS team members collecting observations, and such security constraints did limit the time available to interview women in the field. These security restrictions coupled with the sensitive nature of interviewing women meant that I was unable to interview a significant number of Tajik women. Therefore, my observations cannot be generalized for all Tajik women throughout Afghanistan and pertain to my personal experience only.
To learn about Tajik women’s roles in Afghanistan, our HTT initiated groundwork by speaking with key female leaders, shuras, and local Afghan women to collect their attitudes and perceptions. In Afghanistan, to obtain accurate and genuine answers, it is important to build strong relationships. Conducting spontaneous surveys or semi-structured interviews of random Afghans walking the streets will generate artificial and superficial answers. It was our experience that the Afghans with which we had not established rapport previous to the interview often told interviewers what they thought the interviewer wanted to know with minimal concern for the truth. However, the greater familiarity and interaction we had with Afghans over time resulted in the conveyance of what we believed were more truthful and genuine responses from Afghans.
The following study focuses on two main issues: 1) a Tajik woman’s opinions and attitudes regarding her roles and responsibilities in the household; and 2) the Qur’anic rights accorded to Muslim women regarding divorce, studied through Qur’anic Surahs (verses) and Hadiths (accounts of the Prophet Mohammad “traceable to his contemporaries or immediate descendants.”) that justify and validate the actions of these women under the authority of Islam.
The team first interviewed the wife of the Chairman of the Development Committee of the Afghan Social Outreach Program (ASOP—also known as Shura Mahali). On the day of the interview, the shura Chairman’s wife, wearing a blue burka, was escorted by her nephew, as it is obligatory under sharia law that women be chaperoned by a male relative in order to safeguard them. Women living in the provinces rarely travel outside their homes alone, unlike their female counterparts in urban centers such as Kabul.
As the interview began the wife lifted the heavy, blue garment that covered her face. She looked older than her stated age, a reflection of the adversity and hardships women face in provincial areas of Afghanistan. The woman appeared petite, fragile, timid, and spoke softly. The nephew’s role was to passively oversee the interview and at times dictate her responses. During the interview, at times when a question was asked, the wife would look at her nephew for approval before answering the question. Despite her nephew’s supervision, it appeared the wife answered most of our questions honestly.
Household Responsibilities
The wife was in charge of household management and delegated chores around the house, whether cooking, cleaning, farming, or taking care of the children. She was the major disciplinarian of her sons and daughters both in and outside the household. She also directed both the personal and professional lives of her sons and daughters, deciding whom they would marry and suggesting career paths.
We decided to also seek a male perspective on women’s roles and responsibilities in the household and the issue of divorce. The authority women exercise in their households became evident during a conversation I had with one of my two male interpreters, a Tajik from Kabul. According to him, in Afghan culture sons are obligated to venerate and obey the directives of their mothers. He emphasized the bond between mothers and sons is undeniably strong, and most children revere their mothers.
An HTS Social Science Research and Analysis (SSRA) report entitled “Women in the Home and Community” supported this, indicating that: “Respondents in most regions of Afghanistan said that women have influence in the home mainly over areas of childrearing and maintaining the home, family health, and cooking. Respondents in Regional Command Capital (RC [C]) said that women also had significant influence in economic matters. In the other regions, few respondents mentioned control over economic issues as a major area of women’s influence in the home. Women appear to have greater influence in the home when they are more educated.”
The Holy Qur’anic Surah 31:14 Luqman, supports this and discusses the importance of children obeying and respecting their parents:
“And we have enjoined on man
(To be good) to his parents: In travail upon travail
Did his mother bear him,
And in years twain
Was his weaning: (hear The command),
‘Show gratitude
To Me and to thy parents;
To Me is (thy final) Goal.”
According to Islamic scholar Mawlana Abdullah Yusuf Ali, the above Surah can simply be translated into: “We must be good to mankind, beginning with our own parents.”
Hadiths further support this, explaining that the obligation of a child to respect and obey his/her mother will facilitate the path to paradise:
“I know of no other deed that brings people closer to Allah than kind treatment and respect towards one's mother.” [Al-Adab al-Mufrad Bukhârî 1/45]
“A man came to the Prophet and said: O Messenger of Allah! Who from amongst mankind warrants the best companionship from me? He replied: "Your mother." The man asked: Then who? So he replied: "Your mother." The man then asked: Then who? So the Prophet replied again: "Your mother." The man then asked: Then who? So he replied: "Then your father." [Sahîh Bukhârî 5971 and Sahîh Muslim 7/2]
“Paradise lies at the feet of your mother.” [Musnad Ahmad, Sunan An-Nasâ’i, Sunan Ibn Mâjah]
Divorce
Another topic of conversation was the right women have to divorce their husbands through the formal and informal justice system in Nijrab District. According to the shura Chairman’s wife, Tajik women often do get divorces if they feel their husbands are mistreating them in accordance with the guidance of the Holy Quran. She stated she had a close relative who successfully obtained a divorce.
The rise in divorces taking place in Nijrab District was repeated by a few shura members, particularly the Chairman of the ASOP’s Security Committee, a passionate and blunt individual. He explained that a woman from his village was abused by her husband, so she divorced him, moved back with her family, and eventually relocated to Kabul to search for a new job and future.
Obtaining a divorce is a right given to women in accordance with the Holy Qur’anic Surah 4:128 Al Nisa:
“If a wife fears
Cruelty or desertion
On her husband’s part,
There is no blame on them
If they arrange
An amicable settlement
Between themselves;
And such settlement is best.”
Islamic scholar Mawlana Abdullah Yusuf Ali interprets this as: “…the sanctity of marriage itself is greater than any economic interests. Divorce is, all things permitted, most hateful to Allah. Therefore if a breach between husband and wife can be prevented by some economic consideration, it is better to make that concession than to imperil the future of the wife, the children, and probably the husband also.”
Nonetheless, Hadith note that a woman being ill treated is not a requirement for divorce: “The wife can claim a divorce for any good reason, even though there is no ill-treatment on the part of the husband (h. 3).”
If the wife feels she wants a divorce from her husband, according to Holy Qur’anic Surah 4:35 Al Nisa, both parties can obtain a divorce through the formal or informal court justice system: “And if you fear a breach between the two, then appoint a judge from his people and a judge from her people; if they both desire agreement, Allah will effect harmony between them.”
These interviews negate the “stereotypical” image of submissive Afghan women as perpetrated in the Western media. While the shura Chairman’s wife appeared physically weak, she was powerful in her household. In actuality, women in Afghanistan exercise a pertinent role within households that supports the upbringing of families and addresses personal and professional needs and concerns, which in turn makes families stronger units.
Furthermore, through the support of their communities, they are able to leave marriages where they feel mistreated, reintegrate with their families, and start a new life. Islam redresses this way of life; however, in reality, divorced women may suffer adverse consequences. A recently divorced woman may be limited if she does not have the skills to earn an income. If she chooses to return home, she may become a burden to her family, and as a consequence may be quickly married off to another man. A viable development option for Coalition Forces to consider would be the creation of vocational training programs geared towards divorced and widowed women. Learning or enhancing skills in income-generating activities, including tailoring or beekeeping, can set the conditions for women to start businesses that generate revenue, subsequently assisting other women in the community as well as supporting families economically.
Are Afghan women really subordinate to their male counterparts? Women and men have their own roles in society, and in a country where Islamic Law trumps Afghan Constitutional Law, it seems as most are practicing Islam in accordance with the Quran and Hadiths. If this is the case, should the western world judge?
Photo: Tajik Women discuss their roles in food security on the eve of International Women's Day. Copyright Oxfam.
This article was originally published in the Diplomatic Courier's March/April 2013 print edition.
