I AM AN
INDIAN MUSLIM WOMAN, ANY PROBLEM?!
Women and Multiple Identities
Dr. Noorjehan Safia Niaz
Women and Multiple Identities
Dr. Noorjehan Safia Niaz
All of us have multiple
identities. We are so many, all at the same time. Our basic identity of being a
human is the primary identity. Over and above that, we are what we mean to
people; friend, spouse, sibling, parent and so many more. Most of the time
there is no hierarchy in these relationships. We are all these at the same
time. Is one identity better than the other? Am I sister first and then a
mother? Am I a mother first and then a wife? No. Each identity surfaces as per
the requirement. Sometimes I am more a wife than a mother, sometimes I am more
a daughter than a wife and at other times the friend in me takes over and all
other identities take a back seat. Come to think of it, we juggle between these
identities so well that we don’t even realize that we have seamlessly woven one
into the other.
On the same lines, am I a Muslim
first and an Indian later? The Hindu right wing would prefer that I am an
Indian first and the Muslim right wing would want me to be a Muslim first. And
there I get caught between ‘this’ or ‘that’! I am asked to choose between my
identities. And to complicate matters the women’s organizations want me to say,
‘I am a woman first’ and the human rights organizations want me to say, ‘I am a
human being first’. So should I make a
neat hierarchy and arrange myself in a column? What do I do and how do I manage
my multiple identities without breaking myself up into pieces?
Well, many complicated matters
are actually very simple! Instead of saying ‘this’ OR ‘that’, I would prefer to
say, ‘this’ AND ‘that’. I am all these at the same time. There is no hierarchy.
These identities do not cancel each other. Each identity will surface as and
when required without me having to cancel the other. I am a Muslim and an
Indian and a woman and a human being and a mother and a daughter and so much
more all at the same time. Why should I have to choose between the multiple me?
Coming to the Muslim community,
my identity of a being a Muslim does not cancel my identity of being an Indian
and vice a versa. My Constitution allows me to practice, promote and propagate
my religion and to maintain my religious identity and Islam demands that I
behave like a responsible citizen of my country. Where is the contradiction?
The holy book of the Muslims, the
Quran has essentially propagated 4 values; Justice, Equality, Wisdom and
Compassion. I am not a good Muslim if I don’t practice these values in my daily
life. To that extent we as Muslims are only trying to reach there, at least
some of us, and we are nowhere close to these ideals. So in a way, we are
still, Muslims-in-the-making. Similarly, the Constitutional values of Justice,
Equality, Freedom and Fraternity are our guiding principles as Indians. Again
where is the contradiction between being a Muslim and being an Indian?
May be I am too simplistic but
what’s wrong in simplifying if it helps me to build bridges, if it helps me to
connect far off ends, if it helps me live in peace with everyone and everything
around me? In the end what do I choose to see? Do I want to see similarities or
do I want to see differences? For too long we have set our eyes on differences
and see where we are today as a world community! We have killed and ripped each
other apart because we think we are so different from each other. For once let
us concentrate on the similarities between us as people, between our books,
between our values and ideologies. May be then we will be at peace with each
other and with ourselves.
