Religion in modern society

I am a 21years old Arab Muslim female who grew up in the United Arab Emirates, which is a country that experiences a lot of growth. In UAE, the most popular religion is Islam, with about 76% of the population being Muslims, and consequently, Islam is the official religion (Ahmed, 2018). Therefore, most of the doctrines are in line with the Sharia Law. From the Sharia law and the civil law system, the UAE derives its judicial system. Sharia courts in the UAE have a lot of authority, and it charges people for offenses such as alcohol consumption, adultery, and premarital sex (Ahmed, 2018). Strict doctrines control the religious, social, and political platforms in this country. Due to this state, there are few political and cultural changes since the culture and religion do not facilitate changes.

I grew up in an open-minded society in that the people were ready to embrace different changes in religion and culture.  Also, they respected other people regardless of their religious beliefs since they understood that they are all equal. However, my parents ensured that my siblings and I understood our religion, which is Islam. They ensured that we learned different aspects of our religion so that we could grow up to be responsible adults. Also, my religion requires that parents see to it that their children follow the doctrines of Islam (Khan, 2017). According to Islam, it is the right of any child to be raised as a responsible adult, and the parents are expected to take up the role of guiding their children actively. Our parents made sure to teach us the Rights of Allah (Huquq Allah) and the rights of other fellow beings (Huqul-Ibad) (Khan, 2017). Also, they helped my siblings and me to choose the right direction when we were stuck.

Additionally, we learned different skills on how to earn a Halal living; It is in line with the Quran.  Growing up, we religiously attended Madrasas, and my parents were stringent on this, and they could follow up to ensure each one of us attended. Since Islam discourages parents from showing undue preference on their children, we grew up with equal treatment, and there was no single time one of us felt that they were subject to discrimination (Khan, 2017). Being a girl, I learned how to carry myself in a very patriarchal society. All of this was to ensure that as we grew in a diverse community, we would not be carried away and waiver in our faith. Despite embracing different changes, we ensured that we held to our religious beliefs and respected those of other people.

People keep asking themselves how life is like for a woman living in a patriarchal society. At times, it is difficult to give the best description since people having varying experiences since they have exposure to different environments. There are many political and civil rights that the men in the UAE have, unlike the women, since it is a patriarchal nation. In the UAE Constitution in Article 25, it is stated that all individuals are equal before the law. However, the article does not mention anything to do with discrimination on gender grounds. Therefore, women face discrimination since the men feel they are superior to women (International Federation for Human Rights, 2010).  Additionally, women are under the guardianship of a male figure in the family, be it the father, brother, or uncle. Women are seen to be dependent on men, and therefore they are required to submit and obey their husbands. In case of a divorce, a woman must renounce her financial rights.  In a situation where a woman decides to remarry, she seizes to be the custodian of children from the past marriage. Emirati women face discrimination regarding nationality and citizenship; they have to acquire a license so they can marry a foreign man (International Federation for Human Rights, 2010). In case an Emirati woman marries without authorization from Naturalization and Residence Directorate, she instantly loses her citizenship.

On the other hand, Emirati men have the freedom to marry foreign women. A child who is born of an Emirate mother and a foreign father has no claim to UAE citizenship. According to the interpretation of Sharia law, women inherit one-third of the assets, whereas men inherit the rest (International Federation for Human Rights, 2010). Despite the constitution providing that all citizens have the right to movement, women have to seek permission from their male guardians to travel. Emirati men have the right to confiscate the passports of their wife and daughter and request immigration to prohibit them from traveling. I am lucky to have an open-minded father who does not restrict my movement, and therefore he allows me to travel to different places.

Most of the women in UAE, however, are content with the patriarchal religious system. They believe that the treatment they receive is adequate and just since it is according to the interpretation of the place of a woman in the Muslim society. Factors like religion and culture highly influence these women as opposed to women like me who gain their influence from exposure to liberal ideas. It is not a surprise to meet a woman who stays at home and does not yen leaving because that is what their husband and religious duties expect them to do. Also, when it comes to the topic of the afterlife, the women believe they have to obey god and their husbands so they can have a direct ticket to heaven (Aurelia et al., 2017). Hence, the interpretation of this idea justifies the presence of the patriarchal system. Due to the above factors, most women in the UAE are not ambitious, and they lack the drive to be independent. However, through education and exposure, women are starting to see patriarchal as an idea that is behind time (Aurelia et al., 2017).  They are engaging in activities and jobs which are believed to be for men.  They are embracing the fact that they are all equal to men; hence. Emirati women today see themselves as wives, mothers, employees, and inspiration to those people around them, especially their children. They strive to set an excellent example for their daughters and show them that they have a place in society, and they do not have to be dependent on the men. Examples of women who have stepped up in UAE include Dr. Amal Al Qubaisi, who became the first woman in history to be elected the speaker of the national council in the Arab world. Another woman is Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, who was the first woman to be appointed as a representative of the UAE to the United Nations (Aurelia et al., 2017).

Today, mass media acts as a medium of disseminating information to people to educate them and also to entertain them.  People highly depend on the media for information today, and that is why people keep watching the television, join different social media platforms and use the internet to access online libraries (Saifee & Shaikh, 2012). Technology has made it easy for one to gather information with a click of a button. In the past, transmitting religious beliefs and culture to young people was the function of parents and older people in society. In this age of social media and technology, cultural values, religious beliefs, and ideas of life get to young people through media. It has, therefore, led to the role of parents and teachers to diminish since they do not have to keep teaching the children values and beliefs. It is through technology that the world is becoming a global village, and people of different religions, cultures, and countries can share their different ideologies (Saifee & Shaikh, 2012). Mass media is a path through which one can reach out to the entire world; in this regard, mass media can be used to teach people different religious beliefs. Technological advancements have given communication to each other a different meaning since it is now effortless to communicate with people efficiently despite their location. There are television channels such as Peace TV, which teaches the viewers the image of Islam and Family TV, which teaches people about Christianity. The number of religious channels is growing, which means that the viewers are enjoying the kind of service they receive. It is through technology that one can download the Quran or the Bible and read them from any part of the world (Saifee & Shaikh, 2012).  Also, mass media offers people different readings of their religion from established religious leaders since they share them on various platforms. Through mass media, it is easy to share religious beliefs with many people across the world.

In the spirit of exposure, my parents put me in a multicultural school. They believed that here, I would interact with people of different cultures and religions. It was a great experience because I was in a position to make friends from different cultures through who I got to understand what it was like to be from those cultures. Also, I got the chance to learn a thing or two about different religions apart from Islam. In school, I was able to understand that where a person comes from does not define them, but what defines them is how they carry themselves. School made me learn that people are all equal regardless of their gender, family background, or religion. Our teachers subjected all of us to the same treatment since they wanted to teach us that no one should be discriminated. In school, I learned how the UAE has gone through extensive growth, which has led to changes in culture. Today, women in the UAE have equal opportunities as men, unlike in the past, where women were inferior. This growth has come about through globalization.  Other women from the world empower women; hence, they believe that they have the same position in society as men. What drives UAE towards extensive growth is the discovery of petrol in the 1970s since it put the country out there. Therefore, UAE has since then experienced a lot of exposure to the outside world hence its growth. This growth has rendered the UAE society to be culturally diverse, tolerate different religions, and accept other people. It is challenging to differentiate culture and religion in UAE since the two have a link. They have a religious culture, and their religion is cultural. At school, we were not coerced to uphold the Islamic religion and way of life because not all the students were Muslim. The school ensured that it offered a safe space for everyone so that all of us could feel equal.

Growing in a family that had exposure to different cultures, societies, and social institutions, I learned that it is crucial to uphold one’s beliefs and not to conform to those of others blindly. Therefore, I started having my own opinion without having reference to what the government enforces and what society expects from the people. The society has painted a picture of how a Muslim Emirati girl should carry herself, and in case I do not follow that I am seen to be going against what I believe. People term me as a rebellious person since they know that I do not conform to set rules in society. People are under the impression that my parents did not take their time to guide me on the right path, which in the real sense, I think that is the opposite.  Despite not conforming to the society which I belong to, I respect the set rules only that I do not follow them. I am thankful to my parents because they taught me to be open to learning, how to ensure that I endure different circumstances in life, how to ensure that I expose myself to new opportunities and to push myself even in tough situations. By putting me in a multicultural school, I learned about different cultures and religions, and I was taught how to respect each one of them.  I interacted with different people in school, and this gave me a better understanding of their religion and culture. I was taught how self-discovery is crucial in life by my parents since they did not want to push me to become what the society expects. They also taught me that there is a lot more beyond the UAE borders since they are a lot of things to learn from the rest of the world. Through my parents, I have grown to be a well-rounded person who is open to learning.

Reference

Ahmed, K. (2018). The Major Religions Practiced In The United Arab Emirates. World Atlas.  Retrieved from https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-major-religions-practised-in-the-united-arab-emirates.html

Aurelie, D., Kephart, C., Nikiforakis, N. & Zenker, C. (2017). Emirati women do not shy away from competition: evidence from a patriarchal society in transition. Journal of the Economic Science Association, 3(4), 56-79

International Federation for Human Rights. (2010). Women’s Rights in the United Arab Emirates. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)

Khan, M. (2017). Raising Children in Islam-How to Raise Children into Responsible Muslim Adults? Iqrasense. Retrieved from https://www.iqrasense.com/muslim-character/raising-children-in-islam-how-to-raise-children-into-responsible-muslim-adults.html

Saifee, A., Shaikh, Z. (2012). The Role of Mass Media & Information in Islamic Education. European Journal of Social Sciences, 32(3), 380-390.