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Assignment 12

Lila Abu-Lughod discusses in her essay, “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving”, the connection between the Islamic faith and Muslim women through the effects of the War on Terror. Due to this war, the topic on Muslim women and Islam has changed and became sensitive and Abu-Lughod connects this with “cultural mode of explanation”. One way Abu-Lughod was able to interpret this change was through the media and historical context.

Abu-Lughod explains how supposedly terrorists are connected with the Talibans as if they were one word, and there was not much difference from each other. This was a horror to see because this was just connecting it back to Afghanistan. Laura Bush emphasizes that the United States was able to provide Muslim women rights that they did not have before. However, not everyone will believe that because in fact it was the Westerners that has caused in colonialism but not many are aware of their effects. One particular issue was the British invasion in south Asia. These white men perceived themselves as saving these brown women from brown men, but in reality most women were oppressed and could not seek an education. Another incident was the French rule over Algeria. Algeria has long fought for their independence, but this did not occur to these two girls mentioned in Lughod’s essay. The two girls went as far as associating freedom with Christianity. As if, not following the religion automatically meant you were oppressed, which I believe Lughod was trying to point out in this text. People often mistake certain terms with freedom and not understanding why do some people practice terms that are not considered “normal”.

At the end of the day, people should be able to practice whatever they want because it is their right. In fact, the problem is that people do not go into depth of the idea and let something like the War on Terror to influence them. Instead they should look at context before that.