Summary: This month, Muslim Voices is launching an occasional series exploring Women in Islam. Last week featured artist Uzma Mirza who sees Islam as a beautiful thing, not oppressive. The oppression, she says, comes from the behavior of Muslims themselves. But thatrsquo;s not how writer Taslima Nasrin sees it. Taslima Nasrin grew up in a Muslim household in Bangladesh. Her mother was quite observant, her father less so. So, while Islam was a part of her childhood, it wasnrsquo;t a huge part. Nasrin says when she got older she read a copy of the Qurrsquo;an in her native tongue; after doing so she decided Islam was not a religion she could believe in and left the faith. As she grew into adulthood and began working as a gynecologist, Nasrin says she began to see Islam as an oppressive thinghellip;something that did little to secure the rights of women. ldquo;Before, I blamed the Islamic fundamentalists or any kind of religious fundamentalists because they are all against women,rdquo; said Nasrin. ldquo;But now, I blame the system which made the people fundamentalists.rdquo; Separation Of Religion And State Now, she doesnrsquo;t blame the people of the Taliban, she blames society for a lack of options. The system which she speaks of, the children have no other choice but to get a fundamentalist education, where they are taught the Koran and that you will go to heaven if you kill non-believers and women. Nasrin says that religion and state should be separate and that these scriptures are out of place in the 21st century. ldquo;Religions were created a long time ago. Those religious scriptures can be historical documents. If people want to believe in religion, it is his or her personal matterhellip;Education should be secular and criticism should be allowed.rdquo; Her writing has inflamed governments and gotten her thrown out of Bangladesh and India. The fundamentalists in those countries did not like her books and hated her, she said. She was shocked when she was thrown out of India, the worldrsquo;s largest democracy. ldquo;I didnrsquo;t get any support from any political party because they have a minority Muslim appeasement policy and they wanted to please Muslims to get votes and didnrsquo;t care to protect a secular writer.rdquo; Nasrin firmly states that if Islam is going to progress it should allow criticism.
