Women and bicycling in Islam: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Women biking or bicycling in Muslim world}}{{Globalize|date=February 2023}}
{{Short description|Women biking or bicycling in Muslim world}}{{Globalize|date=February 2023}}
{{Copy edit|date=February 2023}}
{{Copy edit|date=February 2023}}
Women's participation bicycling in Islamic world has been on and off depending availability of opportunities and social, cultural and religious perspectives and background of respective communities and countries as prevailing at any given time. In some parts of Ottoman empire bicycling was picked up by women in early twentieth century. Simultaneously cycling endeavours of women struggled with opposition from orthodox and conservative camp. Where as moderate camp insists that cycling and sports activities are supposed to be allowed to Muslim women. Wherever and whenever Muslim women did get opportunity, they are seen participating in various activities including cycle rallies and international competitions.[[File:Op het trottoiron the sidewalk.jpg|thumb|A woman in a long cloak riding a bicycle in The Hague, Netherlands]]
{{In use|time=}}[[File:Op het trottoiron the sidewalk.jpg|thumb|A woman in a long cloak riding a bicycle in The Hague, Netherlands]]


== History ==
== History ==

Revision as of 03:29, 11 February 2023

Women's participation bicycling in Islamic world has been on and off depending availability of opportunities and social, cultural and religious perspectives and background of respective communities and countries as prevailing at any given time. In some parts of Ottoman empire bicycling was picked up by women in early twentieth century. Simultaneously cycling endeavours of women struggled with opposition from orthodox and conservative camp. Where as moderate camp insists that cycling and sports activities are supposed to be allowed to Muslim women. Wherever and whenever Muslim women did get opportunity, they are seen participating in various activities including cycle rallies and international competitions.

A woman in a long cloak riding a bicycle in The Hague, Netherlands

History

Cycling was likely first introduced to the Islamic world by Western travelers such as William Sachtelben in the early 1890's, including several women, like American Annie Londonderry in her bike trip around the world in 1894–95.[1] [2]

Religious and cultural perspectives

Bicycling in Islam is a topic of heated discussion in both Sunni and Shia Islam, primarily regarding the practice by Muslim women. Scholars primarily have concerns surrounding modesty (not revealing the body) and mobility (social control).

The primary concern of religious scholars is that bicycling, especially in public spaces, would lead to increased sexual promiscuity.[3] This belief extends from a reading of the Quran which requires women to protect their chastity, this reading originally prohibited horseback riding and extended to cycling.[4]

Critics condemn bicycle bans and the proposed Iranian version as tools of oppression.[5][6] Traditions record that Muhammad encouraged parents to teach their children swimming, riding and archery.[7][8][9] There is a commonly shared hadith that recounts a race between Muhammad and his wife, Aisha.[10] Persian miniatures show Muslim women jointly playing polo with men in the same field.[11]

Conservative attitudes have resulted in Saudi Arabia banning the use of bicycles by women except in restricted recreational areas.[12] To address modesty concerns, a proposed Iranian version of a women's bicycle would have a "boxy contraption that hides a woman's lower body."[13] In Iran, it is currently forbidden for women to ride bicycles out of concerns for modesty, and advocates of women cyclists have been attacked by vigilantes.[14]



According to Alon Raab, a professor of Religious Studies at UC Davis, opposition to cycling in the Ottoman Empire was quick to form from conservatives and religious fundamentalists who frequently criticized bicycles as the Devil’s Chariot.[2] Orthodox scholars claimed that cycling would harm reproductive organs, embolden sexual permissiveness and lead to the destruction of the family.[2] Raab additionally notes that their unmentioned objective was to restrain women in their homes and to restrict non supervised contact among men and women.[2] Raab says that many Muslim religious authorities castigated women cycling as bid’ah (any technical innovation deemed heretical).[2] Raab remarks that in some places women cycling was not only criticized in media and laws, but in some places female cyclists faced physical assaults. Raab continues to say that, in spite of opposition from conservative camp, early 20th century women in the Ottoman Empire persevered to adopt cycling for varied purposes with new sense of freedom.[2] Feminist activists' struggles for liberation, like Fatma Aliye Topuz, were helped by the bicycle.[2]

As per 1977 book 'Women in the Arab World' written by Egyptian feminist Dr. Nawal El Saadawi, Arab culture used to place undue importance on female virginity, in case of incidences like any girl's tearing away of hymen due to sports activities like cycling or horse riding had to face very negative consequences in her family life and social stature.[15]

Current attitudes and legal status

Ebtissam Zayed Ahmed Mohamed is an Egyptian road and track cyclist.

In Yemen, many remain hostile to the ideal of women cyclists, remarking that "women riding bicycles is far worse than the current war."[16]

In Saudi Arabia, women are banned from cycling for transportation purposes, cycling may only be done as recreation, and remains under various religious restrictions.[17]

In Iran, cycling in public spaces is currently banned under a fatwa since 2016, however there is widespread resistance to this order amongst Iranian women. [18]

In Turkey, as of 2015, only 0.06% of adult women ride bikes to go shopping or to go to work.[19]

Female cyclists

Masomah Ali Zada


Masomah Ali Zada is a Afghanistan road cyclist, fled Afghanistan in 2016 due to threats from the Taliban, and claimed asylum in France under a humanitarian visa.[20] Zada took part in, the 2020 Olympic Games as part of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Refugee Olympic Team. [21]

Cycling events and competitions

In May 2008 queen of Jordan Rania Al Abdullah along with Syrian first lady Asma Akras Al Asad took a cycle rally for peace from Bairut to Bethlehem, some 250 women cyclists from 26 countries joined them.[22]

Fancy Women Bike Tour (Turkish: Süslü Kadinlar Bisiklet Turu ) is started by Sema Gur, a high school teacher from Turkey.[21] In 2013, three hundred women from Izmir, Turkey participated in a Chic Women Bike Ride, which in subsequent years grew as annual event internationally as Fancy Women Bike Ride, on yearly Car-Free Days.[23] In Fancy Women Bike Ride, women decorate their bikes, instead of wearing sporty biking gear, they dress and make up themselves in colorful and fancy manner as they like.[21][23]

See also

Bibliography

  • White, Nóra. 'Cycling as Resistance: Women living under Islamic Authoritarianism', Vol. 5 No. 1 (2021-12-06): Trinity Women & Gender Minorities Review V Link PDF
  • Lily Song, Mariel Kirschen and John Taylor. Gender and cycling in Solo, Indonesia. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography Volume 40, Issue 1 p. 140-157 (13 July 2018) https://doi.org/10.1111/sjtg.12257
  • Hossain Mohiuddin, Shaila Jamal, Md Musfiqur Rahman Bhuiya, To bike or not to bike: Exploring cycling for commuting and non-commuting in Bangladesh, Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Volume 14, 2022, ISSN 2590-1982, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2022.100614
  • Raab Alon, Women cycling in the Middle East url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003142041-52/wheels-fire-alon-raab work=Routledge Companion to Cycling doi=10.4324/9781003142041-52/wheels-fire-alon-raab

References

  1. ^ Allen, Thomas Gaskell; Sachtleben, William Lewis (1894). Across Asia on a Bicycle. p. 14. ISBN 978-1587420207.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Raab, Alon (31 October 2022), "Wheels of Fire", Routledge Companion to Cycling (1 ed.), London: Routledge, pp. 396–398, doi:10.4324/9781003142041-52, ISBN 978-1-003-14204-1, retrieved 7 February 2023, ".. Fatma Aliye Topuz's struggle for liberation was aided by the bicycle, a vehicle that became for her, and for many other women across the Ottoman Middle East, a path of personal and social transformation. Bicycles were an important part of the emerging feminist movement in the region.The first cyclists in the region were western travellers, starting in the 1880s, including several women, notably globe-trotting American Annie Londonderry in 1894–95. Bicycles elicited curiosity and a desire by many to participate. .. As cost went down, .. Cyclists soon appeared in other large regional urban centers and in eastern Mediterranean port cities with diverse populations, vibrant economic and cultural exchanges, with many citizens adopting European practices, including mixed gender sociability, conditions conducive to the introduction of bicycles.As in other lands, opposition to cycling was quick to appear, mostly from conservative elements and religious fundamentalists who often labeled it the Devil's Chariot. Several Muslim religious authorities designated it as bid'ah (any technological innovation deemed heretical) with bans on cycling in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. In other places most of the attacks – expressed in the press but also in laws and physical assaults on riders – were directed at women cyclists. Claims that cycling harms reproductive organs, encourages sexual permissiveness and the destruction of the family were common. Unstated was the desire to confine women to their homes and to prevent unsupervised meetings between men and women. Still, women cyclists persisted. Across the empire bicycles became prevalent in studio photography, a symbol of middle-class respectability and openness to modern ideas. By travelling unchaperoned to school, work, exercise and sometimes assignations with their beloved, the bicycle offered Ottoman women cyclists a new sense of freedom of mobility that extended to other areas of life. The collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the birth of the Republic of Turkey were a boon to women's greater participation in public life and greater visibility in public space. The latter included a dramatic increase in the number of women cycling, encouraged by the inclusion of physical education classes in schools and more positive portrayals of female riders in the press, literature and films.
  3. ^ Mehrabi, Ehsan (22 October 2020). "مخالفت با دوچرخه سواری زنان در ایران؛ "دختر تهرانی مثل دختر چینی نیست"". BBC News Persian (in Farsi). Retrieved 9 February 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  4. ^ Backer, Larry Catá (2007). Harmonizing Law in an Era of Globalization Convergence, Divergence, and Resistance. Carolina Academic Press. p. 285. ISBN 978-0-89089-585-6.
  5. ^ Milani, Farzaneh (28 June 2007). "'Islamic Bicycle' Can't Slow Iranian Women". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on 24 February 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  6. ^ Lloyd, Sophie (25 October 2016). "A Woman's Right to Bike". Ms. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  7. ^ Al-Hassani, Salim (Spring 2012). "A 1000 Years Amnesia: Sports in Muslim Heritage". MuslimHeritage.com. Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  8. ^ "Teach your children swimming, archery and horse riding". Hadith Answers. 7 March 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  9. ^ Muslim women and sport. Tansin Benn, Gertrud Pfister, H. A. Jawad. London: Routledge. 2011. p. 32. ISBN 0-415-49076-6. OCLC 1086928918. .. There is nothing in the Quran or Hadith that explicitly precludes men's or women's participation in physical activities provided it does not take precedence over faith (Daiman 1994). Hence, the 'Accept and Respect' declaration claims that 'Islam is an enabling religion that does not preclude women's participation in physical activities'. The Hadith texts contain some examples from Prophet's life that can be used to support the participation and equality of opportunity for girls and boys. Examples of the time describe children persuing swimming shooting and horse-riding (Hadith- Caliph 634-44 H, 20-21). ..{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  10. ^ Kipnis, Hillary; Caudwell, Jayne (2015). "The Boxers of Kabul: Women, Boxing and Islam". In Channon, Alex (ed.). Global Perspectives on Women in Combat Sports: Women Warriors around the World. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 45. ISBN 9781137439369.
  11. ^ Al-Hassani, Salim (Spring 2012). "A 1000 Years Amnesia: Sports in Muslim Heritage". MuslimHeritage.com. Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  12. ^ Quan, Kristene (3 April 2013). "Saudi Women Can Now Ride Bicycles in Public (Kind of)". Time. New York. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  13. ^ Slackman, Michael (9 September 2007). "Molding the Ideal Islamic Citizen". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 13 June 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  14. ^ Theodoulou, Michael (24 October 2010). "Women Cyclists Face Jail, Warns Iranian Police Chief". The National. Abu Dhabi. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
  15. ^ Saʻdāwī, Nawāl. (2007). The very fine membrane called 'honour' (New ed.). London: Bloomsbury Academic. p. 38. ISBN 978-1-84277-874-6. OCLC 81453459. .. No girl can suffer a worst fate than she whom nature has forgotten to provide with a hymen, or whose hymen is so delicate that it is torn away and lost by repeated riding on a bicycle or a horse, or by masturbation, or one of those minor accidents that happen so often in childhood .. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  16. ^ "Yemen: Women get on their bikes for their rights". Oxfam International. 25 May 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  17. ^ "Saudi Arabian Women Get Their First-Ever Bike Race". Bicycling. 23 April 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  18. ^ Cockburn, Paige (21 September 2016). "Iranian women hit the pedals to protest against fatwa banning female cycling". ABC News Australia. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  19. ^ "Pedal power gets Turkish makeover - Al-Monitor: Independent, trusted coverage of the Middle East". www.al-monitor.com. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  20. ^ "Masomah Ali Zada: The Female Afghan Cyclist Competing On The Olympic Refugee Team | PEP UNLIMITED LLC". Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  21. ^ a b c "Tokyo Olympics: Cyclist Masomah Ali Zada is a symbol of hope and inspiration". BBC. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  22. ^ Madden, Steve, ed. (August 2008). "Pedaling for peace". Bicycling. Vol. Vol. 44, No. 7. USA: Rodale Inc. p. 34. ISSN 0006-2073. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); |volume= has extra text (help)
  23. ^ a b Johnson, Ron (15 September 2022). "Fancy Women Bike Ride celebrates 10 glorious years". Retrieved 10 February 2023.


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