It is a perforated, light blue swatch of mesh that represents the obstructed view of the world for a nation of people who were once free. Embedded in this piece of the burqa is the story of the Afghan people--the story of the tears, suffering and suppression of millions of Afghan women, the denial of human and religious rights and the history of a conflict that brewed for years. Although many international organizations and national governments attempted preventive measures to head off this violent international crisis, their efforts proved unsuccessful and, in 1996, the radical Taliban militia seized power. This new control force will prove to be the beginning of the end of the normal lives of women in Afghanistan.One must consider all the various elements that compromise the picture of Islamic womanhood. Many of these elements are directly related to the religion of Islam itself, such as past and present legal realities, roles permitted and enforced as a result of Muslim images of women, and the variety of Islamic and hetero-Islamic rites and practices in which Islamic women have traditionally participated. The Holy Quran (sometimes transliterated as "Koran") still forms the basis of prevailing family law in most areas of the Muslim world. It has always been and still is considered to be the last in a series of divine revelations from God given in the seventh century C.E. to humanity through the vehicle of his prophet Muhammad. The Quran is therefore a literal and unmitigated word of God, collected and ordered by the young Muslim community but untainted with the thoughts and interpretations of anybody, including Muhammed himself. It is obvious, then, why the regulations formulated by the Quran in regard to women have been adhered to with strictness and respect. On the other hand, whatever the earlier realities for women in terms of marriage divorce, and inheritance of property, it is clear that the Quran did introduce very s...
