Jesus: the Muslim prophet
Mehdi Hasan
Published 10 December 2009
Christianity is rooted in the belief that Jesus is the Son of God, so is Islam’s version of Christ a source of tension, or a way of building bridges between the world’s two largest faiths?
Christians, perhaps because they call themselves Christians and believe in Christianity, like to claim ownership of Christ. But the veneration of Jesus by Muslims began during the lifetime of the Prophet of Islam. Perhaps most telling is the story in the classical biographies of Muhammad, who, entering the city of Mecca in triumph in 630AD, proceeded at once to the Kaaba to cleanse the holy shrine of its idols. As he walked around, ordering the destruction of the pictures and statues of the 360 or so pagan deities, he came across a fresco on the wall depicting the Virgin and Child. He is said to have covered it reverently with his cloak and decreed that all other paintings be washed away except that one.
Jesus, or Isa, as he is known in Arabic, is deemed by Islam to be a Muslim prophet rather than the Son of God, or God incarnate. He is referred to by name in as many as 25 different verses of the Quran and six times with the title of "Messiah" (or "Christ", depending on which Quranic translation is being used). He is also referred to as the "Messenger" and the "Prophet" but, perhaps above all else, as the "Word" and the "Spirit" of God. No other prophet in the Quran, not even Muhammad, is given this particular honour. In fact, among the 124,000 prophets said to be recognised by Islam - a figure that includes all of the Jewish prophets of the Old Testament - Jesus is considered second only to Muhammad, and is believed to be the precursor to the Prophet of Islam.
In his fascinating book The Muslim Jesus, the former Cambridge professor of Arabic and Islamic studies Tarif Khalidi brings together, from a vast range of sources, 303 stories, sayings and traditions of Jesus that can be found in Muslim literature, from the earliest centuries of Islamic history. These paint a picture of Christ not dissimilar to the Christ of the Gospels. The Muslim Jesus is the patron saint of asceticism, the lord of nature, a miracle worker, a healer, a moral, spiritual and social role model.
“Jesus used to eat the leaves of the trees," reads one saying, "dress in hairshirts, and sleep wherever night found him. He had no child who might die, no house which might fall into ruin; nor did he save his lunch for his dinner or his dinner for his lunch. He used to say, 'Each day brings with it its own sustenance.'"
According to Islamic theology, Christ did not bring a new revealed law, or reform an earlier law, but introduced a new path or way (tariqah) based on the love of God; it is perhaps for this reason that he has been adopted by the mystics, or Sufis, of Islam. The Sufi philosopher al-Ghazali described Jesus as "the prophet of the soul" and the Sufi master Ibn Arabi called him "the seal of saints". The Jesus of Islamic Sufism, as Khalidi notes, is a figure "not easily distinguished" from the Jesus of the Gospels.
What prompted Khalidi to write such a provocative book? "We need to be reminded of a history that told a very different story: how one religion, Islam, co-opted Jesus into its own spirituality yet still maintained him as an independent hero of the struggle between the spirit and the letter of the law," he told me. "It is in many ways a remarkable story of religious encounter, of one religion fortifying its own piety by adopting and cherishing the master spiritual narrative of another religion."
Islam reveres both Jesus and his mother, Mary (Joseph appears nowhere in the Islamic narrative of Christ's birth). "Unlike the canonical Gospels, the Quran tilts backward to his miraculous birth rather than forward to his Passion," writes Khalidi. "This is why he is often referred to as 'the son of Mary' and why he and his mother frequently appear together." In fact, the Virgin Mary, or Maryam, as she is known in the Quran, is considered by Muslims to hold the most exalted spiritual position among women. She is the only woman mentioned by name in Islam's holy book and a chapter of the Quran is named after her. In one oft-cited tradition, the Prophet Muhammad described her as one of the four perfect women in human history.
But the real significance of Mary is that Islam considers her a virgin and endorses the Christian concept of the Virgin Birth. "She was the chosen woman, chosen to give birth to Jesus, without a husband," says Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, an imam in Leicester and assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB). This is the orthodox Islamic position and, paradoxically, as Seyyed Hossein Nasr notes in The Heart of Islam, "respect for such teachings is so strong among Muslims that today, in interreligious dialogues with Christians . . . Muslims are often left defending traditional . . . Christian doctrines such as the miraculous birth of Christ before modernist interpreters would reduce them to metaphors."
With Christianity and Islam so intricately linked, it might make sense for Muslim communities across Europe, harassed, harangued and often under siege, to do more to stress this common religious heritage, and especially the shared love for Jesus and Mary. There is a renowned historical precedent for this from the life of the Prophet. In 616AD, six years in to his mission in Mecca, Muhammad decided to find a safer refuge for those of his followers who had been exposed to the worst persecution from his opponents in the pagan tribes of the Quraysh. He asked the Negus, the Christian king of Abyssinia (modern-day Ethiopia), to take them in. He agreed and more than 80 Muslims left Mecca with their families. The friendly reception that greeted them upon arrival in Abyssinia so alarmed the Quraysh that, worried about the prospects of Muhammad's Muslims winning more allies abroad, they sent two delegates to the court of the Negus to persuade him to extradite them back to Mecca. The Muslim refugees, claimed the Quraysh, were blasphemers and fugitives. The Negus invited Jafar, cousin of Muhammad and leader of the Muslim group, to answer the charges. Jafar explained that Muhammad was a prophet of the same God who had confirmed his revelation to Jesus, and recited aloud the Quranic account of the virginal conception of Christ in the womb of Mary:
And make mention of Mary in the Scripture, when she had withdrawn from her people to a chamber looking East,
And had chosen seclusion from them. Then We sent unto her Our Spirit and it assumed for her the likeness of a perfect man.
She said: Lo! I seek refuge in the Beneficent One from thee, if thou art God-fearing.
He said: I am only a messenger of thy Lord, that I may bestow on thee a faultless son.
She said: How can I have a son when no mortal hath touched me, neither have I been unchaste?
He said: So (it will be). Thy Lord saith: It is easy for Me. And (it will be) that We may make of him a revelation for mankind and a mercy from Us, and it is a thing ordained.
Quran, 19:16-21
Karen Armstrong writes, in her biography of Muhammad, that "when Jafar finished, the beauty of the Quran had done its work. The Negus was weeping so hard that his beard was wet, and the tears poured down the cheeks of his bishops and advisers so copiously that their scrolls were soaked." The Muslims remained in Abyssinia, under the protection of the Negus, and were able to practise their religion freely.
However, for Muslims, the Virgin Birth is not evidence of Jesus's divinity, only of his unique importance as a prophet and a messiah. The Trinity is rejected by Islam, as is Jesus's Crucifixion and Resurrection. The common theological ground seems to narrow at this point - as Jonathan Bartley, co-director of the Christian think tank Ekklesia, argues, the belief in the Resurrection is the "deal-breaker". He adds: "There is a fundamental tension at the heart of interfaith dialogue that neither side wants to face up to, and that is that the orthodox Christian view of Jesus is blasphemous to Muslims and the orthodox Muslim view of Jesus is blasphemous to Christians." He has a point. The Quran singles out Christianity for formulating the concept of the Trinity:
Do not say, "Three" - Cease! That is better for you. God is one God. Glory be to Him, [high exalted is He] above having a son.
Quran 4:171
It castigates Christianity for the widespread practice among its sects of worshipping Jesus and Mary, and casts the criticism in the form of an interrogation of Jesus by God:
And when God will say: "O Jesus, son of Mary, did you say to the people, 'Take me and my mother as gods besides God'?" he will
say, "Glory be to You, it was not for me to say what I had no right [to say]! If I had said it, You would have known it.
Quran 5:116
Jesus, as Khalidi points out, "is a controversial prophet. He is the only prophet in the Quran who is deliberately made to distance himself from the doctrines that his community is said to hold of him." For example, Muslims believe that Jesus was not crucified but was raised bodily to heaven by God.
Yet many Muslim scholars have maintained that the Islamic conception of Jesus - shorn of divinity; outside the Trinity; a prophet - is in line with the beliefs and teachings of some of the earliest Jewish-Christian sects, such as the Ebionites and the Nazarenes, who believed Jesus to be the Messiah, but not divine. Muslims claim the Muslim Jesus is the historical Jesus, stripped of a later, man-made "Christology": "Jesus as he might have been without St Paul or St Augustine or the Council of Nicaea", to quote the Cambridge academic John Casey.
Or, as A N Wilson wrote in the Daily Express a decade ago: "Islam is a moral and intellectual acknowledgement of the lordship of God without the encumbrance of Christian mythological baggage . . . That is why Christianity will decline in the next millennium, and the religious hunger of the human heart will be answered by the Crescent, not the Cross." Despite the major doctrinal differences, there remain areas of significant overlap, such as on the second coming of Christ. Both Muslims and Christians subscribe to the belief that before the world ends Jesus will return to defeat the Antichrist, whom Muslims refer to as Dajjal.
The idea of a Muslim Jesus, in whatever doctrinal form, may help fortify the resolve of those scholars who talk of the need to reformulate the exclusivist concept of a Judaeo-Christian civilisation and refer instead to a "Judaeo-Christian-Muslim civilisation". This might be anathema to evangelical Christians - especially in the US, where populist preachers such as Franklin Graham see Islam as a "very evil and wicked religion" - but, as Khalidi points out, "While the Jewish tradition by and large rejects Jesus, the Islamic tradition, especially Sufi or mystical Islam, constructs a place for him at the very centre of its devotions."
Nonetheless, Jesus remains an esoteric part of Islamic faith and practice. Where, for example, is the Islamic equivalent of Christmas? Why do Muslims celebrate the birth of the Prophet Muhammad but not that of the Prophet Jesus? "We, too, in our own way should celebrate the birth of Jesus . . . [because] he is so special to us," says Mogra. "But I think each religious community has distinct celebrations, so Muslims will celebrate their own and Christians their own."
In recent years, the right-wing press in Britain has railed against alleged attempts by "politically correct" local authorities to downplay or even suppress Christmas. Birmingham's attempt to name its seasonal celebrations "Winterval" and Luton's Harry Potter-themed lights, or "Luminos", are notorious examples. There is often a sense that such decisions are driven by the fear that outward displays of Christian faith might offend British Muslim sensibilities, but, given the importance of Jesus in Islam, such fears seem misplaced. Mogra, who leads the MCB's interfaith relations committee, concurs: "It's a ridiculous suggestion to change the name of Christmas." He adds: "Britain is great when it comes to celebrating diverse religious festivals of our various faith communities. They should remain named as they are, and we should celebrate them all."
Mogra is brave to urge Muslims to engage in an outward and public celebration of Jesus, in particular his birth, in order to match the private reverence that Muslims say they have for him. Is there a danger, however, that Muslim attempts to re-establish the importance of Jesus within Islam and as an integral part of their faith and tradition might be misinterpreted? Might they be misconstrued as part of a campaign by a supposedly resurgent and politicised Islam to try to take "ownership" of Jesus, in a western world in which organised Christianity is in seeming decline? Might it be counterproductive for interfaith relations? Church leaders, thankfully, seem to disagree.
“I have always enjoyed spending time with Muslim friends, with whom we as Christians have so much in common, along with Jewish people, as we all trace our faith back to Abraham," the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, tells me. "When I visit a mosque, having been welcomed in the name of 'Allah and His Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon Him', I respond with greetings 'in the name of Jesus Christ, whom you Muslims revere as a prophet, and whom I know as the Saviour of the World, the Prince of Peace'."
Amid tensions between the Christian west and the Islamic east, a common focus on Jesus - and what Khalidi calls a "salutary" reminder of when Christianity and Islam were more open to each other and willing to rely on each other's witness - could help close the growing divide between the world's two largest faiths. Mogra agrees: "We don't have to fight over Jesus. He is special for Christians and Muslims. He is bigger than life. We can share him."
Reverend David Marshall, one of the Church of England's specialists on Islam, cites the concluding comments from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, at a recent seminar for Christian and Muslim scholars. He said he had been encouraged by "the quality of our disagreement". "Christians and Muslims disagree on many points and will continue to do so - but how we disagree is not predetermined," says Marshall. "Muslims are called by the Quran to 'argue only in the best way with the People of the Book' [Quran 29:46], and Christians are encouraged to give reasons for the hope that is within them, 'with gentleness and reverence' [1 Peter 3:15]. If we can do this, we have no reason to be afraid."
“The Muslim Jesus" by Tarif Khalidi is published by Harvard University Press (£14.95)
Mehdi Hasan is the NS's senior editor (politics)
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Monday, January 4, 2010
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Do You Know Who Owns Trader Joe’s?
February 19, 2009, 10:41 am
Do You Know Who Owns Trader Joe’s?
By STEPHEN J. DUBNER
Do you shop at Trader Joe’s?
From what I have seen, the world is divided into three sets of people.
1. Those who have never been to a Trader Joe’s, and perhaps have never heard of it.
2. Those who love Trader Joe’s more than they love their own families.
3. Those who love Trader Joe’s more than they love their own families and are incensed that there isn’t one nearby.
So, let me ask those of you who fall into categories 2 and 3: Who owns Trader Joe’s?
1. Some great California family full of surfers and gardeners.
2. A small band of communal farmers in Oregon.
3. A huge German discount-grocery chain best known in the U.S. for no-glamor stores often located in marginal neighborhoods.
Yeah, it’s No. 3. The company is called Aldi and, though I’d seen one or two of its stores in the past, I didn’t even know it was a grocery store. Then I read this very interesting Wall Street Journal piece about the company’s ambitious new plan for the U.S., which calls for 75 new stores this year. The article claims that Aldi is so good at selling cheap goods that WalMart couldn’t compete with it in Germany. How do they do it? Here’s one way:
Store-brand goods generally make up 22 percent of U.S. food sales in terms of unit volume, according to research by Nielsen Co., while in some European markets, they account for about 30 percent. At Aldi, 95 percent of the goods are the retailer’s own brands.
They are, in other words, not the obvious owner of a chain like Trader Joe’s — which, although it tries to be ruthlessly cheap, also has a very high style quotient and neighborhood grocery store vibe.
I thought of all this when I ran into a friend who used to work at a Trader Joe’s. I asked her if she knew who owned the chain. She said no, then thought about it, and suddenly remembered: “Oh yeah, some Germans!”
She knew this only because some Aldi executives came to look at her store a few times, and as she recalls it, her management asked all the employees to not speak to the Aldi executives. It was unclear why this was necessary.
Then she remembered something else: “The carts we used to wheel boxes up and down the aisles, we called them U-boats, because they were shaped like a U. We were told to definitely not call them U-boats whenever the Germans were visiting.”
Do You Know Who Owns Trader Joe’s?
By STEPHEN J. DUBNER
Do you shop at Trader Joe’s?
From what I have seen, the world is divided into three sets of people.
1. Those who have never been to a Trader Joe’s, and perhaps have never heard of it.
2. Those who love Trader Joe’s more than they love their own families.
3. Those who love Trader Joe’s more than they love their own families and are incensed that there isn’t one nearby.
So, let me ask those of you who fall into categories 2 and 3: Who owns Trader Joe’s?
1. Some great California family full of surfers and gardeners.
2. A small band of communal farmers in Oregon.
3. A huge German discount-grocery chain best known in the U.S. for no-glamor stores often located in marginal neighborhoods.
Yeah, it’s No. 3. The company is called Aldi and, though I’d seen one or two of its stores in the past, I didn’t even know it was a grocery store. Then I read this very interesting Wall Street Journal piece about the company’s ambitious new plan for the U.S., which calls for 75 new stores this year. The article claims that Aldi is so good at selling cheap goods that WalMart couldn’t compete with it in Germany. How do they do it? Here’s one way:
Store-brand goods generally make up 22 percent of U.S. food sales in terms of unit volume, according to research by Nielsen Co., while in some European markets, they account for about 30 percent. At Aldi, 95 percent of the goods are the retailer’s own brands.
They are, in other words, not the obvious owner of a chain like Trader Joe’s — which, although it tries to be ruthlessly cheap, also has a very high style quotient and neighborhood grocery store vibe.
I thought of all this when I ran into a friend who used to work at a Trader Joe’s. I asked her if she knew who owned the chain. She said no, then thought about it, and suddenly remembered: “Oh yeah, some Germans!”
She knew this only because some Aldi executives came to look at her store a few times, and as she recalls it, her management asked all the employees to not speak to the Aldi executives. It was unclear why this was necessary.
Then she remembered something else: “The carts we used to wheel boxes up and down the aisles, we called them U-boats, because they were shaped like a U. We were told to definitely not call them U-boats whenever the Germans were visiting.”
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Divorce by Texting
India: Divorce by text messaging and e-mail on the rise among Muslim men
New Delhi, 13 Feb. (AKI/Asian Age) - A rights organisation based in India said that divorces through e-mail, text message (SMS) and telephone are on the rise among India's Muslim population.
A study on "Marriage and divorce amongst Muslim women in India", undertaken by Sahiba Hussain, reader, Centre for Dalit and Minorities, Jamia Milia Islamia, highlights that more and more men are divorcing via SMS and e-mail.
Where women do not have access to mobile phones or computers, men use landline phones to pronounce the divorce declaration. "From 15 divorces that we looked at in 2008, eight were pronounced via SMS, e-mail and over the phone," said Husssain.
"Five divorce declarations were given face to face but amongst these also, only in one case a witness present when the declaration was made," she said.
The phenomenon is taking place despite a decree by the All-India Muslim Women Personal Law Board’s which forbids men from divorcing by electronic means.
Most of the SMS’ and e-mails had husbands complaining along predictable lines. They did not find the wife "beautiful enough", "compatible enough" or of having brought "adequate dowry".
Dowry demands are on the rise and the minimum cash payment being made by the wife’s family to the bridegroom is 5,000 rupees or the equivalent of 80 euros.
Even those families which earn as little 10 rupees per day or 15 euro cents are expected to fork out a dowry.
"One woman was so confused after receiving the SMS that she sought clarification from the qazi, or Islamic judge who, on reading the pronouncement, said that it did amount to a divorce.
"The husband was working abroad when he sent it," Hussain said.
Over 30 women have been interviewed so far from Delhi and several other cities in Bihar including Darbanga, Madhubani, Munghyar and Gaya in Bihar.
The idea was to include feedback from women living in both urban and rural India. Only one woman received a registered notice. In 90 percent of the cases it was found that women had to wait, sometimes as long as 27 years, just to recover her 'meher' or dowry, with husbands giving assurance that the "meher would be given to the woman at an appropriate time".
With Islamic judges not being in a position to ensure bridegrooms pay the maintenance or support money, a majority of Muslim women seek maintenance through civil courts, the study concludes.
Women divorcees are among those with the lowest social status in Indian Muslim society.
The report cites the example of one such divorced woman who faces much social stigma while "until today, her younger two sisters have remained unmarried", said Hussain.
New Delhi, 13 Feb. (AKI/Asian Age) - A rights organisation based in India said that divorces through e-mail, text message (SMS) and telephone are on the rise among India's Muslim population.
A study on "Marriage and divorce amongst Muslim women in India", undertaken by Sahiba Hussain, reader, Centre for Dalit and Minorities, Jamia Milia Islamia, highlights that more and more men are divorcing via SMS and e-mail.
Where women do not have access to mobile phones or computers, men use landline phones to pronounce the divorce declaration. "From 15 divorces that we looked at in 2008, eight were pronounced via SMS, e-mail and over the phone," said Husssain.
"Five divorce declarations were given face to face but amongst these also, only in one case a witness present when the declaration was made," she said.
The phenomenon is taking place despite a decree by the All-India Muslim Women Personal Law Board’s which forbids men from divorcing by electronic means.
Most of the SMS’ and e-mails had husbands complaining along predictable lines. They did not find the wife "beautiful enough", "compatible enough" or of having brought "adequate dowry".
Dowry demands are on the rise and the minimum cash payment being made by the wife’s family to the bridegroom is 5,000 rupees or the equivalent of 80 euros.
Even those families which earn as little 10 rupees per day or 15 euro cents are expected to fork out a dowry.
"One woman was so confused after receiving the SMS that she sought clarification from the qazi, or Islamic judge who, on reading the pronouncement, said that it did amount to a divorce.
"The husband was working abroad when he sent it," Hussain said.
Over 30 women have been interviewed so far from Delhi and several other cities in Bihar including Darbanga, Madhubani, Munghyar and Gaya in Bihar.
The idea was to include feedback from women living in both urban and rural India. Only one woman received a registered notice. In 90 percent of the cases it was found that women had to wait, sometimes as long as 27 years, just to recover her 'meher' or dowry, with husbands giving assurance that the "meher would be given to the woman at an appropriate time".
With Islamic judges not being in a position to ensure bridegrooms pay the maintenance or support money, a majority of Muslim women seek maintenance through civil courts, the study concludes.
Women divorcees are among those with the lowest social status in Indian Muslim society.
The report cites the example of one such divorced woman who faces much social stigma while "until today, her younger two sisters have remained unmarried", said Hussain.
Increasing divorce rate alarms many in Saudi Arabia
Increasing divorce rate alarms many in Saudi Arabia
Some say men are unable to deal with modern women
By Donna Abu-Nasr
Associated Press
Published: Monday, Dec. 11, 2006 11:59 a.m. MST
JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia — Khulud Abdul-Aziz enrolled in a course on manners, fashion and cooking that prepares young women to be good wives because she does not want to end up another statistic in Saudi Arabia's rising divorce rate.
"I want to be qualified for marriage in every respect," said the 19-year-old university student who is getting married in a few months.
The increasing divorce rate has alarmed many here, but some argue Saudi men can be part of the problem, unable to deal with a female population that is more educated and assertive.
The course Abdul-Aziz takes at al-Shaqaiq Society in the western seaport of Jiddah is just one of the ways social organizations are trying to help curb the number of divorces, which has grown 20 percent in recent years, according to government estimates.
While courts and marriage officials register around 70,000 marriage contracts annually, they also process more than 13,000 official divorce papers, said the Planning Ministry, according to media reports.
Fahad al-Yahya, a psychiatrist who counsels married couples, estimates at least 30 percent of Saudi first marriages end in divorce. The rate is comparable to the United States where, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, 33 percent of first marriages are disrupted either by separation or divorce.
So alarming is the problem that Saudi newspapers often carry stories discussing the issue, citing examples of the trivial incidents that lead to some of the divorces.
For instance, newspapers reported that a man divorced his wife after he found out she'd owned a camera phone for two years. Another left her because she insisted on waiting for a flight at the airport that kept getting delayed instead of returning home — as the husband had suggested.
Experts say the rapid technological change the kingdom witnessed as a result of the 1970s oil boom is one of the major reasons for the rise in divorce rates.
Oil money rapidly turned desert expanses into slick urban centers and gave a boost to women's education, introduced only in the 1960s. But this quick jump into the 21st century has not been accompanied by a parallel adaptation in traditions, tribal customs and attitudes, such as views that wives should be meek and undemanding. Some men, experts say, don't know how to cope with educated women.
"The Saudi woman has joined the work force and has become more educated," said al-Yahya. "This has changed their image from the one that prevailed in the past."
Stringent rules segregating the sexes have remained in place despite the modern facade that has brought malls, satellite TV and the Internet into the kingdom.
Boys and girls are separated once they reach puberty and are often not prepared to live with a member of the opposite sex after they get married. Women, who must wear veils and black cloaks called abayas, are kept away from men who are not husbands, brothers or uncles.
Very rarely do couples go out before they get married, and some don't see their spouses until their wedding night.
Even after they get married, it is difficult for couples to go out together. For instance, a married couple cannot go out to dinner with other married couples because the wives would be in the presence of men who are not their husbands. At family gatherings, women and men sit in separate rooms.
The institution of marriage also has been rocked by the introduction of other forms of marriage, sometimes called weekend marriages, that have grown in popularity in Saudi Arabia after influential clergy issued edicts supporting them earlier this year. These marriages relieve men of financial responsibilities and other obligations, including having to reveal them to family or other wives. Islam allows men to have up to four wives.
The proponents of such marriages say they decrease the number of unwed Saudi women, but critics say such unions destroy the family structure and encourage men to take additional wives who are usually younger "ornaments" rather than older unmarried women.
"I wonder if the virtuous men issuing such edicts do not pause to ponder the effects of such righteous proclamations on our fragile society," wrote Tariq al-Maeena in Arab News recently.
Al-Yahya said one way to save marriages is to make divorces more difficult. In Islam, a man can dissolve a marriage just by telling his wife, "You are divorced." Women, meanwhile, must go to court to get their marriages dissolved and only under exceptional circumstances such as the husband's mental illness.
"If there were strict laws they would make men think twice before divorcing their wives," al-Yahya said.
At a recent al-Shaqaiq Society class, Abdul-Aziz and 17 other young women sat in leather chairs at a horseshoe-shaped table to hear a lecture on "Discovering the Treasures for a Happy Life." The society also offers similar courses for men.
"What do you want out of married life?" instructor Almass al-Hijn asked the group. "Is your goal to find someone to spoil you and take you out to restaurants or to find a man who will protect you and with whom you can build a family?"
One student, 19-year-old Sara Bawahhal who recently got engaged, said she just hopes the course gives her the tools she needs to be a good wife.
"Girls don't know what is expected of them in marriage," she said. "This course expands a girl's horizons so she can go into marriage with open eyes."
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved
Some say men are unable to deal with modern women
By Donna Abu-Nasr
Associated Press
Published: Monday, Dec. 11, 2006 11:59 a.m. MST
JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia — Khulud Abdul-Aziz enrolled in a course on manners, fashion and cooking that prepares young women to be good wives because she does not want to end up another statistic in Saudi Arabia's rising divorce rate.
"I want to be qualified for marriage in every respect," said the 19-year-old university student who is getting married in a few months.
The increasing divorce rate has alarmed many here, but some argue Saudi men can be part of the problem, unable to deal with a female population that is more educated and assertive.
The course Abdul-Aziz takes at al-Shaqaiq Society in the western seaport of Jiddah is just one of the ways social organizations are trying to help curb the number of divorces, which has grown 20 percent in recent years, according to government estimates.
While courts and marriage officials register around 70,000 marriage contracts annually, they also process more than 13,000 official divorce papers, said the Planning Ministry, according to media reports.
Fahad al-Yahya, a psychiatrist who counsels married couples, estimates at least 30 percent of Saudi first marriages end in divorce. The rate is comparable to the United States where, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, 33 percent of first marriages are disrupted either by separation or divorce.
So alarming is the problem that Saudi newspapers often carry stories discussing the issue, citing examples of the trivial incidents that lead to some of the divorces.
For instance, newspapers reported that a man divorced his wife after he found out she'd owned a camera phone for two years. Another left her because she insisted on waiting for a flight at the airport that kept getting delayed instead of returning home — as the husband had suggested.
Experts say the rapid technological change the kingdom witnessed as a result of the 1970s oil boom is one of the major reasons for the rise in divorce rates.
Oil money rapidly turned desert expanses into slick urban centers and gave a boost to women's education, introduced only in the 1960s. But this quick jump into the 21st century has not been accompanied by a parallel adaptation in traditions, tribal customs and attitudes, such as views that wives should be meek and undemanding. Some men, experts say, don't know how to cope with educated women.
"The Saudi woman has joined the work force and has become more educated," said al-Yahya. "This has changed their image from the one that prevailed in the past."
Stringent rules segregating the sexes have remained in place despite the modern facade that has brought malls, satellite TV and the Internet into the kingdom.
Boys and girls are separated once they reach puberty and are often not prepared to live with a member of the opposite sex after they get married. Women, who must wear veils and black cloaks called abayas, are kept away from men who are not husbands, brothers or uncles.
Very rarely do couples go out before they get married, and some don't see their spouses until their wedding night.
Even after they get married, it is difficult for couples to go out together. For instance, a married couple cannot go out to dinner with other married couples because the wives would be in the presence of men who are not their husbands. At family gatherings, women and men sit in separate rooms.
The institution of marriage also has been rocked by the introduction of other forms of marriage, sometimes called weekend marriages, that have grown in popularity in Saudi Arabia after influential clergy issued edicts supporting them earlier this year. These marriages relieve men of financial responsibilities and other obligations, including having to reveal them to family or other wives. Islam allows men to have up to four wives.
The proponents of such marriages say they decrease the number of unwed Saudi women, but critics say such unions destroy the family structure and encourage men to take additional wives who are usually younger "ornaments" rather than older unmarried women.
"I wonder if the virtuous men issuing such edicts do not pause to ponder the effects of such righteous proclamations on our fragile society," wrote Tariq al-Maeena in Arab News recently.
Al-Yahya said one way to save marriages is to make divorces more difficult. In Islam, a man can dissolve a marriage just by telling his wife, "You are divorced." Women, meanwhile, must go to court to get their marriages dissolved and only under exceptional circumstances such as the husband's mental illness.
"If there were strict laws they would make men think twice before divorcing their wives," al-Yahya said.
At a recent al-Shaqaiq Society class, Abdul-Aziz and 17 other young women sat in leather chairs at a horseshoe-shaped table to hear a lecture on "Discovering the Treasures for a Happy Life." The society also offers similar courses for men.
"What do you want out of married life?" instructor Almass al-Hijn asked the group. "Is your goal to find someone to spoil you and take you out to restaurants or to find a man who will protect you and with whom you can build a family?"
One student, 19-year-old Sara Bawahhal who recently got engaged, said she just hopes the course gives her the tools she needs to be a good wife.
"Girls don't know what is expected of them in marriage," she said. "This course expands a girl's horizons so she can go into marriage with open eyes."
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved
High dowry? No, won’t marry you!
By Diana Al-Jassem
JEDDAH – Young Saudi men have started an online campaign to boycott marrying Saudi women because dowries and marriage costs are spiraling.
“Let her become a spinster!” is the theme of the campaign which is attracting a large number of young Saudi men who can’t afford to marry Saudi women and are looking for non-Saudi brides.
The websites leading the campaign want Saudi society to intervene before the cost of marriage gets completely out of control.
The websites are asyeh.com. almgha.com. toyota4arab.com, tomaar.com. alhora.com, and montdiatna.com.
“The theme of the campaign may seem a bit harsh... but these young men have their reasons,” said Abdullah Al-Jefn, an Islamic scholar and researcher.
He said the campaign touches on an important issue which should be studied in universities and schools.
“For most young Saudis, getting married is a dream that is becoming increasingly hard to achieve,” Al-Jefn said.
“Shariah law allows the girl to ask the man for whatever dowry she likes; this is not wrong or banned in Islam,” he said. – SG
JEDDAH – Young Saudi men have started an online campaign to boycott marrying Saudi women because dowries and marriage costs are spiraling.
“Let her become a spinster!” is the theme of the campaign which is attracting a large number of young Saudi men who can’t afford to marry Saudi women and are looking for non-Saudi brides.
The websites leading the campaign want Saudi society to intervene before the cost of marriage gets completely out of control.
The websites are asyeh.com. almgha.com. toyota4arab.com, tomaar.com. alhora.com, and montdiatna.com.
“The theme of the campaign may seem a bit harsh... but these young men have their reasons,” said Abdullah Al-Jefn, an Islamic scholar and researcher.
He said the campaign touches on an important issue which should be studied in universities and schools.
“For most young Saudis, getting married is a dream that is becoming increasingly hard to achieve,” Al-Jefn said.
“Shariah law allows the girl to ask the man for whatever dowry she likes; this is not wrong or banned in Islam,” he said. – SG
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Unmarried Women — Alarming Statistics
The Middle East's Leading English Language Daily
Monday 25 October 2004 (11 Ramadan 1425)
Depending on the societies they live in, when unmarried girls reach a certain age which differs from society to society, people begin to refer to them as “old maids” or “spinsters”.
Especially in Arab countries, people still look upon a young unmarried girl as though she were to blame for her state. Fingers are pointed accusingly at her regardless of the reasons or her own circumstances. The girl soon becomes the butt of ridicule, accusations, and meddling by those around her and even those closest to her.
The reasons for the girl’s delay in getting married or in not getting married at all are many and varied. There are social circumstances and pressures that drive a girl to study and to work in order to become financially stable.
There are also other reasons such as high dowries. Then there are families which demand that a prospective suitor have certain characteristics or else they will not allow their daughters or sisters to marry him. Omaimah Sanad from Sayidaty, a sister publication of Arab News, examined the problem.
JEDDAH, 25 October 2004 — What do girls in Saudi Arabia say about why they are not married? How much do they suffer because they are not married? Can a girl begin a new life and start a family no matter how late?
Fawzia, who is 38 years old, said: “I tried to imitate some girls in my family by carrying the banner of ‘No To Marriage’ — at least not until I had completed my education, graduated and worked as a teacher. As time passed, I became increasingly involved in my professional life. To be fair, I received many proposals at that time but the men did not meet my standards. And my friends and family agreed with me because they wanted me to have what I wanted in a partner. My mother, however, God rest her soul, disagreed and used to try to convince me to take the proposals more seriously. She told me over and over not to imitate my cousins since they had not received proposals as good as mine in the first place. But I didn’t listen to her and thought that as I was still young and attractive, I had plenty of time to consider different options and choose the right man. The days and months flew by and with the deaths of my mother and father, I was left alone. Most of my friends are married now; I’m still alone and my looks are fading with time. I realize too late that I’ve wasted my life setting impossible conditions for the men who wanted to marry me.”
Dr. Ulfat, a single woman in her 40s, said: “I wronged myself by going along with my mother’s decisions. My mother refused every suitor on the basis that he wasn’t worthy of us. And what made things worse was that my father was so much weaker than my mother that she had ‘the’ say in everything related to my sisters and me for more than 20 years. My sisters and I never had the courage to disagree with her or challenge her. And if the suitor was up to our standards, she would make up conditions that were impossible to fulfill. We never knew what she wanted from a prospective husband. The situation continued until we were no longer young but were still being called ‘Miss’. Now whenever anyone asks us why we are not married, we justify ourselves by saying that we are too involved with our professional lives. Our mother still dreams of a perfect husband for each of us; in her eyes, we are still ‘little girls’ even though we are all highly qualified adults.”
Mona, who is 35 and still single, said: “Yes, it is not easy being an unmarried woman in our society. Girls who refuse to marry don’t do so without a reason. Very often the reason is her family’s attitude and that is the reason in my case. Today I’m 35 and I’ve been getting proposals since I was 14; my father, however, refused them all since he was influenced by my stepmother who accused every man of being a gold digger, greedy for my money and social status. At the same time, she managed to marry off her own daughters to men who were not always up to the standards she set for me. The result was that I focused on my studies since I had no other outlet. I had to dodge the queries about my being single. People pitied me and said how strange it was that with my looks, education and status that I was still unmarried. Even after I graduated and began working, suitors approached my family but all were turned away. We have reached the point where no one will ask for me since it is well-known that everybody will be refused.”
Munira, who is over 30, said: “My love for children surpasses everything in the world. I was so eager to get married and have a family but my mother refused every man who proposed to me or my sister. When I asked my mother why she refused them even though many came from prominent families, she answered that this was in accordance with our late father’s will that we not marry anyone outside our tribe and that we had been betrothed as children to some of our paternal cousins because they could protect us and keep in the family the wealth inherited from our father. For 20 years we waited for our cousins to propose to us but they never did. The years passed by and our younger brothers and sisters got married while we have remained single.”
Hayat and her sister are teachers and together earn more than SR12,000 every month. They say their father refuses to let them marry because of what they earn; if they marry, he will lose access to their money. He treats every man as someone who wants only his daughter’s salary. He does not want to lose it. The fact is that their father allows them only SR1,000 a month and this has forced them to go to a lawyer to file suit against him and to complain of his mistreatment of their mother. If the suit is successful, they can then marry.
Leila, who turned 34 only recently, said: “My chances of getting married are decreasing if not already ended. In this day and age, young men are unlikely to marry a girl they’ve not seen — or at least one which their relatives have seen. After all, this is how girls get married; someone from among the man’s family or friends sees the girl and recommends her. Since I’m not allowed to leave the house or go out or work, no one will see me and so I remain unmarried. These conditions are the ones I have lived under since childhood; my mother didn’t allow me to go anywhere but school and so I didn’t make many friends. In order to have friends, you must be able to come and go and that is what I was not allowed to do. And even after I graduated, I wasn’t allowed to work. This made me ask my family what had been the point of my education and my degree if I was not to be allowed to work? They said both would be an advantage when I raised my children. I have now gone to a matchmaker in hopes that she can find a husband for me.”
Traditions have been a major obstacle to 32-year-old Lamia’s marriage. “My family is the reason I wasn’t able to marry the one my heart chose even though they knew his family well. We had been neighbors for a long time and my brothers and sisters like him which is why my involvement with him was so natural from the start. After we grew up and completed our college education, it was only natural that he should ask my family for my hand in marriage. My family refused even though they have known him for 30 years. He is like a son to my father who likes him and speaks approvingly of his conduct and character. They would not at first tell me why they had refused but I persisted and finally the reason my father gave me was: ‘He isn’t originally Saudi.’ This shocked me because I had no idea my family would refuse someone for such a shallow reason or even that they would think along such narrow lines. This has led me to refuse all other men who proposed in hopes that my family will finally let me marry the person I have chosen.”
Maha, who is 37, said: “My not being married is a matter that is out of my hands even though I’m well-educated and said to be attractive. Many men, however, will not propose to someone who is better educated than they are. There was once a young man who asked to marry me and my family and his agreed on everything. Then he suddenly disappeared without any explanation except that he didn’t want to marry an educated working woman. This scenario has been repeated several times.”
Why Marriages Are Delayed
Dr. Bakr Bagader, an anthropology professor at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, said: “People differ in the age at which a woman is considered an ‘old maid’. Much depends on the practices and ideas of the society the girl lives in. We often see today that the marriageable age is linked to the stages in education because of the responsibilities of making a living and supporting a family. A man must be able to earn a living and it is even better if both partners can work and contribute to the family’s finances. Two incomes give a family more disposable income and increase status. Completing education is thus seen as important and delays marriage for girls. In fact, in some situations, a degree and a job for a girl is highly desirable. Women no longer feel that their worth or status is dependent upon their husband. Another factor in delaying marriages is that it is now possible for women to delay having children until they want them rather than getting married and getting pregnant the same year.”
According to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Planning:
• There are 2,638,575 married women in Saudi Arabia out of a total of 4,572,231.
• The number of unmarried girls over 30 is more than 1.5 million: Makkah: 396,248; Riyadh: 327,427; Asir: 130,812; Madinah: 95,542; Jizan: 84,845; Qasim: 74,209; Jouf: 5,219; Tabuk 36,689 and the Eastern Province 21,543.
Copyright: Arab News © 2003 All rights reserved. Site designed by: arabix
Monday 25 October 2004 (11 Ramadan 1425)
Depending on the societies they live in, when unmarried girls reach a certain age which differs from society to society, people begin to refer to them as “old maids” or “spinsters”.
Especially in Arab countries, people still look upon a young unmarried girl as though she were to blame for her state. Fingers are pointed accusingly at her regardless of the reasons or her own circumstances. The girl soon becomes the butt of ridicule, accusations, and meddling by those around her and even those closest to her.
The reasons for the girl’s delay in getting married or in not getting married at all are many and varied. There are social circumstances and pressures that drive a girl to study and to work in order to become financially stable.
There are also other reasons such as high dowries. Then there are families which demand that a prospective suitor have certain characteristics or else they will not allow their daughters or sisters to marry him. Omaimah Sanad from Sayidaty, a sister publication of Arab News, examined the problem.
JEDDAH, 25 October 2004 — What do girls in Saudi Arabia say about why they are not married? How much do they suffer because they are not married? Can a girl begin a new life and start a family no matter how late?
Fawzia, who is 38 years old, said: “I tried to imitate some girls in my family by carrying the banner of ‘No To Marriage’ — at least not until I had completed my education, graduated and worked as a teacher. As time passed, I became increasingly involved in my professional life. To be fair, I received many proposals at that time but the men did not meet my standards. And my friends and family agreed with me because they wanted me to have what I wanted in a partner. My mother, however, God rest her soul, disagreed and used to try to convince me to take the proposals more seriously. She told me over and over not to imitate my cousins since they had not received proposals as good as mine in the first place. But I didn’t listen to her and thought that as I was still young and attractive, I had plenty of time to consider different options and choose the right man. The days and months flew by and with the deaths of my mother and father, I was left alone. Most of my friends are married now; I’m still alone and my looks are fading with time. I realize too late that I’ve wasted my life setting impossible conditions for the men who wanted to marry me.”
Dr. Ulfat, a single woman in her 40s, said: “I wronged myself by going along with my mother’s decisions. My mother refused every suitor on the basis that he wasn’t worthy of us. And what made things worse was that my father was so much weaker than my mother that she had ‘the’ say in everything related to my sisters and me for more than 20 years. My sisters and I never had the courage to disagree with her or challenge her. And if the suitor was up to our standards, she would make up conditions that were impossible to fulfill. We never knew what she wanted from a prospective husband. The situation continued until we were no longer young but were still being called ‘Miss’. Now whenever anyone asks us why we are not married, we justify ourselves by saying that we are too involved with our professional lives. Our mother still dreams of a perfect husband for each of us; in her eyes, we are still ‘little girls’ even though we are all highly qualified adults.”
Mona, who is 35 and still single, said: “Yes, it is not easy being an unmarried woman in our society. Girls who refuse to marry don’t do so without a reason. Very often the reason is her family’s attitude and that is the reason in my case. Today I’m 35 and I’ve been getting proposals since I was 14; my father, however, refused them all since he was influenced by my stepmother who accused every man of being a gold digger, greedy for my money and social status. At the same time, she managed to marry off her own daughters to men who were not always up to the standards she set for me. The result was that I focused on my studies since I had no other outlet. I had to dodge the queries about my being single. People pitied me and said how strange it was that with my looks, education and status that I was still unmarried. Even after I graduated and began working, suitors approached my family but all were turned away. We have reached the point where no one will ask for me since it is well-known that everybody will be refused.”
Munira, who is over 30, said: “My love for children surpasses everything in the world. I was so eager to get married and have a family but my mother refused every man who proposed to me or my sister. When I asked my mother why she refused them even though many came from prominent families, she answered that this was in accordance with our late father’s will that we not marry anyone outside our tribe and that we had been betrothed as children to some of our paternal cousins because they could protect us and keep in the family the wealth inherited from our father. For 20 years we waited for our cousins to propose to us but they never did. The years passed by and our younger brothers and sisters got married while we have remained single.”
Hayat and her sister are teachers and together earn more than SR12,000 every month. They say their father refuses to let them marry because of what they earn; if they marry, he will lose access to their money. He treats every man as someone who wants only his daughter’s salary. He does not want to lose it. The fact is that their father allows them only SR1,000 a month and this has forced them to go to a lawyer to file suit against him and to complain of his mistreatment of their mother. If the suit is successful, they can then marry.
Leila, who turned 34 only recently, said: “My chances of getting married are decreasing if not already ended. In this day and age, young men are unlikely to marry a girl they’ve not seen — or at least one which their relatives have seen. After all, this is how girls get married; someone from among the man’s family or friends sees the girl and recommends her. Since I’m not allowed to leave the house or go out or work, no one will see me and so I remain unmarried. These conditions are the ones I have lived under since childhood; my mother didn’t allow me to go anywhere but school and so I didn’t make many friends. In order to have friends, you must be able to come and go and that is what I was not allowed to do. And even after I graduated, I wasn’t allowed to work. This made me ask my family what had been the point of my education and my degree if I was not to be allowed to work? They said both would be an advantage when I raised my children. I have now gone to a matchmaker in hopes that she can find a husband for me.”
Traditions have been a major obstacle to 32-year-old Lamia’s marriage. “My family is the reason I wasn’t able to marry the one my heart chose even though they knew his family well. We had been neighbors for a long time and my brothers and sisters like him which is why my involvement with him was so natural from the start. After we grew up and completed our college education, it was only natural that he should ask my family for my hand in marriage. My family refused even though they have known him for 30 years. He is like a son to my father who likes him and speaks approvingly of his conduct and character. They would not at first tell me why they had refused but I persisted and finally the reason my father gave me was: ‘He isn’t originally Saudi.’ This shocked me because I had no idea my family would refuse someone for such a shallow reason or even that they would think along such narrow lines. This has led me to refuse all other men who proposed in hopes that my family will finally let me marry the person I have chosen.”
Maha, who is 37, said: “My not being married is a matter that is out of my hands even though I’m well-educated and said to be attractive. Many men, however, will not propose to someone who is better educated than they are. There was once a young man who asked to marry me and my family and his agreed on everything. Then he suddenly disappeared without any explanation except that he didn’t want to marry an educated working woman. This scenario has been repeated several times.”
Why Marriages Are Delayed
Dr. Bakr Bagader, an anthropology professor at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, said: “People differ in the age at which a woman is considered an ‘old maid’. Much depends on the practices and ideas of the society the girl lives in. We often see today that the marriageable age is linked to the stages in education because of the responsibilities of making a living and supporting a family. A man must be able to earn a living and it is even better if both partners can work and contribute to the family’s finances. Two incomes give a family more disposable income and increase status. Completing education is thus seen as important and delays marriage for girls. In fact, in some situations, a degree and a job for a girl is highly desirable. Women no longer feel that their worth or status is dependent upon their husband. Another factor in delaying marriages is that it is now possible for women to delay having children until they want them rather than getting married and getting pregnant the same year.”
According to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Planning:
• There are 2,638,575 married women in Saudi Arabia out of a total of 4,572,231.
• The number of unmarried girls over 30 is more than 1.5 million: Makkah: 396,248; Riyadh: 327,427; Asir: 130,812; Madinah: 95,542; Jizan: 84,845; Qasim: 74,209; Jouf: 5,219; Tabuk 36,689 and the Eastern Province 21,543.
Copyright: Arab News © 2003 All rights reserved. Site designed by: arabix
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Who's in the know: Women surge, men sink in education's gender gap
December 7, 2009
Who's in the know: Women surge, men sink in education's gender gap
By ELIZABETH CHURCH
From Monday's Globe and Mail
Female students are dominating campuses, a shift that will change 'who does what.' But leaving men behind has its costs
EDUCATION REPORTER
In a red-brick building at the University of Guelph, where veterinarians have been schooled for the better part of a century, a demographic shift is taking place that offers a window into the future of human behaviour.
In the past decade, Ontario Veterinary College has seen its student numbers turned on their head: Women account for more than 80 per cent of its students during that time, and now make up more than half of the province's practising vets.
It's an extreme example of a story that is playing out on campuses in Canada and around the world - and a trend that could have profound social implications. There are now three female undergraduates for every two male students on Canadian campuses, and more women than men graduated with higher education degrees in 75 of 98 countries examined in a recent UNESCO study.
Women are expected to gain more power in public and corporate life and more financial independence.
Faced with a dwindling number of potential mates who are their education equals, however, researchers speculate more women may take a pass on the traditional family, or be more willing to leave it when things don't work. And more men may find themselves tending to hearth and home.
"We are an example of things to come," says Serge Desmarais, Guelph's associate vice-president, academic, and a psychologist who specializes in gender studies. "Imagine 30 years from now when 60, 70 per cent of the people who are educated are women. It has to change the ratio of who does what. And that has huge social ramifications."
Economist Ross Finnie agrees. "It's a whole new world," says Prof. Finnie, who teaches public policy at the University of Ottawa. "This is a complete flip-around from not so long ago. I think the direction of change is almost certain. I don't think it's ridiculous to say women will have the upper hand in a way they haven't in the past."
Today's "gender gap" has been a long time in the making. Women reached parity at the undergraduate level in 1987, at the masters level in 1997, and now account for about 46 per cent of PhD candidates. Women are still the minority in fields such as engineering, computer science and math, but account for the majority of students in most disciplines.
But the economic meltdown and the huge hit taken by traditionally male-dominated industries, such as the auto sector, has brought a new urgency to the debate. Even in the depths of the current recession, when the country shed 330,000 jobs, about 62,000 new positions were created for university graduates in the 12 months up to September, Statistics Canada numbers show.
Some university leaders say the gap is a reflection of a larger societal puzzle that sees boys lagging girls in academic achievement long before they reach campuses, and has led to new approaches for teaching boys, such as boys-only schools. Studies show that as early as Grade 9, more girls plan to attend university, and those aspirations increase as they approach graduation.
"We should be concerned about any group not participating in post-secondary education," says Ryerson University president Sheldon Levy. "We need to ask some tough questions about the graduation rates of men out of high school and why they aren't going to universities."
Others are more cautious, pointing to U.S. research that finds girls historically have done better at school, but were discouraged from continuing their education. And men are still going to university at record levels: 85,000 of them were in Canadian undergraduate and graduate programs in 2007 - about 30 per cent more than in 2000. As for colleges, men and women are going in equal numbers.
At Guelph, first-year student vet Adam Little is acutely aware of his outnumbered status. "I am a white guy and I am in the minority. It is definitely a different dynamic," says Mr. Little, who acknowledges he and his male classmates tend to stick together. While he knows of several men who had ambitions of going to the vet college, they took different paths when confronted with the school's admissions hurdles. "The people who stick with it are mostly women," he adds.
Some attempts to right the growing imbalance have been controversial. When University of Alberta president Indira Samarasekera told local media she was prepared to be "an advocate for young white men," the reaction was quick, including a poster campaign by students mocking her remarks.
"I know a problematic statement when I see one," said student Derek Warwick, a key organizer of the campaign. A Métis student from rural Alberta, he says there are plenty of groups - racial minorities, aboriginals, students from low-income families - who are underrepresented at universities and deserve attention.
And despite the changes anticipated by some researchers, women in Canada hold roughly 5 per cent of top corporate jobs and account for 5.6 per cent of the highest earners, according to the research group Catalyst Inc. Young women still make about 90 cents for every dollar earned by a young man.
A South Asian who was one of only two female engineering professors at the University of British Columbia when she began her career, Dr. Samarasekera says she understands how much ground women and minority groups still need to gain. But she argues society can no longer ignore what is happening to men.
"There is a feeling men can take care of themselves - clearly that is not true. If that were true, we wouldn't be seeing this growing gap." Men's failure to go on to higher education in the same numbers as women is a "demographic bomb," she warns, that will hurt Canada's ability to compete and limit men's potential.
But beyond stepping up recruitment efforts, universities say their hands are tied. "We really have no ability to do anything in the admissions process to give preferential treatment," says David Hannah, the vice-president responsible for enrolment at the University of Saskatchewan. "I've had deans ask me about that as a way to get a better balance in their programs, and the answer is no. It's against the law."
In the United States, favouritism toward male applicants is suspected at some liberal arts colleges, where the absence of faculties such as engineering and computer science puts gender numbers even more off-kilter. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights last month began an inquiry into accusations that private schools are discriminating against women to prevent campuses from becoming "too female," fearing this will discourage others from applying.
At the University of Guelph, Prof. Desmarais says simple solutions such as boys-only schools can't be expected to solve such a complex question. The greater problem, he argues, is the still-held belief by some groups that education is a waste of their time.
"The problem is not what happens here, but what happens to lead people here," he says. "If achieving in school earlier in life is not perceived to be important, then I can tell you, they are never seeing university."
At the vet school, Mr. Little says being one of 26 men in a class of 112 has some obvious advantages. Although singlet, at least in one respect, the odds are still in his favour.
CTVglobemedia Publishing, Inc
Who's in the know: Women surge, men sink in education's gender gap
By ELIZABETH CHURCH
From Monday's Globe and Mail
Female students are dominating campuses, a shift that will change 'who does what.' But leaving men behind has its costs
EDUCATION REPORTER
In a red-brick building at the University of Guelph, where veterinarians have been schooled for the better part of a century, a demographic shift is taking place that offers a window into the future of human behaviour.
In the past decade, Ontario Veterinary College has seen its student numbers turned on their head: Women account for more than 80 per cent of its students during that time, and now make up more than half of the province's practising vets.
It's an extreme example of a story that is playing out on campuses in Canada and around the world - and a trend that could have profound social implications. There are now three female undergraduates for every two male students on Canadian campuses, and more women than men graduated with higher education degrees in 75 of 98 countries examined in a recent UNESCO study.
Women are expected to gain more power in public and corporate life and more financial independence.
Faced with a dwindling number of potential mates who are their education equals, however, researchers speculate more women may take a pass on the traditional family, or be more willing to leave it when things don't work. And more men may find themselves tending to hearth and home.
"We are an example of things to come," says Serge Desmarais, Guelph's associate vice-president, academic, and a psychologist who specializes in gender studies. "Imagine 30 years from now when 60, 70 per cent of the people who are educated are women. It has to change the ratio of who does what. And that has huge social ramifications."
Economist Ross Finnie agrees. "It's a whole new world," says Prof. Finnie, who teaches public policy at the University of Ottawa. "This is a complete flip-around from not so long ago. I think the direction of change is almost certain. I don't think it's ridiculous to say women will have the upper hand in a way they haven't in the past."
Today's "gender gap" has been a long time in the making. Women reached parity at the undergraduate level in 1987, at the masters level in 1997, and now account for about 46 per cent of PhD candidates. Women are still the minority in fields such as engineering, computer science and math, but account for the majority of students in most disciplines.
But the economic meltdown and the huge hit taken by traditionally male-dominated industries, such as the auto sector, has brought a new urgency to the debate. Even in the depths of the current recession, when the country shed 330,000 jobs, about 62,000 new positions were created for university graduates in the 12 months up to September, Statistics Canada numbers show.
Some university leaders say the gap is a reflection of a larger societal puzzle that sees boys lagging girls in academic achievement long before they reach campuses, and has led to new approaches for teaching boys, such as boys-only schools. Studies show that as early as Grade 9, more girls plan to attend university, and those aspirations increase as they approach graduation.
"We should be concerned about any group not participating in post-secondary education," says Ryerson University president Sheldon Levy. "We need to ask some tough questions about the graduation rates of men out of high school and why they aren't going to universities."
Others are more cautious, pointing to U.S. research that finds girls historically have done better at school, but were discouraged from continuing their education. And men are still going to university at record levels: 85,000 of them were in Canadian undergraduate and graduate programs in 2007 - about 30 per cent more than in 2000. As for colleges, men and women are going in equal numbers.
At Guelph, first-year student vet Adam Little is acutely aware of his outnumbered status. "I am a white guy and I am in the minority. It is definitely a different dynamic," says Mr. Little, who acknowledges he and his male classmates tend to stick together. While he knows of several men who had ambitions of going to the vet college, they took different paths when confronted with the school's admissions hurdles. "The people who stick with it are mostly women," he adds.
Some attempts to right the growing imbalance have been controversial. When University of Alberta president Indira Samarasekera told local media she was prepared to be "an advocate for young white men," the reaction was quick, including a poster campaign by students mocking her remarks.
"I know a problematic statement when I see one," said student Derek Warwick, a key organizer of the campaign. A Métis student from rural Alberta, he says there are plenty of groups - racial minorities, aboriginals, students from low-income families - who are underrepresented at universities and deserve attention.
And despite the changes anticipated by some researchers, women in Canada hold roughly 5 per cent of top corporate jobs and account for 5.6 per cent of the highest earners, according to the research group Catalyst Inc. Young women still make about 90 cents for every dollar earned by a young man.
A South Asian who was one of only two female engineering professors at the University of British Columbia when she began her career, Dr. Samarasekera says she understands how much ground women and minority groups still need to gain. But she argues society can no longer ignore what is happening to men.
"There is a feeling men can take care of themselves - clearly that is not true. If that were true, we wouldn't be seeing this growing gap." Men's failure to go on to higher education in the same numbers as women is a "demographic bomb," she warns, that will hurt Canada's ability to compete and limit men's potential.
But beyond stepping up recruitment efforts, universities say their hands are tied. "We really have no ability to do anything in the admissions process to give preferential treatment," says David Hannah, the vice-president responsible for enrolment at the University of Saskatchewan. "I've had deans ask me about that as a way to get a better balance in their programs, and the answer is no. It's against the law."
In the United States, favouritism toward male applicants is suspected at some liberal arts colleges, where the absence of faculties such as engineering and computer science puts gender numbers even more off-kilter. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights last month began an inquiry into accusations that private schools are discriminating against women to prevent campuses from becoming "too female," fearing this will discourage others from applying.
At the University of Guelph, Prof. Desmarais says simple solutions such as boys-only schools can't be expected to solve such a complex question. The greater problem, he argues, is the still-held belief by some groups that education is a waste of their time.
"The problem is not what happens here, but what happens to lead people here," he says. "If achieving in school earlier in life is not perceived to be important, then I can tell you, they are never seeing university."
At the vet school, Mr. Little says being one of 26 men in a class of 112 has some obvious advantages. Although singlet, at least in one respect, the odds are still in his favour.
CTVglobemedia Publishing, Inc
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