Empowering a generation of independent Muslim mothers

In an Islamic society, women are not valued equally with men. The Qur’an explicitly states that women are to be subordinate to men. In Muslim households, wives are required to submit to their husbands. Other cultures may find this discriminatory and oppressive; but mothers who attended the Family Development Sessions in Maguindanao agreed that they play larger roles outside the realism of merely submitting to their husbands.

Mahira Gumbay, a mother of 4, volunteers as a daycare worker. As someone who works with children, she believes that taking care of them is vital for their growth and safety. 

According to her, teaching and instilling in them Islamic values while they are young will help them as parents in raising them right. The Family Development Session she attended in Shariff Saydona Mustapha, Maguindanao was very helpful because it helped her understand her role more clearly – not just as a mother, but also as a daycare worker. 

“Natawan nami I panon I mapya a ukit a kapedtyakap sa wata endo mga kawagib na babay a deyt a kasabutan nami, endo mga deyt a gagalbeken na babay sa panon i kaiwas sa guligaw. Su umanggay a kapedtyakap ko sa mga wata ko na mas ebpepenan ko pan ka endo mapya silan sa kag kasla nila.” (Through the session, we learned the best practices we should do to take care of our children, our rights as women that we should know, and what we should do as women to avoid misunderstanding. I will improve the way I take care of my children to ensure they grow up to be good people.)

The same is the case with Farhana Guialuson, 23, who attended a Family Development Session in Mamasapano, Maguindanao. Through the session, she realized that women and mothers have bigger roles especially in building peace in the community. Farhana recognized that women help men think calmly, and mothers shape their children’s future. The sessions helped them realize that what they do is vital and important not just for their households, but also for the community. Farhana is also thankful that they were given a safe platform to share their thoughts on how Muslim women are treated. She believes it was a very empowering session because they knew how important their role as women is in peacebuilding. 

“Nagpapasalamat ako dahil naibahagi  namin ang idea namin, at nagkaroon ng pagkakataong malaman ang halaga ng mga babae at mga karapatan namin.” (I am grateful because we were able to share our ideas and we were given a chance to know our value and rights as women.)

From time to time, Mahira and Farhana’s families are affected by the recurring conflict in their respective communities. Taking what they learned from the Family Development Sessions, they made sure that they will do their best to keep their households peaceful and raise their children to be peace-loving and God-fearing. 

The Family Development and Media Literacy Sessions is a joint initiative of IDEALS, Soar High Knowledge Foundation, and Children Peace Movement Council under the Mindanaoan Youth Voices for Peace project funded by the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF). It primarily aims to strengthen the capacities of parents and their children for peaceful conflict resolution within their family and community and develop the family’s media literacy. ##