The Role of Women in an Islamic Society

The heart-rending novel A Thousand Splendid Suns focuses on the lives of Muslim women in Afghanistan when the Taliban took over Middle Eastern terrain. The novel follows the unanticipated lives of two young women who initially grow up in dissimilar worlds, but end up playing a crucial role in one another’s lives as they begin to realize the circumstance they are situated in. The way women are depicted in the novel shows the different degrees of cultural and religious tolerance in the Islamic world. While some live a more privileged and healthy lifestyle, others are forced to devote their time to religion and their husbands. The novel exemplifies the extremes of commitment to religious practice and hierarchical authority.
The story unfolds primarily with the introduction of a young girl named Mariam who is forced into marriage by her father and his many wives. Although the child is too young to even take care of herself, she has already been propelled into a situation where she now has to care for her husband and a house. At other places around the world, girls would be attending school, or learning how to become a woman from her mother. With no mother, a helpless father, and a demanding husband, Mariam learns the principals of womanhood at an astonishingly young age. While young girls in other parts of the world do not experience the full meaning of responsibility, others begin to deal with it at a very young age. The different cultural and religious views, especially pertaining to feminism, change subtly or drastically from continent to continent.
The concept of men being the hierarchical authority is shown in many religions around the world. While the men work during the day, the women are required to make dinner, keep the house clean, and make sure her husband has a comfortable environment to return to after working all day. Although male dominance is a reoccurring theme throughout the novel, female weakness is the presiding focus. The novel leaves the reader feeling desolate and irritated at the ignorance of feminism in the Islamic culture. Even when the children are at a very young age, the sons are preferred over the daughters, spoiled with unconditional love and expensive gifts. Girls are essentially seen as worthless, incapable human beings that are present just to take and administer orders. By allowing the readers to experience first hand what life in Afghanistan was like during the Taliban rule opens up a new perspective on the concept of feminism.
The novel’s main focus on the corruption in Afghanistan during the Taliban rule invites readers to learn about culture and religion from a different part of the world. As ignorant as we may be once in a while, the novel provides a refresher for those who live in an enclosed society, knowing only the culture they live in. The atrocities concerning the treatment of women in A Thousand Splendid Suns is an eye-opener, a reminder, a wake-up call to the world that while you may be living a privileged life, there are plenty of others who are running a household before they even turn sixteen.