S p i r i t ua l i t y S t u d i e s 6 - 2 Fa l l 2 0 2 0 3 1 Monika Zaviš the world’s countries are party to the Convention; those that had not ratified are the USA, Iran, Somalia and Sudan. The foundations of CEDAW trace to 1946 when The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) was established under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council (Cole 2016, 1–3). Regarding our topic the fifth article of this convention is essential (CEDAW 2020): States Parties shall take all appropriate measures: (a) To modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices, which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women; (b) To ensure that family education includes a proper understanding of maternity as a social function and the recognition of the common responsibility of men and women in the upbringing and development of their children, it being understood that the interest of the children is the primordial consideration in all cases. Higher values of violence against women are according to WHO present in Muslim countries – in Sub-Saharan Africa, the MENA region and South East Asia to 37%. Interpretations of Qur’anic texts and those recorded in Sunnah can be prob - lematic for equality; many orthodox interpretations of Islam have discriminatory elements. Contextual factors and cultural values play a key role as well; although “ Islamic reform theologians believe that the implementation of sharia law as a whole (including the Quran) could and should be newly interpreted in light of modern times .” This is the feature of the most of the other world religions, too. Hennig informs also on significant differences among respective 23 Muslim countries participating in survey of the Pew Research Center regarding perception of gender roles, obeying husband, veiling, right of women to divorce, to inherit, and have ownership rights. Islamic feminism tries to fight prejudices of an inherit discrim - ination of women in Islam and help to adjust the traditional role of women to changing society, which is totally different position than in case of concerns of Western feminism (Hennig 2016). On the other side, we have to point out, that not all the signs of subordination of women to men in Islam, as seen by Western world, currently are or have been in the past really unequivocal symbol of subordination. A good example could be veiling that was a significant symbol of resistance to colonialists in the past. According to Hajjar, women’s human rights that originate in other cultures or communities are by Islamic communities considered to be a constitutive part of those particular cul - tures or communities, something extraneous, and therefore are disadvantages, which are women of own, national area, confronted with, interpreted as specifics of their own culture, a part of own cultural heritage and national identity, and thus subsequently justified, defended or even glorified. Pro - motion of women’s human rights is considered to be a sign of modernization that demands revision and potentially also recourse of local laws and praxis, thus, it often activates totally opposite efforts of resistance to globalization and foreign influence by defending of those cultural components, that are specific for respective own culture (Hajjar 2004, 251). Fourth Problem Despite of equivalency of man and woman that was appointed in the Qur’an by God’s authority already in the time of the creation, religious obligations and rituals cannot be fulfilled or done by men and by women to the same degree, frequency and extent. The reasons are ritual criteria of purity, which is impossible to fulfill during the time of menstruation and childbirth. The blood makes women ritually unclean. Therefore, they are not allowed to participate during the time of the bleeding, nor at Jummah (Friday prayer in mosque), nor to fast ( Ramadan ), nor to attend the hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). For these reasons, women tend to postpone their duty of hajj to later years, when they are already postmenopausal. Paradoxically, high fertility and procreation, which are so stressed by Islam, are in the cases mentioned above actually hindering women to fulfill all the prescribed religious obli - gations continuously and to the maximum. Older women, on the contrary, are able to fulfill their duties, but they are doing even more: in families with high social status they are organizing and hosting religious rituals and gatherings. In some world regions with strong Islamic awareness it is common for such women at home gatherings also to read from Qur’an, to preach, and to pray. Nevertheless, we can question the authenticity of spirituality, religiosity and religious experience based on strict fulfilling religious obligations; we can also polemize of their motivation. Are we dealing with genuine faith that influences and shapes every life aspect of respec - tive person, or we are dealing with family tradition, custom, honor?
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