From February 11th – 16th 2008, under the aegis of the International Association of Physical Education and Sport for Girls and Women (IAPESGW), a study week was generously hosted by Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), Oman. The focus was on improving opportunities for Muslim girls and women to participate in physical education and sporting activity.

The purpose of the group was both –

This work is situated in complex and overlapping fields of equity; social justice related to gender, religion and cultural diversity. In particular, the event and outcomes challenge the marginalisation and polarisation of accounts of Muslim women’s role and participation in physical activity, physical education and sport by placing Muslim women at the centre.

Sixteen scholars from physical education, sport and Islamic studies and leading practitioners, were attracted from fourteen countries across Europe, the Middle and Far East, not to ‘represent’ their countries but as interested individuals, engaged in the field, who wanted to contribute to the debate (names at end). Collectively, they represented a wide range of cultures in which Islam is practiced. The span of ages and experience undoubtedly enriched the week, as did the inclusion of strong women leaders and bridge-builders. The countries repreented were: United Kingdom, Oman, Bahrain, United Arab Emirites, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Malaysia, Turkey, Bosnia NS Herzegovina, South Africa, Denmark and Bahrain.

The hosting of the event by Oman is of significance in itself. Oman is an Islamic, Arabic country that was described as “one of the most closed countries in the world” (Riphenburg, 1998) prior to 1970 and the accession of the current Sultan. There was no state education system before this time and the last thirty eight years have seen a period of accelerated modernisation in the face of multiple challenges. Women’s participation in any kind of physical activity, where it exists at all, is relatively new in the region when compared to western development or that in other Middle East countries such as Egypt and Syria. Situating our international week in Oman at this time added strength to the development of such opportunities for girls and women. Special thanks to the College of Education at Sultan Qaboos University, to Dr Yousra Al-Sinani for facilitating the event in so many ways and to the support of colleagues and students at the University, as well as to those who found ways to make the journey and share the unforgettable experience.

Why IAPESGW and Muslim women?

IAPESGW is a non-governmental organisation that works on behalf of its members. In 1999, members asked the Association to work more closely with Muslim women in physical education and sport to increase knowledge and understanding and to challenge traditional and cultural myths and barriers. So, in 2001 the four-yearly World Congress was held at Alexandria University, Egypt. At the 2005 Congress in Canada, there was a seminar on Muslim women in sport which juxtaposed two polarised papers. One represented the extreme western feminist position acknowledging the efforts of Atlanta, Sydney, Athens and others to ban Islamic countries sending only male teams to the Olympic Games, decrying what they see as exclusion of Muslim women, and to challenge the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on grounds of discrimination against its own charter. The other presentation recounted what might be called an ‘Islamic feminist’ position by sharing the empowerment of large numbers of women in all fields of sports organisation, administration, coaching and participating, developed around the Iranian experience of sport managed under Islamic principles of gender segregation, and the growing phenomenon of the Women’s Islamic Games (Benn and Ahmed, 2006). The ensuing discussion led to a group interest to pursue international dialogue, hence to Oman in 2008.

The lives of Muslim people and Islamic practices have been under the microscope in recent years. Events post 9 / 11 and other such terrorist atrocities have fuelled media hype and interrogation of all things Islamic and instilled fear associated with religious fanaticism. All Muslims who might be called ‘mainstream’ suffer in this process. Islamophobia is growing in Britain, Europe and the United States (Runnymede Trust, 1997; Allen and Nielsen, 2002; Commission on British Muslims and Islamophobia, 2004; Fekete, 2008; Esposito and Mogahed, 2008). Muslim women are relatively invisible or negatively portrayed in most media-fuelled moral panics. Stereotypically, they are positioned as oppressed, victimised and disadvantaged. The hijab (headscarf) has become a symbol of religious identity that is seen by some as a symbol of honour and by others as a repressive imposition.

The study week was about challenging negativity surrounding Muslim women, about creating opportunity for dialogue, for increasing understanding through international interaction – Muslim and non-Muslim, East / West, or Global North and Global South - and having the chance to work collaboratively on a research and advocacy agenda.

It is recognised that all women have been the subject of prejudice and discrimination in the sporting world. Indeed the modern Olympics started in 1896 as a male preserve where women were deemed fit only to crown the heads of the victors (Ehsani et al, 2005). Research across a range of disciplines has slowly brought about change from an excluding to an including discourse (Pfister, 2000), but this has been a journey led in the west for those living in predominantly westernised societies.

While many of the barriers Muslim women face will be similar to those of all women, such as social, psychological and economic forces, there will be differences rooted in religious belief and culture, where values are shaped within distinctive contexts. There is no desire to suggest homogeneity of Muslim women, but religion is a defining and important aspect of identity to those who deem themselves to be followers of Islam. In 2000, Hargreaves wrote of the “progressive sense of global Islam in the international Muslim women’s sports movement, which grows in strength and effectiveness” (p68).

For many, Islam is a way of life, a set of principles, values and beliefs, a shared frame of reference that gives meaning and purpose to everyday living. Research into life experiences of Muslim women in sporting contexts then is located between beliefs of religion and ideologies of sport, seen as Western and secular, but also between the diversity of personal, local and international contexts where the nuances of socio-cultural and political situations make a difference in a constantly changing world.

The journey experienced by the group was remarkable and a developmental process for everyone involved. It would be wrong to suggest the road was always easy but its strength lay in first listening to the diverse experiences of others then engaging in dialogue to see what might emerge in terms of consensus. There were moments of tension that challenged personal identities regarding affiliations to religion, nation-state, ‘Western’ / ‘Arabic’ / global allegiance, and moments when competing voices needed to be heard and differences resolved. The manner in which trust was developed, and language differences used, was central to realising the collective outcomes achieved.

Underpinning the Declaration is the intention to increase awareness of religious preferences on sporting participation. It is for all people interested or engaged in the arena of physical activity, in schools, community or elite level participation. It is about reaffirmation of the importance of physical education and sporting chances for all. It is for Muslim women whose religious belief and situational realities lead them to choose a path of preferred sex-segregation and modest dress codes, as well as for those who do not need this space. It is for the rest of us, who live alongside Muslim women, in every country of the world, to understand a worldview that may differ from our own, to stand in solidarity where we feel able. Simply it is about “Accepting and Respecting” the choices and voices of others.

Wide dissemination of the Declaration is taking place. If you can help, please contact the authors (details below). The Declaration is available in different languages at www.iapesgw.org. The material in this paper is being developed for a fuller contribution of the process of the event. A book capturing diversity of experiences for Muslim girls and women across Europe, Middle and Far East called “Muslim Women in Physical Education and Sport” is being published by Routledge in 2009, edited by Benn, T., Pfister, G. and Jawad, H.

Dr Tansin Benn would like to thank the Leverhulme Trust for the award of a Leverhulme Research Fellowship that enabled a three month stay at SQU, Oman, January – March 2008 which included the opportunity to coordinate the study week.

Participants of the Oman study week Feb 11th – 16th 2008: Nadhim Al Watter (Iraq), Maha Ebid (Egypt), Fatima El-Faqir (Morocco - CAANR), Ilhaam Essa (S. Africa), Fadila Ibrahim- Begovic-Gafic (Bosnia & Herzogovina), Haifaa Jawad (England, Iraqi heritage), Nour El Houda Karfoul (Syria – SAAW), Ilknur Hacisoftaoglu (Turkey), Maryam Koushkie-Jahromi (Iran), Margaret Talbot (England - AfPE), Wardah Salman (Malaysia), Mona Al-Ansari (Bahrain), Eman Gaad (Dubai), Gertrud Pfister(Denmark), Tansin Benn (England), Yoursa Al-Sinani (Oman)