ABSTRACT
There has been much discussion about the status of female education in the Middle East and North Africa in past decades (Atashak, 2012; El-Sanabary, 1993; Fereidouni, Mehran, & Mansourian, 2015; Jones, 1982; Massialas & Jarrar, 1991; Rezai-Rashti, 2011; Rezai-Rashti & Moghadam, 2011; Rihani, 1993; Shavarini, 2006, 2009; Velloso, 1996). The available statistics illustrate that at the primary education level, gender parity (equal enrollment ratios for girls and boys) in the region (0.92) lags behind other regions in the world. Comparative studies also show that at the secondary education level, the lowest levels of gender parity exists in the Middle East and North Africa (0.93), South and West Asia (0.92), and Sub-Saharan Africa (0.83) (UNESCO, 2014, p. 76). Many studies have identified traditional norms and cultural beliefs as the primary cause of low gender parity in the region, which at the core is said to inhibit religious values that impede female education. As the dominant religion across the Middle East and North Africa, scholars and laymen alike perceive Islam as prohibiting women and girls’ education, as was the case in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. While such explanations have disregarded the Islamic tenet attributed to Prophet Muhammad that “the pursuit of knowledge is an obligation of every Muslim [man or woman],” such rhetoric has also overlooked the negative impact of other factors impeding access to education, such as poverty, civil war, global affairs, extremism, and the absence of a political will toward educational attainment in the region for both men and women. Furthermore, such a critique of Islam cannot explain the case of education in Iran, where female educational attainment peaked in the aftermath of the 1979 Revolution and the establishment of an Islamic government.
