Discuss the challenges faced by Muslim women in countries where Muslims form a minority.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2023). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [10] AO1 – Knowledge and understanding
2. [15] AO2 – Analysis and evaluation
3. Mark according to the levels of response marking grids for AO1 and AO2. Answers may refer to any Islamic religious theory or teaching. Candidates may propose, analyse and evaluate some of the following arguments. All relevant arguments must be credited.
4. Candidates can choose to write about Muslim women who live in any country where Muslims form a minority, such as Mauritius, France, UK etc.
5. Candidates should focus on discussing the challenges which Muslim women face, as the question asks, even though there are some challenges which are faced by both Muslim women and men.
6. Wearing Islamic clothes – candidates could quote verses from the Qur'an (24.31, 33.59) about the Islamic dress code for women. They can explain how it can be challenging for Muslim women to abide by this dress code in some countries where there are full or partial bans on wearing face coverings in public. Some women have had to stop wearing the face veil (burqa) because of these laws.
7. Finding work – in some countries Muslim women can find it difficult to do the work of their choice, e.g. in Mauritius women wearing headscarves (hijab) are not allowed to become air hostesses. Some jobs, such as in hotels or restaurants, can be challenging.
8. Young girls might find themselves torn between two different/opposing cultures, brought up as a Muslim in a traditional way at home and going to school or work in a society where non-Islamic values are upheld. Sometimes they may even get bullied by their peers because of cultural differences.
9. Influenced by friends/colleagues at school/work, they might find it hard to uphold their Islamic values, and sometimes they might even give in to temptation, e.g. they might want to try prohibited things when they are with their friends.
10. Other challenges could be from their own society, for example, their parents/relatives can be overprotective in raising them to counter the liberalism of the society they live in.
11. Sometimes they face criticisms in their own society, if they try to be a bit different from other Muslim women, e.g. young girls trying trendy ways of wearing their headscarf could be criticised by more conformist women.
12. Depth and breadth of knowledge should be assessed together with evaluation, for example, candidates could argue that living among people of different faiths can also present opportunities for Muslim women, not just challenges and that some challenges are faced both in countries where Muslims are a minority and where they are a majority of the population.