The treatment of women in “so-called Islamic states” is not according to the spirit of Islam, the president of the Ahmadiyya Mulslim Jamaat in Malta said today.

Speaking in a seminar organised by the Islamic denomination to commemorate 100 years of Women’s Day, Laiq Ahmed Atif said that Islam favoured equality between both sexes and that the subjugation and cruelty to some women in the Arab world was “a misrepresentation of Islam”.

Opening the conference, Michelle Muscat, wife of the opposition leader, said the current state of affairs made it difficult – if not impossible – for women to aspire to a career or politics and raise a family.

The point was also raised by Kate Gonzi, who said that the government and political parties, “made up mostly of men” “need to appreciate the different, albeit complementary contribution that women can make, and embrace female participation”.

Find more: