Reading Of The Jewel Of Medina By Sherry Jones Essay

Throughout most of documented history women of all cultures and civilizations have lived under patriarchal circumstances. In almost every religion and civilization women's status was not equal to that of a man's. Women in most cultures are looked at as subservient, obedient creatures that were put on this world for very few reasons, mainly to bear children and do what their husbands require of them. In fact, religions are a big part of the reason of this oppression due to the religion's reinforcement and justification of patriarchal conditions. In this week's selected readings from different aspects of Islamic, Byzantine Christian, and Western Christian cultures, it is very apparent as to how these three religions did reinforce and

Historically, “Women and Gender in Islam” discusses the social, political, legal, and religious discourses and structures that have shaped the experience of Muslim women

Aisha bint Abu Bakr was a leader, a woman, a wife, a theologian, a scholar and a political activist. She was precocious, loyal, brave and remarkably intelligent. These aspects of her humble life have allowed her to make a powerful impact on the development and expression of Islam that “no woman [has] reached”[1]. Not only did she influence the position of women in Islamic society, Islamic ethics, and the understanding and interpretation of the Qur’an, but she also modelled these qualities for the men, women and children of Islam.

This is an interesting exception to the stereotypical and usual relationship between a Muslim man and woman. Usually the man would have the majority of power in the relationship, but the protagonist has made the relationship on her terms only. We also learn from the narrator that the protagonist has a strong disposition. We can conclude that she seems to exude some power . We also learn that her father thinks highly of her and feels that she is “intelligent”, “well brought up”, and “obviously knows the value of traditions and respects them.”

Yet inequalities may not be the case for women in more westernized nations as they receive greater freedom (60). This is where the great diversity between modernist Muslim’s and conservative Muslim’s come in. Modernist Muslims argue genuine Islam is compatible with modern west society and political ideas such as democracy and the equality of women. The views of women in society are supported by revelations of the prophet Mohammed. On the other hand we have conservative Muslims where they believe in

In Khaled Hosseini’s novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, women live in an oppressive, discriminatory Afghan society in which they are deemed useless and obtain little to no rights, yet still manage to endure the burden that falls upon them. After the immensely false interpretations of her father and the bitter fatality of her mother, Mariam’s father demands she marries a stranger considerably older than her at the age of fifteen. Rasheed prays daily in hopes for Laila to produce a male offspring and is exceedingly unappreciative and disrespectful when Laila produces a female instead. Rasheed and the Taliban claim it is extremely blasphemous and embarrassing for a married Afghan woman to look directly into a man’s eyes, wear makeup, or display her knees so Rasheed asserts Mariam and Laila wear burqas. Women’s diminished rights and limited input in society is evident when youthful Mariam unwillingly marries an outright stranger because her father and wives demands she do so.

Kelly J. Mayes defines plot in The Norton Introduction to Literature as the way the author sequences and paces the events so as to shape our response and interpretation. Every piece of literature contains a plot pattern that follows Freytag’s pyramid. This pyramid consists of an exposition, rising action, a climax, falling action, and a conclusion. Though each story displays this pattern of organization, authors use many different literary devices to differentiate their work and to acquire the response they want to achieve from their audience. The author of “The Jewelry,” Guy De Maupassant, correctly followed Freytag’s Pyramid and used varied literary devices to create a suspenseful read for the audience.

There are many political, religious, and cultural factors that shape the lives of Islamic women many of them are completely different than factors in the lives of American women. Islam is one of the world’s fastest growing religions; however, Brooks argues that “Islam’s holiest texts have been misused to justify the repression of women, and how male pride and power have warped the original message of this once liberating faith.” The book also shows these factors have slowly been taking away women’s rights, rather than furthering them.

Religion goes hand in hand with culture, and in the Muslim countries this is very apparent. The cultural importance of men over women may have stemmed from religion, however it was further recognized when imperialist countries introduced capitalism and class divides. “Islam must combat the wrenching impact of alien forces whose influence in economic, political, and cultural permutations continues to prevail” (Stowasser 1994, 5). Now, instead of an agrarian state where both men and women had their place, difficulties have formed due to the rise in education and awareness that women can and do have a place in society beyond domestic living Though women are not equal to men anywhere around the

The rise and expansion of Islam has had a significant impact on the role and rights of women throughout history. Since its origin in the seventh century until modern times, the Muslim faith has somewhat broadened, but has mostly restricted women’s rights in numerous Islamic communities. The history of Muslim women is complex, as it involves many advances and declines in numerous locations, such as Egypt, Afghanistan, and Iran, concerning several subjects, including both civil and social rights. Thus, in general, the rights of Islamic women did not improve significantly over time, instead, conditions remained the same or became worse for women as Islam evolved and spread as a world religion.

In today’s society women are given ample opportunity just as much as men. In some countries, such as middle-eastern nations that is not the case. Muslim women are often perceived to be submissive to Muslim men and unequal. Mohammed never taught for women to be treated as lower class citizens. Nonetheless, the blame is pointed towards the religion of Islam. The Islamic religion began as all monotheist religions representing a belief in one God and moral standards. In the following essay I will discuss and elaborate what Mohammed taught, how women lived in early Islamic society, and what it has become.

The Quran also justifies polygamy in the Muslim lifestyle. The Muslim social order was vehemently opposed to self-determination for women and declared only men could repudiate their spouses. The fear of self- determination was linked to fitna, so women had to be constrained. The family hierarchy of male domination was determined by the Prophet’s life with women and leads readers to recognize the complexity of masculine vulnerability to the attraction of women. The sexual power of women over men has dictated much of the Islamic sharia regarding marriage. Men had the right to sexual satisfaction, but women also had to be sexually satisfied so as not to commit or tempt other men to fornication.

Religion is a major cornerstone of human identity and culture. Anywhere you look on earth where there are people, there is a religion or set of beliefs that those people follow. Many times, the teaching of these Religions can be twisted and manipulated to justify gender bias. The Simple truth is people are treated very differently based on their Gender by followers of two of the most popular religions in the world: Islam and Judaism. I am going to examine some ways the teaching of these two major religions are used to oppress, abuse, and differentiate women.

Islam is a religion based on the interpretation and application of fundamental scriptures geared towards the need of a growing, modernizing religious community. The Qur’an and the Prophet Mohammed’s Sunnah and hadith serve as the main sources for attaining religious knowledge. Scholars of Islam, Ulema, delegated a mechanism in which they can gain knowledge after they have consulted the Quran and Sunnah through ijtihad and qiyas. The flexibility with which they can use reason, ijtihad, and analogies, qiyas, to answer questions of the time created doctrines that shed light onto the growing concerns within the Muslim community. This methodology has served to provide a path in which religious scholars can apply Islam to the changing dynamics of gender roles. The modernizing world provided the framework for female scholars to enter the field of religious study and interpret Islam on their own. Drawing on their reasoning and their ability to make analogies to stories within Islam helped women develop sound arguments within Islam that codified women’s rights. Muslim feminist used the religion of Islam as the backbone of their movement by highlighting their rights and freedoms within Islamic scripture. They opened the gates of ijtihad to reevaluate scripture pertaining to their rights in a marriage free from the nuisances of male scholars. Religious tools in extracting knowledge within the folds of Islam allowed women to challenge existing marriage norms and gender roles based in

This is a significant aspect of the course because the article examines the strengths and weaknesses of femininity through a cultural Muslim perspective and the reading is a prime example of how ideologies regarding race affect those involved. In class we have discussed the significances of social constructs and how assumptions are made on the basis of physical characteristics. In this situation, identity is related to gender as Muslim women are categorized as both good/respectful and rebellious/evil individuals because they are apart of a culture where they are both oppressed and liberated simultaneously.