Taking the time to read and understand the Quran and its teachings to Muslims many will understand that the Quran speaks about peace and unity. Islam has been criticized to be a religion dominated by the men when this could not be more far from the truth. A recent article by Ruqaiyyah Maqsood addresses the truth about the equality and treatment of Muslim women. Maqsood states that the Quran does not differentiate between men and women as they are created of a single soul. Husbands are not allowed to hit their wife, a child, or old person s their prophet never did
Islam has always practiced around misogynistic actions and beliefs. The misogyny appears in Islam in many forms. Ranging from Muhammad’s ‘words of wisdom’ to unjust rights and to rape, the religion achieved multiple acts of oppression and hatred towards females.
Women are also not allowed to touch the Quran when they are in their period. Holm describes this as the devaluation of women in contemporary religion. Also the fact that in the sacred texts, there are mainly features of male gods, prophets and there are not a lot of women in the scriptures, and if there is, it is only anti-stories about them such as the story of Adam and Eve, eve being the woman and the deceiver and the story of Mary Magdalene the prostitute. Finally religious laws and customs give women fewer rights than men for example in divorce and how many spouses that they can marry.
There are various issues arising from the patriarchal interpretation of Quranic verses that have prompted much debate about the status of women in the Muslim society and the use of Quranic verses by Islamic jurists to determine Shariah law formations. The classical ways of reading and interpreting the Quran and hadith were patriarchal that extensively contribute to developing sexual and gender discrimination within Muslims and are the core source behind this male-dominant Islamic thinking tradition. In this annotated bibliography, I will use the works of Aziza Al-Hibri, Nawal H. Ammar,
“Many feminists and others object to veiling because they see it as a symbol of women’s inequality in Muslim societies. Others oppose it because it stirs fears of Islamic extremism. Among Muslim women in the West, where veiling is optional rather than mandatory, opinion is divided” (“Muslim Women” 7). Within the culture, to wear the veil, it symbolizes an act of modesty opposed to oppressive. “Hijab, an Arabic word that means "barrier" or "partition," has long been misunderstood in Western cultures as a symbol of oppression - a way for Muslim men to express control over women's bodies, says Professor Ibrahim at Tufts. But the idea, she says, is less about male domination than the value of modesty; a perception of the body as something to be revered and protected” (Mendoza 8). The veil is worn by a woman’s own accord. It is worn to signify self respect in what a woman can do alone without having to face any erotic judgements towards her body. Other women will often wear a veil to challenge feminist who think the veil is a symbol of oppression or silence. “While the spirit of Islam is clearly patriarchal, it regards men and women as moral equals. Moreover, although a man is technically the head of the household, Islam encourages matriarchy in the home.Women may not be equal in the manner defined by Western feminists, but their core differences from men are
Take a look around you. You most likely see quite a lot of women talking, laughing, and living freely. Most people would agree that it’s an everyday sight. However, free-living women are a rare occurrence in other parts of the world, such as the Middle East, where women are bound by traditions. The oppression of women that rages today in that region is due to the great influence Islam has there. Followers of Islam, known as Muslims, use the Quran as their Holy Book. From this book, Muslims take their guidelines for life, known as Sharia Law. Unfortunately, these laws are the epitome of patriarchy, and aim to subjugate and degrade women. A woman named Jean Sasson has written many books that tell of this oppression, such as the Princess trilogy and it’s sequel More Tears To Cry, which follow the steps of the Saudi Arabian princess, Sultana.
Within the Middle East, the largest population of the men and women are Muslim. The Muslim religion suggests that women wear a veil or hijab, which is a head scarf that only exposes a woman’s eyes, accompanied by a burqa which is a full body cloak. The sole purpose of the clothing is to cover a woman’s feminine features from men’s eyes. The Qur’an, an Islamic scripture, supports and slightly obligates the uniform by saying that women are to be conservative, “let them wear their head covering over their bosoms, and not display their ornaments.” (Qur’an). It could be inferred that women wear the burqa and veil willingly because of their geographical location. However, when Muslim women are withdrawn from the Middle East, and are placed
For example, if a women decided to become a doctor, this would be impossible because she wouldn’t be able to operate on her patient if she was wearing the required dress. Although the Quran states that women are equal to men, there are also man made books, called the Hadith, which put women on the same level as animals. As stated in the Hadith, “Women are naturally, morally and religiously defective.” Although this may sound odd, the more traditional Muslims prefer the Hadith, over the Quran even though it is their religious book.
Within the Middle East, the largest population of the men and women are Muslim. The Muslim religion suggests that the women wear a veil or hijab, which is a headscarf that only exposes a woman’s eyes, accompanied by a burqa which is a full body cloak. The sole purpose of the clothing is to cover a woman’s feminine features from men’s eyes. The Qur’an, an Islamic scripture supports, and slightly obligates the uniform by saying that women are to be conservative, “Let them wear their head covering over their bosoms, and not display their ornaments.” (Qur’an). Muslim women, instead of feeling oppressed, view this as a positive aspect in their lives, influenced by their devotion to Allah. Their acceptance could be influenced by their
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 Koran is a book following the religion of the Muslim people. In it, many aspects of their ways of life and their attitudes towards different people are addressed. It mentions the strong feelings of the true believers towards Jews and Christians, however it gives a view of women that is taken two ways. A major part of their religion is the way women should be treated. This idea is a controversial topic as seen from a person that is not a true believer, or a Muslim. Conventional thinking brought out by the media have led non-Muslim people to perceive the treatment of women as suppressive. The Koran shows the reader both sides of the coin, and therefore, the reader must form an opinion of the
Throughout centuries of human existence, women have been deemed as inferior to men in multiple different cultures and religions. Men have developed a norm to be the individual who carries out duties to help maintain a stable life for himself and the family in which he is providing for. Because of this fundamentalist approach towards how society should be, women’s rights have been suppressed throughout political, social, and cultural actions. The Islamic religion in particular, is fond of abusing the rights of women and empowering the rights of men in such a way that it has created a permanent existence of conflict within countries who follow Islam. In fact, in the Quran it states that women must have lesser authority than men, therefore their
•Islam: According to the holy scripture, males and females are equal spiritually, as both males and females are
Over the course of this semester, we have talked about the five main religions, each of which containing their own views, backed by their own scriptures and holy books. Due to a length limit, I am going to outline how the Protestant Bible and the Koran came to be in order to demonstrate the differences between how these books were created. I do not begin to understand all of the complications on this topic, nor will all of the arguments that could be made be touched on; however, my critical analysis will include how these books were manifested, and their unique paths to authentication and being accepted by the people of their religion.
In every country around the world, women's lives are shaped by the influences of both society and by religion. “The Quran, Islam’s holy book, mandates that women have the right to seek education, choose their own mates, work, possess and inherit wealth or property, divorce, and remarry” (Hurley 76). So despite the Quran’s clear support for women’s rights and equality, why do many people feel that Muslim women are oppressed? The hijab head covering worn by Muslim women has been in the news on and off for some time now and has been a topic of many debates. Here in America, one would feel this requirement on women as oppressive, but most Muslim women feel that this is a way to be looked at not for their beauty, but for their minds. The issues here is that people have a hard time differentiating between culture and religion, two things that are completely different but have a huge effect on each other. People also have a hard time understanding things that are different. Just because it is different than how we live, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wrong.