Women in Pakistan

Since the dawn of man, Hammurabi’s Code has been considered to be the most intrusive and strictest laws, especially against women. However, nowadays, there is another law called “Sharia” about which many people have questioned if there is a similarity between this law and the Hammurabi’s Code. This essay will examine how Hammurabi’s Code connects to modern-day Sharia Law in terms of geographical, cultural, and legislative similarities and differences. And throughout the comparison between the Hammurabi’s Code and the Sharia Law, we could come up with a clearer view about evolution of these laws in each period of time, in the past, at present and in the future and how Hammurabi’s Code and Sharia Law have affected the people who follow these

These laws that limit the freedom of women within the country give men more freedom, which leads to abuse in Mariam and Laila’s family. Rasheed is physically and mentally abusive towards both of his wives, and because of this, the women attempt to run away, only to be sent back home by police. The reaction from Rasheed shows that he knows he holds the power: “‘You try this again and I will find you. I swear on the Prophet’s name that I will find you. And, when I do, there isn’t a court in this godforsaken country that will hold me accountable for what I will do.’” (Hosseini 272). Rasheed’s threats are serious; many times, the verbal abuse escalates into physical harm towards his family. Moreover, without any support from the Taliban, the women are forced to obey their husband and sustain his

Today in the post –Taliban era, women still struggle with their rights. Resolutions were produced and rights for women have advanced since September 11th but in order to move forward, much work needs to be done. Hundreds of years of repression for Afghan women will take a lot longer than a few years to actually revolutionize. There is violence towards women that are not practicing traditions customs and fear retaliations from the Taliban. Customs are difficult to change as well as government policies. (Bora Laskin Law). In Afghanistan, religious and cultural values, politics, and an uncertain acting government have played a major part in the struggle for women’s rights.

In almost every society, there are crimes and violations of human rights. To deal with these things, there are laws that prescribe the prevention of their occurrences. However, if the law is broken, commensurate punishment is put on the violator. Depending on the seriousness of the crime, the punishment may be light such as imprisonment for up to one year with corresponding fines, or it could also be severe as death penalty.

On one hand, we have women’s rights and property laws. Women we treated quite well under the Code, for their care was often guaranteed and if a woman was punished for adultery, the man who facilitated the crime to her would be punished, too. Your property was extremely secure, since, whether it be the death of the thief or compensation for damaged crops, you would always receive justice if your property was somehow vandalized. On the other hand, we have the extreme punishments that the Code stipulated, such as the chopping off of hands, the drowning of adulterers, and the hanging or “piercing” of thieves. While the Code had its pros and cons, it’s safe to say that it was very effective in bringing order and justice to the people of

Laws have been around since the beginning of civilization. While today most countries are pretty ‘laxed compared to ancient Babylonian times, some countries, particularly the ones in the Middle East, still have strict laws similar to Hammurabi’s Code. In today’s society Hammurabi’s Code may be viewed as a little excessive; however, for the time they were written, i find these laws to be justifiable. Hammurabi’s Code was fair to the less fortunate. He ensures equality of people with justifiable punishments for crimes people have committed which are best highlighted through his family care, property, and personal injury laws.

In Ancient Mesopotamia women were lower on the social class the men so if they were caught in adultery with another man then she will be be binded and cast into water( Law 129, Doc C). This is just towards the man because this was a sign of weakness and he would struggle to provide for the family while having a wife that disrespects him. You may think that this punishment goes against Hammurabi’s epilogue when he says ,”the strong might not injure the weak, in order to protect the widows and orphans,”(Doc B) but the lady knows her place on the social order and she should know to never perform adultery. Another important law that was inscribed on Hammurabi’s stone stele was that,” If a son has struck his father, his hands shall hands.”

The consequences of not following the laws were: you would get hanged, if you stole a silver spoon, you would be put to death, sometimes you would be whipped at the whipping post, and if you spoke back to your husband you would get ducked in the water on a ducking

The punishments of the 282 laws of Hammurabi’s code can be very harsh and they depend on what crime was committed (Doc A). One example is (doc C, law 129) “If a married lady is caught [in adultery] with another man, they shall bind them and cast them into the water,”

Women’s rights in the Middle East have always been a controversial issue. Although the rights of women have changed over the years, they have never really been equal to the rights of a man. This poses a threat on Iran because women have very limited options when it comes to labor, marriage and other aspects of their culture. I believe that equal treatment for women and men is a fundamental principal of international human rights standards. Yet, in some places like Iran, discriminatory practices against women are not only prevalent, but in some cases, required by law. In this essay I will explain to you the every day life of an every day Islamic woman living in Iran. You will be astonished by what these women

The code took a severe approach to justice, but the brutality of criminal penalties often depended on the identity of both the lawbreaker and the victim. While one law stated, “If a man knock out the teeth of his equal, his teeth shall be knocked out,” committing the same crime against a member of a lower class was punished with only a fine (Slanski, 14). Other penalties based on rank were even more significant. For example, if a man killed a pregnant maid-servant, he was punished with a fine, but if he killed an upper class pregnant woman, his own daughter would be killed as retribution.(Van de Mieroop, 11) The code also listed different punishments for men and women with regard to infidelity.

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.

There are 282 edicts in the Code of Hammurabi and most of them have very harsh and severe punishment. There is a law that states that if anybody steals someone’s minor son, then he shall be put to death. If anyone takes a male or female slave of the court, or of a freed man outside of city gates, then he shall be put to death. If he holds the slaves in his house, and they are caught inside, then he shall be put to death. If anyone breaks a hole in the house, he shall be put to death in front of the hole and be buried. If someone is caught robbing, then he shall be put to death. These are some of the laws that have very severe punishment. Even for the little crimes like break a hole in someone’s house leads to death as a punishment.

In some societies, women in the judicial process have very few rights that are the same as men, and their punishment seems to be much greater. Treatment by the Taliban in Afghanistan, and by other groups such as the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood all contribute to how women are treated legally. Zohreh Arshadi asserts that in countries such as Iran, "The Islamic punishments have encouraged a culture of violence against women...The fact that men receive a lighter punishment if they commit a violence against women undoubtedly encourages such violence. We saw how women could be killed with impunity during alleged adultery. Stoning to death for adultery, although technically admissible for both sexes, has also been carried out mainly against women” (Arshadi 2012). It is in countries such as Iran, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and some non-Middle Eastern countries where the Qur’an is taken as a literal word and law, and there is constituted into actual state law. This means that certain texts from the Qur’an are used to treat women violently. For example a passage in the Qur’an states: Hadith Muslim (4:1982)  The Prophet said, “I saw Hell also. No such (abominable) sight have I ever seen as that which I saw today; and I observed that most of its inhabitants were women. They said: Messenger of Allah, on what account is it so? He said: For their ingratitude or disbelief

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.