Epigraph:
And We have enjoined on man to be good to his parents. His mother bears him with pain, and brings him forth with pain. And the bearing of him and his weaning takes thirty months, till, when he attains his full maturity and reaches the age of forty years, he says, ‘My Lord, grant me the power that I may be grateful for Thy favor which Thou hast bestowed upon me and upon my parents, and that I may do such good works as may please Thee.’ (Al Quran 46:16)
Arabic of the Hadith_Paradise is under the feet of your mothers
International Women’s Day 2015: Afghan men wear burqas to campaign for women’s rights
Epigraph: And when people are brought together; and when people question about the girl-child buried alive,’for what crime was she killed?’ (Al Quran 81:8-10) Source: The Independent A small group…
Talk Show: The Big Questions – Are Religions Unfair To Women
Additional Reading Gender Equality in the Holy Qur’an – In the Beginning Man and Woman Were Equal…
US Supreme Court Heard Muslim Hijab and Discrimination Case Last Month
Epigraph: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” — First Amendment to…
Jimmy Carter: Women’s rights the fight of my life
Atlanta (CNN) Jimmy Carter has seen a lot in his 90 years. As a son of the South, a governor and president, and as a man who spent decades tackling problems…
Gender Equality in the Holy Qur’an – In the Beginning Man and Woman Were Equal
Epigraph: “But whoso does good works, whether male or female, and is a believer, such shall enter Heaven, and shall not be wronged even as much as the little hollow in the…
Cherish Your Wife the Prophet’s Way (10+ Hadiths)
The bottom line is that Islam is a message of compassion and love and advises us to treat women in our lives in the best possible way. Islam, if properly understood, without fundamentalist or literalist bend of mind, goes beyond any other religion or philosophy in ensuring rights of women.
“Islam, if properly understood, without fundamentalist or literalist bend of mind, goes beyond any other religion or philosophy in ensuring rights of women.”
That’s a big claim, given there are 19 major religions and many more smaller ones on the planet. How are Islam’s teachings on women better than those of Zoroastrianism, for example?
It’s also an “interesting” point of view given the numerous “commandments” in relation to women appearing on this site recently. Here’s a selection of the worst offenders, just to illustrate the point:
“Your wives are a tilth for you; so approach your tilth when and how you like and send ahead some good for yourselves.
And they ask thee concerning menstruation. Say: ‘It is a harmful thing, so keep away from women during menstruation, and go not in unto them until they are clean.
Men are guardians over women because Allah has made some of them excel others, and because they (men) spend of their wealth. So virtuous women are those who are obedient, and guard the secrets of their husbands with Allah’s protection. And as for those on whose part you fear disobedience, admonish them and leave them alone in their beds, and chastise them. Then if they obey you, seek not a way against them.
And if you fear that you will not be fair in dealing with the orphans, then marry of women as may be agreeable to you, two, or three, or four; and if you fear you will not deal justly, then marry only one or what your right hands possess. That is the nearest way for you to avoid injustice.
And marry not idolatrous women until they believe; even a believing bond-woman is better than an idolatress, although she may highly please you. And give not believing women in marriage to idolaters until they believe; even a believing slave is better than an idolater, although he may highly please you.
And forbidden to you are married women, except such as your right hands possess.”
If that’s “equality” then you can keep it! It’s pretty grim reading, let’s be honest.
@AL
It is always easy to just criticize.
1) You mentioned 19 major and many minor religions. I challenge you to show better teachings about women in any of those compared with Islam. You did not do that. You mentioned Zoroastrianism. Enlighten us about women’s inheritance rights, marital rights, child custody rights, divorce rights and so on for women in that religion or any other of your choice. Please make sure to anchor your response in their Holy Books.
2) You mentioned a verse from the Quran about menstruation. According to Quran it is harmful to have sex with women during menstruation. Instead of getting upset, you should have looked up the facts. Sex during menstruation leads to endometriosis and infertility. (both serious medical illnesses) This is a medical fact. So question is how 1400 years ago, when science was primitive and these medical facts were unknown, Quran was able to advise men and women about such issues. In your answer please include similar useful teachings from other religions of your choice.
3) You also mentioned one of the most commonly quoted verse by those who do not understand the meaning and rely on wrong translations of this verse. Men are not ‘guardians’ over women in the sense of a supervisor. They are responsible for the upkeep of women. They are responsible for providing for them, caring and protecting them. So this verse is not putting them in a position of superiority, but in a position of responsibility. Also in this verse, due to wrong translation, some think that under some very limited circumstances, husband can deliver physical punishment to his wife. As I said, this is wrong understanding and wrong translation. Quran does not allow husbands to beat their wives. So do not just pick up the most extreme and controversial view and present it as proof of anything.
4) You also brought up polygamy. No religion has prohibited polygamy. While answering please do not forget to quote the verse from the Holy Book of those 19 religions you mentioned. Islam is the only religion which has placed a limit and prescribed some rules if under exceptional circumstances you have to resort to polygamy. I also wish to draw your attention to the US and Western culture these days. Men are having sex with multiple women. They are producing children outside of marriage. (more than 30% children are born outside of marriage) (Almost 50% children do not live in a household where both their parents live together) Polygamy enforces you to bring those women in the marital bond, provides the protection of marriage to those women and provides a stable home to the children. Combined with the laws against having sex outside of marriage, this creates a much better and protected environment for the women and their children.
Just criticizing, without understanding these difficult issues is easy. But providing solutions to them is not that easy. Some solutions are not perfect, but better than what is happening now.
Islam provides equal rights for women. Education for women is mandated as for men. Moderate clothing is mandated for women as for men. Marriage rights, child custody rights, inheritance rights, divorce rights, work rights, respect and honor of women, their protection, everything is addressed. Their spiritual equality is also clearly mentioned. I hope you will be able to look at these issues with an open mind.
@Lutf
Happy to deal with each of your points in turn:
1. With respect, you miss the point. The original comment read: “Islam, if properly understood… it goes beyond any other religion or philosophy in ensuring rights of women”. – I pointed out this was a bold statement to make and asked for evidence to support it. I picked Zoroastrianism at random – I have no affiliation with it. I could have easily said ‘Dreamtime’ beliefs, Jedi, or Pastafarianism. The point is, the burden of substantiating a claim is on the one making the claim. You want to challenge me to show better teachings about women compared with Islam? – how about Humanism.
2. “Sex during menstruation leads to endometriosis and infertility” – This is categorically and utterly untrue. It is simply factually incorrect and extremely irresponsible to peddle such nonsense. There is a slight increase in contracting an STD due to the cervix being more open, but medics regard sex during menstruation to be safe. In fact, it can relieve menstrual cramps and reduce irritability. And the part I take most issue with is the idea that menstruating women are “unclean”, but that seemed to pass you by entirely.
3. “They are responsible for the upkeep of women. They are responsible for providing for them, caring and protecting them. So this verse is not putting them in a position of superiority, but in a position of responsibility.” – Your interpretation isn’t any better. It is infantilising women. Women aren’t children – they don’t need a man to take care of them – they are capable of taking care of their own lives, just as men are – shock horror! And with respect, nearly all translations of the last part refer to physical punishment – whether it be beat or to “lightly tap”. I’m sorry, but this isn’t gender equality. Laleh Bakhtiar’s recent re-translation is the exception, not the rule.
4. “No religion has prohibited polygamy.” – How can you possibly know that? Do you know the details of the several hundred religious belief systems that have ever existed? I very much doubt it. You’re the one making the claim, so the burden is on you to back it up. Even if what you said were true, who cares? Every religion that ever existed could promote polygamy (and as stated above, I very much doubt they all do), but that doesn’t make it OK! What, because some others subjugate women, it’s ok for you too? What kind of “morality” is that!?
“Islam is the only religion which has placed a limit and prescribed some rules if under exceptional circumstances you have to resort to polygamy.” – So what? The point is, men are still allowed up to four wives. How many husbands are women allowed?
“Men are having sex with multiple women.” – Do you mean consecutively or concurrently? And some women are having sex with multiple men, so by your reasoning, women should be allowed several husbands – isn’t that right?
“They are producing children outside of marriage. (more than 30% children are born outside of marriage)” – So what? Many people simply aren’t interested in marriage anymore – they think it’s an outdated institution – what does that have to do with men being allowed four wives and women only one? – Absolutely nothing.
“Polygamy enforces you to bring those women in the marital bond, provides the protection of marriage to those women and provides a stable home to the children.” – Simply untrue. There’s a wealth of evidence to show how women and children suffer in cultures where polygamy is widely practiced. It’s nothing more than patriarchy, male entitlement, and the oppression of women.
“Just criticizing, without understanding these difficult issues is easy.” – But I have understood – with the greatest of respect, I’ve just picked apart all of your points, one by one. I’ll be happy to do so again.
“Islam provides equal rights for women.” – Of course, you’re entitled to believe whatever ideology you like, but that statement is simply untrue.
@AL
As expected you could not come up with one reference where any other religion was better in terms of women’s rights. It is not a surprise. Because of constant noise of the media and misinformation campaigns it is easy to join in the shouting match.
You threw in the name of some religions about which you have no knowledge. If those religions have never said anything about the rights of women, how can they be superior. Instead of getting stuck in wrong translations and extreme and bad interpretations, please come up with some facts.
Let me make a more concrete proposition to you. Please provide the teaching of any religion of your choice on the following subjects and let us see if they are better than Islam.
1) Marital Rights
2) Divorce Rights
3) Rights of Child Custody
4) Rights of ownership of property
5) Right of inheritance
So let me make that bold statement again.
“Islam, if properly understood… it goes beyond any other religion or philosophy in ensuring rights of women”.
Please come up with some comparison.
@Lutf:
And as expected, you’ve completely failed to respond to any of my above comments, and are still missing the point entirely. Whether one religion is worse for women than another is a bit like comparing Fascism and Nazism, and trying to decide which is worse. They’re both bad! The fact that one might be even worse than the other, does not make the so-called less bad one ok!
Take Islam. Perhaps it’s not as bad for women as, say, Scientology (again, I’ve picked a religion at random, as it’s really not important). That doesn’t automatically mean Islam promotes full gender equality.
To quote Richard Dawkins: “X is bad. Y is worse. If you think that’s an endorsement of X, go away and don’t come back until you’ve learned how to think logically.”