Islam Dehumanizes Muslim Women Under Muslim law, women do not have the same rights as men. In many Muslim countries women are forced to cover their entire bodies, and cannot hold offices or vote. In some cases, many people compare their lives to those as prisoners. In Islamic cultures, it is believed that women are equal to men under the sight of God, but are they really? Islamic gender apartheid goes beyond second class citizenship. It is intended to crush and subordinate women. In Islam, women are only important of taking care of the homes, and supplying the manpower. In the Sharia Law, the sexes are supposed to be entirely segregated. Through practices such as veiling, beatings, and polygamy. Muslim women are being mentally, physically, …show more content…
Women are not allowed to leave the house unless they are completely covered from head to toe and if they are accompanied by a close male relative or if they have their permission. In many countries this means that a woman must wear a veil or a headscarf. Examples of these are burqa and abaya, which are head-to-toe garments. Veiling may not seem like an issue, but it is. It developed from cultural traditions instead of religious dictates. It limits women on freely expressing themselves and making choices on what they feel comfortable wearing. Many feminists, people who believe men and women should be equal, and others object to veiling because they see it as a symbol of women’s inequality in Muslim societies. In February 2007, Mohammad Sarwar, declared: “In Algeria, ‘as in Iran, unveiled, educated, independent Algerian women have been seen as military targets and increasingly are shot on sight.” Muslim women who are not veiled and go out into public are more likely to be thrown into jail or killed, than a man who has raped a Muslim women who goes …show more content…
In fact, more than ninety percent of women have been struck, beaten, or abused sexually by a male figure. These beatings are a way for men to show women that they are above them and that women are classified as nothing in society. From the Koran, Islamic holy book, it says that “Men shall take full care of women with the bounties which God has bestowed more abundantly on the former than on the latter, and with that they may spend out of their possessions.” Women are seen as cattle and property to men. For the littlest things, such as cooking an unpleasant meal to their family, they are struck and beaten. Sharia Law is also something to blame for this inequality between the two sexes. In societies like these, sharia law has been interpreted to allow a husband to beat his wife; indeed, social workers say that wife beatings are so common in Muslim countries that it is difficult to convince women that such physical violence is wrong. A woman who is raped for example, has few legal rights. There are rare cases that the male who is accused of the rape is found guilty and is punished. The victim must find four male witnesses to prove that the rape happened and that it was not an act of adultery. Punishments for this crime to women can range anywhere from flogging to being stoned to death. These cruel and unusual punishments that men bestow upon their women in society needs to be outlawed and brought forth
The first religion and its views on women that will be discussed in this essay is Islam. Islam is a religions founded in Saudi Arabia almost two thousand years ago, by the prophet Muhammad. In fact, Muhammad dedicated much attention towards women in the Koran, the holy book of Islam. However, even though much was dedicated to women in the Koran, it was not dedicated to them in the sense of equality. Women in Islamic culture were apparently much lower on the totem pole than men, "The men are made responsible for the women, since God endowed them with certain qualities, and made them the bread earners...If you experience opposition from the women, you shall first talk to them, then [you may use such negative incentives as] deserting them in bed, then you may beat them (129)." Excerpt...
Women have always been thought of as something that needed to be controlled in Muslim culture. Their bodies are a source of shame that must be covered during prayer and also in the public (Mir-Hosseini 2007: 3). Veiling, done by a hijab or chador, is when women either wear a headscarf to cover themselves or they wear a veil that covers their entire body, excluding her hands and eyes (Mir-Hosseini 2007: 1; Mir-Hosseini 2003: 41; Berger 1998: 93; Smith-Hefner 2007: 390-391; Brenner 1996: 674; El Guindi 1999: 6). Veiling is used as a tool for oppression. By having women veil themselves, it enforces the control by the male run and male dominated society (Mir-Hosseini 2007: 7). Also, the punishment for women appearing without a veil transitioned as the concept of veiling was addressed, transitioning from seventy-four lashes, to being arrested and held between ten days and two months for being “immodest” women and offending public morality, or fined 50,000 to 500,000 rials (Mir-Hosseini 2007: 8). The oppression of veiling is perpetuated through the thought that it is a woman’s religious duty to wear one, condemning foreigners and women in society if they refuse. Although it is a tool for oppression, there was resistance the oppression. In ...
Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving by Lila Abu-Lughod describes Western feminist beliefs on Muslim women and their burqa/veil and how focusing on these misconceptions are doing far more harm than good. This causes Western feminists reduce the culture and beliefs of Muslim women down to a single piece of clothing. The burqa is a type of veil worn by Muslim women for a number of reasons such as proprietary and signaling their relationship with God. The burqa is often seen a symbol of suppression amongst the Western world and it was expected for women to throw it off in a show of independence once liberated from the Taliban. The saving of Muslim women is often used to justify the “War on Terrorism” as exemplified in Laura Bush 's 2001 speech. The belief that Muslim women needed saving existed before the “War on Terrorism” as seen when Marnia Lazreg wrote about a skit where two Afghan girls talked about the beauty of the free Christian France.
In Islam, women are treated with the highest esteem. They are not seen as inferiors or as sexual objects. They are seen to be very important in life as they give birth. The Qur’an mentions how men and women cannot be separate.
While people in the west think that women in Islam are oppressed, they do not know that Islam liberated women from oppression. There are many people who have opinions about the religion of Islam, but mostly about the women who follow it. Westerners have this idea that women in Islam are disrespected, mistreated and oppressed. In actuality, these allegations are incorrect. Women in Islam have rights and are not oppressed. The veil is widely misunderstood and many do not know what it represents. In many ways, men and women are equal as much as they are not; and this is in every religion.
“Women’s rights in Islam” is great controversial topic going on nowadays. The world is colored with different cultures and religions. Most people come up with different thoughts for other religion’s people by just having one look on them. Veil is obsession for some people, whereas, being bald is freedom in some people’s point of view. There are lots of misconceptions about women’s rights in Islam among non muslims. If women are covering their body or if they like to stay at home, people think that they don’t have any freedom in this religion and women are obsessed. But this is not reality. A person cannot point out anything wrong and blame other’s religion just because of his own confusion. He needs to study thoroughly and then come up with opposing viewpoints. Therefore, the misconception about women’s rights in Islam should be removed because women have equal rights, veil is for their protection, and they have freedom of speech and expression.
You might have heard at some time or the other that Islam teaches that women are "inferior" and "unequal" to men. Women are described as weak, inferior, inherently evil (it is the nature of woman to promote fitnah (mischief)), we have deficient intellectual capabilities and are spiritually lacking. Furthermore, these evaluations have been used to claim that women are unsuitable for performing certain tasks, or for functioning in some ways in society.
Wearing the burqa and veil by Muslim women in France has become a controversial topic. The burqa and veil are recognized in France as a conflicti...
Gender-based violence has been recognized as a large public health problem as well as a violation of human rights worldwide. One out of three women has been beaten, coerced into sex, or abused in another way at least once in her life (www.infoforhealth.org). The abuser is usually a member of the family, introducing the difficult problem in that the abuse usually happens behind closed doors, and is often viewed by cultural norms and legal systems as a family matter rather than a crime.
Religion also plays a big role in determining women's status. In Islamic countries the right of Sharia establishes special requirements in terms of clothing, career choices for women and the segregation of the sexes. For example, in some Sharia countries bus was divided into two halves - male and female. Women were denied of access to the profession of bus driver because the cabinet was in the male half. So, it means that women were infringed on right of choice.
Another important value that the Kabyle people have is responsibility and duty. Kabyles are expected to work hard and share their successes with their family. When Fouroulou finishes schooling and gets a job with the school he starts to become successful from it. His family is at a time of despair and need him to support them. Even though he was experiencing problems with his family due their negative attitude towards his wife and their ungratefulness, he still helped them out significantly.
In the Islamic faith, Muslim women are required to dress modestly by God. In the Qur’an, God speaks directly to all Muslim women and says “...guard their private parts and not expose their adornment except that which [necessarily] appears thereof and to wrap [a portion of] their headcovers over their chests and not expose their adornment (The Qur’an 24:31)”. Muslim women have to wear a hijab, or a head covering, when they are in public places and when they are around men who are not close relatives. In fact, countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar have a mandatory dress code enforced. Muslim women in these countries have to wear a hijab and an abaya, or a full-length, loose fitting garment on top of their clothes. Although God requires Muslim women to dress modestly and Saudi Arabia and Qatar have a dress code, it is entirely their choice on what they would like to wear.
The role and place of Women in Islam has changed drastically, in a positive way, over the past millennium: the changes can be greatly attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, and the Qur’an. To understand the changes in women’s rights and freedoms, one must understand their role and place before Islam was created, which happened in the Arabia Peninsula, now Saudi Arabia (Angha). Before Islam was formed women lacked many of the basic human rights, and they were treated as more of a burden in their culture then someone who should be respected, but that is not the case today. Though women in Islam have gained many rights, there is still some controversy over whether or not women are still being oppressed and treated like second class citizens compared
Women who have the misfortune of living in predominately Muslim societies often are confronted with adversities concerning their rights in marriage, divorce, education, and seclusion. Consequently, many Westerners seeing a lack of equality towards women in these societies consider it as a confirmation of their own misconceptions about Islam itself. Islam is often rejected as being an intolerant and violent religion that discriminates against and subjugates women, treating them as second-class citizens. From a Muslim’s perspective, Islam’s stance on women can be approached by two opposing views. Scholars amongst the Muslim apologists have claimed, “The verses in the Qur’an represented Muhammad's intention to improve a debased condition of women that prevailed during the Jahiliya, the time of ignorance before Islam came into being.” (Doumato, 177) If inequalities still exist between men and women, they cannot be attributed to Islam, but are a result of the misinterpretation of Islam’s true meaning. Others have entirely denied the notion of inequality between men and women in Islam, claiming that the alleged inequalities “are merely perceived as such by foreign observers who confuse seclusion and sex difference with inequality.” (Ibid.) Many Muslim apologists defend the Koran as noble for the very fact that it raises women to an equal status of men despite their inferiority.
...el the status of women in the Muslim world today as "Islamic" is as far from the truth as labeling the position of women in the West today as "totally liberated and equal".