The Oppression Of Women In Muslim Culture

Introduction

Western culture often thinks of the words such as oppressed, inferior and unequal when they think about the women in Islam. Such stereotypes cause confusion between Islam and cultural practices, thus the Westerners do not recognize that even Islam empowers the women with most appropriate progressive rights. According to the Westerners, the women in Islam are oppressed, mistreated and disrespected. However, such allegations about the Islamic ways of treating women are not correct (Edwards 53). Various progressive rights unlike the Westerners’ views of oppression are provided by the Islamic culture to protect the women in Islam. According to every religion, men and women are often equal, even though to some extent they are

not. The Islamic religion has given women various rights such as the right to marry any person of their choice, to education, to retain their identity after marriage, to participate in democratic processes, to own or sell the property, to divorce, to work and to access the protection by the law. This paper would explore the comparison between the religious rights of women in Islam and the misconceptions of the Western culture.
Thesis Statement
Even though the Westerners believe that the Muslims oppress, mistreat and disrespect women, the Islamic religion provides laws that protect the women from discrimination and oppression.
Education
In the seventh century, Muhammad declared an obligation for every Muslim to pursue the education regardless of the gender.

Muhammad’s declaration was implemented by all the Muslims throughout the entire history. For example, Aisha, Muhammad’s wife was one of the greatest scholars among the Islamic community. Many people (both females and males) would visit Aisha after the death of her husband just to learn because they believed that she was an influential scholar within the Islam society (Edwards 58). Moreover, the women in Islam were motivated to participate in the pursuit of knowledge in the entire Islamic community, for example through awarding scholarships to the females who excellently participate in the field of academia. Furthermore, the al-Qarawiyin University in Morocco was funded by Fatima al-Fihri, (a woman) in 859 C.E. This shows unlike the stereotypes from the Western culture, the Muslims do not oppress the women and instead, the women in Islam have the same educational opportunities as the

men.
Motherhood
Muslims believe that God provides various privileges to the females that would elevate their positions in the Islamic family. The Quran highlights the God's teachings on how women should be treated in the Islam community. God outlines the challenges that women pass through while bearing the children to remind Muslims that they should treat their mothers with love, care, and respect (Edwards 62). Moreover, Muhammad also emphasized that the Muslims should treat their mothers with care, respect, and love because the heaven lies at the feet of their mothers. On the other hand, when many people would be ask Muhammad about the most appropriate person for healthy companionship, he continued referring them to their mothers. This explicitly illustrates the Islamic religion has empowered women that they deserve respect, care, and love unlike what Westerners consider to be oppressive.
Political and Social services
The women in the Early Muslim community were given opportunity to participate in the activities that unite people together. Furthermore, women are allowed to express their opinions and their contributions towards the community are actively considered. For example, the women in Islam could participate in the battlefield directly or nurse the injured during the battles (Mir-Hosseini 298). The women are protected by the law such that they can freely trade in the open marketplaces. For example, Umar, the second caliph, appointed Shaffa bint Abdullah as supervisor of the bazaar. Based on their history, Muslims allow women to participate in the government affairs, public functions, and lawmaking processes. Consequently, the women in Islam are encouraged to continue contributing in serving, improving and leading the various activities of the community to uphold tradition.
Inheritance
Before Islam women were denied the right to inherit property. In fact, the men considered women to be property that they inherited. However, due to the revolutionary movements in the seventh century, Islam granted women the opportunity to inherit property from the relatives and own the property. Therefore, women regardless of their age are allowed to receive inheritance of deceased relatives (Mir-Hosseini 300). However, the shares depend on the level of relationship with the deceased and how many heirs are supposed to inherit the property of the deceased. On the other hand, many communities in the world still deprive women the right to inherit and own property. Moreover, such communities still treat women as a property to be inherited by men when the husband has died. This illustrates the Islam’s divine law provides universal justice for all, irrespective of the gender.
Financial Responsibilities
According to Muslims, the women are not obliged to pay for the housing, food, clothing and the general expenses because it is the man’s responsibility to provide. In case the women are married, the husband is entitled to provide full financial support for her. On the other hand, if the woman is not married then, the closest male relatives would take care of her. Based on the Islamic religion, the women can work hard, earn money and spend the money according to her wishes. In addition, no law would force the woman to share her money with the husband or any other relative, unless she wishes to do so (Rosenbaum 215). When a woman is married, she is entitled to dowry from the husband as a form of a financial gift. However, the woman owns the dowry and therefore; no one could use the property without her permission. When she divorces the husband, she is allowed to take any property that she was given before divorce and those that she personally worked for. Thus, the former husband does not have the right to take her belongings if she does not allow him. Such rights enhance the woman’s financial security and independence in the case the husband divorces her.
Marriage
In the Islamic community, the woman's approval is necessary to complete the marriage contract, therefore; she can either accept or reject the marriage proposals.

Islam protects the woman against forceful marriages. Furthermore, the women can ask for a divorce if they are unhappy with the marriage. Muslims believe that marriage should be founded on three pillars; peace, love, and compassion. (Quran 30; 21) God says about Himself, “And of His signs is that He created for you from yourselves mates that you may find tranquility in them; and placed between you affection and mercy.” The Muslims community considers Muhammad as the role model to the society. The Muslims have emulated his character to treat his family with love, peace, and compassion (Rosenbaum 220). This provides the foundation for Muslims’ tradition , every Muslim would struggle to implement in their daily

lives.
Dignity and Protection from Harm
The Muslims’ tradition prohibits any form of physical, emotional and psychological abuse for all the genders. Moreover, the Islam’s divine law is highly against the improper treatment of the women. Based on the Islamic teachings, the members of the society are not allowed to get involved in domestic violence and any form of oppression and abuse (Wadud 60). Therefore, any Muslim who exercises unjust authority to the others in the pretext of the Muslims’ culture is doing so perhaps to enhance either their personal interests or cultural influences. The principles of the Islamic law protect all the creatures of God, thus no one could be discriminated regardless of the gender.
Modesty
Women are often faced with challenges of attaining proper standards of beauty, especially in an environment where media consistently emphasizes on the physical forms. Even though the majority of non-Muslims, especially the Westerners believe that the Muslims oppress the women based the modest of clothing, the Muslim women are free from environmental objectification originating from the environment around them (Wadud 65). According to the Muslims, the woman’s modest appearance, which involves veiling, enhances her personality and character rather than the external beauty and figure. Such dresses promote deeper understanding and appreciation of her behaviors and personalities. The Muslim women often emulate Mary, the mother of Jesus for her piety and modesty.
Westerners’ Misconceptions
On the other hand, Westerner’s perception of the women in Islam is quite contradicting. For example, the Westerners believe that the Muslims oppress the women. They believe so primarily because of the Islamic dressing requirements. Even though the Quran requires both men and women to dress decently, more emphasis is put in the women’s dressing code. Therefore, such conditions highlight some of the reasons Westerners think that Muslims are oppressing the women (Wadud 68). Moreover, Westerners believe that unlike the liberation of the Muslim women, the liberation of women in the West is complete. However, both cultures consider the body of women as sexual objects. In contrast, the Western culture encourages the women to exploit their sexuality while the Muslims culture encourages their women to conceal their sexuality.
The Westerners also believe that the Muslim women are not educated and due to their cultural norms, they should not be educated. The Westerners believe that Islam frowns on the education of women, which is enhanced by the fact that some Muslim nations are hostile towards educating the females. However, the Muslim women explain that there is an essential gap between the Islamic doctrine, the history and the present occurrences (Wadud 64). On the other hand, the Muslims believe that currently, they give women equal opportunities to pursue knowledge. For example, the Muslim women founded the world’s oldest University in the ninth century. Moreover, currently, the Muslim women are working extra hard to have access to education. Therefore, such Western beliefs about the Muslims are wrong.
Furthermore, the Westerners believe that based on the Muslims culture, the women are inferior to men. Muslim religion provides preferential treatment to the men more than the women do. However, the society can shape and modify religion to meet their interests, peculiarities, and practices. Therefore, according to the Westerners, the Muslims have modified their religion that men have been given the first priorities before the women’s needs in the society (Mir-Hosseini 303). However, this contradicts the way Muslims believe. According to the Muslims, women are supposed to be treated with care, love, and compassion since they undergo various challenges to bear the children. Moreover, they follow the teachings and personalities of their prophet Muhammad. Muhammad was a role model to the Muslims community because of how he cared, loved and was compassionate to his wife. Moreover, the Westerners believe that the Muslim women are vulnerable to security risks, abrupt divorce and lack of rights to own and inherit property. Therefore, according to the Westerners, the female Muslims are mistreated.
Conclusion