The majority in the western culture often think 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 Islam’s ways of treating women are not correct (Edwards 53). Actually, various progressive rights unlike the Westerners’ view that they are oppressed have been provided by the Islamic culture to protect the women in Islam. According to every religion, men and women are often equal even though …show more content…
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 emphases are put on the women’s dressing code. Therefore, such conditions highlight some of the reasons why the Westerners think that the Muslims are oppressing the women (Wadud 68). Moreover, the Westerners believe the unlike the liberation of the Muslim women, the liberation of women from the Western culture is complete. However, both the culture of the west and Muslims considers 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 …show more content…
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
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 ...
Gender discrimination and male superiority are most visible in Saudi Arabian culture because “inhabitants of the region where the Arabic language predominates are, despite their diversity, bound into a singular cultural unit with a particular gender system” (Tucker VII). If one group of Arabic individuals hold misogynistic views, or think that males are the superior gender, it is very likely that other Arabic individuals will as well. Individuals of the Arabic culture, regardless of their location, share a particularly conservative and traditional set of moral beliefs the same way Christians from America may share similar beliefs with Christians from Europe. One belief most Saudi’s have in common is their “conservative view toward women” (Al-Mannai, 82). Middle Eastern individuals know what behaviors to expect from each gender, and what each gender should and should not do.
It is precisely this point, which proves the argument of this paper. The well intentioned attempt of Western feminist to write a feminist book in order to help, both women in the East in an exchange of ideas and stimulation of still more ideas and women in the West in providing knowledge with which to further aid the women of the East. On both counts it fails. In the West it gives further ground to the false generalizations and assumptions of women in the Muslim and more generally the developing world who are seen as oppressed and in need of “liberation” while in the East it serves to colonize and dehumanize the women. These good intentions did not create what can be construed as a positive contribution.
Lila Abu-Lughod’s article titled, “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?” takes a closer look at the problematic ethnocentric approach many have when trying to gain an understanding of another culture that may be foreign to that individual. In this analytical paper, Lughod looks at women in Islam, specifically the treatment of women and how it might be utilized as a justification for invading into a country and liberating its people. The country Lughod refers to in her article is Afghanistan, and Lughod points out the misunderstanding from the people to the Bush administration like First Lady Laura Bush who believed that intervention was necessary to free women from the captivity of their own homes. It is important to consider the role that different lenses play into all of this, especially when one’s lenses are being shaped by the media. Depictions of covered women secluded from society leave a permanent image in the minds of many, who would then later support the idea of liberation. This paper will discuss that the practice of using propaganda when referring to the lifestyle in the Middle East is not exclusive to the U.S; rather it has been utilized throughout history. Additionally, we will take a closer look on the importance of symbols, such as veils in this case; help to further emphasize the cause to liberate. Finally, we will analyze Lughod’s plea towards cultural relativism and away from liberal imperialism.
Muslim Women and Western Ideas of Feminism Western feminists aim for completely equal rights for men and women. They want to liberate women from perceived oppressions from men. Their aims are to give women completely free choice in their decisions. Such examples are child-bearing. This is a good view to the extent that men and women were created equally and so they should be treated equally.
In the book, Women in the Middle East, a Saudi Arabian proverb states, "A girl possesses nothing but a veil and a tomb" (Harik and Marston 83). The key words, "veil" and "tomb" lend evidence to the fact that many Middle Eastern women lack identity symbolized by the “veil” and lack the right of ownership except for their veil and the tomb. This statement further enforces the notion that many women in the Middle East are expected to serve and tolerate the oppression of the men in their lives throughout their lives on this earth. Moreover, it confirms that many of these women do not get the opportunity to obtain education, join the work force, and even participate in the political affairs of the country. This arrangement further helps the Middle Eastern men to view women as their properties, servants, or even as slaves. Ultimately, there are three main reasons why Middle Eastern men engage in the act of oppressing their women.
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.
"We Muslim women can walk into the modern world with pride, knowing that the quest for dignity, democracy, and human rights, for full participation in the political and social affairs of our country , stems from no imported Western values, but is a true part of Muslim tradition.
Kecia Ali starts her book by a fascinating discourse on the sexual subordination of Muslim women in Muslim cultures, using jurists such as al-Shafi to back up some of her statements. She asserts that the commonly-practiced Islam is a consequence of “men’s Islam,” which is the interpretation of Islam as understood by Muslim male scholars and jurists in medieval times. She points out that the conclusions of the early jurists and scholars of Islam were deeply influenced by their cultures and societies, and therefore eternalizing their views is irrational. Dr. Kecia Ali addresses many controversial topics related to the Quran as understood by Muslim jurists, using case studies on the topics of marriage, divorce, illicit sex, slavery, male agency and female bodies in the Quran as well as a discussion of the Prophet’s marriage to Aisha. Each chapter analyses tensions between ancient and modern interpretations of Islamic law, and primarily she shows how the conservative tradition as exemplified in the fiqh and tafsir books fail to address the fundamental assumptions of patriarchy and hierarchy that undergird law and practice closely relating to gender
Although it is not true, the westerners usually depict them as being submissive to their male counterpart. Americans thought that woman who wore veil to cover their faces were force by their male partner and a sign of male domination, Muslims on the other hand view woman’s dress in the United States as exploitative. This is one of the examples given by Lang to show how different culture and thought had affected the view of Islam in every country but mostly bring bad perception of oppression towards the western community. While Christianity depicts early on how Adam was tempted by Eve and Eve was the one that should be hold accountable for seducing Adam thus showing male bias, Islam teaches that Adam and his wife were tempted and sinned, and that they both repented and were forgiven. Based on it, scholars used it to show equality of men and woman in Islam,
Although both early Muslims and current Sharia law greatly value the protection of women, there are vast differences between the two regarding women in court and law, veiling, ownership of property and business, and basic freedoms such as education revealing the exaggeration of rules and values within Islam and leading to a condescending perception and restricted rights of women in Islamic societies. Claim 1: While women were granted the same opportunity as men to freely utilize the court and law to their advantage during the beginnings of Islam, women under harsh Islamic law today are disadvantaged legally resulting in an Islamic societal perception that women are less important than men. During the first several centuries of the existence
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".