The Misconceptions About Women in Islam 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. In Islam women are given many rights, such as owning properties, having an education, working, and marrying who she wants. In the Holy book, the Qu’ran, it explains that women are allowed to own inheritance or properties. However, it is less than, for instance, the brother of a woman, because when she marries she can combine her inheritance with her husbands. “…a male shall have as much as the share of two females; but if their be females only, numbering more than two, then they shall have two-thirds of what the deceased leave; and if there be one, she shall have half.” (4:12, Qu’ran). Having an education is very important to the religion of Islam; and Islam deeply encourages it. There are also a great deal of criticism about women and marriage and how she is forced to marry whoever the woman’s parents want but that is not true. In the Qu’ran it states in chapter 4 verse 20 that “It is not lawful for you to inherit women against their will, nor should you detain them wrongfully that you may take away part of that which you have given them,” The religion is on the side of a woman just as much as a ... ... middle of paper ... ...ue&db=a2h&AN=7620289&site=ehost-live C. Weinman, Latifa, (Mar/Apr94) Peace and freedom for women. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a2h&AN=9404131283&site=ehost-live D. Adamson, C. (2007, Winter). Gendered Anxieties: Islam, Women's Rights, and Moral Hierarchy in Java. Anthropological Quarterly, 80(1), 5-37. Retrieved May 24, 2008, from Academic Search Alumni Edition database. E. Anway, Carol, L (Dec 95) Daughters Of Another Path: Experiences Of American Women Choosing Islam. Missouri: Yawna Publications. F. Hasan, Asma Gull (2000). American Muslims; The New Generation. New York. The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc. G. Esposito, John L (2002) Islam; What Everyone Should Know. New York. Oxford University Press Inc. H. Saheeh Internation ( 1997) The Qu’ran. Riyadh. Abdulqasim Publishing House.
Ibn Munqidh, Usama. "From Memoirs." McNeill, William and Marilyn Robinson Waldman. The Islamic World. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1973. 184-206.
Contrary to popular belief, Islam is a religion that respects the rights of women. I was raised in a devout Muslim household, and I was raised to believe that women in Islam are amazing and powerful creatures that deserve respect, and this has had a massive impact on the woman that I aspire to be.
Ansary, Tamim. Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World through Islamic Eyes. New York: PublicAffairs, 2009.
Ayoob, M. (2007) The Many Faces of Political Islam: Religion and Politics in the Muslim
Burns, Thomas J. "Islam." Religion and Society. OU Campus' Dale Hall, Norman. 14 Apr. 2014. Lecture.
Female’s oppression in the Islam religion and Islamic states is a valid concern. Violence between the sexes and strict decrees for cleanliness seem for Westerners to create an abnormally large schism between the sexes. Is such a perception true
Spencer, Robert, and Phyllis Chesler. "Islam Oppresses Women." The Violent Oppression of Women in Islam. Sherman Oaks, CA: David Horowitz Freedom Center, 2007. N. pag. Rpt. in Islam. Ed. David M. Haugen, Susan Musser, and Kacy Lovelace. Detroit: Greenhaven, 2009. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. .
As people of the Islamic culture, women are devoting themselves to a religion that they know of, and know well. They understand what is to be done, and not done, and know what it is that the religion asks of them. Women know their part in society, and it is up to them to decide how they want themselves to be treated. If they obey their religion, they will be treated well, but if they go against their religion or their husband, they will be punished. On the other side, Muslim women are respected overall as well looked after, and protected. They are not treated as some women all over the world are treated; like objects. They are treated as women should be treated and seen as women should be seen. They are not belittled but uplifted by both society, and their religion.
Abu-Lughod, Lila. "Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological Reflections On Cultural Relativism And Its Others." American Anthropologist 104.3 (2002): 783-790. Print.
The Koran makes it very succinct and specific about how men are to deal with their wives. The Koran says that men have authority over women for two reasons. The first reason is because God has made men superior to women. This reason is an absurdity to any reasonably educated person living in the 21st century where women, at least in the Western world, are capable of anything that a man is capable of. We have a society filled with women teachers, doctors, lawyers, politicians, astronauts, and, generals as well as women who play football, weld steel, author books, and do research. Women are not inferior to men. We are all human beings. The second reason is because men spend their money on women. Even though men spend money on women that does not give a man the right to control a woman and have authority over her actions. This reasoning is essentially a belief in slavery. Women have no rights because they are bought and paid for.
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.
The traditions of Islam revolve around the blessed words of Muhammad revealed to him through Allah. These revelations guide Muslims through not only the act of worship, but also through a lifestyle strictly designated in the words of the Qur'an. Those who criticize Islamic customs often accuse the Qur’an of attempting to govern society under prehistoric law. This holy book dates back to the lifetime of the prophet Muhammad in the 7th centuries Clearly times have changed; yet many Islamic customs have not evolved through time. One of the most controversial topics in Islam today addresses women’s issues. Popular American culture portrays Islamic women as veiled and silenced figures living in a world of submission. Feminist groups in the United States focus on Muslim women and attempt to liberate the strong hold of Islamic tradition on women’s freedom. Over 900 million Muslims continue to worship Allah worldwide. Islam continues to thrive as one of the major monotheistic religions across cultures and the followers of Islam respect and defend the words and customs laid out in the Qur’an.
Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House is a three-act play significant for its attitude toward marriage norms. In the drama, Ibsen explores idealism between the wife Nora and her husband Helmer. Nora’s and Helmer’s idealism forces the pair to see themselves and each other starring in various idealist scenarios of female sacrifice and heroic male rescue. As a play, the scenes are act out on stage. The staging of a house reveals the dramaturgical aspects and dynamics of the play. The presence of the house is significant to the depiction of women on stage. The action of the play traces Nora’s relationship to the house. Ibsen’s play focuses on the aspect of the expected idealism of the wife and husband, and how the domestic abode can hinder freedom.
Islam is the second largest religion in the world today. Many of us do not understand the religion Islam and women’s rights within the Islamic faith. American society has the idea that Muslim women are weak, disrespected, belittled, mistreated, and oppressed. “And women shall have rights similar to the rights against them according to what is equitable; but men have a degree (of advantage) over them.” (Qur’an 28:229).Contrary to common belief, Islam regards women as equal to men in many aspects and that women have a unique place in Islam. Finally, with this research I hope to end all misconceptions and misunderstandings of Muslim women rights relating to their spiritual, economic, social, political, and legal rights.
...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".