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Women rights and islam
Essay on the status of women in islam
Women rights and islam
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Are Islamic Ideals Slowing Modernization ?
In this essay I will be using MLA as a writing style, this essay will prove
that many Islamic ideals and Extremism are stopping modernization and also promoting
hatred between western and Muslim countries. This fact will be proven using these
supporting points, Firstly the oppression of women in Muslim countries all over the
world holds back a significant population of women who may have great things to
contribute to many aspects of knowledge around the world. Furthermore, Muslim's who
interpret the Qur'an in a very extremist fashion and seek to convert the entire world or
kill those standing in their way bring a kind of hatred that impedes social relations
between western countries and Muslim countries and contributes to the false stereotypes
that all Muslims are terrorists.
To begin with, women in most Muslim countries are treated with little respect
and oppressed because they are believed as being half as important men, therefore their
opinions and ideas are usually disregarded and most of the time never heard. Women
have been persecuted in all corners of the world throughout time but over the past
century have made great strides to be seen as equal to men in most countries around the
world. In Islam however the image of women is far worse than a lot of the ways in which
women were oppressed in other religions or facets of life, they are not supposed to be
seen in public without a man at their side and they must always have their faces covered,
furthermore they have no rights to vote. In Islam women are seen as second class citizens
that have nothing to offer and are treated as so, growing up in a secular society I may not
understand all aspects of their religion but it seems inhumane to do this to women. I
believe that everyone is equal and should have the same chances as everyone else, in
many cases this isn't true but to a much closer respect than the chances Muslim women
are given. However it would seem that many women in Muslim countries accept their
roles in society and very few try to break down the gender roles out of fear and the fact
that they don't agree with the western values out of their blind following of the teachings
of extremist factions that make western values look barbaric and wrong. In Indonesia
Ideological battles are often waged with women 's bodies as their emblems, and Western Islamophobia is no exception.
It is a bible. The Koran gives examples of the ways a woman needs to act in society. A woman is supposed to be there for their husband’s. A husband can marry multiple woman and the woman may not be upset. A woman may have a dowry, but it is highly favored to give a portion of it to their husband’s. A woman is not allowed to provide testimony, because she cannot be trusted. The women in this document I feel are treated unequal to the male.
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.
Gender roles are often used in our own society to tie people to a certain representation for what is socially acceptable. These roles perpetuate gender inequalities because they often make the female end of the spectrum worth less than the male. One example is equating masculinity with strength and femininity with weakness. Because of this sayings such as “You run like a girl” become negative. Gender roles create a system where people are set to a different standard based off gender alone. In trying to follow what is socially acceptable based on gender people are forced into roles. There is a lower percentage of women in science than men because girls are taught at a young age that being smart isn’t feminine. These roles harm boys too, teaching them that they have to be hyper-masculine to be considered
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...
Globally, approximately 5 girls are mutilated every minute." If we do the math, we discover that equates to 300 per hour, or 7,200 per day, or 50,400 per week, or 2,620,800 per year. Considering that women make up 49% of the world, form 35% of its paid labor force, head 33% of its households, make up 95% of its nurses, perform 62% of its work hours, yet receive 10% of the world's income, own 1% of its property, make up 70% of its poor, 66% of the illiterate, 80% of the refugees, 75% of the sick, it seems to me that women--in these country’s live in a male dominated world and are there for convenience not happiness.
The religion of Islam has obtained the reputation of violence and misogyny in recent decades due to radical sects in the international spotlight. Although violence has been limited to radical groups, many people outside of the religion view Islam’s law, Shari’ah law, to define the status of women below men. However, from the original holy text, the Qur’an, and the Prophet Muhammad’s Sunnah, a framework of equality and mutual respect across sexes is evident. Although the Qur’an is the unadulterated Word of God, it is interpreted by Muslims in many different ways. It has been through these patriarchal interpretations of the five schools of Islamic law that the status of women has been impinged upon (Barlas, 2002). The Qur’an itself contains versus which demonstrate the equality of men and women, but also seemingly contradicts itself by undermining the status of women. These contradictory phrases have recently been interpreted by female scholars differently than the original schools to support the equality of sex. Muhammad’s life also displays his affection and respect for his wives as opposed to a lifestyle of misogyny. In the end, the status of women in Islam has been largely degraded by human interpretation of the text to create a power dynamic between a husband and his wife, or wives. Although a woman’s status has been lowered in the eyes of many Muslims, recent civil rights movements and women activists are challenging these emboldened concepts to achieve social and political leadership.
These attitudes towards gender and gender roles do play a role in our society because we all have our opinions on what race or gender is superior over the other. Some think the white race is superior, while others think the black race is. Same with gender most feel that the male gender is superior over the female gender due to the fact that the male gender is stronger, and less emotional than the female gender
The topic of gender roles is difficult to elaborate on for many people yet it is becoming
The portrayal of the Arab woman has always been through several different perceptions. Some believe that these women are weak, dependant and victims of a hyper patriarchal tradition and culture. They live their lives as if caged from one man to another. First it is their father and brothers and then their husbands and sons. It is true that Arab women do live within patriarchal traditions and cultures but the same can be said for majority of the women around the globe. A much more accurate perception can come only through the realization that what popular Western concepts conceive as women liberation and independence does not necessarily apply to every women around the world. One must understand the culture, religion and traditions and history of a people to know what their ideas regarding concepts such as liberation and independence are. In the west for example women were allowed to vote relatively recently compared to Muslim women who were allowed to vote over fourteen hundred years ago, the same could be said for owning businesses and property and the right to a career. One of the most popular beliefs in the Western world today regarding oppression is that women in Arabia are sexually controlled by their men. This has been brought about especially by the concept of the Hijab as being one of the channels to control women’s sexuality and freedom. It can be argued that in various cases this is true but one cannot commit such a grave injustice and put all Arab women under one umbrella and stamp them as sexually oppressed. The fact is that the Middle East is a region where many states, cultures and identities exist.
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.
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 ...
The status of women in the Muslim society is neither a new issue nor a
These women are treated just like the lady of Shalott, who was placed in an excluded tower far away from human interaction. She also, could not look down her window at life passing by, but she could see through “a mirror clear, Reflecting tower’d Camelot” (Tennyson, 45-50). This mirror was displaying to her what she could never have; freedom. Freedom is exactly what most women in these countries, Pakistan, India or Afghanistan, cannot attain. In the book, A Thousand Splendid Suns,
In the world we are in today, every continent, city, and smallest village has some sort of belief set. Religious belief frequently has the most impact over societies with religion’s ability to mold social laws, boundaries, and sometimes hold entire sway over government systems. However, because religion is left to interpretation of its audiences, religion itself can only be as peaceful or as violent as its followers make it. When religious beliefs are paired with religious intolerance, and people willing to act on that intolerance, religious beliefs can take a turn towards violence, death, and destruction. Religious intolerance is being unwilling to tolerate another 's religious beliefs or practices