Many people believe that in the Quran, which is the holy book of Islam that Muslims live by, men and women are not portrayed as equals. This is not that case at all. The Quran is pretty much the same for both men and women with the same obligations and the same rules. A woman is allowed to divorce a man, are allowed to inherit and own their property, and are allowed to, and often encouraged, to educate themselves. In the Quran it is stated that men and women “were created of a single soul” and in the eyes of God, are equally responsibly for their actions. One of the biggest things that comes up with Muslim women is the way that they dress. People assume that Muslim women have to cover their whole body up including their face. The way a Muslim woman dresses is one of the most focused things not only in the media that Americans are exposed to, but also in Muslim countries, however this is one of the most misrepresented and misunderstood things. The Quran requires that women dress modestly, but this also applies to men just as much. “Hijab” translates to “cover” in Arabic, which extends to mean modesty in a way. Hijab is something that Muslim women can practice; usually this practice has to do with the scarf that they wear around their head to cover their hair. The hijab is worn in different countries by Muslim women. It is worn in different colors, different styles, and in different ways depending on where in the world you go, however the concept remains the same. There is only a small minority that wears a full head covering along with a face covering that only shows the eyes. Muslim women are expected to dress modestly and in a way so that it does not attract attention. This generally means that a woman should cover her chest... ... middle of paper ... ...e a book by its cover” because of the fact that they want people to get to know them for who they really are on the inside. In no way is a Muslim woman just a silent and frightful being that hides behind her clothes, with no rights. These women are just like any other strong women in the world. They stand up for what they believe in and do not feel the need to succumb to the beliefs of how others feel they should portray themselves as. There is good and bad in every race, culture, and faith, as well as different pros and cons. One should not stereotype a whole group of people based only what is being fed to them through the media. Being educated and gaining knowledge is a key part in eliminating stereotypes and racism. Ignorance can be eliminated through knowledge. Benjamin Franklin once said, “Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.”
Fatemeh Fakhraie’s essay “Scarfing it Down,” explains how Muslim women suffer because of what they wear. Fakhraie blogs about Muslim women in her website she explains; “Seeing ourselves portrayed in the media in ways that are one-dimensional and misleading." Several people judge Muslim's by their appearance because they assume they're a bad person. The author of this essay wants the reader to know that Muslim women wearing a hijab are not a threat to the world.
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.
The Koran says that women must be modest and hide their, "unseen parts." Unfortunately, this verse is imprecise and can be understood from a liberal or conservative perspective. The liberal view would only require women to conceal their breast and groin. Predictably, Muslim culture understands this verse in an ultra conservative way requiring women to cloth themselves from head to toe, allowing their eyes and in rare cases not even their eyes to be visible. The Koran does not state any specific regulations that men have to hide their unseen parts.
Muslim dress for females, as Emma Tarlo explains, is a matter of individual choice. Tied up in issues relating to belief, freedom, modesty, traditional diversity and beauty, British Muslim females are articulating themselves yet not without some setbacks along the way. View from within and outside the Muslim religion is mixed and sometimes, passionate, though Emma Tarlo is determined to expose long held beliefs that Muslim women are not free to make their own decisions. She shows that Muslim women are no different from women of any other religion, and orthodoxy is not exclusive to the Muslim religion yet it is stigmatised much more than any other.
The veil illustrates a women’s love for god, their modesty, and to show Muslim identity. The veil itself is not bad and even today is looked as a women’s choice to wear such clothing. The symbolism behind the hijab is very powerful and beautiful to show love for god and self-identity. The hijab gives women power and choice; Although, many women adopted the hijab since they will be treated better in their society. In the article “Reinventing the Veil” by Leila Ahmed, she wrote, “Changing dress sometimes empowered them in relation to their parents… expanded job and marriage possibilities… and ability to move freely in public space.” The idea that women must wear the hijab to be equal to men to demining to women. Some parts of the Islam society look as women differently depending on whether they wear the hijab, but the hijab should only be the woman’s choice and not something women have to wear to be able to walk freely and acquire jobs that men have. The western world looks at this and instantly looks down on the Islam world even when the whole society doesn’t look down on women for their choice on wearing the
In the Muslim religion, women are not to be thought of as a piece of meat. That is why their bodies and head are covered by clothing. The main reason for this is so the women do not tempt men if they are married. However, the responsibility should not fall on the woman’s shoulder just because the man cannot control himself. This shows that instead of the women, the men are the weak ones if they can fall into temptation so easily. Women are not even allowed to pray with the other men in a masque, because they will distract the men from praying. Women have to change so much for men so that men can function in society without being tempted and without any trouble.
Immediately after the 9/11 attacks, women stopped covering their heads because they were worried about their personal safety. However, today young muslim children are encouraging their parents to wear the head gear more often, and a number of young muslim American women are putting on the hijab at younger ages. In the past, young women were more likely to start wearing it during their middle school or high school years. Now, it is not uncommon to see girls in the after school program who are as young as ten or eleven years old with scarves on their heads.
The constant smear remarks from media headlines are chiseled into the minds of Westerners and no amount of “educated [and] articulate women fulfilling the modest conditions of the hijab can do little to dispel the myths” (Stacey). She writes how even when these women are simply placing their focus on the spiritually constructed values rather than socially constructed ones they still may be labeled as oppressed. Indeed, the majority of the women in the world have the free choice to where a hijab or not. The Gallup Poll mentioned earlier actually concludes that that “most women in the Muslim world are well aware that they have the same capabilities and deserve the same fundamental rights as men”
Within the Middle East, the largest population of the men and women are Muslim. The Muslim religion suggests that women wear a veil or hijab, which is a head scarf that only exposes a woman’s eyes, accompanied by a burqa which is a full body cloak. The sole purpose of the clothing is to cover a woman’s feminine features from men’s eyes. The Qur’an, an Islamic scripture, supports and slightly obligates the uniform by saying that women are to be conservative, “let them wear their head covering over their bosoms, and not display their ornaments.” (Qur’an).
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.
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.
To begin with, the hijab is uncomfortable and impractical in today's modern society. The hijab causes more problems than it solves. Many people either are scared of someone wearing it or they hate the person wearing it. It is very difficult to
These rights are equal to those of a man but they are not necessarily identical. Equality and sameness are two different things. This difference is understandable because man and woman are not identical but they are created equals. The distinction between equality and sameness is of paramount importance. With this distinction in mind, there is no room to imagine that woman is inferior to man, just because her rights are not identical. Had her status been identical with his, she would have been simply a duplicate of him, which she is not. The fact that Islam gives her equal rights - but not identical rights- shows that it takes her into consideration, acknowledges her, and recognizes her independent personality and role.
“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.