Status of Women in Islam

Status of Women in IslamBy Noor Al HaqqJan 6, 2005, 08:23http://magic-city-news.com/article_2694.shtml "Why is it that so many women who have been born andbrought in Europe and America are willing to rejecttheir 'liberty' and 'independence' to embrace areligion that supposedly oppresses them and is widelyassumed to be prejudicial to them?" This is a question that I found on one of the siteswhile surfing around, and I found it an interestingquestion and which I'd like to draw this articlearound.Can Islam be prejudice to women, and yet appeal towomen? Can Islam lower the status of a woman and stillhave more women embracing it as their way of life thanmen? According to an article written by LucyBerrington in the Times Magazine (London) dated 9thNov. 1993: "It is even more ironic that most Britishconverts should be women, given the widespread view inthe west that Islam treats women poorly. In the UnitedStates, women converts outnumber men by four to one,and in Britain make up the bulk of the estimated 10,000 to 20, 000 converts, forming part of a Muslimcommunity of 1 to 1.5 million "How can the case of those women be explained?!Well, I could say that there are only one of twochoices that one can decide upon. Either all thosewomen who choose Islam don’t know what they are doingor that they discovered Islam is not prejudice to themas others have yet to discover."Islam gives us Elevation; not Degradation"In the Noble Quran Allah (Arabic word for God) says:"Mankind! We have created you from a male and afemale, and made you into nations and tribes, that youmay know one another. Verily, the most honorable ofyou in the Sight of Allah is the believer who hasTaqwa (i.e. piety and righteousness)and loves Allahmost. Verily, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.""I shall not lose sight of the labor of any of you wholabors in My way, be it man or woman; each of you isequal to the other (3:195)"On the light of those verses, Islam declares that ithas not come to disadvantage women, but in fact hasbeen revealed to elevate women ever since 1400 yearsago, when women in many parts of the world andespecially in the western societies were consideredobjects that are owned and with little to no rights inthe society they live in.Before any other religion or system in the world Islamgave a woman the right to inherit, the right to voteand voice her opinion, the right to trade invest andimprove herself financially, the right to own – buyand sell, the right to seek knowledge and have a goodeducation, the right to work and has even gone furtherto oblige the males in every stage of her life,whether it was a father, brother or husband ... It'stheir duty before God to take care of her, to spend onher, to provide her with the food , clothing andshelter that she needs, to provide her with a goodeducation, to protect her from anything that can harmher and to never hesitate to put their lives in stakefor her if the need calls them to do so. ----------------------"As a modern westerner with a career, of course I hadto look into Islam's attitude to women - I couldn't beoppressed all of a sudden. But I discovered that it ispro-women and pro-men; in Islam, women had the rightto vote in the year 600. Men dress modestly, womendress modestly; neither should flirt with the eyes,but rather they should lower their gaze. I think it'sunhealthy to flaunt your sexuality - it attracts thewrong energy back." (MTV Presenter Kristiane Backerafter being a Muslim) "Since I called myself afeminist, my early reading centered around women inIslam. I thought Islam oppressed women. In my Women'sStudies courses I had read about Muslim women who werenot allowed to leave their homes and were forced tocover their heads. Of course I saw hijab as anoppressive tool imposed by men rather than as anexpression of self-respect and dignity. What Idiscovered in my readings surprised me. Islam not onlydoes not oppress women, but actually liberates them,having given them rights in the 6th century that wehave only gained in this century in this country: theright to own property and wealth and to maintain thatin her name after marriage; the right to vote; and theright to divorce." (Karima Slack, an American feministfrom secular humanism to Islam) --------------------------------------Some Muslim societies today lack those values. Somepeople may rightly ask then, why do we see some Muslimsocieties lacking those values? There is a beautifuland very true example I heard from a lecture by anAmerican Muslim called Khaled Yaseen, who said thatevery person can be a father; but if a father does notturn out to be a good father then it's not fatherhoodthat we would blame. Similarly, Islam is a rule andorder. A Muslim who does not act according to thatrule and order then by all means its not Islam thatshould carry the blame.Karla, a young Blonde haired Blue eyed young Americanfrom Washington DC who is a recent convert to Islamsaid in an interview made with her:The main question people seem to ask, is "How couldyou, an educated American woman convert to Islam--areligion that oppresses women?" They are quick to tryand equate the rights of women in Afghanistan with therights of Muslim women everywhere. Basically, what Itell them, is that the Qur'an gives women more rightsthan the Bible does--in print. That was one of thethings that first drew me to Islam. Unfortunatelytoday, Islam is no longer the leader in women'srights. I had a choice--deny what I believe (i.e. thatThere is only one God, and that Muhammed is a Prophetof God)...or accept what I believe, but work to changethe problems that exist within the Muslim community. Ichose the latter.In the world today, one could say that the Talibangovernment in Afghanistan have been considered as thetop example of Women Oppression in Islam. But what'sironic is that even when a woman falls captive in thehands of those supposedly most hateful men in theworld, Islam does not fail to win her heart…Yvonne Ridley is an award-winning journalist of morethan 25 years standing and author of two books, In TheHands of the Taliban and Ticket to Paradise. She hasspent the last 10 years working for severalprestigious Fleet Street newspapers including TheSunday Times, The Observer, The Independent on Sundayand The Sunday Express. She has also expanded intotelevision and radio producing several documentariesfrom Iraq and Afghanistan. Yvonne hit the headlines inSeptember 2001 when while working for the DailyExpress she crossed illegally into Afghanistan and wassubsequently held captive by the Taliban for 11 days.Following her release, she read the Qur'an as she hadagreed to during her captivity, and converted to Islamin the summer of 2003.Last but not least I would like to conclude by theblessed sayings of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him:"It is the generous (in character) who is good towomen, and it is the wicked who insults them.""The most perfect believers are the best in conductand best of you are those who are best to theirwives.""Treat your women well and be kind to them for theyare your partners and committed helpers."© Copyright 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 by Magic CityMorning Star