Women in Islam

[Nonson]

Women and Islam



Muhammad was not a complete misogynist. To him woman was not "an organ of the Devil" (St. Bernard) but a fortress against Satan in that a good wife lessens the danger of extra-marital fornication. "The best treasure a man can hoard is a virtuous wife who pleases him when he looks to her, and who guards herself when he is absent". "The best of the commodities of the world is a virtuous wife".

However the man is head of his family and after consulting with his family has final say in decisions concerning it. To the man falls responsibility of defending and extending the borders of Islam.1

"Men are superior to women on account of the qualities with which God hath gifted the one above the other, and on account of the outlay they make from their substance for them..." (4:34) (translator J.M. Rodwell)

"Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more strength than the other, and because they support them from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient". (4:34) (translator Abdullah Yusuf Ali)

"Men have authority because Allah has made the one superior to the other, and because they spend their wealth to maintain them..." (4:34) (translator M.M. Khatib)

I cannot comment on which translation is closest to the original Arabic however AYA is often an apologist for some of the nastier things in the Qur'an and so "superior" is quite likely the nearer translation.

"The Role of Muslim Women in Society" states: "the male's brain is anatomically distinguished from the female's, showing signs of superior intelligence and mental growth."

"Men have a degree of advantage over women." (2:28) This concerns the qualities of leadership, surveillance and maintenance which are bestowed on men.2 To this end the wife must neither receive male visitors nor accept gifts from them without the husband's approval. The husband has the legal right to restrict his wife's freedom of movement such as leaving the house without his permission. Thus the husband can forbid her family visiting her or his wife from visiting her family.3

Women remain basically minors all their lives, and know nothing positive about the outside world and so few are ready to challenge the system. While their brothers are indulged and spoilt the daughter is helping with household chores from a very early age. She is even expected to run and fetch for younger brothers who are aware of (4:34) (namely that Allah considers girls to be subordinate to boys) and they punish her if she is too slow.

Islamic law recognizes the husband's right to discipline his wife for disobedience.

A joke from Baghdad? Abdul was taking his new bride home on the back of a camel. It shied and Abdul said: "That's One!" It shied again and he said: "That's Two! "On the third time that it shied he slaughtered it. His bride said that was a bit rough on the camel. Abdul's reply to his bride was: "That's One!"

As with many mediterranean Christian communities, men's honour and family pride dictate that the women in the family behave themselves. The brother chaperons his sister whenever she has to go out; this gives him a feeling of possessiveness and authority over her. The role of the father, brother or husband of a girl is to chastise or even murder her for bringing shame on them.

Modesty

Both men and women are bound by Ghadd al-Basar (lowering the eyes). "A first look is pardonable but the second is prohibited". (Muhammad) The reason is, of course, that glances may become amorous and may eventually lead to fornication or adultery. Naturally if the woman has to be examined by a doctor or a judge or so on eye-contact may be necessary. The Prophet said: "Do not call on women in the absence of their husbands because Satan may be circulating in you like blood. The younger or elder brother is Death." (Tirmidhi)

The Prophet said: "The one who touches the hand of a woman without having a lawful relationship with her, will have an ember placed on his palm on the Day of Judgment. " (Takmalah). (This hadith does not apply to aged women.) Shaking hands with women is therefore an un-Islamic practice.

The Prophet told someone who had been peeping into his room:

"If I had known that you were peeping, I would have poked some thing into your eye..." (Bukhari)

..... and when you ask women for an article, ask for it from behind a curtain." (33:53)

"And abide still in your houses and do not exhibit your beauty and decorations outside as in the period before Islam." (33:33)

Segregation from men means having "to endure men without really knowing them or being understood by them."

Female sexuality is feared and is seen as a source of provocation. 'Fitna' means beauty with disorder and this is how men view women from menarche to menopause. Apparently the Prophet did not consider Khadijah to be fitna as he did not introduce the veil until after he had procured young wives such as A'isha and Zaynab. A wife will never be allowed in public until she is no longer fitna. He does the shopping and men only crowd the coffee palaces. A woman who leaves her home in western clothes threatens the men with fitna and they in turn will harass and pursue her. The concept of showing respect to women is alien to Islamic culture. It goes without saying that a Muslim woman should not wear make-up or perfume when out in public.

Some jurists are of the opinion that it is not haram (unlawful) to pluck hairs from a woman's face but Imam al-Nawawi does not agree. Muslim women are not to use public baths as this may lead to evil. They are not to undress except in their own homes. Men can use a public bath or swimming pool provided that they are never naked. If a rich man has his own swimming pool only one wife at a time can accompany him and sons or stepsons past puberty are not allowed to see her.

Dancing is un-Islamic and the Shariah does not allow Muslims to dance. Mixed gymnasia where women wear leotards or similarly abbreviated garments are not tolerated by Islamic law.

The Prophet preferred women to pray at home but, provided that they are clean (non-menstrual) they can attend a mosque and pray standing behind the men.

Gay Muslims?

The Qur'an says: "If any of your women are guilty of lewdness (lesbianism) ... confine them... until death do claim them." (4:15) But for males: "If two men among you commit indecency (sodomy) punish them both. If they repent and mend their ways, let them be. Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." (4:16)

Sodomy is common among unmarried males but usually ceases on marriage. To be the active partner brings little disgrace but the passive partner is despised, although not to the same extent as in the West.

Marriage

Celibacy and monasticism are concepts foreign to Islam: "celibacy is not necessarily a virtue, and may be a vice."(n249 AYA) Everyone who can marry should do so. They should continue the human race and bring up their children to fear Allah. An exception would be a man who has no sexual drive at all, no love for children or who would slacken in his religious responsibilities if he married.

A quotation from "The Rights of Allah and Human Rights", Pakistan, 1981: "It is one of the most important duties of the parents to get their children married when they have reached the age of puberty otherwise the parents shall be held responsible partly on the Day of Judgment for any possible commissions."

A man should have a critical look at the face and hands of his intended spouse to acquaint himself with her beauty and personality; he should not gaze passionately. If a man wants to know more he may choose a woman to visit his intended and report to him in greater detail. Similarly a woman has the right to look at her husband-to-be. No unchaperoned meetings are allowed but the family and the girl should ascertain there is common understanding between the pair. It is not surprising that nearly all Muslim marriages are like "buying a cat in a bag" as far as sexual compatibility is concerned.

The Qur'an states: "Do not prevent them from marrying their husbands if they mutually agree." (2:232) but Imam Malik says that this is subject to ijbar, the right of the girl's father or guardian to intervene. An arranged marriage is not possible without the consent of the girl. Yet in the villages there may be "no room for discussion." The girl must agree to accept whomever is offered to her, whether he is deformed, deaf, blind or imbecile."4

Restrictions on a number of marriage bonds apply. Some which may not be normal in your country are: a woman cannot marry her foster father (the girl and his son or daughter may have had the same wet-nurse), foster brother (i.e. no blood relation), foster mother's brother, step-son, her daughter's husband (whether she is alive or not). She and her sister cannot be married to the same man at the same time nor can she and her aunt be married to the same man.

The husband has to pay the wife a dowry, although if he is poor it may be very nominal. This is the price of the marital rights he has on her, and becomes payable after the first intercourse. "Marry these maids with the permission of their masters and pay them their dowries." (4:25) The husband must also bear the living expenses of the wife.

The young bride usually goes to live at her husband's family home. This can create problems with her mother-in-law. The mother often clings to her son and expects him to take her side in any tiffs between the women.

The man must not deprive a wife of sex: the maximum time allowed by the Islamic Law for such punishment is four months.5

Obedience

A wife must be obedient to her husband but only if the rights of Allah come first, for example he could not force her to dance, and so on. "A woman's submission to her husband's authority is a part and parcel of her religious duties... which will help her get to Paradise. "6 Women may not refuse to have sex with their husbands. The Prophet said:

"When a man calls to his wife to satisfy his desire, she must go to him even if she is occupied at the oven." (Tirmidhi)

The law can force a woman to return to her husband, and send her back under police escort.

A woman must not spend her husband's money without his consent. The exception is if he is rich and stingy and the money is for basic needs.

The first step in maintaining obedience is the warning. If this fails to correct the wife, the second step is for the husband to refuse to share his bed with her, that is to suspend conjugal relations. If this is insufficient the third step is to administer a light beating. "The purpose of this beating is not to inflict pain but to bring the wife back to her senses and re-establish authority."7 But "do not beat your wife on the face or in such a way as to leave a mark on her body." (Muhammad) The Prophet goes on to say: "Your treatment of your wives should be kind as well as righteous."

Polygamy

In the case of an intractable wife whom the husband cannot reform, the best solution is to take another wife. The same is true if his wife is ill, barren, aged, of unsound mind or if the one wife does not satisfy the man's natural desires. In such cases polygamy can provide an answer, but "a man who marries more than one woman and then does not deal justly with them, will be resurrected with half his faculties paralyzed." (Muhammad)

Polygamy has been permitted by the Qur'an, up to a maximum of four wives provided that equity can be maintained for all wives. Thus the financial status of the husband is an important factor in deciding whether he should have more than one wife. It is not necessary to obtain the consent of the first wife before marrying a second, and so on. But he must have proper relations with all wives: "Do not lean exclusively to one of them, leaving the rest of them suspended." (4:129).

When a new wife is married she gets preferential treatment for up to a week if she has been a virgin or three days if she has been previously married, but thereafter she must share her husband's time impartially. In practice, however, time may not be shared fairly. An Egyptian polygamist remarked: "It's only natural. A man has to stay close to a new wife, at least for the first two years.

Just as Allah has created man with a natural desire for more than one woman, so the co-wife should resist the natural feelings of jealousy. Qur'ah, the drawing of lots may be the most dispassionate method of sharing time equitably with wives. Where each wife gets a day in turn, sunset to sunset is taken as the period and during the day a husband can recuperate with the wife he slept with the previous night.

It is preferable that each wife has separate living quarters for the husband to visit. The co-wives should not be in the same house unless they agree to communal living or it is divided into apartments. However they can even share the same bed if they agree but it is haram (unlawful) for a co-wife to witness him going into another wife. Another possibility is for the husband to have separate living quarters while his wives, who may live in one house, visit him on their respective turns. If he wishes to travel and is only able to take one wife along she should be chosen by Qur'ah, that is by drawing lots.

Polyandry, a woman having more than one husband, is an abomination to Islam. It is not feasible in a patriarchal society where one man is the head of the family. Nor would each husband know his own children for the purpose of inheritance. (Modern DNA gene mapping would overcome this objection.) Another reason against polyandry is given by Khurshid Ahmad. "If we examine the origin of venereal diseases, we find that they originate from a woman being sexually visited by more than one man."8 He goes on with almost a page of further explanation but I am sure that the learned gentleman thinks that the fungi, bacteria or viruses involved are created in the woman ex nihilo by Allah. Of course, if all partners remain faithful there is no reason why a polyandrous (more than one husband) marriage would be any more prone to communicable diseases than a polygynous (more than one wife) one.

Due to western influence, marriage laws are not always in accord with the Qur'an or the Hadith. For example in Pakistan written permission is (was?) needed from the Arbitration Council before marrying a second wife. Also the consent of the first wife is necessary except in the cases of insanity, physical infirmity or sterility. In Tunisia or Syria no polygamy at all is allowed. This will undoubtedly change if fundamentalists take power.

Although Muhammad had nine wives at one time many of these marriages were politically motivated. To join tribes together, the Prophet made a "great sacrifice. "9

Divorce

Islam prefers to see marriage as a life-time commitment but if this is impossible then divorce may be necessary. In most cases the husband divorces the wife and loses his dowry.

The least approved form of divorce is Talaq al-bida where the husband says to the wife: "Talaq. Talaq. Talaq". Because this is irrevocable, Caliph Umar used to whip the husband who divorced his wife in one pronouncement. Also irrevocable is Talaq al-Bain where the husband

pronounces "Talaq" on three separate occasions. This is a less hasty form of divorce and so is more preferred.

With Talaq ar-Raji the husband pronounces "Talaq" only once and abstains from sex with her for three months. If in this time he has intercourse with her, even if she is unwilling, then the talaq is revoked. The exact iddah (waiting period) is a question of debate among jurists. In all cases, talaq must not be pronounced while the woman is having her period or still bleeding after childbirth as her inaccessability may be off-putting to the husband. A pregnant woman may be divorced according to most jurists.

After the triple divorce it is haram (unlawful) and punishable for the former partners to have intercourse. Moreover if they wish to remarry it is necessary for the woman to first marry and divorce someone else. This second marriage must be consummated under Islamic law so that the former husband can see if he feels any jealousy, that is whether there is any real feeling left. This practice, called halala, was considered as adultery by Caliph Umar.

The wife can divorce her husband by the remedy of Faskh if approved by the Qadi, Court. The grounds vary among the different Schools of Law but include apostasy, cruelty, lack of maintenance, going missing, insanity, dangerous contagion, even incompatibility.

One may ask why it is so easy for the man to obtain a divorce but so difficult for a woman. "If women were given the power of unilateral divorce, it is probable millions of them would divorce their husbands. " 10 because there are times of the month when a woman is not in full control of her faculties; she may suffer bouts of ill-temper, depression or jealousy-be upset by trivia which normally would not bother her.

The Qur'an (4:28) reveals a method whereby a wife can ask her husband for a divorce, Khul, if he is willing and if she is able to repay part or all of the dowry which she received. The release may bind her to maintaining a child until it is weaned. Khul must not be undertaken lightly:

"If any woman asks for a divorce from her husband without specific reason, the fragrance of Paradise will be unlawful to her." (Muhammad)

A man who accuses his wife of adultery but has no witnesses must declare on oath four times that the accusation is true. The fifth time he must declare on oath that the curse of Allah may fall on him, if the accusation be false. This solemn statement of the husband renders the wife liable to punishment. The only way to save herself is to deny the accusation four times on oath and swear that the wrath of Allah be upon her if she is telling an untruth. The way out of this impasse is for the court to divorce them.

The adultery laws are often not in accord with the Sunna and are a bone of contention with the fundamentalists. For example in Egypt the punishment for an adulteress is only two years' prison sentence. For a man the punishment is six months, if and only if, it was committed in the family home. If a man is caught in the act with a prostitute, he is not punished but used as a witness against her.

If the woman cannot get a divorce through the court or by Khul, she can apostase and so separate. This is possible in India where she cannot be legally murdered for apostasy, "till such time when an Islamic Government is established... in India. "11 (Hindus and free-thinkers be warned!)

The divorced woman lives in the matrimonial home until the iddah (waiting period) is over. She may not leave it nor may the husband demand that she go. He has to maintain her unless she left his home, had travelled (except the Haj) without his permission, had refused him his conjugal rights or had been imprisoned for a crime.

Custody of Children

Custody depends upon which Islamic School of Jurisprudence is involved. The traditional view is that boys are taken by the father after they have been weaned, that is at age two, while little girls leave their mothers at seven years of age. As this led, in many cases, to socially harmful consequences the Malechite School of Sunni Islam allows girls to stay with their mother and boys up until puberty. She does not get custody if she is not a fit person nor does she retain custody if she re-marries. Her mother, provided that they are not living together, or her former mother-in-law look after the children. The mother must not have a full-time job; she should have plenty of time to look after them.

Mixed Marriages

Muslim men are allowed to marry zimmis (non-Muslims in an Islamic country) but Muslim women are not. The reason given is that feminine nature being less dominant and more flexible, she is more likely to adopt their way of life and less likely to affect their thinking. She may even be influenced to apostacise. At the best it would only be a carnal relationship and not an Allah-fearing one.

Nevertheless, Islam frowns on Muslim men marrying zimmis. There were cases where the Prophet, Umar and Ali did not allow such matches: "You will not find a people who believe in Allah and the Last Day, loving those who oppose Allah and His Messenger." (58:22) If such a mixed marriage occurs then any children must be brought up as Muslims.

Child Marriages

A girl who is given in marriage as a minor by someone other than her father or grandfather is able to accept or reject the bond on reaching adulthood. However, jurists hold that if she is given away by her father or grandfather the marriage is binding on her.

A girl is often virtually forced to marry an old man because he owns some land or can provide a large dowry.

The Prophet consummated his marriage with A'isha when she was nine and this was considered the age of consent for a long time. Even today many fundamentalists believe that a girl is adult at the first signs of puberty. Non-Qur'anic laws have been introduced in a number of coun-tries, influenced by the West, limiting the age of marriage to 15 or 16.

Living Expenses

The Qur'an grants the wife living expenses and in return the husband gets his conjugal rights. But, "he whose provisions are limited, let him spend of that which Allah has given him." (65:7). On the other hand, the wife is not expected to starve with him and she can get a separation if he is completely without means.

Inheritance

Islamic laws of inheritance are too complicated to discuss here in detail but the general rule is that a female receives half the inheritance of a male. For example, in the absence of any other heirs a son would receive two-thirds and a daughter one-third.

If a wife dies leaving a son and a daughter then her property is divided between her husband and the children; if both children are daughters then her parents (or in their absence her brothers and sisters) also receive a share.

A widow receives a quarter of her deceased husband's estate if he leaves no children; the rest goes to his parents or siblings. If he leaves children, the widow gets only one-eighth. (The Old Testament is even more unkind to a widow. She is not an heir at all to her husband's property. To live she has to rely on her children or her own family.)

Birth Control

Family planning should be the right of every woman and Islam is not as negative in this respect as Roman Catholicism. Both religions want their numbers to grow by natural means, that is a woman should have a brood of children-just as Hitler tried to foster the breeding of warriors. But large families may not be all they are supposed to be. As far as the mother is concerned, excessive child-bearing can lead to premature ageing and poor health. Children tend to be undernourished, do not receive as good an education, and overcrowding can lead to sexual abuse by older siblings.

Islam realizes that the millions of sperm and egg-cells cannot all be utilized and the story of Onan, who was killed by Jehovah for ejaculating on the ground, does not appear in the Qur'an. Nor is the prevention of the fertilization of an egg regarded as a sin by Islam. This includes azl (coitus interruptus or withdrawal) which the Prophet sanctioned on several occasions, although Caliph Umar forbade the practice without the permission of the wife. Rubber devices such as condoms and diaphragms, and spermicides or the contraceptive pill are not forbidden, at least not in Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Pakistan and Egypt.

One saying of the Prophet used by supporters of Family Planning is: "The greatest of catastrophes is many children and meagre sustenance." However, many of the ulama (Muslim hierarchy) see contraception as encouraging pre- and extra-marital sex and so do not favor it.

Sterilization is regarded as unnatural and abortion is forbidden as a family planning method. Illegal abortion in Egypt is the prime cause of death in pregnant women. Abortion is regarded as murder although whether from the moment of conception or from the quickening of the embryo at 3 months, differs among jurists. However abortion even later in the gestation is permitted if the life of the mother is threatened. Two liberal countries are Tunisia and Somalia, where abortion has been legalized to combat the high population growth.

Newsletter No.1 of "Women Against Fundamentalism" points out that, "after the downfall of the Shah and the establishment of the Islamic Republic, women became the first victims of Islamic ideology. One of the rights taken from women was the right of access to contraception and abortion. Abortion was illegalized with vicious persecution for both the doctor and the woman who took part. Ironically, this same regime executed many pregnant political prisoners! In the eleven years since the revolution, the population of Iran rose from 36 million to about 50 million. The Iranian regime was unable to cater for this population growth. Now it has suddenly decided that contraception and abortion are not such great sins after all! Although it has not legalised abortion, it does not prosecute those who take part."

Often women themselves refuse to use contraceptives as they feel the need to be constantly pregnant to provide their husbands with sons. For this reason clinics, if legal, emphasize the repair of gynaecological conditions, the prevention of miscarriages and the spacing of babies rather than actual population control. The Muslim countries have the highest birth-rate in the world-higher than the poorer countries of Latin America.

Education of Women

Girls are under-educated in Islam. One text, "Women in Shariah" spent 90% of its chapter on "Education" discussing the learning of the Qur'an and the Hadith, and the rest on segregating the sexes in schools. Many mosque schools are still content to have their students recite verses from the Qur'an by rote, in Arabic which they may not understand. No wonder scholarship of secular subjects such as mathematics, science, humanities, business and technical studies is so low in Islam when a disproportionate percentage of the time is given to the Sunna. No wonder non-Muslim governments will not register Muslim schools without demanding that a broadly educational, secular curriculum be taught which will help the students and the nation.

Egyptian psychiatrist, Nawal El-Saadawi ("The Hidden Face of Eve") who specializes in neuroses in women is perhaps bitter:

"Education of female children is a slow process of annihilation, a gradual throttling of her personality and mind... her capacity to think independently... so she will do what others have told her... and be a victim of their decisions."

In 1970, 85% of Arab women were illiterate as compared with 60% of men. Elsewhere similar figures were given for Pakistan but would you believe the definition of literacy? No, not the ability to read a newspaper, 5000 words or some such, but the ability to read and write one's own name! More recently several countries have made attempts to remedy the state of schooling for girls but much more needs doing. A large part of the problem is that a negative view is held regarding girls' education: it may expose them to moral danger, it may increase their expectations, reduce their docility and modesty, and reduce their chances of marriage to self-opinionated males.



Legal Rights of Women

The punishment for the murder of a woman is the same as for the murder of a man. For example, a Jew killed a girl by crushing her head; the Prophet had him dealt with in the same way. Similarly a woman can be executed for murder.

Jurists differ as to whether a woman can be a judge, government minister, police chief, and so on. There is no doubt about the position of Chief of State, for the Prophet said: "A nation will not prosper if it is led by a woman". To this end the Islamic fundamentalists strove mightily to remove Ms Benazir Bhutto from the Prime Ministership of Pakistan.

Provided that her husband consents a woman can go out to work in certain jobs. However it cannot be to the detriment of the home and family which must come first. Jobs which are excluded include: dancer, barmaid, prostitute, model, waitress, actress or musician. Secretarial and factory work are not haram provided the workpool is exclusively women. Trading by women, again is acceptable provided that she does not mingle with men. Trading in a market is therefore un-Islamic. This is not true for an older woman. Once she reaches 50 or so she is considered "past it", that is she is no longer a sexual object and can mix with men.

Trading from one's own house where customers are women, girls or small boys raises no problems. Indeed cottage industries in the home means that the women can observe purdah. Possible crafts are sewing, knitting, embroidery, dyeing and painting textiles, basket-making, pottery, jewelry, and so on. A Muslim woman can teach in a non-segregated primary school provided that all the other teachers are female, or in a girl's secondary or tertiary institution. Similarly women doctors and nurses should work in female wards and hospitals. Welfare workers are also needed to deal with young offenders and women.

A Religion For Women?

The ideal religion for a woman (if one was indeed necessary) would have as its mentor an understanding, non-judgmental "exalted bird", a goddess such as Isis, Venus or al-Lat.

Allah and Jehovah are far too male-oriented, based as they were on patriarchal societies where the male was head of the economic unit, the family. The monotheistic male god ensured that the woman was kept in her place in the field, the nursery, the kitchen and the bedroom. The man wanted to know that his property would be passed on to his seed.

Sex in Islam

When one considers the Qur'anic punishments against fornication and adultery, one would think that promiscuity and sex crime in Islam would be minimal. However rape and child abuse are not, in most cases, reported. The reason is that the "victim is blamed": a stigma is attached to having been defiled. For example a study into sexual aggression by grown up men on female children or young girls showed that nearly half of them had been sexually abused in Muslim Egypt-a figure of 45% compared to the United States figure of 24%.

For scientific reasons the ratio of boy to girl babies in any sizeable population is 50:50 so monogamy, group marriage or equal mixtures of polyandry and polygyny are statistically possible. Undoubtedly monogamy is the least complicated socially. However, in Muhammad's day many men were killed plundering and fighting and so it was possible for some males to have more than one wife. Most of Muhammad's eleven wives were widows. Some of them he had made widows himself! (Could you love, honour and obey your husband's murderer?)

Today, however, if richer men have up to four wives, then there must be a number of unmarried or late-marrying males. With prostitution and fornication banned, homosexuality haram, and masturbation disdained that leaves sex within the household. Sisters, cousins and maid-servants often take the place of the girl down the street in western society. A segregated society with strict separation of the sexes creates widespread sexual frustration and suppression. Muhammad's only advice to impecunious men was to weaken the sex drive by fasting.

Islam does not condemn sexuality as such, unlike Paul who managed to become the chief spokesman for Christianity. His ideal state was celibacy. "It is good for a man not to touch a woman. I say to the unmarried... abide even as I (celibate). But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn." (I Corinthians, Chapter 7)

However Qur'anic sex does seem to have the male mainly in mind. The Companions of the Garden (houris) "untouched before by man or djinn" are undoubtedly to delight the male. The handsome youths in Paradise, however, are not promised to the women. (52:24)

Islam has an obsession about virginity for girls. God has provided them with a hymen to prove their chastity. Yet only 40% of girls have a "normal" hymen that will rupture and bleed on the wedding night: for 20% it is so fine that it breaks during childhood, and 40% may have an elastic hymen that may not rupture. So much for teleology, the concept that everything has a god-given purpose! What divine justice is there that more than 30% of girls have no bleeding at all during their first sexual act.'3 The father of the bride cannot hold up the white towel stained with blood the next morning. The bride is disgraced and may even be divorced or murdered. In a case where such a murder occurs it is often thrown out of court as a question of Izzat, "honour". There is a double standard, for the male is proud of his sexual exploits and does not stop to think that his fair share of hymens is one per lifetime. To my knowledge, The Prophet Muhammad had only one virgin in his life, the child bride A'isha. He did not regard it as shameful to go where other men had been: he did not, however, cherish the idea of other men succeeding him after his death. (33:53)

There may be several reasons for insisting on virginity in the bride. One, of course, is that there is no danger of having someone else's child attributed to you. Another is that the groom can educate the young bride to his own idiosyncrasies and can not be compared with other lovers. Probably the economic factor is the greater.

Saying "I divorce you" three times is equivalent to the decree nisi in western society except that only the husband can say it. The divorce does not become absolute until the iddah is observed. The iddah of three monthly periods satisfies the ex-husband that he has not left an heir in the womb and satisfies any prospective new husband that the womb is ready for his breeding alone.

Rape In Pakistan

Unfortunately, since Pakistan has reverted to an Islamic state, rape against women has increased dramatically. Of course, official figures would say the opposite as, under Shariah, it is almost impossible to prove that rape has taken place. Rape is often used as revenge against a woman's husband, father, brother or son. When it is used against a political opponent it is called "power rape". The rapists often cut off the noses of their victims to show that they are "fallen women

Rape can only be proven if there are four adult male witnesses. (A female's testimony is not even taken as half-value in the case of capital crimes.) If the case is unproven, the woman can be charged with fornication which carries the death penalty. There are thousands of women in jail in Pakistan charged with zina. Even if the crime is not pursued, relatives may expect the woman to commit suicide, preferably by burning herself. Alternatively the husband may divorce her or, if he has to pay back too much dowry, have her committed to a lunatic asylum. "Human Rights Watch estimates that Pakistani police abuse 70 per cent of the women in their custody, though no officer has ever been penalized. "18



Female Circumcision

FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) is carried out among Muslims in Egypt, the Sudan, Saudi Arabia, South Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, the Philippines, Malaysia, Pakistan and Indonesia. Some apologists point out that it is not performed in Iran, Iraq, Algeria, Libya, Morocco or Tunisia. They will also note that female mutilation was carried out in pre-Islamic times and is practised in some non-Islamic African states. This does not absolve Muslims for continuing the barbaric tradition and throws doubt on the "civilizing role" of Islam. Indeed some of the clergy still advocate female mutilation. Rather they should speak out vigorously to condemn the old practices.

There are three main degrees of female "circumcision" Firstly the "sunna proper" where the clitoral hood or prepuce is removed. This is analogous to male circumcision and does not physically damage female sexuality. It may well do psychological damage especially the way it is performed on older girls: a number of female relatives hold the girl down and the piece of skin is removed with a razor blade.

The practice has no Qur'anic justification and the Prophet did not have his daughter Fatima circumcised. '4 There is one hadith where he is reputed to have told Umm Attiya who performed excisions: "Reduce, but do not destroy." (He would not have liked his sexuality reduced by one micro-watt.) The inference from this hadith is to remove only the glans (tip) of the clitoris. This is analogous to removing the glans (head) of the male penis. To confuse things this circumcision is also known as "sunna" although a better name sometimes used is Khifad ("reduction").

The second level of female mutilation is clitoridectomy where the whole of the clitoris is removed. This is particularly traumatic for the girl: the pain and bleeding may continue for days-the clitoris is well-supplied with blood vessels so that it can swell on stimulation. This is analogous to the removal of the penis of a male as the clitoris is the centre of female sexuality and most women cannot achieve orgasm without it. What a terrible thing to do to your daughter! If sexuality is given to us by Allah then the implication is that it is there to be used, enjoyed. But sexual desire is not reduced by mutilation, only the means of satisfying it. It is not surprising that instead of being chastely frigid, some of these women go on a "promiscuous" search for satisfaction.

Thirdly there is pharaonic circumcision (often called infibulation, the Roman practice of putting rings across the vaginas of slave women.) All exterior genitalia are removed: the clitoris, the labia minora (the inner lips) and the labia majora (the outer lips). What is left of the vulva is sewn up leaving a small hole for urine and menses to escape, but penetration by a penis is impossible. On marriage, the macho male tries to penetrate often causing "hufta"-invaginated skin near the vaginal opening. On divorce, social pressures dictate that the opening be sewn up again. On childbirth, the skin must be cut but even then there can be complications: prolonged labor, foetal death and brain damage.

Many males favor the pharaonic method as the vaginal orifice can be made tight to enhance their sexual pleasure even if it is painful to the woman. Indeed, many women find anal sex preferable. If the woman is Makhtoma, too tight, she can take an hour to void her bladder and it is common for the abdomen of a girl to swell with undischarged menstrual blood-girls have even been murdered by fathers thinking that they were pregnant.

Pharaonic circumcision often leads to permanent trauma, frigidity, urinary and gynaecological infections, abortions or sterility, painful menstrual periods, fistulas, scar tissue, abscesses and even cancers. And yet the girl's relatives and the bridegroom expect it. The little girl aged 4 to 8 must have her tahara (purification) as she would be unacceptable in a Ghalaja (uncircumcised) state.

The name "sunna" (Muhammad's traditions) should not be given to any method of circumcision as surveys have shown that the name was the primary reason (religion) given by men for approving circumcision. However the fact should be faced that many of the husbands like to be in full control of the sexual act. He should be able to prolong it or bring it to an end when it suits him and not the woman. They can be compared with necrophiliacs but few normal western men would agree that passivity on the part of the female contributes to sexual enjoyment.

The reason for female mutilation is sometimes given that it prevents promiscuity. A random survey of 200 prostitutes in Cairo showed that 170 of them had suffered a clitoridectomy, exactly the same percentage (85%) as the general population. Of fifty women who had had sexual experience before "circumcision", none had been able to reach the level of satisfaction they knew before-hand.'5

But the girl does not only face physical circumcision, there is also the denial of mental and psychological development. Ignorance of the human body and sex is considered a virtue. Experience and knowledge about life is regarded as shameful. Passivity of the personality is considered a prerequisite of a wife.

Shame and Respect

The woman who chatters loudly, is too bright and perky, flits her glances or is not modest in walk and dress is Be-Sharm, shameless. A young girl who covers her head when her father enters the room is pleasingly modest or bashful. She has Izzat, respect for her father.

The younger women, the unmarried and new brides all show respect to the older women by deferring to them in conversation. Older women transmit the male dictates, are usually guardians of tradition and can be tyrants in their households. When a woman visitor comes, the younger ones push on with their sewing or whatever without interrupting their mother's conversation. It is rare for a son-in-law to visit his mother-in-law but when he does he must be treated with reserve and diffidence as he is head of her daughter's family. Young women must talk in lowered tones to elder relatives and, except for greetings which they should initiate, only respond and then positively to conversation and instructions. Their heads should be somewhat bowed and their hands covering their mouth. They should observe eye-purdah, that is avoid eye-contact.

In many parts of Islam marriages are still arranged. Even the shame of a "love marriage" is covered up as an arranged one. The bride is expected to be modest and demure. She sits quietly with her head bent and may not come "out of her shell" for weeks or months-not perhaps until she has had her first baby. It is rare for an unmarried girl to go to a wedding as some of the remarks may be too risque' for her. If they can afford it the bride and groom will have separate bedrooms again for the sake of the modesty of the younger girls in the household. The bride is not addressed by her first name, even by her husband. She is the daughter (bint) of so and so. When her first son is born she becomes mother (umm) of so and so and this name stays with her until she dies.

Nudity

Nakedness is generally considered ugly and the chaste wife sneaks under the bed covers. The Qur'an tells Muslims: "0 ye Children of Adam! We have bestowed clothing upon you to cover your shame..." (7:26) "Let not Satan seduce you in the same manner as he got your parents out of the Garden, stripping them of their raiment, to expose their shame."(7:27)

In hadith 134 (Sahih Muslim) the Messenger said: "A man should not see the private parts of another man, and a woman should not see the private parts of another woman." It is also forbidden for both men and women to see the private parts of the opposite sex. The husband can expose his equipment before his wife and vice versa at the time of sexual intercourse but it is not desirable to see it. It is, however, allowable in case of extreme necessity for example medical examination and treatment. Yet in many cases a husband has not allowed his wife on her death bed to receive treatment from a male doctor.

Hadith 135 (Sahih Muslim) relates how the Children of Israel lost their modesty and indulged in moral depravity by bathing nakedly in front of each other. Only Moses took his bath alone. However, on one occasion he left his clothes on a rock and the rock moved so that Moses had to chase after it. By the time that Moses had caught up with his clothes and chastised the rock by striking it, everyone had had a chance of viewing his equipment. This cleared up a bone of contention: some had thought that Moses was modest because he had a scrotal hernia.

Purdah

The chador and burkah are not common to the whole of Islam but Muslim fundamentalists would have it that way. The Prophet said that there should be no shapeliness in the woman's dress and "it is not lawful, past puberty, to show more than the face and hand below the wrist." Many fundamentalist girls are veiling their face as a sign of Taqwah, Allah-consciousness.

The only time a man covers his face is during his wedding when a veil of flowers protects him from the "evil eye".

The seclusion of women in the home and under long clothing leads to their social nothingness. How strictly a Muslim woman observes purdah depends upon her economic status. Poor women have to work in the fields, fetch water, collect firewood and look after animals.

It is a poor reflection on a religion if its system of morals cannot regulate behaviour without segregation of the sexes. Men and women can have social intercourse without sexual intercourse. Punishment of misbehaviour in the present or Hereafter is not as moral as learning to treat other human beings as worthwhile individuals who merit respect. Humanism is far more ethical than religious fundamentalism.



"Not Without My Daughter"

The villain in this true story is Sayyed Bozorg Mahmoody.The title Sayyed signifies that he is a direct descendant of the Prophet. He was brought up by religious parents but went from Iran to the USA as a young man and did not then strictly observe Muslim customs. "Moody", as he was nicknamed studied, became an anaesthetist and was quite "Americanized" when he met Betty, a divorcee. After three years of courtship they married in a mosque but he made no efforts to convert her to Islam.

Several years later, however, in 1979, Moody was inspired by the revolutionary situation in Iran, participated in marches against the Shah, bought a high-powered radio receiver to listen to short-waves, read all the pro-Khomeini literature that he could and entertained young Iranian students. The Islamic religion started to assume a greater importance in his life.

In 1980 they had a daughter whom he named Mahtob, Moonlight. When she was four, Moody insisted on going for a two-week holiday to visit his relations in Iran. Betty did not want to go but was afraid that he might take Mahtob with him and that she would never see her again. Her husband swore on the Qur'an that they all would return to the USA; little did she know that one can break such an oath if it is for the greater good of Allah. Indeed any agreement with a non-believer may be broken by a believer.

When the fortnight expired, Betty discovered that the Iranian Legal Code considered that she and her daughter were Iranian citizens and, being women, second-class citizens at that. She could be executed if she tried to remove Mahtob from the Islamic Republic against her husband's wishes.

Moody became more and more under the sway of his family and the macho hero would hit Betty whenever he felt she needed it. He had his family spy on her and would not allow her to use the telephone. Someone accompanied her whenever she went out.

The customs and lack of hygiene disgusted her. Several times she was mobbed by revolutionary guards with machine guns because she showed a wisp of hair. The inconsistencies were incongruous: a children's TV program showed a woman giving birth to a baby-not that I disapprove of that-but the woman was still encumbered by a chador to cover her face. Similarly women would breast-feed in the streets and men urinate in the gutter.

For a while Betty made out to be accommodating to Islam to gain greater freedom from her husband. She found in a Qur'anic class of English-speaking women that wife-bashing was the norm.

Mahtob started school and with the other little five year olds had to yell out, "Death to America".

Betty made contact with the US Interests Section of the Swiss Embassy and when Moody found out, he threatened to kill her. He became less and less rational and no doubt would have dispensed with Betty but he needed her to liquidate his assets in the USA. He was prepared to allow her to return home to do this and to see her dying father but, of course, would not allow Mahtob to accompany her.

Betty had been lucky enough to find a safe-house in Teheran: some of the democratic forces were prepared to risk their lives to help people escape. They even paid up front for guides and transport out of their own pockets, with the chance of never being repaid.

One day when Moody was called away in an emergency they made their escape. Although it was winter and there was snow on the mountains they were, with the aid of Kurdish smugglers, able to flee to Turkey.

Safely back in the USA they have changed their names to protect themselves from the long arm of Iran. Apart from co-writing her book, Betty has gone on lecture tours to warn women against marrying Muslims. They may seem attentive lovers and doting fathers but in the background is the brainwashing, the sense of male superiority and the Allah-consciousness.

Over a thousand Western women and children are held against their will in Islamic countries.

Some Iranian laws which discriminate against women and are in contravention to Article 16 of the UN Convention:

Iranian Civil Code Article 1105:

The husband is the head of the household. Between a husband and wife the head of the family is the man's quality and right.

Iranian Civil Code Article 1050:

The husband has the right to choose the place of family residence.

Iranian Civil Code Article 1143:

The wife should obey her husband's wishes and if without any reasonable excuse refrains from performing her matrimonial duties she will not be entitled to maintenance.

Iranian Civil Code Article 1133:

A man has the right to divorce his wife upon any pretext.

Iranian Civil Code Article 1029 & 1130:

The law permits women the right to ask for divorce only under very exceptional circumstances.

Iranian Civil Code Article 1169:

Upon the dissolution of the marriage, a woman loses the right of custody of their children to their father after the age of 7 for girls and 2 for boys.

A father has sole right of guardianship over his children. Upon his death, the paternal grandfather acquires this right. In the latter's absence anyone who had been nominated by the father is entitled to the guardianship.

Iranian Civil Code Article 1060:

The marriage of Iranian Muslim women to non-Muslim men is strictly forbidden.

A married woman's right to travel abroad is subject to the written consent of the husband.

Health of Children

In Arab countries alone a million children die a year before reaching their first birthday as a result of sickness and malnutrition. Unlike in the west, baby girls have a higher mortality rate often due to neglect because the father is indifferent to them.

Muslim Women in India and Bangladesh.

Muslim women defer to men. They have been conditioned to feel dirty because they menstruate and bear children. Their economic dependence and lack of power makes them feel inferior. The traditions handed down from mother to daughter over the centuries have made them ideologically subordinate to males. They have accepted ideas which devalue and degrade them and provide them with a negative self-image.'6

"Wife beatings are often an outlet for a man's sense of impotence and frustration in the face of grinding poverty. The threats of polygamy and divorce help husbands to ensure their wives' obedience. Polygamy rarely brings happiness as the wives quarrel and compete for love and attention."'7

Marriage is well nigh universal and may take place soon after the girl's first menstruation. Much of a woman's life is spent bearing and rearing children. Absence of children is the fault of the woman. The wife who fails to provide her husband with male heirs is denigrated for the line dies out without a male to carry the name. Also sons are considered insurance against destitution in old age.

Unlike in the Western world men tend to live longer than women. Suicides are almost exclusively female because of the desperation in their lives. For the fifty million Muslim women in India the life expectancy is 45.6 years compared with 47.1 years for men. The average woman near menopause has had 6.4 live children born to her and this does not take into account a large number of still-births or pre-natal mortality. Women are more likely to die than men due to the dangers of pregnancy as they are often undernourished and lack hygienic medical facilities. in poor families the husband eats first, then the children and the woman last and least.

Muslim Women Threaten Suicide

Pune, the Indian Muslim Women's Equality Forum, wants an end to "instant talaq" and polygamy or hundreds of Muslim women will burn themselves to death in public places all over India. Due to the infamous Muslim Personal Law, Muslim women in India are subjected to some of the Shariah provisions found in Islamic states even though they are living in a supposedly secular society.

"Muslim women have suffered worst atrocities, sex and religious discrimination, massive humiliations and persecution due to the outrageous Muslim Personal Law. Muslim women are ready to make the supreme sacrifice rather than tolerating injustices for ever. Millions of women are ready to leave the ummah. We cannot be forced to remain in a community practising terrorism against women.

"If you do not permit us to live with honour, you cannot stop us from dying with dignity."

Women In Afghanistan

Afghanistan has long been Muslim: the conquest of the region in 1000 CE led to the massacre of the Hindu population, indeed Hindu Kush means "Hindu slaughter". In April 1992 Islamic rebels overthrew the Communist Government after 14 years of civil war. Fifty thousand Hindus had to flee Kabul, the capital.

In reality the communists had held only Kabul and the other towns. Life in the mountains had continued on much the same as it had for centuries before. Society was patriarchal: girls were murdered for refusing arranged marriages and for breaking Islamic taboos. Education for girls in the countryside was non-existent: in the whole of Afghanistan only 11 per cent of young women can read compared with 46% of young men. Male doctors could not examine women and health care was marginal - the life expectancy of an Afghan woman is 42 years of age. Only 8 per cent of births are attended by doctors or trained midwives and the maternal death rate per 100000 live births is 690 compared with 8 in the USA.

The impetus for the rebellion was the "feminism" evident in the towns: women wore jeans and denim jackets, skirts and blouses. They let their hair show, danced with men and wore make-up. Girls went to school and mixed with boys. Women held jobs and did not have to stay at home. They chose their own lovers and husbands. Such a carry on" had to be stopped, and it was. Indeed, the one thing which united the disparate Muslim groups was the perceived need to suppress women's rights.



Afghanistan Update from "Left Shoe News" (http://hraic.org.au )

Jan 1999 Most of Afghanistan has been overrun by the Taleban militia, an ultra-fundamentalist group of Islamic students supported by Pakistan.

They have re-introduced amputation for theft, stoning for adultery, banned music, dancing, chess, videos and TV. Some ways in which women are particularly targeted:

16/8/97 Women are banned from participating in sport.

27/2/98 Thirty thousand spectators at the Kabul sports stadium watched while a teen-age girl received a hundred lashes for walking with a non-related male.

8 Oct. '98 The Taleban Miniistry for Promoting Virtue and Suppressing Vice has banned tailors from taking women's measurements.

5/8/98 A researcher for Physicians for Human Rights, Zohra Rasekh who speaks fluent Farsi states that Islamic Taleban has targeted women for extreme repression and punished them brutally for infractions." "To our knowledge, no other regime in the world has methodically and violently forced half the population into virtual house arrest, prohibiting them on pain of punishment from showing their faces, attending school and seeking medical care without their husband, father, brother or son escorting them."

"In public women must be covered from head to toe in a burqa with only a mesh opening to see and breathe through."

Aid organizations working in Afghanistan have complained that their access to female aid recipients has been severely curtailed by the Taleban's rulings.



Saudi Arabia Addendum (from http://hraic.org.au/history.html )

In 1957 King Saud banned women from driving. This of course is not Shariah as no cars existed in Muhammad's time. The reason given is that a properly dressed woman could not change a tyre, talk to traffic police or other drivers. Probably the main reason, however, is to control women's movements in the light of Muslim obsession with female sexuality.

An unmarried woman and a man cannot ride in the same car. Men and women are separated on buses by means of a steel partition. Women may only work in jobs such as medicine or teaching where there is no contact with males. If it necessary to contact a man it must be done by telephone or letter. Occasionally a husband-wife team can overcome the segregation and act as go-betweens for the two sexes. In universities girls are segregated into separate rooms where they can watch a male lecturer on closed circuit television; this means they cannot participate fully in the lectures.

In 1980 women university graduates were banned from going overseas for higher degrees: the probable reason was that they came back with dangerous ideas. Women are forbidden to bicycle or jog. In 1977 female clerical staff, although in short supply, were banned from working in the same office as men. There is a ban on mixed bathing in hotel swimming pools and on men and women holding hands in public.



"Women Living under Muslim Laws".

"Femmes sous Lois musulmanes". International solidarity network Central Coordination:

Boite Postale 23, 34790 Grabels, France. Coordination for Asia:

18a, Main Road, P0 Moghalpura, Lahore 15, Pakistan.

"Women Living Under Muslim Laws" is a network of women whose lives are shaped, conditioned or governed by laws, both written and unwritten, drawn from interpretations of the Qur'an tied up with local traditions.

Generally speaking, men and the state use these against women and they have done so under various political regimes.

"Women Living Under Muslim Laws" addresses itself to women living where Islam is the religion of the State, as well as to women who belong to Muslim communities ruled by minority religious laws, to women in secular states where Islam is rapidly expanding and where fundamentalists demand a minority religious law, as well as to women in migrant Muslim communities in Europe and the Americas, and to non-Muslim women, either nationals or foreigners, living in Muslim countries and communities, where Muslim laws are applied to them and to their children.

"Women Living Under Muslim Laws" was formed in response to situations which required urgent action during the years l98~85.

The case of three feminists in Algeria arrested and jailed without trial, kept incommunicado for seven months, for having discussed with other women the project of law known as "Family Code", which was highly unfavorable to women.

The case of an Indian sunni woman who filed a petition in the Supreme Court arguing that the Muslim minority law applying to her in her divorce, denied her the rights otherwise guaranteed by the Constitution of India to all citizens.

The case of a woman in Abu Dhabi, charged with adultery and sentenced to be stoned to death after delivering and feeding her child for two months.

The case of the "Mothers of Algiers" who fought for custody of their children after divorce, amongst others... (Abridged)



"Women Against Fundamentalism"

BM Box 2706 Tel: 081-571 9595 London UK

"Women Against Fundamentalism" was launched on May 6th 1989, as a network to challenge the rise of fundamentalism in all religions. Women's groups involved in this campaign include "Southall Black Sisters", "Brent Asian Women's Refuge" and the "Iranian Women's Organisation" in Britain.

Fundamentalism appears in many different forms in religions throughout the world, but at the heart of all fundamentalist agendas is the control of women's minds and bodies. All religious fundamentalists support the patriarchal family as a central agent of such control. They view women as embodying the morals and traditional values of the family and the whole community. We must resist the increasing control that fundamentalism imposes on all our lives. It means that we must take up issues such as reproductive rights, and fight both to safeguard and extend abortion rights and to resist enforced sterilisation. We must struggle against the body of religious belief which denies us our right to determine our own sexuality and justifies violence against women.

In Britain today, resistance to fundamentalism involves a struggle against the State and against religious leaderships. We must challenge the assumption that minorities in this country exist as unified, internally homogeneous groups. This view assumes that women's voices are represented by the "community leaders" and denies them an independent voice. We also reject the multi-cultural consensus, forged by sections of all political parties, which would deliver women's futures into the hands of fundamentalist "community leaders" by seeing them as representatives of the community as a whole.

New legislation has allowed fundamentalist forces in all religions space to organise for their demands. The Education Reform Act has reimposed the Christian assembly in State schools, alienating many non-Christian parents. At the same time, the extension of State aid to non-Christian schools is promised. This is a disturbing development for all those who have fought to improve State education. All religious schools have a deeply conformist idea of the role of women. They will deny girls opportunities which they are just beginning to seize. Thus the need to struggle against fundamentalism is at the forefront of the political agenda in Britain, especially for women.

More specifically we call for:

1. An end to state funding of religious schools and the imposition of particular religious education by the State, including Christian assemblies within state schools.

2. A development of a social policy that addresses the genuine needs of women, and which does not attempt to deal with them on the basis of racist and sexist assumptions as to how they are expected to behave according to their particular racial or cultural origin... (Abridged)



Allah, Please let us weep in peace! "Allah Amader Kandte Dao!"

by Jahanara Begum'9

Please, Allah, leave us alone to cry and weep in peace. From behind the veil, beyond public gaze we want to cry till we cannot cry any more. This is the only right you have left to us Muslim women, throughout the Islamic world, where your laws are meticulously followed. The world beyond is undergoing so many changes, so many evolutions over the ages; year after year, new discoveries are being made both in the sciences and philosophies, in the rest of the world, improving upon old ideas and beliefs. But we are tied forever to the rigid and immutable shackles of your laws, Allah. No one ever came forward for our emancipation. Unique is our society! ...

The Hindus can fearlessly write on the injustices and other inadequacies of their social system, but we, the Muslims, are afraid to criticize the defects of the Islamic society. More than a hundred female lawyers demanded women's emancipation in the streets of Lahore in Islamic Pakistan. The "heroic" Pakistani policemen attacked the female lawyers with sticks and batons. A Muslim female member of the ADMK party of India had raised the subject of the emancipation of India's Muslim women in the nation's parliament-but then, all the progressive members of parliament remained silent on the issue, for no one wanted to offend the fundamentalist mullahs and lose the Muslim votes.

Our political leaders talk in high-sounding, noble words such as "freedom", "non-discrimination", "secularism" and many other beautiful words. But alas, they do not apply a single such word to the day-today life of our Muslim society...

What an unbearable existence for us to live and survive among co-wives! Innumerable children, unhealthy surroundings, poverty and lack of education have made a mockery of our social lives. The frequent fights among the co-wives, the pulling at one another's hair are so degrading! And then, God forbid, if the miyan or husband gets into the fray, then we get beaten like a beast until we cannot take it anymore. And after the beating, to make it even more degrading, the miyan takes his other wife into the bedroom and shuts the door in our face.

If there is the slightest shortcoming in the wife's attention to the physical needs of the miyan or husband, then woe be to her. She goes on suffering forever from an acute uncertainty, and intense anxiety. Just the pronouncement of the word "Talaq" three times can move the earth from under the feet of the Muslim wife. The consequence? Cheap labour or prostitution. The little children suffer from lack of mother's love, a sense of awesome insecurity and an unhealthy environment. If the children manage to survive then the society is burdened with more beggars and criminals. Admittedly such occurrences do take place in other societies as well, but then they are much fewer in number and, what is more important, in other societies such a state of affairs is not allowed to persist in the name of their "religion", while in our society the mullahs preach such treatment to us women in the name of "Islam". The motto among us is: "Breed and profit"-take over the land by increased birth rate. And we, the married Muslim women, have to bear all the burden of the entire operation. That is why no one ever finds a married Muslim woman who is not nursing her own baby or is not pregnant. They are with a child all the time. They die young.

It was with us in mind that Kazi Abdul Odud once said that in the last 1400 years, Islam has not been able to light a small candle eradicating darkness from human civilization.

The Government of India gave us the right to vote but denied us a healthy and peaceful married life by perpetuating the "Muslim Personal Marriage Code". The "Hindu Code Bill" liberated the Hindu women but we still remain the victims of polygamous practices. No remedy has been provided to prevent frivolous divorces in our Islamic society.

If we happen to be one of many wives of a rich Muslim then we spend our lives in jealousy, rivalry and unending pregnancies. If on the other hand, we belong to a poor husband there is back-breaking hard work for all day and one pregnancy after another as well. The uncertainty and insecurity of our lives affect not only ourselves but our children as well. They have no better choice and get into begging and street crimes. You have seen the crowds of Muslim women and their numerous children roaming around the Howrah station of Calcutta. That they are Muslims can be guessed by the presence of the bearded mullahs that hang around these women. The only concern of the mullahs is to ensure that these women remain Muslims. They are not concerned with their health, well-being, safety and simple humanness.

And so, there is nothing for a Muslim woman to look forward to. Please therefore let us weep in peace and leave us alone. (Abridged)

Summary Of God's Punishment Of Women

"When Eve ate fruit which He had forbidden to her from the tree in Paradise, the Lord, be He praised, punished women with eighteen things; (1) menstruation (2) childbirth (3) separation from mother and father and marriage to a stranger (4) pregnancy 5) not having control over her own person (6) a lesser share in inheritance (7) her liability to be divorced and inability to divorce (8) its being lawful for men to have four wives but for a woman to have only one husband (9) the fact that she must stay secluded in the house (10) the fact that she must keep her head covered inside the house (11) the fact that two women's testimony has to be set against the testimony of one man (12) the fact that she must not go out of the house unless accompanied by a near relative (13) the fact that men take part in Friday and feast day prayers and funerals while women do not (14) disqualification for rulership and judgeship (15) the fact that merit has one thousand components, only one of which is attributable to women while 999 are attributable to men (16) the fact that if women are profligate they will be given only half as much torment as the rest of the community at the Resurrection Day (17) the fact that if their husbands die they must observe a waiting period of four months and ten days before re-marrying (18) the fact that if their husbands divorce them they must observe a waiting period of three months or three menstrual periods before re-marrying.



From "Counsel For Kings", Ghazali (1058-1111 AD)20



REFERENCES

1. "Polygamy in Islam" P21

2. "Women in Shariah" P11

3. ibid P12

4. "In Search of Shadows: Conversations with Egyptian Women" P23

5. "The Laws of Marriage & Divorce in Islam" P17

6. "Polygamy in Islam" P16

7. ibidPl5

8. "Women in Islam" P47

9. "Women in Shariah" P75

10. ibid P95

11. "The Laws of Marriage & Divorce in Islam" P49

12. "The Hidden face of Eve" P24

13. ibid P28

14. "Woman, Why Do You Weep? Circumcision and its Consequences P103

15. "The Circumcision of Women: A Strategy for Eradication" P11

16. "Frogs in a Well" P99

17. "A Quiet Violence: View from aBangladesh Village" P89

18. "The Atlanta Journal/The Atlanta Constitution" P7, June 28, 1992

19. "Turning of The Wheel" P106

20. Quoted on P233-234, "Islam


Nonson
2.04.01

[kazanova3]

"O My Lord! Increase me in knowledge!" - Qur'an 20:114
The Status of Woman in Islam
by Hammuda Abdul-Ati
╘ 1998, 1999, 2000 - MUSLIM ANSWERS, P. O. Box 1227, Windermere, FL 34786 - U. S. A.





The status of woman in Islam constitutes no problem. The attitude of the Qur'an and the early Muslims bear witness to the fact that woman is, at least, as vital to life as man himself, and that she is not inferior to him nor is she one of the lower species. Had it not been for the impact of foreign cultures and alien influences, this question would have never arisen among the Muslims. The status of woman was taken for granted to be equal to that of man. It was a matter of course, a matter of fact, and no one, then, considered it as a problem at all.
In order to understand what Islam has established for woman, there is no need to deplore her plight in the pre-Islamic era or in the modern would of today. Islam has given woman rights and privileges which she has never enjoyed under other religious or constitutional systems. This can be understood when the matter is studied as a whole in a comparative manner, rather than partially. The rights and responsibilities of a woman are equal to those of a man but they are not necessarily identical with them. Equality and sameness are two quite different things. This difference is understandable because man and woman are not identical but they are created equals. With this distinction in mind, There is no problem. It is almost impossible to find even two identical men or women.

This distinction between equality and sameness is of paramount importance. Equality is desirable, just, fair; but sameness is not. People are not created identical but they are created equals. With this distinction in mind, there is no room to imagine that woman is inferior to man. There is no ground to assume that she is less important than he just because her rights are not identically the same as his. 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 - shows that it takes her into due consideration, acknowledges her, and recognizes her independent personality.

It is not the tone of Islam that brands woman as the product of the devil or the seed of evil. Nor does the Qur'an place man as the dominant lord of woman who has no choice but to surrender to his dominance. Nor was it Islam that introduced the question of whether or not woman has any soul in her. Never in the history of Islam has any Muslim doubted the human status of woman, or her possession of soul and other fine spiritual qualities. Unlike other popular beliefs, Islam does not blame Eve alone for the First Sin. The Qur'an makes it very clear that both Adam and Eve were tempted; that they both sinned; that God's pardon was granted to both after their repentance; and that God addressed them jointly. (See Qur'an 2:35-36; 7:19, 27; 20:117-123). In fact, the Qur'an gives the impression that Adam was more to blame for that First Sin from which emerged prejudice against woman and suspicion of her deeds. But Islam does not justify such prejudice or suspicion because both Adam and Eve were equally in error, and if we are to blame Eve we should blame Adam as much or even more.

The status of woman in Islam is something unique, something novel, something that has no similarity in any other system. If we look to the Eastern Communist world or to the democratic nations, we find that woman is not really in a happy position. Her status is not enviable. She has to work so hard to live, and sometimes she may be doing the same job that a man does but her wage is less than his. She enjoys a kind of liberty which in some cases amounts to libertinism. To get to where she is nowadays, woman struggled hard for decades and centuries. To gain the right of learning and the freedom of work and earning, she had to offer painful sacrifices and give up many of her natural rights. To establish her status as a human being possessing a soul, she paid heavily. Yet in spite of all these costly sacrifices and painful struggles, she has not acquired what Islam has established by a Divine Decree for the Muslim woman.

The rights of woman of modern times were not granted voluntarily or out of kindness to the female. Modern woman reached her present position by force, and not through natural processes or mutual consent or Divine teachings. She had to force her way, and various circumstances came to her aid. Shortage of manpower during wars, pressure of economic needs and requirements of industrial developments forced woman to get out of her home - to work, to learn, to struggle for her livelihood, to appear as an equal to man, to run her race in the course of life side by side with him. She was forced by circumstances and in turn she forced herself through and acquired her new status. Whether all women were pleased with these circumstances being on their side, and whether they are happy and satisfied with the results of this course is a different matter. But the fact remains that whatever rights modern woman enjoys fall short of those of her Muslim counterpart.

What Islam has established for woman is that which suits her nature, gives her full security and protects her against disgraceful circumstances and uncertain channels of life. We do not need here to elaborate on the status of modern woman and the risks she runs to make her living or establish herself. We do not even need to explore the miseries and setbacks that encircle her as a result of the so-called rights of woman. Nor do we intend to manipulate the situation of many unhappy homes which break because of the very "freedom" and "rights" of which modern woman is proud. Most women today exercise the right of freedom to go out independently, to work and earn, to pretend to be equal to man, but this, sadly enough, is at the expense of their families. This all known and obvious. What is not known is the status of woman in Islam. An attempt will be made in the following passages to sum up the attitude of Islam with regard to woman.

1. Woman is recognized by Islam as a full and equal partner of man in the procreation of humankind. He is the father; she is the mother, and both are essential for life. Her role is not less vital than his. By this partnership she has an equal share in every aspect; she is entitled to equal rights; she undertakes equal responsibilities, and in her there are as many qualities and as much humanity as there are in her partner. To this equal partnership in the reproduction of human kind God says:

"O mankind! Verily We have created your from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes that you may know each other . . . " (Qur'an 49:13; cf. 4:1).
2. She is equal to man in bearing personal and common responsibilities and in receiving rewards for her deeds. She is acknowledged as an independent personality, in possession of human qualities and worthy of spiritual aspirations. Her human nature is neither inferior to nor deviant from that of man. Both are members of one another. God says:
"And their Lord has accepted (their prayers) and answered them (saying): 'Never will I cause to be lost the work of any of you, be he male or female; you are members, one of another . . . " (Qur'an 3:195; cf 9:71; 33:35-36; 66:19-21).
3. She is equal to man in the pursuit of education and knowledge. When Islam enjoins the seeking of knowledge upon Muslims, it makes no distinction between man and woman. Almost fourteen centuries ago, Muhammad declared that the pursuit of knowledge is incumbent on every Muslim male and female. This declaration was very clear and was implemented by Muslims throughout history.
4. She is entitled to freedom of expression as much as man is. Her sound opinions are taken into consideration and cannot be disregarded just because she happen to belong to the female sex. It is reported in the Qur'an and history that woman not only expressed her opinion freely but also argued and participated in serious discussions with the Prophet himself as well as with other Muslim leaders (Qur'an, 58:1-4; 60:10-12). Besides there were occasions when Muslim women expressed their views on legislative matters of public interest, and stood in opposition to the Caliphs, who then accepted the sound arguments of these women. A specific example took place during the Caliphate of Umar Ibn al-Khattab.

5. Historical records show that women participated in public life with the early Muslims, especially in times of emergencies. Women used to accompany the Muslim armies engaged in battles to nurse the wounded, prepare supplies, serve the warriors, and so on. They were not shut behind iron bars or considered worthless creatures and deprived of souls.

6. Islam grants woman equal rights to contract, to enterprise, to earn and possess independently. Her life, her property, her honor are as sacred as those of man. If she commits any offense, her penalty is no less or more than of man's in a similar case. If she is wronged or harmed, she gets due compensations equal to what a man in her position would get (Qur'an 2:178; 4:45, 92-93).

7. Islam does not state these rights in a statistical form and then relax. It has taken all measures to safeguard them and put them into practice as integral articles of Faith. It never tolerates those who are inclined to prejudice against woman or discrimination between man and woman. Time and again, the Qur'an reproaches those who used to believe woman to be inferior to man (Qur'an 16:57-59, 62; 42:47-59; 43:15-19; 53:21-23).

8. Apart from recognition of woman as an independent human being acknowledged as equally essential for the survival of humanity, Islam has given her a share of inheritance. Before Islam, she was not only deprived of that share but was herself considered as property to be inherited by man. Out of that transferable property Islam made an heir, acknowledging the inherent human qualifies in woman. Whether she is a wife or mother, a sister or daughter, she receives a certain share of the deceased kin's property, a share which depends on her degree of relationship to the deceased and the number of heirs. This share is hers, and no one can take it away or disinherit her. Even if the deceased wishes to deprive her by making a will to other relations or in favor of any other cause, the Law will not allow him to do so. Any proprietor is permitted to make his will within the limit of one-third of his property, so he may not affect the rights of his heirs, men and women. In the case of inheritance, the question of quality and sameness is fully applicable. In principle, both man and woman are equally entitled to inherit the property of the deceased relations but the portions they get may vary. In some instances man receives two shares whereas woman gets one only. This no sign of giving preference or supremacy to man over woman. The reasons why man gets more in these particular instances may be classified as follows:

First, man is the person solely responsible for the complete maintenance of his wife, his family and any other needy relations. It is his duty by Law to assume all financial responsibilities and maintain his dependents adequately. It is also his duty to contribute financially to all good causes in his society. All financial burdens are borne by him alone.
Secondly, in contrast, woman has no financial responsibilities whatsoever except very little of her personal expenses, the high luxurious things that she likes to have. She is financially secure and provided for. If she is a wife, her husband is the provider; if she is a mother, it is the son; if she is a daughter, it is the father; if she is a sister; it is the brother, and so on. If she has no relations on whom she can depend, then there is no question of inheritance because there is nothing to inherit and there is no one to bequeath anything to her. However, she will not be left to starve, maintenance of such a woman is the responsibility of the society as a whole, the state. She may be given aid or a job to earn her living, and whatever money she makes will be hers. She is not responsible for the maintenance of anybody else besides herself. If there is a man in her position, he would still be responsible for his family and possibly any of his relations who need his help. So, in the hardest situation her financial responsibility is limited, while his is unlimited.

Thirdly, when a woman gets less than a man does, she is not actually deprived of anything that she has worked for. The property inherited is not the result of her earning or her endeavors. It is something coming to them from a neutral source, something additional or extra. It is something that neither man or woman struggled for. It is a sort of aid, and any aid has to be distributed according to the urgent needs and responsibilities especially when the distribution is regulated by the Law of God.

Now, we have a male heir, on one side, burdened with all kinds of financial responsibilities and liabilities. We have, on the other side, a female heir with no financial responsibilities at all or, at most, with very little of it. In between, we have some property and aid to redistribute by way of inheritance. If we deprive the female completely, it would be unjust to her because she is related to the deceased. Likewise, if we always give her a share equal to the man's, it would be unjust to him. So, instead of doing injustice to either side, Islam gives the man a larger portion of the inherited property to help him to meet his family needs and social responsibilities. At the same time, Islam has not forgotten her altogether, but has given her a portion to satisfy her very personal needs. In fact, Islam in this respect is being more kind to her than to him. Here we can say that when taken as a whole the rights of woman are equal to those of man although not necessarily identical (see Qur'an, 4:11-14, 176).

9. In some instances of bearing witness to certain civil contracts, two men are required or one man and two women. Again, this is no indication of the woman being inferior to man. It is a measure of securing the rights of the contracting parties, because woman as a rule, is not so experienced in practical life as man. This lack of experience may cause a loss to any party in a given contract. So the Law requires that at least two women should bear witness with one man. if a woman of the witness forgets something, the other one would remind her. Or if she makes an error, due to lack of experience, the other would help to correct her. This is a precautionary measure to guarantee honest transactions and proper dealings between people. In fact, it gives woman a role to play in civil life and helps to establish justice. At any rate, lack of experience in civil life does not necessarily mean that women is inferior to man in her status. Every human being lacks one thing or another, yet no one questions their human status (Qur'an 2:282).
10. Woman enjoys certain privileges of which man is deprived. She is exempt from some religious duties, i.e., prayers and fasting, in her regular periods and at times of confinement. She is exempt from all financial liabilities. As a mother, she enjoys more recognition and higher honor in the sight of God (31:14-15;46:15). The Prophet acknowledged this honor when he declared that Paradise is under the feet of the mothers. She is entitled to three-fourths of the son's love and kindness with one-fourth left for their father. As a wife she is entitled to demand of her prospective husband a suitable dowry that will be her own. She is entitled to complete provision and total maintenance by the husband. She does not have to work or share with her husband the family expenses. She is free to retain, after marriage, whatever she possessed before it, and the husband has no right whatsoever to any of her belongings. As a daughter or sister, she is entitled to security and provision by the father and brother respectively. That is her privilege. If she wishes to work or be self-supporting and participate in handling the family responsibilities, she is quite free to do so, provided her integrity and honor are safeguarded.

11. The standing of woman in prayers behind man does not indicate in any sense that she is inferior to him. Woman, as already mentioned, is exempt from attending congregational prayers which are obligatory on man. But if she does attend, she stands in separate lines made up of women exclusively . This is a regulation of discipline in prayers, and not a classification of importance. In men's rows, the head of state stands shoulder to shoulder to the pauper. Men of the highest ranks in society stand in prayer side by side with other men of the lowest ranks. The order of lines in prayers is introduced to help every one to concentrate in his meditation. It is very important because Muslim prayers are not simply chanting or the sing-a-song type. They involve actions, motions, standing, bowing, prostration, etc. So if men mix with women in the same lines, it is possible that something disturbing or distracting may happen. The mind will become occupied by something alien to prayer and derailed from the clear path of mediation. The result will be a loss of the purpose of prayers, besides an offense of adultery committed by the eye, because the eye - by looking at forbidden things - can be guilty of adultery as much as the heart itself. Moreover, no Muslim man or woman is allowed during prayers to touch the body of another person of the opposite sex. If men and women stand side by side in prayer they cannot avoid touching each other.

Furthermore, when a woman is praying in front of a man or beside him, it is very likely that any part of her dressed body may become uncovered after a certain motion of bowing or prostrating. The man's eye may happen to be looking at the uncovered part, with the result that she will be embarrassed and he will be exposed to distraction or possibly evil thoughts. So, to avoid any embarrassment and distraction to help concentrate on mediation and pure thoughts, to maintain harmony and order among worshippers, to fulfill the true purposes of prayers, Islam has ordained the organization of rows, whereby men stand in front lines, and women behind the children. Anyone with some knowledge of the nature and purpose of Muslim prayerscan readily understand the wisdom of organizing the lines of worshippers in this manner.

12. The Muslim woman is always associated with an old tradition known as the "veil". It is Islamic that the woman should beautify herself with the veil of honor, dignity, chastity, purity and integrity. She should refrain from all deeds and gestures that might stir the passions of people other than her legitimate husband or cause evil suspicion of her morality. She is warned not to display her charms or expose her physical attractions before strangers. The veil which she must put on is one that can save her soul from weakness, her mind from indulgence, her eyes from lustful looks, and her personality from demoralization. Islam is most concerned with the integrity of woman, with the safeguarding of her morals and morale and with the protection of her character and personality (cf. Qur'an, 24:30-31).

13. By now it is clear that the status of woman in Islam is unprecedentedly high and realistically suitable to her nature. Her rights and duties are equal to those of man but not necessarily or absolutely identical with them. If she is deprived of one thing in some aspect, she is fully compensated for it with more things in many other aspects. The fact that she belongs to the female sex has no bearing on her human status or independent personality, and it is no basis for justification of prejudice against her or injustice to her person. Islam gives her as much as is required of her. Her rights match beautifully with her duties. The balance between rights and duties is maintained, and no side overweighs the other. The whole status of woman is given clearly in the Qur'anic verse which may be translated as follows:

"And women shall have rights similar to the rights against them, according to what is equitable; but man have a degree (of advantage as in some cases of inheritance) over them" (Qur'an 2:228).
This degree is not a title of supremacy or an authorization of dominance over her. It is to correspond with the extra responsibilities of man and give him some compensation for his unlimited liabilities. The above mentioned verse is always interpreted in the light of another (Qur'an 4:34).
It is these extra responsibilities that give man a degree over woman in some economic aspects. It is not a higher degree in humanity or in character. Nor is it a dominance of one over the other or suppression of one by the other. It is a distribution of God's abundance according to the needs of the nature of which God is the Maker. And He knows best what is good for woman and what is good for man. God is absolutely true when He declares:

"O mankind! Reverence your Guardian-Lord, Who created you from a single person, and created of like nature his mate, and from them twain scattered (like seeds) countless men and women." (Qur'an 4:1).

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From Islam in Focus, by Hammuda Abdul-Ati

[kazanova3]

"O My Lord! Increase me in knowledge!" - Qur'an 20:114
Women in Islam Versus Women in the Judaeo-Christian Tradition
The Myth and The Reality
Based on an Friday Sermon by Sherif Muhammad
Compiled and written by Wael M. R. Haddara
╘ 1998, 1999, 2000 - MUSLIM ANSWERS, P. O. Box 1227, Windermere, FL 34786 - U. S. A.





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INTRODUCTION

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Four and a half years ago, I read in the Toronto Star issue of July 3, 1990 an article titled Islam Isn't Alone in Patriarchal Doctrines, by Gwynne Dyer. The article described the furious reactions by the participants of a conference on women and power held in Montreal to the comments of the famous Egyptian feminist Dr. Nawal Saadawi. Her politically incorrect statements included: "the most restrictive elements towards women can be found first in Judaism in the Old Testament, then in Christianity and then in the Qur'an"; "all religions are patriarchal because they stem from patriarchal societies"; and "veiling of women isn't a specifically Islamic practice but an ancient cultural heritage with analogies in sister religions". The participants couldn't bear sitting around while their faiths were being equated with Islam. Thus, Dr. Saadawi received a barrage of criticism. "Dr. Saadawi's comments are unacceptable. Her answers reveal a lack of understanding about other people's faiths", declared Bernice Dubois of the World Movement of Mothers. "I must protest", said panelist Alice Shalvi of Israel women's network, "there is no conception of the veil in Judaism". The article attributed these furious protests to the strong tendency in the West to scapegoat Islam for practices that are just as much part of the West's own cultural heritage. "Christian and Jewish feminists were not going to sit around being discussed in the same category as those wicked Muslims", wrote Gwynne Dyer.

I wasn't surprised that the conference participants had held such a negative view of Islam, especially when women's issues were involved. Islam is believed , in the West, to be the symbol of the subordination of women par excellence. In order to understand how firm this belief is, it is enough to mention that the Minister of Education in France, the land of Voltaire, has recently ordered the expulsion of all young Muslim women wearing the veil from French schools ! What intrigued me the most about the conference was one question: Were the statements made by Dr. Saadawi, or any of her critics, factual? In other words, do Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have the same conception of women? Are they different in their conceptions ? Do Judaism and Christianity , truly, offer women a better treatment than Islam does? What is the Truth?

It is not easy to search for and find answers to these difficult questions. The first difficulty is that one has to be fair and objective or, at least, that one does one's utmost to be so. This is what Islam teaches. The Qur'an has instructed us to say the truth even if those who are very close to us don't like it: "Whenever you speak, speak justly, even if a near relative is concerned" (Qur'an 6:152); "O you who believe stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to God, even as against yourselves, or your parents or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor" (Qur'an 4:135).

The other great difficulty is the overwhelming breadth of the subject. Therefore, during the last few years, I have spent many hours reading the Bible, The Encyclopedia of Religion, and the Encyclopedia Judaica searching for answers. I have also read several books discussing the position of women in different religions written by scholars, apologists, and critics. Today, I am here to present some of the important findings of this humble research. I don't claim to be absolutely objective. This is beyond my limited capacity. All what I can say is that I have been trying, throughout this research, to approach the Qur'anic ideal of "speaking justly".

Before we start, I would like to emphasize that my purpose from this presentation is not to denigrate Judaism or Christianity. As Muslims, we believe in the divine origins of both. No one can be a Muslim without believing in Moses and Jesus as great Prophets of God, peace be upon them both. My goal is only to vindicate Islam and pay a tribute, long overdue in the West, to the final truthful Message from God to the human race. I would also like to emphasize that I concerned myself only with Doctrine. That is, my concern is, mainly, the position of women in the three religions as it appears in their original sources NOT as practiced by their millions of followers in the world today. 1 Therefore, most of the evidence cited comes from the Qur'an, the Bible, the Talmud , and the sayings of some of the most influential Church Fathers whose views have contributed immeasurably to defining and shaping Christianity. This interest in the sources relates to the fact that understanding a certain religion from the attitudes and the behaviour of some of its nominal followers is misleading. Many people confuse culture with religion, many others don't know what their religious books are saying, and many others don't even care.



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PART 1 - EVE'S FAULT

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The three religions agree on one basic fact: Both women and men are created by God the Creator of the whole universe. However, disagreement starts soon after the creation of the first man, Adam and the first woman, Eve. The Judaeo-Christian conception of the creation of Adam and Eve is narrated in detail in Genesis 2:4 through 3:24. God prohibited both of them from eating the fruits of the forbidden tree. The serpent seduced Eve to eat from it and Eve, in turn, seduced Adam to eat with her. When God rebuked Adam for what he did, he put all the blame on Eve: "The woman you put here with me - she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it." Consequently, God said to Eve: "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be fore your husband and he will rule over you." To Adam he said: "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree . . . Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life . . . ".2

The Islamic conception of the first creation is found in several places in the Qur'an, for example 7:19-25: "O Adam dwell with your wife in the garden and enjoy as you wish but approach not this tree or you run into harm. Then Satan whispered to them your Lord only forbade you this tree lest you become angels and he swore to them both that he was their sincere adviser. When they tasted the tree their shame became manifest to them. Their Lord called unto them did I not forbid you that tree...They said: our Lord we have wronged our own souls and if You forgive us not and bestow not upon us Your mercy, we shall certainly be lost . . . ".

A careful look into the two accounts of the story of the Creation reveals some essential differences. The Qur'an, contrary to the Bible, places equal blame on both Adam and Eve for their mistake. Nowhere in the Qur'an can one find even the slightest hint that Eve tempted Adam to eat from the tree or even that she had eaten before him. In the Qur'anic account, the only one guilty of temptation is Satan. Eve in the Qur'an is no temptress, no seducer, and no deceiver. Moreover, Eve isn't to be blamed for the pains of childbearing. .3 Almighty God, according to the Qur'an, punish no one for another's faults. Both Adam and Eve committed a sin and then asked God for forgiveness and He forgave them both.



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PART 2 - EVE'S LEGACY

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The image of Eve as temptress in the Bible has resulted in an extremely negative impact on women throughout the Judaeo-Christian tradition. In order to understand how negative the impact on women was we have to look at the writings of some of the most important Jews and Christians of all time. Let us start with the Old Testament and listen to excerpts from what is called the Wisdom Literature in which we find: "I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner she will ensnare....while I was still searching but not finding, I found one upright man among a thousand but not one upright woman among them all." (Ecclesiasticus 7:26-28). One has to ask what is the wisdom in denying the existence of even one upright woman on earth? In another part of the Hebrew literature, which is found in the Roman Catholic version of the Bible, we read, "No wickedness comes anywhere near the wickedness of a woman . . . Sin began with a woman and thanks to her we all must die". (Ecclesiasticus 25:19,24) Orthodox Jewish men in their daily morning prayer recite: "Blessed be God King of the universe that Thou has not made me a woman." The women, on the other hand, thank God every morning for "making me according to Thy will". .4

The same severe tone is found also in the New Testament. Listen to (St.) Paul: "A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I don't permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam wasn't the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner, but women will be saved through childbearing . . . ". (I Timothy 2:11-15). (St.) Tertullian was even more blunt than (St.) Paul, while he was talking to his 'best beloved sisters' in the faith, he said: "Do you not know that you are each an Eve? The sentence of God on this sex of yours lives in this age: the guilt must of necessity live too. You are the Devil's gateway: You are the unsealer of the forbidden tree: You are the first deserter of the Divine Law: You are she who persuaded him whom the devil wasn't valiant enough to attack. You destroyed so easily God's image - man." (St.) Augustine was faithful to the legacy of his predecessors, he wrote to a friend: "What is the difference whether it is in a wife or a mother, it is still Eve the temptress that we must beware of in any woman." Centuries later, (St.) Thomas Aquinas still considered women as defective: "As regards the individual nature, woman is defective and misbegotten, for the active force in the male seed tends to the production of a perfect likeness in the masculine sex; while the production of woman comes from a defect in the active force or from some material indisposition, or even from some external influence." Finally, the renowned reformer Martin Luther couldn't see any benefit from a woman but bringing into the world as many children as possible regardless of the possible side effects: "If they become tired or even die, that doesn't matter. Let them die in childbirth, that's why they are there". Again and again all women are denigrated because of the image of Eve the temptress, thanks to the Genesis account. .5

If we now turn our attention to what the Qur'an has to say about women, we will soon realize that the Islamic conception of women is radically different from that of the Judaeo-Christian tradition. Let the Qur'an speak for itself:


"For Muslim men and women, for believing men and women, for devout men and women, for true men and women, for men and women who are patient, for men and women who humble themselves, for men and women who give in charity, for men and women who fast, for men and women who guard their chastity, and for men and women who engage much in God's praise For them all has God prepared forgiveness and great reward." (Qur'an 33:35)

"Whoever works evil will not be requited but by the like thereof, and whoever works a righteous deed whether man or woman and is a believer- such will enter the Garden of bliss." (Qur'an 40:40)

"Whoever works righteousness, man or woman, and has faith, verily to him/her we will give a new life that is good and pure, and we will bestow on such their reward according to the best of their actions." (Qur'an 16:97)


It is clear that the Qur'anic view of women is no different than that of a man. They both are God's creatures whose sublime goal on earth is to worship their Lord, do good deeds, and avoid evil and they, both, will be assessed accordingly. The Qur'an never mentions that the woman is the devil's gateway or that she is a deceiver by nature. The Qur'an, also, never mentions that man is created in God's image, all men and all women are his creatures - that's all. According to the Qur'an, a woman's role on earth isn't limited only to childbirth. She is required to do as many good deeds as any other man is required to do. The Qur'an never said that no upright women had ever existed. To the contrary, the Qur'an has instructed all the believers, women as well as men, to follow the example of those ideal women such as the Virgin Mary 6 and the wife of Pharoah's (See Qur'an 66:11-13).



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PART 3 - SHAMEFUL DAUGHTERS?

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In fact, the difference between the Biblical and the Qur'anic attitude towards the female sex starts as soon as a female is born. For example the Bible states that the period of the mother's ritual impurity is twice as long if a girl is born than if a boy is (Leviticus 12:2-5). The Roman Catholic Bible explicitly states that "The birth of a daughter is a loss" (Ecclesiasticus 22:3). In contrast to this shocking statement, boys receive special praise: "A man who educates his son will be the envy of his enemy". (Ecclesiasticus 30:3). A daughter is considered a painful burden, a potential source of shame to her father: "Your daughter is headstrong? Keep a sharp look-out that she doesn't make you the laughing stock of your enemies, the talk of the town, the object of common gossip, and put you to public shame". (Ecclesiasticus 42:11)

It was this very same idea of treating daughters as sources of shame that led the pagan Arabs, before the advent of Islam, to practice female infanticide. The Qur'an severely condemned this heinous practice:


"When news is brought to one of them of the birth of a female child, his face darkens and he is filled with inward grief. With shame does he hide himself from his people because of the bad news he has had! Shall he retain her on contempt or bury her in the dust? Ah! what an evil they decide on?" (Qur'an 16:59)


It has to be mentioned that this sinister crime would have never stopped in Arabia if it were not to the power of the scathing terms the Qur'an used to condemn this practice (see 16:59, 43:17, 81:8-9). The Qur'an, moreover, makes no distinction between boys and girls. In contrast to the Bible, the Qur'an considers the birth of a female as a gift and a blessing from God, same as the birth of a male. The Qur'an even mentions the gift of the female birth first: "To God belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. He creates what he wills. He bestows female children to whomever he wills and bestows male children to whomever he wills". (Qur'an 42:49)



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PART 4 - FEMALE EDUCATION

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The difference between the Biblical and the Qur'anic conceptions of women is not limited to the newly born female, it extends far beyond that. Let's compare their attitudes towards a female trying to learn her religion. The heart of Judaism is the Torah - the Law. However, according to the Talmud, "women are exempt from the study of the Torah". In the first century C. E. 7, Rabbi Eliezer said: "If any man teaches his daughter Torah it is as though he taught her lechery". The attitude of (St.) Paul in the New Testament isn't much brighter: "As in all the congregations of the saints, women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission as the law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church." (I Corinthians 14:34,35). How can a woman learn if she is not allowed to speak? How can a woman grow intellectually if she is obliged to be in a state of full submission? How can she broaden her horizons if her one and only source of information is her husband at home? 8

Now, to be fair, we should ask: is the Qur'anic position any different? One short story narrated in the Qur'an sums its position up concisely. Khawlah was a Muslim woman who lived at the time of the Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and give him peace. Her husband, Aws, at a moment of anger pronounced this statement: "You are to me as the back of my mother". This was held by pagan Arabs to be a statement of divorce which freed the husband from any conjugal responsibility but didn't leave the wife free to leave the husband's home or to marry another man. Having heard these words from her husband, Khawlah was in a miserable situation. She went straight to the Prophet of Islam, may God bless him and give him peace, to plead her case. The Prophet, may God bless him and give him peace, told her that she should be patient since there seemed to be no way out. Khawlah kept arguing with the Prophet, may God bless him and give him peace, in an attempt to save her suspended marriage. Shortly afterwards, God intervened and revealed some Qur'anic verses to the Prophet; so Khawlah's plea was accepted. The Divine verdict abolished this iniquitous custom. One full chapter of the Qur'an (Chapter 58) whose title is al-Mujadilah, or The Woman Who Pleads, was devoted to this incident:


"God has heard and accepted the statement of the woman who pleads with you (i.e. the Prophet) concerning her husband and carries her complaint to God, and God hears the arguments between both of you for God hears and sees all things . . .".(Qur'an 58:1)


A woman in the Qur'anic conception has the right to argue even with the Prophet of Islam himself. No one has the right to instruct her to be silent. She is under no obligation to consider her husband the one and only reference in matters of law and religion.



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PART 5 - ADULTERY

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Women's position, role, rights, and duties in the Qur'an are very different from those found in the Bible. Let us take some examples. Adultery and fornication are considered sins in all religions. The Bible decrees the death sentence for both the adulterer and the adulteress (Leviticus 20:10). Islam also equally punishes both the adulterer and the adulteress (Qur'an 24:2). However, the Qur'anic definition of adultery is very different from the Biblical definition. Adultery, according to the Qur'an, is the involvement of a married man or a married woman in an extramarital affair. The Bible only considers the extramarital affair of a married woman as adultery (Leviticus 20:10, Deuteronomy 22:22, Proverbs 6:20-7:27). The extramarital affair of a married man isn't per se a crime in the Bible. Why this dual moral standard? According to Encyclopedia Judaica, the wife was considered to be the husband's possession and adultery constituted a violation the husband's exclusive right to her; the wife as the husband's possession had no such right to him. The New Testament echoes the same attitude in Matthew 5:31-32, where it is attributed to Jesus, peace be upon him, to have said: "I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery." Why didn't he label the man who divorces his wife and marries another woman as adulterer? To the present day in Israel, if a married man indulges in an extramarital affair with a woman, his children by that woman are considered legitimate. But, if a married woman has an affair with another man, her children by that man are not only illegitimate, but are forbidden to marry any other Jews except converts and other bastards. This ban is handed down to the child's descendants for ten generations until the taint of adultery is presumably weakened.

The Qur'an, on the other hand, never considers any woman to be the possession of any man. The Qur'an eloquently describes the relationship between the spouses by saying:


And among His signs is that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that you may dwell in tranquillity with them and He has put love and mercy between your hearts: verily in that are signs for those who reflect (Qur'an 30:21)


This is Qur'anic conception of marriage: love, mercy, and tranquillity, not possession and double standards.



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PART 6 - BEARING WITNESS

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Another issue in which the Qur'an and the Bible disagree is the issue of whether a woman is allows to bear witness and the validity of her testimony. It is true that when dealing in financial transactions, people are required to get two male witnesses or one male and two females (Qur'an 2:282). However, it is also true that the Qur'an in other situations accepts the testimony of a woman as equal to that of a man. 9 In fact the woman's testimony can even invalidate the man's. If a man accuses his wife of unchastity, he is required by the Qur'an to solemnly swear five times as evidence of the wife's guilt. If the wife denies and swears similarly five times, she isn't considered guilty and in either case the marriage is dissolved (Qur'an 24:6-11).

On the other hand, women were not allowed to bear witness in early Jewish society. Women in today's Israel are not allowed to give evidence in Rabbinical Courts because the Talmud says: "Women are temperamentally light-headed". The Rabbis, also, justify why women can't bear witness by citing Genesis 18:9-16, where it is stated that Sarah, Abraham's, wife had lied. The Rabbis use this incident as evidence that women are unqualified to bear witness. It should be noted here that this story narrated in Genesis 18:9-16 has been mentioned more than once in the Qur'an without any hint of any lies by Sarah (see Qur'an 11:69-74 and 51:24-30).

If a man accuses his wife of unchastity, her testimony will not be considered at all according to the Bible. The accused wife has to be subjected to a trial by ordeal (Numbers 5:11-31). In this trial, the wife faces a complex and humiliating ritual which was supposed to prove her guilt or innocence. If she is found guilty after this ordeal, she will be sentenced to death. Also, if a man takes a woman as a wife and then accuses her of not being a virgin, her own testimony will not count. Her parents had to bring evidence of her virginity before the elders of the town. If the parents could not prove the innocence of their daughter, she would be stoned to death on her father's doorsteps. If the parents were able to prove her innocence, the husband will only be fined one hundred shekels of silver and he must not divorce his wife as long as he lives (Deuteronomy 22:13-21). Why should the poor woman live with the man who slandered her in public for the rest of his life?

Additionally, it should be mentioned that a very high percentage of the Islamic hadith literature was narrated by women. The hadith literature contains the sayings, actions and approvals of the Prophet Muhammad, my God bless him and give him peace, and thus constitutes the largest body of sacred literature of Islam. The hadith literature, the large majority of which consists of Divine revelation, is second only to the Qur'an in authenticity and authority. Keeping this in mind, it is interesting to note that all Muslims scholars have accepted hadiths which were narrated through women who were know to be God- fearing and pious just like they only accepted narrations through men who were God-fearing and pious. Actually, A'isha, one of the wives of the Prophet Muhammad, my God bless him and give him peace, is considered by most hadith scholars to be one of the most reliable of hadith narrators. This is because she lived in the Prophet's, my God bless him and give him peace, household for many years, and had the best opportunity to witness his daily life.



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PART 7 - FEMALE INHERITANCE

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One of the most important differences between the Qur'an and the Bible is their attitude towards female inheritance of the property of a deceased relative. According to Numbers 27:1-11, widows and sisters don't inherit at all. Daughters can inherit only if their deceased father had no sons. Otherwise the sons receive the entire inheritance. Among the pagan Arabs before Islam, inheritance rights were confined exclusively to the male relatives. The Qur'an abolished all these unjust customs and gave all the female relatives their just share (see Qur'an 4:7, 11, 12 and 176).



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PART 8 - THE PLIGHT OF WIDOWS

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Because of the fact that the Old Testament recognized no inheritance rights to them, widows were among the most vulnerable of the Jewish population. The male relatives who inherited all of her deceased husband's estate were to provide for her from that estate. However, widows had no way to ensure this provision was carried out and lived on the mercy of others. Therefore, widows were among the lowest classes in ancient Israel and widowhood was considered a symbol of great degradation (see Isaiah 54:4). But the plight of a widow in the Biblical tradition extended even beyond her exclusion from her husband's property. According to Genesis 38, a childless widow must marry her husband's brother, even if he is already married, so that he can produce offspring for his dead brother, thus ensuring his brother's name will not die out. The widow's consent to this marriage is not required. The widow is treated as part of her deceased husband's property whose main function is to ensure her husband's posterity. This Biblical law is still practiced in today's Israel. The pagan Arabs before Islam had similar practices. The widow was considered a part of her husband's property to be inherited by his male heirs and she was, usually, given in marriage to the deceased man's eldest son from another wife. The Qur'an scathingly attacked and abolished this degrading custom:


And marry not those women whom your fathers married, except what hath already happened (of that nature) in the past! 10 Lo! It was ever lewdness and abomination, and an evil way. (Qur'an 4:22)



Widows and divorced women were so looked down upon in the Biblical tradition that the High Priest must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a prostitute (Leviticus 21:13). In Israel today, a descendent of the Cohen caste (the High Priests of the days of the Temple) cannot marry a divorcee, a widow, or a prostitute. In the Jewish legislation, a woman who has been widowed three times with all the three husband's dying of natural causes is considered "fatal" and forbidden to marry again. The Qur'an, on the other hand, recognizes neither castes nor fatal persons. Widows and divorcees have the freedom to marry whomever they choose. There is no stigma attached with divorce or widowhood in the Qur'an (see 2:231, 232, 234, 240).



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PART 9 - POLYGAMY

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Let's now tackle the important question of polygamy. Polygamy is a very ancient practice found in many human societies. The Bible does not condemn polygamy. To the contrary, the Old Testament and Rabbinical writings frequently attest to the legality of polygamy. King Solomon is said to have had 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11:3). Also, King David is said to have had many wives and concubines (2 Samuel 5:13). The Old Testament does have some injunctions on how to distribute the property of a man among his sons from different wives (Deuteronomy 22:7). The only restriction on polygamy is a ban on taking a wife's sister as a rival wife (Leviticus 18:18). The Talmud advises a maximum of four wives. European Jews continued to practice polygamy until the sixteenth century. Oriental Jews regularly practiced polygamy until they arrived in Israel where it is forbidden under civil law. However, under religious law which overrides civil law in such cases, it is permissible.

What about the New Testament? According to Father Eugene Hillman, in his insightful book Polygamy Reconsidered: "Nowhere in the New Testament is there any explicit commandment that marriage should be monogamous or any explicit commandment forbidding polygamy." Moreover, Jesus u hasn't spoken against polygamy though it was practiced by the Jews of his society. Father Hillman stressed the fact that the Church in Rome banned polygamy in order to conform to the Greco-Roman culture (which prescribed only one legal wife while tolerating concubinage and prostitution). He cited (St.) Augustine: "Now indeed in our time, and in keeping with Roman custom, it is no longer allowed to take another wife". To this very day, African churches and African Christians often remind their European brothers that the Church's ban on polygamy is a cultural tradition and not an authentic Christian injunction. The Qur'an, too, allowed polygamy, but not without restrictions:


"If you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, marry women of your choice, two or three or four but if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with them, then marry only one."(Qur'an 4:3)



The Qur'an, contrary to the Bible, limited the maximum number of wives to four under the strict condition of treating the wives equally and justly. It should not be understood that the Qur'an is exhorting the believers to practice polygamy, or that polygamy is considered as an ideal. In other words, the Qur'an has "tolerated" or "allowed" polygamy, and no more. But why? Why is polygamy permissible or allowed? The answer is simple, there are places and times in which there are compelling reasons for polygamy. Islam as a universal religion suitable for all places and all times couldn't ignore these compelling reasons.

In most human societies, females outnumber males. In the U.S. there are, at least, eight million more women than men. In a country like Guinea there are 122 females for every 100 males. In Tanzania, there are 95.1 males per 100 females. What should a society do towards such unbalanced sex ratios? There are various solutions, some might suggest celibacy, others would prefer female infanticide (which does happen in some societies in the world today !). Others would think the only outlet is that the society should tolerate all manners of moral decadence : prostitution, sex out of wedlock, homosexuality, etc., etc. Other societies, like most African societies today, would see the most honourable outlet is to allow polygamous marriage as a culturally accepted and socially respected institution. The point that is often misunderstood in the West is that women in other cultures don't necessarily look at polygamy as a sign of women's degradation. For example, many young African brides (whether Christians, Muslims or otherwise), would prefer to marry a married man who has already proved himself to be a responsible husband. Many African wives urge their husbands to get a second wife so that they don't feel lonely and to share in domestic chores. The problem of the unbalanced sex ratios becomes truly problematic at times of war. Native American Indian tribes used to suffer highly unbalanced sex ratios after wartime losses. Women in these tribes, who in fact enjoyed a fairly high status, accepted polygamy as the best protection against indulgence in indecent activities. European settlers, without offering any other alternative, condemned this Indian polygamy as uncivilized.

After the Second World War, there were 7,300,000 more women than men in Germany (3.3 million of them were widows). There were 100 men aged 20 to 30 for every 167 women in that age group. Many of these women needed a man not only as a companion but also as a provider for the household in a time of unprecedented misery and hardship. The soldiers of the victorious Allied armies exploited these women's vulnerability. Many young girls and widows had liaisons with members of the occupying forces. Many American and British soldiers paid for their pleasures in cigarettes, chocolate, and bread. Children were overjoyed at the gifts these strangers brought. A 10 year old boy on hearing of such gifts from other children wished from all his heart for an "Englishman" for his mother so that she need not go hungry any longer. We have to ask our own consciences at this point: What is more dignifying to a woman? An accepted and respected second wife as in the native Indians' approach, or a virtual prostitute as in the "civilized" Allies approach? In other words, what is more dignifying to a woman, the Qur'anic prescription or the values based on the culture of the Roman Empire?

The World today possesses more weapons of mass destruction than ever before and the European churches might, sooner or later, be obliged to accept polygamy as the only way out. Father Hillman has thoughtfully recognized this fact: "It is quite conceivable that these genocidal techniques (nuclear, biological, chemical..) could produce so drastic an imbalance among the sexes that plural marriage would become a necessary means of survival . . . Then contrary to previous custom and law, an overriding natural and moral inclination might arise in favour of polygamy. In such a situation, theologians and church leaders would quickly produce weighty reasons and Biblical texts to justify a new conception of marriage".

It has to be added also that polygamy in Islam is a matter of mutual consent. No one can force a woman to marry a married man. The Bible, on the other hand, sometimes resorts to forcible polygamy. A childless widow must marry her husband's brother, even if he is already married, regardless of her consent (Genesis 38).

It should be noted that in many Muslim societies today the practice of polygamy is rare since the gap between the numbers of both sexes is not huge. One can, safely, say that the rate of polygamous marriages in the Muslim world is much less than the rate of extramarital affairs in the West!!! In other words, men in the Muslim world today are far more strictly monogamous than men in the Western world!



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PART 10 - THE VEIL

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Finally, let us shed some light on what is considered in the West as the greatest symbol of women's oppression and servitude, the veil or the head cover. Is it true that there is no such thing as the veil in the Judaeo-Christian tradition? Let's set the record straight. According to Rabbi Dr. Menachem M. Brayer (Professor of Biblical Literature at Yeshiva University) in his book The Jewish Woman in Rabbinic Literature, it was the custom of Jewish women to go out in public with a head covering which, sometimes, even covered the whole face leaving one eye free. He quotes some famous ancient Rabbis saying: "It is not like the daughters of Israel to walk out with heads uncovered" and "Cursed be the man who lets the hair of his wife be seen . . . a woman who exposes her hair for self-adornment brings poverty". Rabbinic Law forbids the recitation of blessings or prayers in the presence of a bareheaded married woman since uncovering the woman's hair is considered "nudity". Dr. Brayer also mentions that: "During the Tannaitic period the Jewish woman's failure to cover her head was considered an affront to her modesty. When her head was uncovered she might be fined four hundred zuzim for this offense." Dr. Brayer also explains that veil of the Jewish woman wasn't always considered a sign of modesty. Sometimes, the veil symbolized a state of distinction and luxury rather than modesty. The veil personified the dignity and superiority of noble women. It also represented a woman's inaccessibility as a sanctified possession of her husband. It is clear in the Old Testament that uncovering a woman's head was a great disgrace and that's why the priest had to uncover the suspected adulteress in her trial by ordeal (Numbers 5:16-18).

What about the Christian tradition? It is well known that Catholic Nuns have been covering their heads for hundreds of years, but that's not all. 11 (St.) Paul in the New Testament made some very interesting statements about the veil:

"Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonours his head. And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonours her head it is just as though her head were shaved. If a woman doesn't cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or shaved off, she should cover her head. A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. For man didn't come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. For this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head." (I Corinthians 11:3-10)

(St.) Paul's rationale for veiling women is that the veil represents a sign of authority of the man, who is the image and glory of God, over the woman who was created from and for the man. (St.) Tertullian in his famous treatise On The Veiling Of Virgins wrote: "Young women, you wear your veils out on the streets, so you should wear them in the church, you wear them when you are among strangers, then wear them among your brothers . . . ". Among the Canon Laws of the Roman Catholic Church today, there is a law that require women to cover their heads in church. Some Christian denominations, such as the Amish and the Mennonites for example, keep their women veiled to the present day. The reason for the veil, as offered by their Church leaders, is: "The head covering is a symbol of woman's subjection to the man and to God". The same logic introduced by (St.) Paul in the New Testament.

From all the above evidence, it is obvious that Islam didn't invent the head cover, but Islam endorsed it. The Qur'an urges the believing men and women to lower their gaze and guard their modesty and then urges the believing women to extend their head covers to cover the neck and the bosom:


"Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty . . . And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what ordinarily appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms . . . ". (Qur'an 24:30,31)


The Qur'an is quite clear that the veil is an essential part of a recipe designed for the purposes of modesty, but why modesty? The Qur'an is still clear:


"O prophet, tell your wives and daughters and the believing women that they should cast their outer garments over their bodies (when abroad) so that they should be known and not molested. (Qur'an 33:59)


This is the whole point, modesty is prescribed to protect women from molestation or simply, modesty is protection. Thus, the only purpose of the veil in Islam is protection. The Islamic veil, unlike the veil of the Christian tradition, is not a sign of man's authority over woman nor is it a sign of woman's subjection to man. The Islamic veil, unlike the veil in the Jewish tradition, is not a sign of luxury and distinction of some noble married women. The Islamic veil is only a sign of modesty with the sole purpose of protecting women, all women. The Islamic philosophy is that it is always better safe than sorry. In fact, the Qur'an is so concerned with protecting women's bodies and women's reputation that a man who dares to falsely accuse a woman of unchastity will be severely punished:


"And those who launch a charge against chaste women, and produce not four witnesses (to support their allegations) Flog them with eighty stripes; and reject their evidence ever after: for such men are wicked transgressors. (Qur'an 24:4)


Compare this strict Qur'anic attitude with the extremely lax punishment for rape in the Bible: "If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, he shall pay the girl's father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the girl, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives". One must ask a simple question here, who is really punished? The man who only paid a fine for rape, or the girl who is forced to marry the man who raped her and live with him until he dies? Another question that also should be asked is this: which is more protective of women, the Qur'anic strict attitude or the Biblical lax attitude?

Some people, especially in the West, would tend to ridicule the whole argument of modesty for protection. Their argument is that the best protection is the spread of education, civilized behaviour, and self restraint. We would say: "Fine, but not enough". If the so-called "civilization" is enough protection, then why is it that women in some parts of North America dare not walk alone in a dark street or even across an empty parking lot? If education is the solution, then why is it that many respected universities the United States and Europe have "Walk Home Services" for female students on campus? If self restraint is the answer, then why are cases of sexual harassment in the workplace on the news media every day? A sample of those accused of sexual harassment, in the last few years, includes: Naval officers, managers, university professors, Senators, Supreme Court Justices and the President of the United States! I couldn't believe my eyes when I read the following statistics, written in a pamphlet issued by the Dean of Women's office at Queen's University:


* In Canada, a woman is sexually assaulted every 6 minutes;

* 1 in 3 women in Canada will be sexually assaulted at some time in their lives;

* 1 in 4 women are at the risk of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime;

* 1 in 8 women will be sexually assaulted while attending college or university; and

* A study found 60% of Canadian university-aged males said they would commit sexual assault if they were certain they wouldn't get caught!!!


Something is fundamentally wrong in the society we live in. A radical change in the society's life style and culture is absolutely necessary. A culture of modesty is badly needed, modesty in dress, in speech, and in manners of both men and women. Otherwise, the grim statistics will grow even worse day after day and , unfortunately, women alone will be paying the price. Therefore, a society like France which expels young women from schools because of their modest dress is, in the end, simply harming itself.



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CONCLUSION

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In the light of the evidence presented above, there is no doubt that Islam has immensely improved the status of women compared to the Judaeo-Christian tradition. The Qur'an has offered women dignity, justice, and protection which ,for long, have remained out of their reach. That's why it is no surprise to find that most converts to Islam, today, in a country like Britain are women. In the U.S. women converts to Islam outnumber men converts 4 to 1. The problem is that the majority of the population in the West do not know these facts. They easily believe the media's distorted image of Islam. Therefore, it is a must that we change our defensive attitude towards the whole issue of women in Islam. We must stop being apologetic. We have nothing to be ashamed of. What the Qur'an has given to women is unparalleled in the history of religion. Instead of always reacting to the consistent barrage of articles defaming Muslim women, we have to take the initiative. We have to act first and let others react. We should boldly initiate discussions with our friends and colleagues regarding the true status of women in Islam. Tell them how the Qur'an has ended so many injustices against women found in other scriptures. We have to talk to the media, write to the press, and invite the whole world to read the Qur'an, read other scriptures and compare for themselves. It goes without saying that the sisters' role is far more important than the brothers' in this respect.

The Qur'an is an incredibly powerful book and it is our task to spread its impressive message to the world. But, are we up to this task ?



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FOOTNOTES


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1 - This is an important point, because the large majority of people in the world today who claim to be Jews or Christians do not subscribe to the view of women as articulated in the writings that they consider to be sacred scripture. On the contrary, many of them go so far as saying that they believe the scriptural view to be "wrong", "unjust", "out-dated", etc. So much for following what (they think) God has revealed! Whether they will admit it or not, suffice it to say that the everyday values that most people who claim to be Jews and Christians follow are the God-less values of Western humanism and liberalism that have become so widely accepted since the Renaissance. Due to this, it seems that Islam is the only religion that can be followed and practiced as revealed, and still be applicable to human beings in the Twentieth Century. Additionally, it seems as though Islam is the only religion that still has followers that are following the "Way of Abraham" and accepting their religion as it is, instead of rejecting anything that offends their likes, desires or Western sensibilities.

2 - It should also be mentioned that I Timothy 2:14 also makes it abundantly clear that the Bible, and thus the Judaeo-Christian tradition, places the blame for the "original sin" squarely on Eve. This verse reads: "And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression".

3 - It should be mentioned that the Qur▓an does not portray the pains of pregnancy and childbirth as a punishment, but rather enjoins people to respect their mothers for the pain they suffered. Thus we read: "We have enjoined on man Kindness to his parents: in pain did his mother bear him and in pain did she give him birth". (Qur▓an, Chapter 46 - "The Curved Sandhills", Verse 15.)

4 - It is also interesting to note each religion's view in regards to the woman's attendance at the place of congregational worship, i.e. the synagogue, church or mosque. In Orthodox Judaism, women are not allowed to go to the synagogues at all. In Christianity, as I Corinthians 14:34-35 clearly shows, a woman is allowed to go to Church, but she is not allowed to speak. Also, according to the teachings of the New Testament, Christian women are expected to cover their heads when they attend church (as Part 10 of this article will discuss). The activities of most - if not all - Christians today stand in stark contrast to these obligations. To the best of my knowledge, all Christian denominations allow women to speak in church, and many denominations allow women to be ministers, pastors, deacons and/or priests! Not only this, but in most cases any sort of conservative dress is almost completely ignored. Even in the more conservative churches where women are encouraged to wear long dresses, many still come in the latest fashions and are still more-or-less "dressed to impress".

5 - Islam, in many ways stands as a "middle way" between the rigidness of Judaism and the "lawlessness" of Christianity. In Islam, women are allowed to perform their worship in the mosque, and while in the mosque they are allowed to talk, have discussions, read the Qur'an and even teach men - as long as proper modesty is maintained. In traditional Christianity, only men were allowed to be priests and administer the sacraments of the Church, even though this "tradition" has been brushed aside by many modern churches. Even though Islam has no priesthood, nor any "sacraments" per se, it does have rituals of worship (such as the five daily prayers) that are more-or-less "sacramental" in the sense that they are rituals which were revealed by God so that human beings can become closer to Him and receive His Grace. In Islam, a woman is allowed to lead the five formal daily prayers (Arabic: salat) if only women and children are present. So even though a woman cannot lead the salat when men are present, since one of the men would be the prayer leader (Arabic: Imam) instead, she is allowed to lead the salat under certain circumstances - where in Judaism or Christianity women are completely forbidden from leading the formal religious rituals. This is one additional proof that in Islam women are spiritual equals in the site of God, and that they are not excluded from certain religious duties because they are considered "dirty", "evil" or "corrupt". One last point - since I mentioned the "lawlessness" of Christianity above, this statement may need some clarification. (St.) Paul, as is well known, believed that Christians are not obliged to follow Old Testament Law, and went so far as to call God's revealed Law a "curse" (Galations 3:13). In spite of this, he came up with his own brand of "dos-and-don'ts", which are basically the same thing as a "law", especially if one believes that his words were inspired by God - as Christians do. However, the point in using the word "lawlessness" to describe Christianity is not only to touch on this point, but to also to bring out the fact that the overwhelming majority of Christian churches do not even follow the rulings of (St.) Paul on these matters, much less the teachings of the Old Testament.

6 - Qur'an 3:42 says that Almighty God chose Mary, the mother of Jesus, "above the women of all creation".

7 - C. E. stands for "Common Era", and corresponds to A. D. (Anno Domino). Muslims usually use C. E. in lieu of A. D., since A. D. refers to "the Year of Our Lord" - meaning Jesus. Even though Muslims revere Jesus as a great prophet and messenger of God, they do not consider him to be "Lord", since Muslims only have One Lord - Almighty God.

8 - It should also be mentioned that Muslim women are encouraged to read the Qur'an and hadiths, and to acquire as much religious knowledge as possible. Since the time of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, women have taught the Qur'an to men. This stands in stark contrast to Orthodox Judaism, where until this day many of its adherents believe that a woman is not allowed to read the Torah - and even that she is not allowed to touch it! According to Islam, the only time that a woman is not allowed to touch the Qur'an is when she is in a state of "ritual impurity". However, in Islam "ritual impurity" applies to both men and women, the only difference is that a woman can become "ritually impure" for more reasons than a man, i.e. due to her monthly period or childbirth. It should be noted that the reason we use the term "ritual impurity" here is because the person is only considered "impure" in the sense that they are not allowed to perform certain acts of worship - such as formal prayer (Arabic: salat) or reading the Qur'an. However, they are not considered "impure" in any other sense - spiritual, physical or otherwise. The causes of "ritual impurity" are clearly described in Islamic Law, and they apply to both men and women, as do the methods for removing the "ritual impurity". One eliminates his or her state of "ritual impurity" by a full bath (Arabic: ghusl) or by partial washing (Arabic: wudhu) - depending on the circumstances, but these have nothing to do with being male or female.

9 - According to Islamic Law, a woman's testimony is more valid than a man's when it is in regards to issues where women have more experience. This proves that the Qur'anic verse requiring two female witnesses is not based upon a belief in the inferior mental capacity of women, but on the wisdom that witnesses should be experienced with that which they testify to.

10 - Meaning before the advent of Islam and the revelation of this verse.

11 - It is also interesting to note that all of the graven images that Christians produce that are supposed to be the likeness of the Virgin Mary, may God be pleased with her, show her with a veil (Arabic: hijab) covering her head. In most Western people's minds, the "veil" is okay in regards to Nuns and the Virgin Mary, but when a Muslim woman wears it, it is seen as "oppressive" and "degrading"!

[Skinner]

I can barely believe this fool can function. You are drone of an evil master. You believe the lies, but we are wise to your evil.

"a woman's testimony is more valid than a man's when it is in regards to issues where women have more experience" As you scum deny women the rights of education you can always attest that they know nothing to a greater level than a man.
Christianity does not tell women to dress in a veil. Nuns are not representative of women in western society.
The lies will go on, the hate will prevail and the Muslim will rejoice at their crimes.

Peace

[kazanova3]

will skinner i wrote things for you and others .but it seems that you are closing your eyes about what i posted .pls. try to read about islam as religion .those sites will help you .if you don't mind pls. browse it from time to time have nice time.

-- http://www.it-is-truth.org
-- http://www.islam.org
-- http://www.beconvinced.com
-- http://muslim-answers.org


best regards and be un open mind .if you don't mind.kaz

[Nonson]

I assume that someone must respond on a daily basis to this waif and his mental issues.

Nonson
2.13.01

[steve_vlasenko]

Hi Nonson,

A very interesting set of posts.

Kaz, & Stephen Bailey.

Kaz seems to be bound by the impression that we're all Christian and that all of Christianity functions under laws of the Spanish inquisition. In England we are not.

We are governed for better or worse by the state. A government. Said government can be removed every 4 years. We the people to a large extent have the ability to decide the way the government acts. Protesters in my country are not shot or imprisoned. You can challenge without fear of retribution, any aspect of office.

As far as I can see Islamic states don't do this.

All totalitarian states claim that they are protecting the people by denying them rights. It's true, that if we locked all women in rooms where their function was to produce babies I'm sure rape out-side of marriage would all but disappear, but is that a society to live in.

The liberal wets, which I am without doubt one, on most subjects would condemn without doubt hesitation any white Christian for espousing the same values.

Imagine if Andrew Blow had posted that women role in society was as a baby machine, everyone, the wets included would have hounded him to eternity.

LippyChick posted what I believe to be the biggest problem with this country. That's the guilt of empire. We have to make excuses for Muslim extremism, not a rare phenomenon, because Britain governed some countries. I guess I don't have to feel the same guilt as I'm first generation British.

Take Care.

Vlas.

Skinner You didn't mention the Taliban once