To get this blog going, i thought i’d ask muslim students at my university whether they think Islam is fair. After all it is our views that matter, as we are the lastest generation of young, eductated muslims who live by this religion. The first to give in to my questioning was 20-year-old Anaam Raza.
Anaam was born in Pakistan and arrived in Britain at the age of 5 where she was educated until the age of 11 afterwhich she returned to Pakistan. After completing her A levels she came back to England to study at university. Like many muslim women she is both articulate and intelligent and wears the hijab (headscarf) out of choice.
When i asked her outright whether she viewed Islam as a fair religion i got the expected view of “Absolutely”. When asked why, she responded, “because i’ve been raised in the religion and it applies justly to my life.” Fair enough, i believed her as she asserted this statement with particular veroctiy.
Do you think it is fair to all women? She replied, “Yes, if you look into the religion and scriptures, it states men and women as equal. It is society and culture that are not fair to women.” This answer did not sit well with me, not necessarily because i didn’t agree with it, more because it seemed to be a generic answer rehearsed and regurgitated by most muslims in Anaam’s position whenever this particular question is posed. It didn’t really answer my question and seemed to me a bit of a cop out.
This lead me to ask her the question, How do you feel when people say “honour killings” are based on religion as it is cultures mainly based on Islam that practice it? “That’s not true, it is not only cultures in Islam that practice it, there have been many reported honour killings performed by non-muslims from the Indian sub-continent. It is rare and is a backward practice performed mainly for cultural reasons, not religious reasons”
Although she makes a good point i find this particularly hard to swallow as recent figures have shown that countries such as Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey have the biggest problem of “honour killings” in the world, with 97 per cent of Egyptian women being subjected to such unhumane practices as genital mutilation. Now you may ask “what has that got to do with Islam?” Well the reality is, such practices are based on Islamic principles based on honour, supressed sexuality and female chastity and i hardly think it a coincidence that they mainly take place in Islamic countries or countries with a high population of Muslims such as Somalia, Sudan and Nigeria. One only needs to ask themselves whether this problem would be so widespread if Islam were not predominant in such countries.
Now, some of you may think this is just another anti-Islamic tirade. It is nothing of the such, i am a British Muslim and very proud to be so. However, i am getting particular sick of other Muslims whom i meet and discuss these issues with giving me the same old rehearsed lines without addressing the real issue. I have no doubt that they are probably just showing loyalty to their religion that has been widely critiscised by the West in the last few years. Yet it seems to me, highlighting problems that have stemmed from this ancient religion is not blasphemy but merely common sense. No one can deny that women, men and children have suffered at the hands of Islamic regimes and customs and by doing so they themselves are commiting a sin to humanity.
It is interesting that a lot of the comparative religion’s values stated on the internet was, are still based on how the followers of that religion, do respect the human rights of others too, and how they now do practically treat other, and each others too, especially how they do treat the women today, equally or unfairly now too. And while that alone is a valid point, especially since women make up over half of the population of the world, and all of this is valid especially , since God himself clearly and for certainty does not allow the abuse of any persons, verbally or physically, or allow now any human rights abuses now as well, and for any reasons as well, and that now also still even includes any man, woman, child, and any seniors now as well, any abuses of self or others are sinful…While there are some common, rare similarity amongst some of the major religions in this world, The aspect of divorce is clearly one that contrasts them all.. It is true that there are many Muslims, men as well as women, who fully do not live up to the teachings of Islam, just as there are many Christian men and women who do not live up to the teachings of Jesus. You must always still judge any person now by what they say, but by what they do. Bad people do bad things, no matter what their religion is now too. Also real Reform from within Muslim societies is still even needed, first by education, knowing that over half of Muslims today, are illiterate, only 15 percent know Arabic, which is the language of the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam. Too Many persons do practice their own version of Christianity, and Islam it seems thus, what others have said it says too..
What others say
“Islam as a religion aiming to oppress women is a direct result of the abuse of Islam by some Muslim states, depending on the absolute respect given to religion by Muslim societies. In fact, Islamic law, if interpreted outside of its proper context, could be abused to justify and codify the violations of women’s rights in Muslim societies and states in the name of religion, in order to achieve certain social and political goals. The central question that poses itself, is whether there already exists a space for women to enjoy their human rights under the umbrella of Islam, or whether in general, men “have a degree” over women in Islam (Abdul-Ati). If some people are arguing that Islam ensures equity between men and women in both rights and duties, then what does it mean when the Qur’an, which is the standard revelatory source of Islamic Law, says: “And women shall have rights similar to the rights against them, according to what is equitable; but men have a degree (of advantage in some cases of inheritance) over them,” (Qur’an 2:228). How would those people explain the meaning of that “degree” that men have over women? Is it because of that revelatory verse that some Muslim societies until now treat women as second-degree creatures in the name of Islam? The existence of some specific women’s rights in Islam is now obvious, and provided with a good argument, but how about polygamy in Islam? Is it true that a Muslim man has the right to marry up to four wives? Where is equity, then? What does it mean when the Qur’an states that a Muslim man, if he has the potential, can choose to marry one or two or three, or even four women (Badawi)? Does it mean that women are that marginalized and humiliated by the name of the religion?”
http://takingitglobal.org/express/panorama/article.html?ContentID=2393
It is a sad note as well that both religious persons of all the minor, major religions too, and non religious persons, at least 90 percent ofthem, have been, or are still unacceptably guilty of false the discriminations of others, even too often the accusers of the others.
There is still a serious, real need in changing the Muslim countries’ laws, agendas, in order to fill the gap between the supposed women’s rights afforded by Islam, and women’s rights afforded in reality by many of the Muslim societies, and most Muslim males have to accept some serious religious even re-education..
“I don’t understand how Islam supposedly can give all these rights to women and then place the man as the head of the household in a position to abuse the woman’s rights. For instance, how can she hold on to her personal wealth if he tells her to hand it over? I do not know one Muslim family where the man is not abusing his position in some way.” Surah 4 – verse 34: *{… as to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill conduct, admonish them [first], [next] refuse to share their beds, [and last] beat them [lightly]; but if they return to obedience, seek not against them means [of annoyance]: for God is Most High, Great [above you all].}* Can a wife beat her unfaithful husband according to Islam now too? Another central issue should be re-examined–the common practise of Islam where a Muslim man’s testimony in a court is counted as equal to the testimony of two Muslim women. That itself is degrading. “and if there are not two men, then a man and two women, such as you choose for witnesses so that if one of them errs, the other can remind her. ” (Qur’an 2:282). ” Much too many Muslim men consider this verse religious evidence that women are mentally deficient.” ” Many persons consider the standing of Muslim women behind men in prayers a practical evidence that women under Islam, are excluded and humiliated, even in matters regarding their spiritual rights and there is no justification for the standing of women behind men.”
“My beloved wife oftentimes reminds my family to regard her with respect to her mind, but my mama and papa laugh at her. What can I say to my wife to stop her from slapping them down in anger? “. If husband can divorce his wife by saying 3 talak at a time & marriage is over, then how does Islam protect women’s right? Many husbands do abuse their divorce power. All the Muslim men who claim to be Muslims and abuse the women supposedly do not even know well their own religion or do not practice it? and for too many Muslim men it seems also it does not matter what Islam says because he is only following what pleases him, his interests, his interpreations of the laws.. sad.. Also since Islam came supposedly with higher moral laws to correct those of the Jahiliyyah, why didn’t Islam abolish enslaving women and children at times of war? Any abuse of anyone by anyone still is unacceptable. ” Everytime I ask my dad to open a bank account for me, he says I am a girl and therefore I should not get a bank account, while my younger brother has a bank account…” all about the true side of Islam.
“O ye who believe! Ye are forbidden to inherit women against their will. Nor should ye treat them with harshness, that ye may Take away part of the dower ye have given them,-except where they have been guilty of open lewdness; on the contrary live with them on a footing of kindness and equity. If ye take a dislike to them it may be that ye dislike a thing, and God brings about through it a great deal of good. Surah 4 Verse 19″
…They (Your wives) are your garments and ye are their garments. …. Surah 2 Verse 187
“Among the Muslims, the most perfect as regards his faith is the one whose character is most excellent, and the best among you are those who treat their wives well.”