Women in Islam
Many people think that it is because of the Quran that women aren’t treated fairly. Actually, the Quran states that men and women are equal and they are as important as each other. Islam looks at the importance of each gender. They each have their own responsibilities, they include the women being head of the household and men earning the money to keep the family running. However this does not mean that women cannot have their own jobs! They are encouraged to get their own property and have some sort of education. Because women are self sufficient in Islam they are thought of as a threat to the view of family structure.
The Muslims have had over seven government leaders, such as: Benazir Bhutto- Pakistan, Mame Madior Boye- Senegal, Megawati Sukarnoputri etc.
The awkward relationship between men and women is shown in Islamic texts and the history and culture of Muslim. The Islamic law called Shari states that there are difference in men’s and women’s roles and rights. Countries that are mainly dominated by Islam vary in terms of the rights women have in regards to divorce, marriage, civil rights, legal status, dress code and education.
Many people argue that the difference in value of men and women is because of the Quran. Others think that it’s because of difference in status and responsibilities, yet other people such as liberal Muslims think that it’s because of different interpretations of traditional documents.
Early historical background
Women in Islam now a day and back in time were treated very differently than the men. Also, their life-style and the way that they have been treated were very poor. Women generally had fewer rights under Islamic rule and law than they did under any other certain cultures. Also, if something bad had happen to the husband or in general, something bad had happen to somebody and an Islamic wife wanted to testify, their evidence in court would be worth much less than of what a mans evidence would be. In general, in an Islamic society, the man was more dominant and they would listen to the man more than the women. Also, in the “old” days, women in Islam were not tended to know a lot about business matters because men had all the financial responsibility which means that took and they were in control of the money.
FEMALE EDUCATION
Women played a rather large role in the starting up of many schools. The foundation behind the University of Al Karaouine was Fatima al-Fihri's in 859 A.D. This carried on through to the Ayyubid dynasty in the 12th and 13th century. During this time 160 mosques and madrasahs were built in Damascus. Approximately 26 were funded by women through the Waqf system. The patrons of these institutions were partly made up of women, actually half were.
According to the information from Ibn Asakir who was a Sunni scholar, during the 12th century, women could have an education. There were writings that they could study and women could even earn academic degrees. These would let them become scholars or teachers. Wealthy families who had a good education obviously made sure that their children did too. Education for women was inspired by Muhammad’s wives, they were: Khadijah and Aisha. Khadija was a thriving business woman and Aisha was traditional scholar and military leader. The Hadith, which is what Aisha studied, states that Muhammad complimented the women because of their love of religious information.
It wasn’t the norm for women to be students in proper classes; however it was the norm for them to be a part of informal lectures and study days at mosques, and other places. While, there wasn’t law against female education, many men did not like it. Muhammad was among them, he was shocked and disappointed because of some of the behaviour he saw from women who checked lectures without permission.
Women only made up 1% of the population who were Islamic scholars; this was before the 12th century though. After this, in the 15th century the number of female scholars shot up. According to a biographical dictionary by Al-Sakhawi, there were 1,075 female scholars in the 15th century.
FEMALE EMPLOYMENT
The workers in the Caliphate all had different backgrounds and religions; there were female and male laborers too. Women conducted many different activities and were involved in a wide range of occupations. They worked in the primary sector, which was farming, in the secondary sector, which was construction work, spinning, embroidery etc and the tertiary sector, which was investing, doctoring, nursing, broking, peddling, lending and teaching. Women also held control over a few branches of the textile industry. The textile industry was the biggest and most detailed industry at that time. Women had very few property rights and wage labor was unheard of in Europe. This all changed because of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries.
During the 12th century, Ibn Rushd, who was a well known philosopher and judge, stated that women and men were equal in everything and had the same ability to strive in peace and in war. He used female warriors Arabia, Greece and Africa as examples. Nusaybah Bint k’ab Al Maziniyyah, Aisha, Kahula and Wafeira and Um Umarah were among the most important generals and soldiers who fought in the Muslim conquests and civil wars in early Muslim history.
A rare sight was female staff in hospitals. This was practically unheard of anywhere else, but in medieval Muslim hospitals there were a number of women being employed as nurses. Theses women came from places such as Sudan, which was a sign of a break through. Women physicians were first employed at Muslim hospitals too. The two most famous physicians came from the Banu Zuhr family who served abu Yusuf Ya’qub al- Manur, an Almohad ruler in the 12th century. This was needed due to the separation between male and female patients in Islamic hospitals. Female surgeons were mentioned in Serafeddin Sabuncuoglu’s Imperial Surgery for the first time in the late 25th century.
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE
Many years ago, during the medieval Islamic world the divorce rate was higher than it is today. In 15th century Egypt it was found that at least a third of all women in Egypt and Syria married more than once, sometimes as many as three or even more times. This is in great contrast to the low divorce rates in the modern Middle Eastern Islamic world.
GENDER ROLES
In Islam the role of men and women compliment each other. The men traditionally are the “providers”, they are expected to protect and keep the family financially. The women are expected to be good wives, look after the home, their husband and the children. The role of the mother is looked upon very highly.
FINANCIAL MATTERS
Islam allows women the right to own personal possessions, although they don’t have the same financial obligations as men. There seems to be differences of opinion as to whether or not it is ok for women to work.
FINANCIAL OBGLIATIONS
Women have far less financial responsibility than men. If they own anything of financial value before they marry, they do not need to give that to their new husband. Women also are not expected to spend money on their family out of any previous moneys have acquired before marriage. Both men and women are allowed to be supported if necessary by their families or the state.
INHERITANCE
Inheritance for women who life under a(n) Islamic society get much less, and have much less inheritance because of their lack of finances because the men have all the financial responsibility. Often, a woman’s inheritance is less than that of a man’s. In general, women who live under an Islamic society, only get half of the inheritance that a man would get.
EMPLOYMENT
Women in Islam are allowed to work in Islam, but under some certain conditions. And even if they were allowed to work, they should be in financial need. Or in other words, they should have money to be able to work. Here are some of the conditions that the women have to follow if they want to work: The work that the women do should not violate the law of Islamic law (which means they shouldn’t brake the rules) Ex: They shouldn’t serving alcohol etc…, If the work that the women do requires them to leave there home, the should tell the truth of where there going and what they are going to do, and one of the last conditions they should follow are: the women’s work should not be more important than anything else for example there it should not interfere with there family.
Legal criminals and matters
If there was a case going on in the court and a woman wanted to testify, two women would be equal to one man. But in other places, they accept women to be on a equal level with men.
Who may be married?
According to Islamic law marriage under Islamic law cannot be forced. No age limits have been verified but it is said that women who live in Islam cannot get married under the age of nine. A man can take up t four wives at any given time he wants to, but the wives of man are only allowed one husband. This “doing” is called Polygamy. Polygamy is a Greek word meaning “the practice of multiple marriages”. In other words, it means one person can have more than one person. Men are allowed to do that, not women.
Movement and travel
If a woman wanted to leave the house or go somewhere, she would have to ask her husband if she’s allowed to leave, or she has to have her husband’s permission. They are now debating for women in Islam now having to travel with someone else so that person will have to be with them at all time.
DRESS CODE
In the Islamic culture it is expected that both women and men dress modestly, in other words it would be frowned upon for a female Muslim to walk around in a mini skirt and a low cut blouse. Muslim women are expected to dress in a way that does not draw an unnecessary male attention to them other than their husbands. Some Muslim women (mainly Arab) wear a type of dress which completely covers them, therefore preventing men from seeing them. This is called observing purdah.
WOMEN IN RELIGIOUS LIFE
In Islam, men and women are seen as equal in their relationship to God. In the past it was not usual for women to be allowed to go the mosque to pray. However now a day, women have become increasingly more involved in the mosque, but men and women generally worship separately. Men tend to pray on the ground floor of the mosque, and women on upstairs on the first floor, or sometimes women pray in a separate room. This is because it is felt that men and women should not be distracted with each other while they are praying. Many years ago it was quite common for their to be female religious scholars. There are still opportunities today for women’s religious education, but cultural barriers often hold women back.
WOMEN AND POLOTICS
Muhammad was once supposed to of said that countries with a female ruler would never be successful. There are more opportunities today for women to be involved in political activities. For example, the late Benazir Bhutto, who was the former prime minister of Pakistan, was the first woman to be elected to lead a Muslim state. There are many countries in which Muslims are in the majority and have been lead by women, these include: Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Turkey. Nearly one third of the parliament of Egypt also consists of women. All countries with a Muslim majority allow women to vote.
MODERN DEBATE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN IN ISLAM
Within the Muslim community Islamic feminists have used the doctrine for discussions on women’s rights. Others have argued that existing traditions are permanently set, but other people would also feel that it’s necessary to keep discussing the Islamic traditions.
CONSERVATIVES AND THE ISLAMIST MOVEMENT
Conservatives would not agree that the different laws appertaining to men and women show that men are more valuable than women. They would argue that it is necessary for men and women to have different roles in society, and religious scholars would say that it’s necessary to have different laws for men and women because of the biological differences. Also, because of the different ways that men and women think. There is an example of this with regard to the inheritance law. A woman’s share of any given inheritance is half than that of a man, but at the time of a woman’s marriage a man is supposed to pay something to his wife-to-be. Men are responsible for both their own expenses and their wive’s. Where as women do not have this financial responsibility.
LIBERAL ISLAM, ISLAMIC FEMINISM AND OTHER PROGRESSIVE CRITISISM
Liberal Muslims would like to bring about a more modern form of Islam with regard to women. Islamic feminists have asked for women’s rights and social justice to be included in the Islamic framework. Islamic feminists are trying to emphasize the examples of equality in Islam. Although it’s also been said that women who have been educated in the west, especially feminists, have ignored the problems of Muslim women in order to be “politically correct”.
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