Untitled Essay, Research Paper
The Record Set Straight: Womans in Islam have rights
By Noha Ragab
What do adult females and Islam have in common? Besides the stereotypic images that
each suffers from separately, the position of adult females in Islam is one of the
most highly misunderstood and falsely depicted things in western
society. We can look into why this is so subsequently. First, a brief debut
to the existent position of adult females in Islam is in order.
Before discoursing issues pertinent to the societal position of adult females, see
the original creative activity of the adult female as portrayed by the Quoran ( the Islamic
holy book ) which does non subscribe to the position that Eve was created from
the crooked rib of Adam and therefore is of inferior position: & # 8220 ; O world, be
witting of your Sustainer who has created you out of one life entity,
and out of it created its mate, and out of the two spread abroad a battalion
of work forces and women. & # 8221 ; Alternatively, the poetry of the Quoran shows that there is no
high quality for one sex over the other. This sets the tone for the position
of adult females in Islam.
The construct of gender equality in Islam is stressed by the non-superiority
of either sex over the other. It came at a clip when it was necessary to
promote the demeaned position of adult females and allow them rights equal to those
of work forces. The equality of adult females in Islam is apparent by the unprecedented legal
rights given to them under a monotheistic faith as defined in the Quoran.
As one of many illustrations, see the rights of adult females in matrimony and divorce.
Both work forces and adult females have equal rights to contract a matrimony every bit good as to
fade out it. The stipulation of matrimony is simply the common understanding
by both parties. And unlike Christianity, a adult female in Islam can disassociate her
hubby at any clip if she feels that she has been dealt with unjustly or
even if she is merely unhappy with her partner since matrimony is based upon
common duties toward each other. Islam has besides ensured the adult female & # 8217 ; s
right to remarry pending a three month refrainment period.
As for societal rights, Islam has ever recognized the outstanding function that
adult females play in society. They are given the freedom to prosecute any profession
including political places. Both in the past and present twenty-four hours, adult females in
Islamic societies have reached political highs unparalleled in the most
& # 8220 ; advanced & # 8221 ; western states. Even in the earliest twenty-four hours of Islam, Aysha, T
he
girl of the prophesier, lead an ground forces of 30,000 soldiers. Currently, adult females
lead two Muslim states: Benazir Bhutto has served as the premier curate
of Pakistan since 1988 and has been a strong and singular leader. Turkey
is besides headed by a Muslim adult female, Tansu Ciller, who was elected the premier
curate in 1993. Here in the U.S. , we still have ne’er had a female president
and the mentality doesn & # 8217 ; t look excessively good either.
Those are merely a few of the facts. Why so is Islam portrayed as a faith
that oppresses adult females and puts them in a place inferior to work forces? Part of
that is surely due to the stereotypic image of how Muslim adult females are portrayed
in western media as an extension of Islam-bashing. A outstanding illustration is
the film & # 8220 ; Not Without My Daughter & # 8221 ; in which tonss of false and fabricated
word pictures were made of adult females in an Muslim state. It is besides true, nevertheless,
that in many so called & # 8220 ; Islamic & # 8221 ; states, adult females are non treated harmonizing
to their God-given rights. But this is non the mistake of Islamic political orientation
but instead the misapplication or sometimes the straight-out denial of the political orientation
in these societies.
Much of the patterns and Torahs in & # 8220 ; Islamic & # 8221 ; states have deviated from
or are wholly unrelated to the beginnings of Islam. Alternatively many of these patterns
are based on cultural or traditional imposts which have been injected into
these societies. For illustration, in Saudi Arabia, adult females are non allowed to drive
by jurisprudence. This regulation, in a state which is supposed to deduce its jurisprudence from
Muslim statute law, is wholly an innovation of the Saudi monarchy. This
horrific regulation every bit good as a host of others are residues of old pre-Islamic
tribal traditions where adult females were non entitled to the same rights as work forces.
As another illustration, in some & # 8220 ; Islamic & # 8221 ; states, many civil Torahs remain those
that were imposed upon them during European colonisation. Much of the civil
jurisprudence that legislates personal and household affairs in Egypt, for illustration, is
straight based on old Gallic jurisprudence. As a consequence, an Egyptian adult male can disassociate
his married woman much more easy than the contrary. Consequently, adult females frequently have
to endure long and expensive tribunal processs and have to turn out that they
were mistreated by their hubbies before being granted a divorce. Often times,
Torahs in Middle Eastern states, which are legislated and enforced by work forces,
merely take spots and pieces of Islamic jurisprudence and unite them