Treatment of women in the Islam religion
Ladies thinking about
converting to Islam?
As with many Holy Books the Koran is open to interpretation. Many of its teachings
are paradoxical, contradictory and not relevant to the present period. To give just
one example, the Quran has entire sections on how to treat a slave because in the
7th century slavery was seen as quite normal. Here are some of the teachings the
Quran has with regards to women.
Negative things the Quran says about women: "Men have authority over women because
Allah has made the one superior to the other and because men spend their wealth to
maintain women. Good women are obedient. They guard their unseen parts because Allah
has guarded them. As for those women from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them
and send them to beds apart and beat them. They if they obey you take no further
action against them. Allah is high, supreme." Holy Quran. Sura 4:34
In the teachings of the Quran adulterous women should be flogged while women found
guilty of fornication should be put under house arrest until death or until "Allah
ordains for them another way."
Also according to the Quran, a daughter can only receive half the inheritance of
a son. A woman's testimony in court is worth half that of a man's. The compensation
for the murder of a woman is half that as for a man.
Positive things the Quran says about women: The education of girls is a sacred duty.
Women are allowed to own and inherit property. And, according to the sayings of the
Prophet Muhammad, sexual satisfaction is a woman's entitlement.
Women in Taliban Afghanistan
Though the Taliban have been driven out of power in Afghanistan much of the laws
and traditions they enforced still remain in place. Mercifully the situation is changing
but slowly. . .
* Since theTaliban took power in 1996 women have had to wear a tentlike garment called
a burqua. They have been beaten and stoned in public for not having the proper attire,
even if this means simply not having the mesh covering in front of their eyes. One
woman was beaten to death by an angry mob of fundamentalists for accidentally exposing
her arm while she was driving which she was also forbidden to do. Another was stoned
to death for trying to leave the country with a man that was not a relative.
* Women were not allowed to work or even go out in public without a male relative;
professional women such as professors, translators, doctors, lawyers, artists and
writers were forced from their jobs and restricted to their homes.
* Homes where a woman is present must have their windows painted so that she can
never be seen by outsiders. They must wear silent shoes so that they are never heard.
* Women live in fear of their lives for the slightest misbehavior. Because they cannot
work, those without male relatives or husbands are either starving to death or begging
in the street, even if they hold Ph.D.'s.
* Depression is becoming so widespread that it has reached emergency levels. There
is no way in such an extreme Islamic society to know the suicide rate with certainty,
but relief workers are estimating that the suicide rate among women must be extraordinarily
high: those who cannot find proper medication and treatment for severe depression
and would rather take their lives than live in such conditions.
* At one of the rare hospitals for women, a reporter found still, nearly lifeless
bodies lying motionless on top of beds, wrapped in their burqua, unwilling to speak,
eat, or do anything, but slowly wasting away. Others have gone mad and were seen
crouched in corners, perpetually rocking or crying, most of them in fear. It is at
the point where the term "human rights violations" has become an understatement.
* Husbands have the power of life and death over their women relatives, especially
their wives, but
an angry mob has just as much right to stone or beat a woman, often to death, for
exposing an inch of flesh or offending them in the slightest way.
Women in Bahrain
* In Bahrain, a male doctor may legally examine a woman's genitals but is prohibited
from looking directly at them during the examination. He may only see their reflection
in a mirror.
Women in Bangladesh
* Over 2000 women a year are victims of fatal or disfiguring acid attacks for alleged
improper behaviour. (The World and I, May 2003)
* A rapist can sometimes marry the woman he has assaulted and avoid prosecution.
This saves the family's "honor" and the woman's life. The result is that
the assailant is now effectively allowed to rape his victim repeatedly, with the
blessing of the court system.
Women in Egypt
* A woman cannot leave the country without her husband's permission.
* FGM (Female Circumcision or Female Genital Mutilation) is widespread in Egypt.
* "Honor Killing" is still practiced in rural areas and even in the main
city of Cairo..
* Wife beating is so prevalent that most housewives see it as a normal part of marriage.
Social workers spend much of their time just trying to convince victims that their
husband's violent acts are unnacceptable.
Women in the Islamic Republic
of Iran
* The legal age for marriage of a girl is 9 years old.
* Iran's penal code specifies, "The stoning of an adulterer or adulteress shall
be carried out while each is placed in a hole and covered with soil, he up to his
waist and she up to a line above her breasts". Court appointed officials or
ordinary citizens then pelt the accused with stones large enough to cause pain but
not large enough to kill immediately. In the Islamic penal code called Sharia the
burden to prove guilt in a man is much more than with a woman. Thus women are punished
more by their "transgressions" than men. Two women were stoned to death
in Iran in 2001, one for adultery and the other for appearing in a pornographic movie.
Cited in TIME Europe; Sept 2, 2002, p. 26-7
Women in Jordan
* Article 340 of the Jordanian Penal Code states, "He who discovers his wife
or one of his female relatives has commited adultery and kills, wounds, or injures
one or both of them, is exempted from any penalty." In December 2001 Articles
97 and 98 allow for a reduced sentence for crimes committed in a "fit of fury"
related to the perceived loss of honor. Approximately 75% of such "honor"
killings are committed by the brother of the victim. The average sentence for the
murder is about 6 months. Attempts by International Human Rights groups to cancel
or modify this law are charactarised as attempts to erode Arab morals and destroy
families. 62% of Jordanians oppose amending this article.
* At least 50 women a year are imprisoned in Jordan on "honor" related
cases. Most will be killed by their family if they are released. "Once imprisoned
a woman can only be released to a male relative who must agree not to murder them.
Regarless of assurances women are often murdered within hours after their discharge.
In one particularly grisly incident, Fayaz Mohammed secured the release of his seventeen-year
old daughter, Lamis, from a Jordanian Detention center. He guaranteed her safety
and then slit her throat once she was released in his care. Fayaz was sentenced to
nine months in prison for his crime. (The World and I, May 2003, p. 184-9)
Women in Kashmir
* A woman who leaves the house with her face uncovered runs the risk of having acid
thrown in her face.
* A woman's virginity is considered the family's responsibility, especially the male
members who will dominate her for her entire life, first her father, then her brothers,
then her husband and finally her sons.
Women in Palestine
* Women are not allowed to travel alone. They are required to have a male relative
accompany them if they leave the house. Unfortunately, her male "guardian"
- father, brother, uncle or cousin - may also be her rapist. Should she become pregnant,
he will publicly condemn her for dishonoring the family and then kill her and the
unborn child. In 2002, 17-year old Afaf Younes was killed by her father, who had
allegedly been sexually molesting her. Afaf had tried to escape his sexual abuse
by running away, but she was caught and returned to her father. He then shot her
in the name of honor. (The World and I, May 2003, p. 191)
* Among Palestinians, all sexual encounters, including rape and incest are blamed
on the woman. Men are presumed innocent; the women must have tempted him into raping
her or enticed him into having an affair. Even if a woman survives a violent rape,
she is condemned for her "mistake" and may be killed by her family. (The
World and I, May 2003, p. 188)
* If a woman brings shame to her family, her male relatives are bound by duty and
culture to kill her. "A woman shamed is like rotting flesh," according
to one Palestinian merchant. "If it is not cut away, it will consume the body.
What I mean is that the whole family will be tainted if she is not killed."
Women in Pakistan
* In law, the testimony of one man is equal to that of two women
* For a woman to prove rape, four adult males of "impeccable" character
must witness the penetration according to the local interpretation of Shari'a or
Islamic Law. As a result very, very few men are charged with rape.
* However, according to a CNN report in August 2002, 60% of women are charged with
adultery in Pakistan if they are raped. The punishment for their "crime"
is that the women are jailed or are forced to marry their rapist.
Women in Saudi Arabia
* Women are not allowed to drive automobiles or fly anywhere without the permission
of their husband or senior male relative.
* Women can only work in complete segregation from men.
* "Honor killings" are widespread. A male relative can kill his female
relative for such "offenses" as, allegations of premarital or extramarital
sex, refusing an arranged marriage, attempting to obtain a divorce, or simply talking
with a man.
Women in the Sudan
* Honor killings widespread in the Muslim areas of Northern Sudan.
* Women are used as sex slaves.
* Women can be used to walk in public nude just to humilate them.