the western views of muslim women, and the issues of equality
...mas, just as much as men do. In Islam, men and women are equal spiritually, “Allah has got ready forgiveness and tremendous rewards for the Muslim men and women; the believing men and women; the devout men and women; the patiently suffering men and women; the humble men and women; the almsgiving men and women; the fasting men and women, the men and women who guard their chastity; and the men and women who are exceedingly mindful of Allah.” Marriage is an extremely dominant issue that raises the issues of equality between men and women. Many issues regarding marriage may lead a westerner thinking that a woman is inferior. In a Muslim society the man has full responsibility for the maintenance of his family while the woman is responsible for the care of her home and the welfare of her family. "Men are maintainers of women with the bounties which God has bestowed more abundantly on some of them than on others; and with that they may spend out of their possessions." The argument against this view centres upon the types of roles men and women have to fulfil. The West regards women’s role in Islam as demeaning because too much demand is placed on women’s shoulders. However, Surah 4 verse 34 continues: "Men have authority over women because Allah has made the one superior to the other." Some see it as a degree in intelligence, other view it as a degree in superiority. However, many Muslim scholars argue “The degree is related to maintenance of the family: a man is legally obligated for this responsibility” Therefore, this "degree above them" has an economic base and has nothing to do with intelligence or superiority of men over women. It has also been suggested the wife herself is responsible for the care of her home and the welfare of her family. She may express her views and make her suggestions concerning all matters, but the best role (and one which receives the most coverage) she can play in keeping the marital tie intact and strong, is to recognise her husband as the person responsible for the running of the affairs of the family, and thus to ‘obey’ him even if his judgement is not acceptable to her, in a particular matter, provided he does not go beyond the limits of Islam. Islam states that a man may marry a woman from any other religion because the children will take the religion of their father, hence becoming a Muslim. However, this view is not vice versa, which could represent non-equality. The concept of marriage faces problems in the West where it is regarded that the woman has no say in who she has to marry. It is presumed that the girl is forced to marry someone of her parents’ choice rather than hers- hence the origin of the term "arranged marriage". However, this could not be further away from the truth. We have to go back in distinguishing between culture and religion. Whereas culture may have a social monopoly on the female, which may give them the right to choose the partner, the religious aspects are rarely taken into consideration. This dual nature of Islamic and in particular Asian society has often been represented as purely religious in the eyes of the western media. Whether this is intentional or pure ignorance on their behalf is a matter of opinion. As far as Islam’s viewpoint on this is concerned, it accepts the parents’ role in the choice of the husband but it does offer the girl a choice. She has to be consulted before the decision is made. If she does not want to marry that person then she has the right to say "NO". It is reported that when a girl came to the Prophet complaining that she had been married without being consulted, the Prophet directed that she was free to have the marriage dissolved if she wished. However, Muslims can argue that the divorce rates of arranged marriages are very low and almost rare. Could this show that arranged marriages are successful? To be able to put the various rules and regulations concerning marriage in context, knowledge of societies in the pre-Islam period, known as Jahilliyah (a state of barbarism and ignorance), is useful because the Divine words and explanatory Hadiths written during and after the life of Mohammed were an attempt to improve the then prevalent situation. One is led to believe that before the revelations, chaos existed, with widespread female infanticide and women having no status at all. Would westerners think this was correct? Islam nowadays has shown that women are in no way substandard to men. Women are allowed to work, to drive and seek knowledge (studying) just as men. “And for women are rights over men similar to those of men over women.” So, women and men have equal rights over each and against each other. Polygamy is a big issue because there is a difference of opinion within Islam, and outside of it. Muslims believe that polygamy is allowed in Islam, because of what it states in the Qur’an. However, some Muslims do not think it desirable because of the issues about equality to all four of the wives. This is also why many westerners suppose that a woman is second-rated to a man because women are expected to remain devoted to their husbands only. Divorce is an example of how a woman has rights. Divorce is not a desirable act in Islam and should only be the action taken as a last resort. The main reason as to why a Muslim may divorce his/her partner is for the Islamic purpose only. If one’s partner is stopping them from practising their religion or asks them to do something which will make them break the principles of their religion, he or she has the right to divorce them. Another immense issue of westerners is clothing. When most Westerners think of Muslim women the first thing that usually comes to mind is their dress. The veil (hijab) has become the main symbol of their subordination - like an iron curtain to the Western world. They regard the wearing of hijab as a sign of male oppression and female inferiority and continually point to the Muslim women in the West who have succeeded without wearing the hijab. However, wearing of the hijab plays a very important part for a Muslim woman. Although she is entitled to wear whatever she likes in the presence of her husband and family, she is, however, expected to wear a dress which would cover all parts of her body- thus not revealing her figure- if any men other than her husband or close family are present. The wearing of the hijab poses a problem for the Muslim women in the West especially those who are in full-time professions and education. At work, the issue may be that they are expected to wear a uniform that does not agree with the expectation of Islamic clothing. However, nowadays it is not such an immense problem. The bigger problem is in schools as there have been many issues. It is not likely that there are many Muslim girls covering in the western society at the moment and this may be due to the issues of being uncomfortable and feeling different. This is the same for the women in the workplaces. France has now banned the wearing of the hijab in school and workplaces. Again, the true meaning as to why the wearing of the hijab is unknown. Muslim women declare that the hija...