Why is a woman a second class citizen under Islam?

Question

Not an equal.

I would be insulted to be told to wear a veil

Answer 1

Because they are bullied.

Answer 2

As sala'mu alei'kum, ya aziza,

I can see that there is a lot of animosity here and do not wish to add fuel to the fire.

In the spirit of clarification, may I say that the veil is not a pan-Islamic Tradition, but merely a very localised one limited to the Niqabi Tribes, where even the men wear veils? Islam does not require the women to wear the veils, at all! What is prescribed, however, is that all men and women dress modestly; and, please do try to understand the fact that it's prescribed, not dictated. May a Muslim woman choose not to wear the veil and, yea, not even the hijab? Yes; because Islam only prescribes the dress code, it doesn't dictate it! Those that force this upon their women are wrong!

What Sir Simon says is true, that the Muslim women inherits but one third of the inheritance, while the brother inerits two thirds. However, the fact is, also, that in those days, the women had no rights at all to inheritance and this was, at least, better than nothing!

Again, what he says about Muslim Countries being Kingdoms, today, is true; but then, the Caliphs of yore were elected to the post and, in those days, women did vote for the Caliph. However, over the years, the Caliphs waned and the Sultans , Emirs and Shahs took over and there was no more voting.

Did Mohammad really say he saw all the women in Hell? Yes, he said that because he was a bit of a male chauvinist like all men of that time; but, you'll see passages in the Qu'aran where he does praise women, too.

The Tradition of dress, actually, is a legacy of Judaism where the kipot became hijab and Muslim men wear the yarmulke!

Were not the Jewish women of yore, also, treated as second class citizens? Was this not, also, true of the early Christians? Islam is the youngest Religion of this lineage. Please give it time and it will also develop like our cousins did! Please do not judge us all harshly for the actions of a handful of zealots who know not what they do!

Ma sa'lamah, ya aziza!

Answer 3

Mohammad made Islam what he wanted it to be and he was actually a very confused guy!

He didn't have a very high opinion of women and it wasn't in fashion to give women any importance, in those days!

That's why women are little better than cattle in Islam!?!?

Sorry, but that's the truth!?!?

Excuse me, but what "voting rights"? Islam doesn't have Democracy, in the first place!? So, what are women voting for?

If what you Muslims say is true, please explain why is it that a woman who is raped must produce 4 male devout Muslim witnesses to the fact or she has no case?

Please explain why is it the daughter inherits only one third of her father's property while two thirds go to her brother? Is this your idea of fair distribution?

Please explain why is it that in the Koran, Mohammad says he peeked into Hell and saw all the women were there!?

You mean the veil is to protect your women? Well, can they dare to do what they wish? Not wear the veil?

How about your right to marry 4 women, do they have the equal right? No!!

What's equal about this????

Edit:

True, even in the Torah, aka Old Testament, women are treated as second class citizens, but then, that doesn't exonerate Islam, I'm sorry!?!?

I wonder if bighowlof can kindly show us any Muslim Women doing well in Islamic Countires and not Britain and Canada! Irshad Manji is a Canadian Iranian Refugee who is a Lesbian Activist!?!? She'd be dead in the Middle East or native Iran!?!?

Answer 4

As a non Muslim, as far as I know she isn't under true Islam, but then you could say that about the Christian bible that places immense emphasis on Patriarchy and it's society that only 100 years ago still 'owned' their wives and daughters.
Islamic much as Christian fundamentalist teaching has it's ridiculous side. That teaching often takes place within a context though of cultural backwardness which is then often mistaken as Islamic in nature but really has everything to do with backward local culture and relatively nothing to do with Islam.
By the way I think men and women are not equal in many many ways that are not just biological in nature.
Vive la difference....

Answer 5

The basic thing is that Islam gives women more rights then the groups in that area gave women at the time that Mohammad lived. It was pretty normal for women to not be seen as equal at that time. Remember that it is only in the last century that women got the right to vote in Western countries as well.

Answer 6

Its because the "religion" is not really looking at people but was put in place when women were thought of as being given to men as a plaything as per Adam and Eve. In recent years men have had their role as protector and provider usurped and that the role of woman has improved to that of also providing and that of being protected reduced.
It therefore means that Islam is not in touch with the modern world, as in the modern world woman is more or less equal to man.
I say more or less, that is because in some circumstances woman is further advanced in the protector and provider situation than in others.

Answer 7

Personally I do not believe Women are second class citizens it sounds to me as if the way they are portrayed is due to their faith which they wouldn`t have known about before being born but then would just follow whatever they are told when old enough to know,it is up to the individual as to what they wish to do & I for one would respect that,we are all guests on this planet & should treat each other the same way.

Answer 8

Well, actually Islam gives women the right to own property, contract of marriage and other rights which people at the time of Muhammad did not have before. They had voting rights 1400 years before European gained this right in the 1920's. Wearing the veil is not a symbol of being a second class citizen. It is the right to be viewed as a human being rather than a sex object, which women are made to be in the West.

Answer 9

Women are not second class in any way permitted by the teachings of Islam, it is the strong cultural practises of many Islamic countries that practise the strong form of patriarchal imbalance in the societies observed.

It is noteworthy that many leaders, academics and professionals in the modern Muslim societies, such as areas of Britain, are women.

Answer 10

Because they are afraid of the women. They forget that they were born to a Woman! Otherwise they wouldn't exist! So, they try to persuade their women that they should be happy because they love them because of their personality and not for their looks!

Answer 11

Because Islam is a man-made religion, literally man (as in male)... I mean it was created for many purposes (political, economical..) but also to assure the dominion of men.