Why does islam degrade women and keep them down?

Question

in the 5th & 6th centuary before Islam, women could trade, own property, inherit fully & choose who the would have a baby with, they could also enjoy the choice of several different partners.
They were not prostitutes but women of position in a tribe.
It seems to me Islam put women back in the stone age and still does.

Answer 1

they have nothing better to do with their lives..

Answer 2

After Islam, women could trade, own property, inherit fully, choose her husband, has the right to an education, the right to work if she wants or not if she doesn't want, keeps 100% of her income, inheritance, and whatever other gifts are given to her, entitled to a dowry, it is her husband's responsibility to pay a housemaid and/or a nanny if the wife desires, keeps her family name after marriage, and given the status as Queen of her home. To name just a few rights of a Muslim woman. Women in Islam have become very prominent figures, from the wives of the prophets for their knowledge, to the recent first Muslim woman to win a Nobel Prize, and every figure in between and after who has made a difference in her society.

Women who are degraded and kept down do so by the hands of men who for some reason feel that a strong woman makes him weak. Muslim men are CERTAINLY not the only ones who do this because it is not restricted nor attracted to a certain religion or culture. Some of the world's wealthiest, educated, non-Muslim countries have *just as many* problems with abuse towards women as anywhere else. So by your logic, having the Y chromosome means you are abusive towards women.

As others have suggested here, it's best that if you want to learn about a religion, look for the reality of that religion, not biased opinion and empty works. Some of the greatest minds have nothing but good things to say about Islam because they learn about the religion from the source, rather than from sidehand opinionated comments. After all, they wouldn't be the greatest minds if they relied on gossip as their sources of information, would they?

Answer 3

Islam was the first system that allowed Women to own property, inherit fully & choose who the would have a baby with, they could also enjoy the choice of several different partners. it abolished the concept of "Coverture" where it means the legal patrimony of a woman is mixed into her Hubby's and also her identity.

Some countries don't give the women the right to choose husbands, which is a cultrul matter. According to the Islam, a woman is free to choose her future Husband.

Before Islam, a Woman herself was owned as property, that's to be sold and purchased. Talking about degrading women, remeber the white slavery which is spreading now in Many civilized countries.

I agree with the first answerer though. Muslims have customs and behaviours that are really weired, but Fortenately, Islam prohibits them.

Answer 4

In the name of Allah,the most beneficient,most merciful
First of all u should know that what is Islam? I don know on what basis/incident u r saying that islam degrades women... lemme tell u... before the birth of Prophet(sal).. when any female child is born in Arabia,they would bury the female child,the reason is ,it is a burden& a difficulty to bring up and getting her married... but prophet(sal) never allowed such thing in his rule/leadership, the second thing i have to say, 1500yrs to go, a period in which battles were very common,many muslim men would lose their lives,making their wives as widows,and children as Orphans... but Prophet(sal) never wanted such a situation because it would degrade them,so instead he made a rule that when a women becomes a widow ,she will be married by a companion of Prophet(sal),and her responsibilty will be taken by him... It was Islam that brought the system of HIjab for the women esp and men, not for being wooed/annoyed/disturbed by the public.. it was Islam that insisted the women to impart education and gain knowledge...There so many cases that i can say Islam doesnt degrade women.. even today Islam insists only the women to choose their life partners... But there are some places where people in the name of muslims do that... But that i call those people not a Muslim andthat is not Islam.. When u see Muslim people doing principles that Islam contradicts,u should come to a solution that this is not Islam and they are not proper Muslims... I hope that i have answeres ur ques... if u have any other doubts,u can contact me thro my mail.. i'll be glad to help u...

All the Good is from Allah,and all the bad from me...

[e-mail]

Answer 5

Thankyou for your question. Unfortunately this is a common misconception, which can be refuted by looking objectively into historical records. You have to go beyond the stereo-typical image of Islam portrayed by the media and look for yourself.
The Arabs at the time you refer to were largely Pagan, and were well-known for their chivalry and female new borns were killed in families who did not respect female babies. Islam gave women rights and liberation.

In western society today women are judged on their appearance and beauty not on their ability so which is more liberating judging women at work on their ability or looks?

Answer 6

iam sorry honey! but u have to take the virginity as a pretty good example.all muslim ladies are virgin which shows that we don't commit fornication as u said.look at u.a girl in ur nation can prick her virginity like she's eatin' a cake so easily and at the age of 16.women in islam are well honored baby.the virginity is like a balloon once pricks and it's gone.

Answer 7

Look at your Christian backyard first. 75-80% of US residents are Christians.

Every 9 seconds in the United States a woman is assaulted and beaten.

4,000,000 women a year are assaulted by their partners.

In the United States, a woman is more likely to be assaulted, injured, raped, or killed by a male partner than by any other type of assailant.

Every day, 4 women are murdered by boyfriends or husbands.

70% of men who batter their partners either sexually or physically abuse their children.

Domestic violence is the number one cause of emergency room visits by women.
60% of all battered women are beaten while they are pregnant

Approximately 1,155,600 adult American women have been victims of one or more forcible rapes by their husbands.
http://www.letswrap.com/dvinfo/stats.htm...

NOW, WHICH RELIGION DEGRADES THEIR WOMEN, CAN YOU TELL ME?

Answer 8

Did you see girls in this century now? Most Muslim girls are still virgin because Islam ask them to cover their body with clothes as that no one can see even a single hair (Mazhab Syafiee) but see what happen to non Islamic girls? Most of them had been touched by other guys!! their skins are not clean anymore

Answer 9

After generations of slavery, slaves sometimes do not want freedom, but their own slaves.

Answer 10

In Islam there is absolutely no difference between men and women as far as their relationship to God is concerned, as both are promised the same reward for good conduct and the same punishment for evil conduct.

The Qur'an, in addressing the believers, often uses the expression, 'believing men and women' to emphasize the equality of men and women in regard to their respective duties, rights, virtues and merits. It says:

For Muslim men and women, for believing men and women, for devout men and women, for true men and women, for men and women who are patient and constant, for men and women who humble themselves, for men and women who give in charity, for men and women who fast, for men and women who guard their chastity, and for men and women who engage much in God's praise, for them has God prepared forgiveness and great reward. (33:35)

This clearly contradicts the assertion of some the Christian Fathers that women do not possess souls and that they will exist as sexless beings in the next life. The Qur'an says that women have souls in exactly the same way as men and will enter Paradise if they do good :

Enter into Paradise, you and your wives, with delight. (43:70) Who so does that which is right, and believes, whether male or female, him or her will We quicken to happy life. (16:97)

The Qur'an admonishes those men who oppress or ill-treat women:

O you who believe! You are forbidden to inherit women against their will. Nor should you treat them with harshness, that you may take away part of the dowry you have given them - except when they have become guilty of open lewdness. On the contrary live with them on a footing of kindness and equity. If you take a dislike to them, it may be that you dislike something and God will bring about through it a great deal of good. (4:19)

Considering the fact that before the advent of Islam the pagan Arabs used to bury their female children alive, make women dance naked in the vicinity of the Ka'ba during their annual fairs, and treat women as mere chattels and objects of sexual pleasure -- possessing no rights or position whatsoever, these teachings of the Noble Qur'an were revolutionary. Unlike other religions, which regarded women as being possessed of inherent sin and wickedness, and men as being possessed of inherent virtue and nobility, Islam regards men and women as being of the same essence created from a single soul. The Qur'an declares:

O mankind! Revere your Guardian-Lord, who created you from a single person, created, of like nature, his mate, and from this pair scattered (like seeds) countless men and women. Revere God, through Whom you demand your mutual (rights), and reverence the wombs (that bore you); for God ever watches over you. (4:1)

The Prophet of Islam, peace be upon him, said, "Women are the twin halves of men". The Qur'an emphasizes the essential unity of men and women in a most beautiful simile:

They (your wives) are your garment and you are a garment for them. (2:187)

Just as a garment hides our nakedness, so do husband and wife, by entering into the relationship of marriage, secure each other's chastity. The garment gives comfort to the body; so does the husband find comfort in his wife's company and she in his. "The garment is the grace, the beauty, the embellishment of the body, so too are wives to their husbands as their husbands are to them." Islam does not consider woman "an instrument of the Devil", but rather the Qur'an calls her muhsana - a fortress against Satan because a good woman, by marrying a man, helps him keep to the path of rectitude in his life. It is for this reason that marriage was considered by the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, as a most virtuous act. He said: "When a man marries, he has completed one half of his religion." He enjoined matrimony on Muslims by saying: "Marriage is part of my way and whoever keeps away from my way is not from me (i.e. is not my follower)." The Qur'an has given the raison d'être of marriage in the following words:

And among His signs is this, that He has created for you mates from among yourselves, that you may dwell in tranquility with them; and He has put love and mercy between you. Verily in that are signs for those who reflect. (30:21)

Answer 11

you're not correct,check your sources again(from reliable sources)