Are women oppressed?

Question

What do you think of these facts? These are not just facts because somebody has the opinion they are, they are in the histories of these countries and cultures. What do they make you think and what does the following quote make you think?

"Women in Islam are seen as the greatest treasures this world has to offer. Not speaking in a sense of possession of course, but rather in the sense of creation. The Prophet of God, Mohammed once said, 'There is no greater treasure on this Earth than a good pious believing woman'. Islam was the first way of life in the entire world to give women an equal status to men in the civilized world. Difficult to believe? Lets take a look at the facts then.

Ancient Greece - women held no position in politics, had no right to vote, but were rather treated as 'sex objects'

Ancient Egyptians - With the exceptions of the Pharaohs families, other women were considered inferior

Middle Ages Europe - Women when stood up for their rights were burnt and termed as 'witches' by the Church

Old Sub Continent India - Women were treated as personal possession of their husbands and burnt along with their bodies when the husband died.

The Americas - Women got the right to vote in 1920 before that they had no voice in politics at all

Australia - Was mostly inhabited by nomadic tribes until the British arrived there

Scandinavia - Was inhabited by Barbarians in the middle ages where women were treated as objects

Africa & Middle East - Women were thought to be a burden and often baby girls were buried alive

And now in comparison we have Islam: 1500 Years ago, before any of these civilizations even conceived of giving women their rights, Islam gave them, the right to vote, the right to work, the right of divorce, the right to hold opinions in public and political matters, the right to personal property, the right to choose who to marry, and the right to

freedom of worship.

Answer 1

Islam just has not given the women equal right , also bestowed them as a source of peace, inspiration and balance in a man's life. A good believing wife can be a great source of inspiration, peace and create harmony and balance in man's life. This is why Islam always emphasised the role of women in family life. A good learned women can influence his male and also develop and shape the lives of her kids.

Prophet Mohammed also said " A man can be considered good if he is judged as good by his wife"

This quote also reveals the position of women in Islam.

Answer 2

I would answer yes to your question. Women are oppressed in the world today and many in the Islamic countries too. And the reason is that Islam has not been implemented in its entirety. The Western concept of freedom for women is a myth, a farce. The Islamic concept is the only solution but unfortunately cultural practices have crept in so much in most of the muslim countries that religion has just remained for name alone. In such circumstances, the rule of might is right prevails and as women happen to be less educated and fiancially dependent in these societies you find them being abused in the name of religion. However, you do not find this practice at all in the educated classes. So to me Islamic rights are there, we just need to educate men and women and make them realize their error.

Answer 3

As with other religions, ingrained, embedded, ancient cultural mores often resurge end up taking precedence over the newly adopted religion or sharing sway with it. Anyone who is somewhat knowledgeable about the Quran and the ancient cultures of many Muslim countries knows this. We see this again and again. It happened in Christianity too until the Inquisition stopped it in its tracks. Christendom solved the problem by killing all dissenting voices or sent them packing across the Straits of Gibraltar. Jews sought refuge anywhere anyone would let them in. You have to have an Inquisition to get rid of this reversion to ancient ways and purify the religion back to its fundamentals. With an Inquisition you can go back to fundamentalism of a fundamentalism like our Christian friends are now doing. I say this because it's impossible to ever recreate the ancient situation, get back to the basics just as it was practiced in some idyllic fantasy of the past. It is a new world. Virtually nothing is the same as that ancient world of ignorance. To be genuinely viable, a religion has to be adaptable to the day and age in which it is practiced. Otherwise, it gets so perverted that it loses its spirit entirely or becomes something else entirely as we see today. So, where do you go from here to ensure that women everywhere are treated with dignity and respect?

Answer 4

All of your facts apply to the *past*, in case you haven't noticed. Women today are not oppressed. At least not here in the United States of America anyway. Here, women are in the driver's seat, and actually have more rights and protections under the law than men do (a fact). Just about every college and university in the U.S.A. has a Women's Studies Department, where you can get a degree in Women's Studies. Many corporations and government agencies here will, all other things being equal, hire a woman over a man, so that they will comply with laws that mandate hiring of women and minorities.

None of that sounds even remotely like oppression to me.

Answer 5

Women are oppresed throughout the world but it is not confined to Islam and muslim women only and basically Christianity, Islam and judaism dont permit women to be oppressed.

I Know the prophet Muhammed stopped the killing of girls and treated women with respect...he did not treat oppression.

The funny part of the hijab story is that most of us western people look to the women with pity...'shame shes oppressed" etc... but its weird because a lot of muslim women choose to wear it...in fact 2 students from a university in egypt were not allowed to enter some american university because of it and they taking the matter to court because the want to wear it.

One point i want to also mention is that the women in islam, a lot of them are happy...so who are we to say that they oppressed. If they didnt have any rights whatsoever would they even have been able to help protest in war torn places like palestine etc...

Another thing is culture we have to realize that the people in the middle east also have their own culture and traditions. And most women want to abide and keep their traditions alive. Don't we have to respect them for it? They could say the same things about western society. Women are oppressed: Dont you see them on the music videos and their are legal places were you can see a strip dance etc... If what we say about them is true and generalize than we also oppress and actually exploit women...which is a big generalization as well.

The power of the media influences us greatly as well because of wars and the controlled media(yes it is controlled) you wont see the good side of Islam, or the better side to it because of modern propaganda. Unfortunatley this tactic has become so devious that you might not even realize it sometimes.

I think its just the lack of knowledge, culture and interaction with people that people have these views. Unfortunatley women are oppressed but to say that it is just by Islam is a narrow, biased view that the media partly has to blame.

Answer 6

And yet amazingly enough, today's Muslim women are being oppressed by their very own Muslim governments.

Saudi women can't drive or vote.
Kuwaiti women can't vote.
Iranian women can't go outside without hijab, neither can Saudi women (and there is no compulsion in Islam)
Afghan women couldn't study ten years ago.
In Pakistan, less than 40% of women are literate.

AND, in all Muslim countries, women cannot marry outside their religion. While I understand the Islamic purpose behind this and support it as a woman's choice, given that there is "no compulsion in religion" (and it says so in the Qur'an, as we all know), shouldn't a woman have a right to choose if she doesn't want to follow an Islamic path? If she wants to marry a non-Muslim, shouldn't that be her choice, given that there's no compulsion?

I know ISLAM gave that right, but Muslim societies are some of the world's worst when it comes to women's rights and HUMAN rights for that matter.

Answer 7

i think of it extremely is truer to assert all of society oppressed women inclusive of the girls themselves because of fact they knew no longer something. and girls have been nonetheless earning much less pay for doing a similar pastime as adult males up till the Nineteen Sixties(?) a lot of human beings had terrible lives in the previous, once you may spend 12 hours an afternoon digging ditches for a pittance or giving start to fifteen infants the final factor you gave a rat's approximately is voting for women's rights.

Answer 8

Islam yes treats the woman fairly and equally with the man..
But if I would answer your question then yes the women are oppressed by the man abusing of the God teachings in Quran.

Peace!

Answer 9

Unfortunately, cultures speak differently. This is why it is the responsibility for all sisters to educate one another.

WBUSYCAT4, I live in the Middle East..Do you? I know what happens here, Do you?
I see many hundreds of girls going to the university to get educated.......I see many women working. There are even Police women where I live. Women work in offices, stores, banks and all kinds of jobs... My husband does not treat me like property. I am free to come and go as I like. I will tell you again that we need to push for education. Many do not know their rights. Not only for the women but for men. Many men have bad thoughts about women this is why we need to conduct ourselves in a manor where we demand respect. All women not just Muslims are in some way or another oppressed.

Answer 10

Go live for a day as a woman in an Islamic country and then say that with a straight face.