Why has Islam failed to free women in such cultures as Saudi Arabia?

Question

Shouldn't God's instruction or path incline believers to treat all (especially their own females) with respect and fairness?

Pamela doesn't answer the question.

Saffi? Where's your answer?

Can't answer, Mushy?

Roshni? Should believers adhere to God's Word and respectfully disregard the govs. when they Contradict the Creator?

Rimi, please speak to Muslims in Saudi Arabia. This, and its ilk is the QUESTION.

BINGO!!! Meme wins! This is the point. Why don't THE PEOPLE of Islam stick to the teaching? The true power of God will reward them. After all, isn't this what the extremists live out? ( Yes, of course, Christendom is hypocritical in this area. Jesus fortold they would be infilterated (Matt. 7: 21).

Linda, God's Word does state EVERYWHERE that women are to be treated with dignity and Christ specified, even died for: Eph. 6: . "Cherished" is the chosen word for her.

Answer 1

there's the relegion and there are the people who follow it..........
a country like saudi arabia is an islamic country ...but it does'nt follow all the islamic laws....it's like all the many so called islamic countries.........

Answer 2

What do you mean by "free"? The Saudi women I have met do not have a problem with their country's laws, even the one against driving. We run into difficulties when we try to superimpose our own values on others. I, as a Western, Islamically- educated woman, have a problem with some of the laws of Saudi Arabia because I don't consider them to be Islamic.


However, it is not for outsiders to decide who is "free" and who isn't. I have been there and I will tell you that I never felt disrespected there. They try to protect women (in my opinion excessively), but that is not the same as being disrespectful. The indigenous culture will always play a role in deciding how Islam, or any other religion, is to be interpreted.

EDIT: To Linda regarding the comment "Jewish and Christian men have indeed transformed the Western world into a place where women have at least the right to live in some sort of security and dignity."

Many Westerners are under the impression that it is because of Christianity and Judaism that they have the rights that they do today, whereas the truth is that it is more in spite of those religions that they have those freedoms. Research the history of feminism and see how welcoming the Christian leadership was towards the laws that we take for granted today on property rights, divorce, inheritance, legal personhood, etc., all of which were addressed by Islam for the benefit of women more than 1400 years ago.

Answer 3

Here's the thing - people make laws based on their moral beliefs. Even atheists have "moral" positions on things. You can yak all day about how Islam respects women, how they are cherished, blah blah blah. And you can say that women in all religions have been mistreated, and still are. The real test of a religion is in those who follow it, and how they treat the people around them. It's true that the Bible doesn't make a lot of fuss about how to treat women (though it does say that a man should love his wife as his own life), and Islam waxes eloquent on the subject. But the bottom line is, men in Western countries - countries heavily populated by Jews and Christians - have overall very benevolent attitudes toward women and have made laws accordingly. This is not the case in Muslim countries. Many western women have experienced the reality of Islam in a Muslim country and some have escaped to tell about it. Some are still trapped there. These things are public knowledge; denying them doesn't make them less true. In none of those cases did the authorities attempt to interfere or protect these women no matter how badly they were beaten by their husbands. Such laws do not exist in Muslim countries, and for a good reason: Islam, though it looks good on paper, is not the transforming revelation from God that it has been hyped to be. If it were, the Muslim world would have been transformed by the men who follow it. In the meantime, Jewish and Christian men have indeed transformed the Western world into a place where women have at least the right to live in some sort of security and dignity.

Answer 4

The religion can only do so much. The way women are treated there is actually more a cultural issue.

Islam, itself, is actually very respectful of women. I know I don't feel disrespected or mistreated by my husband, and he is an Islamic scholar. But he's from Ghana, NOT Saudi Arabia.

In most other Islamic countries, women are highly respected and have equal rights. In most countries, the bride (or her family) is paid a dowry, because her worth is recognized. I know Muslim women from many countries who are doctors, dentists, nurses, and every kind of professional. Obviously they are getting their educations, same as the men.

Saudi Arabia has problems, yes. But it's not like the RELIGION, itself, can go and smack the people upside the head. Look how long the Taliban was terrorizing the women of Afghanistan, in the name of Islam.

The problem, or one of them, is that no one can just call up Saudi Arabia and say "You need to be nicer to your women, yo." And any attempt to make them do so will rile them up for messing with what THEY perceive to be their religion and culture. So what can WE do??


See, this is one reason why I don't believe in a God. If there were one, every now and then he'd send a message to some people (the leader types, at least) to get them back on the right track. And that just doesn't happen.

Answer 5

I don't know what way you are calling to "free" the woman..anyways...i agre that Saudi Governament has projected somehow a different pic of islam in the sense that they ahve made it sooooo strict and actualy "imposing" things on the public but this is all the "governament" and in true words if that governament impliment the "actual" islam then the picgture would have been different....! islam gives all the rights to the woman..but its none of "islam's faults..if some governament had made some different changes in their politics...you see..! there is a long list of rights given by islam to woman and now if someone don't follow it..we can't blame the religion for that !Btw i have never heard of misbehavior with woman in Saudi Arabia and if there is some..it is becuase of indiviual ignorance !

Answer 6

Saudi Arabians made Islam so complicated but the truth is that it is not complicated. I am Muslim. I'd lived in Lebanon before I came to Canada. There, I could do whatever I want. I had boyfriends. I I visited my frinds everyday. We went everywhere. I never had to have the permission from my parents to go outside. for sure I had to tell them before I do. Also I don't wear Hijab. Not all muslims are s complicated as the Saudi Arabians. Most of us are free and have open minds.

Answer 7

Saudi Arabia for the last two centuries follows the hanbalite opinion which many Muslims consider as wrong.

Answer 8

It should. You're totally right. As a Muslim, I'm ashamed of their ignorance. I know alot of the women are happier than we think, but there is still room for improvement.

Islam has not failed; but plenty of Muslims have.

Answer 9

Most religions have tried to keep women is the shadows and not let them have a voice at one time or another. And most religions have been started by men. I'm beginning to see a pattern here.

Answer 10

It's hardly just Islam.

All the major religions discriminate against women.

And your god was never a big fan of the ladies, so why should he care?

I did answer. I guess it's just over your head, eh?

Answer 11

Ah, hell, groups have tried over and over
to "help" Muslim women and for what? So that they could turn around and make asses
out of them by protesting with signs that say
"we are already free".
Let them the hell alone; if they want to act
like they are nothing but a big puss, then let
them be treated like a big puss.