Equal right to women - Allah says no! we women are against it.

by Babel-Fish | August 23, 2009 at 12:49 am
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Does Islam Oppress Women?

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Does Islam Oppress Women?

Tens of thousands of people in Mali's capital, Bamako, have been protesting against a new law which gives women equal rights in marriage.

The law, passed earlier this month, also strengthens inheritance rights for women and children born out of wedlock.

The head of a Muslim women's association says only a minority of Malian women - "the intellectuals" as she put it - supports the law.

Several other protests have taken place in other parts of the country.

The law was adopted by the Malian parliament at the beginning of August, and has yet to be signed into force by the president.


Where as non Muslims in the west would want these women to have equal rights to men. We of course do not understand the religion and we think the men want control over the women. However here we see women that want men to control them and to obey men.

I wonder if it could be that many Muslim's within Afghanistan really want to live by Muslim laws and do not wish for a democratic state. Where as USA and the west want to impose one. Perhaps its al that imposing that is causing most of the problems, maybe those with certain beliefs are best left alone? Its the way they want to live and not how we would like them to live to share what we think is right.   

Perhaps this demonstration in Mali should be heeded and respected by us all as a sign that not everybody wan't what we view as freedom and part of human rights.

 

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2
Babel-Fish

Some time the world should learn from what it see's, maybe imposing democratic systems after what we consider as freeing people is completely wrong. We would better to leave things as they were.

 


2
info.star

This video has nothing to do with your story, their are plenty of videos on the net that deal with the subject of "Islam and its oppression of woman" I would really like you to highlight the areas where you believe that Islam does this.

1
Uwe Paschen

You do make a good point here Info.Star and I tend to agree.

0
Babel-Fish

Yes I know there is, the article and opinion was designed to make people think, our values are very different to Muslim's and should we be pushing out values on to Muslim's.  We see more complaints about abuse of women under strict Muslim law, people from the west make an effort to show them on the web.

However what is the real feelings of devote Muslim women, seemingly the demonstration against a new law shows we could be wrong to expect all Muslim women would like equality?  Just because we western people value equality and our freedom does not mean women would want to go against their faith in the Islamic world. 

Don't get me wrong I am all for equality and freedom.

The video's are okay concerning the question I raise... There are also many video's stating women value the religion and its laws  Lets forget the video's  and look at what was being said at the demonstration by Muslim women.

 

1
Rory Cripps

You make a good point Babel Fish. It's tough though for many in the western world to hear and see some of the stuff that goes on in the Muslim world and not feel as though it's simply wrong. Obviously many Muslims certainly feel that the western culture is wrong and if given the chance, they'd impose their belief system on the west.They've told us so on any number of occasions.

1
info.star

Why dont the western countries sort out their own problems before attempting to sort out what they consider to be other countries problems?

What do you consider to be wrong in the Muslim world?

And purely for my benifit can you name some of these occasions where you state that they would impose their belief system on the west.

2
Rory Cripps

"What do you consider to be wrong in the Muslim world?"

"And purely for my benifit can you name some of these occasions where you state that they would impose their belief system on the west."

9-11 for one, although some believe that act  was staged by the U.S. government at the behest of Jews. Perhaps your believe that too . . . .

In my opinion, 9-11 was the ultimate statement, on the part of many in the Muslim world, about how they feel about America and its culture. And it  certainly was an imposition of a belief system and it certainly had the effect of instilling terror into the hearts of many Americans. And it certainly pissed off many Americans too! Great job guys!

The terror on 9-11 was relatively new to most Americans. Indeed, Americans are simply not used to seeing buildings blown up and innocent people getting burned to death or blown to bits on a massive scale. Of course there are those in the Muslim world, as an integral component of their belief system,  that don't believe any American is innocent--and that includes men, woman, and children. Death and destruction, on the part of suicide bombers, is something that occurs throughout many parts of the Muslim world on a daily basis. I think that's one thing wrong in the Muslim world.

BTW: When 9-11 occurred, a number of Muslim residents in Astoria Queens (a few miles across the water from the WTC) celebrated  in the streets. In other words, those that celebrated were expressing their right of free speech under the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Good thing for them that they were in America! They were not shot, arrested, or decapitated. We don't do that here in America because we live under a rule of law that is anathema to many in the Muslim world. I, for one, don't like to see people get shot, arrested, or decapitated simply because they  express their opinions and beliefs. Perhaps I'm wrong but I get the impression that that occurs quite often in the Muslim World. Yes! That's another thing that's wrong with the Muslim World.

I also don't like to see woman being treated like chattel and beaten to within an inch of their lives  because some Neanderthal raped them. In American's peculiar justice system,  the one that is raped is the innocent victim and the rapist is the criminal. I'm sure that some in the Muslim world think that American's view of justice is half-ass backwards when it comes to things like rape . . .we'll just have to agree to disagree on that point.And when Muslim  woman are arrested and beaten because they were wearing a pair of jeans or because they didn't cover their face properly . . . well yes! That's another thing that's wrong with the Muslim World.

Quite frankly, the majority of Americans take a dim view of much that goes on in the Muslim World. And they completely understand the level of hatred that many Muslims have for them and their country. It may not seem that way but it's true. They're just not vocal about it because when they do get vocal their government tells them to shut up. Believe it or not, the U.S. government is very sensitive to any criticism of the Muslim World. I often wonder why that is in light of the fact that Americans can say any thing that they want about Christians and Jews.


1
Rory Cripps

I agree sara star. However, I'm sure that you'd agree that America is way ahead of many countries throughout the world in terms of human rights. In my neck of the woods, if we saw that a woman was being raped,  we'd beat the crap out of the guy and call 911. And before the cops hauled him off, we'd tell him, "Don't come around here no more!" It would be the right thing to do. And at the trial, we wouldn't hesitate to testify that we caught the son of a bitch in the act of rape.

0
Rory Cripps

Sorry Sara star: We'll have to agree to disagree. In spite of your statistics, there's no way that I'm going to put America anywhere near the same category as the Muslim World when it comes to violence against women--or violence against anyone for that matter. I don't buy it for a minute.

BTW: I know a woman that claims to have been stalked for over 30 years. I just found this out only a few months ago. I've  known the stalker and I've know the woman since we were kids. She claims that the stalker has driven her to her wit's end and the police can't do anything about it.  Some, back in the old neighborhood,  have offered to beat the crap out of the stalker and throw him in New York's East River. But for some reason, the woman won't go for it. Imagine that! Perhaps she's comfortable in her role as a victim . . . .

I've also seen women beat the crap out of their husbands and boyfriends. Their husbands and boyfriends just stood there and took it because they knew that had they attempted to defend themselves they'd be the ones thrown in jail. A few years ago, a woman shoved me repeatedly because she didn't like something that I said to some punk who had a  big mouth. I didn't even know that she knew the punk. Had I instinctively shoved  her back, I probably would have been arrested.  She was a pretty big woman . . .thank goodness she didn't go wild on me. Had she, she would have beaten the crap out of me and I would have stood there and taken it.  A friend of mine came home one night to find his 16 year old daughter hanging out with a bunch of guys smoking pot in his front yard. He told the guys to get off his property. His daughter got in his face and gave him a shove. He shoved her back. He wound up in jail and had to take "anger management courses". The police take domestic violence very seriously nowadays and will arrest anyone in a heartbeat  suspected of domestic violence. Things have changed in regard to the laws.

0
Babel-Fish

"And purely for my benifit can you name some of these occasions where you state that they would impose their belief system on the west."


I can see you don't live in Europe or keep up with the European news. Muslims live in ghetto's around their mosques in Europe, in these areas there are moves to impose Shara law.

0
info.star

I live in England, got a few of what you could call ghettos, funnily enough populated by everyone, Muslim and non-muslim, have not heard of any move to impose Shari'a here. Can you name some places for me so I can see for myself, thanx.

0
info.star

OH, if by impose Shari'a you mean the thousands of non-muslims who are applying to Shari'a courts to sort out their domestic disputes, then yes I agree with you.

0
info.star

Salaam,

Ok let us start with 9/11 if you insist, Yes I am one who believes that it was not necessarily commited by the U.S government but definatly allowed to happen by them, I along with thousands if not millions of people the world over, including about half the population of America itself.

If my idea is incorrect or you just dissagree with me for whatever reason, I ask you to assess the evidence, eye witness acounts state that the plane or whatever it was, was a military plane, for a start it flew to fast to be anything else. ( aside from a misile that some believe it was) Their were reports that the plane had no windows, these accounts were from news reporters themselves aswell as the general public of America.

One claim that was made was the passports of the supposid terrorists were found, erm, so a plain flew into a building, distroyed everything including said building but passports (made of plastic) survived???

Another claim that the plain flew into the building and the building collapsed is nonsense as if you pay very close attention to early news footage live at the scene you can see firefighters running and saying, "theirs a bomb in the building, get the **** out" and anybody knows that for a huge building to go down you need to attack the foundations.

Also if you assess the people who are supposed to have committed this crime we learn that they could not fly for toffee, the instructors say they had no hope of passing.

Also you explain to me why lower parts of the building exploded seconds before explosions were seen where the plane entered.

Erm oh yes and have you heard of or seen the film called faranheit 9/11 that I believe the American government attempted to ban??

Now, what exactly do you mean,

"as an integral componant of their belief system, do not believe any American is innocent"

This demonstraights to me that you know nothing whatsoever about Islam. In Islam it says nowhere to kill innocent people regardless of gender or age.

Any suicide bombings that occer in the Muslim world are NOT a part of the Muslim world, you cannot tar all Muslims because of the actions of a few of them, who by the way cannot be called Muslims as their actions are unislamic.

After all can all Americans be tarred with the brush of Vietnam or Guanntanimo Bay???

For the record anyone who celibrated the actions on 9/11 is completly disgusting in my eyes, and it shows up the bad side of freedom of speach, which by the way not one single so called democratic country has completly, look at how many people have disapeared in strange circumstances in America over the years for excorcising that very right, who do you think made them dissapear??

Oh and its true in America people dont get shot or dicapatated?? hmmmm, no, they just get put on death row for years, or put somewhere and tortued.

Now you speak of rape, nowhere in any country does a woman get beaten if she is the victim of rape, unless that country is so viciously corrupt, now I admit I have heard of such things but I would like to say that this is so totally unislamic and it sickens me to hear it. BUT again you cannot blame all Muslims for the actions of a few.

Here I will highlight however the gaol terms given for rape in the states and in England, are they adiquate? I dont think so, two to three years mostly, is that the price of a womans life? at least under Islamic Law (actual practiced Shari'a Law) if you are guilty of rape, you get the death penalty, plain and simple.

Also America are you fair with your woman? what are your domestic violence rates? murder rates of the husband killing his wife? Why is it that over 60% of reported rapes in America happen in the workplace?

Why is it you send your woman out to work for eight+ hours a day and still expect them to be good wives and mothers. You are then supprised when your children turn to drugs, sex and criminal activity. Then when asked the reasons as to why your children are acting this way, you say, oh, it is a lack of traditional family values that is causing this problem, can you not see you are the creator of these situations?

Cirtainly some justice is metered out in the name of religion, refering back to your point of,

"woman, beaten..... because they did not cover their face properly"

Where I do not agree with this practice at all as I feel if they are commiting a sin then Allah will decide their punishment, I do have to say that if this is the rule of their country and they dont follow it then they recieve the consiquences. After all if a person from a cirtain European country went to live in America and had sexual relations with a twelve year old girl just because it was ok in his country, then he would have to endure a suitable punishment given to him by the American authorites, would he not?

As a final point the American government are not sensitive about criticism of the Muslim world. Many government officials aswell as Bush himself have openly insulted Muslims the world over, also look at what was said when it came out "Obama was wearing a turbin"

When looking into politics its corruptions, players and puppets it is vital to do much reasurch not just watch CNN.


2
info.star

I am confused as to what is not equal in the marriage and inheritance laws, of course it is not 50/50 but that is for good reasons.

With regard for the children born out of wedlock, I agree that they should have provision made for them as they did not ask to be born into that situation, and they should not suffer at all for their parents mistakes.

To the point of men having control over woman to a cirtain extent this is true but not to the levels that most people believe. I would not necessarily use the term control as this implys complete obediance on the part of the woman which is so far from the reality that it becomes funny. The simplest way to put it is that men are in charge in some areas and woman are in charge in others.

Finally with men and woman having equal rights, this notion brings with it a whole heap of trouble( aside from the fact I do not believe it excists, as we live in a supposid democracy but we do not even have it, yet we try to impose it on others)

So I would have to agree that when it comes down to the point of the west thinking they are correct in their way of living and others are wrong they should leave well alone and maybe consider rectifing the problems on their own doorstep.

0
Babel-Fish


In this old customary system only the male agnates (asaba) were entitled to inherit. Amongst the male agnates there were rules of priority, which determined which of the surviving male agnates were entitled to inherit. It is likely that the rules of priority that operate amongst the asaba in Sharia are a carry-over of the old customary agnatic system. In Islamic law the son takes priority over the father who in turn takes priority over the brothers who in turn take priority over the paternal uncles.

As we shall see the Quran does not expressly state the share of the male agnate relatives as such, although it does enact that the share of the male is twice that of a female. The Sunni jurists take the view that the intention of the Quranic injunctions was not to completely replace the old customary agnatic system entirely but merely to modify it with the objective of improving the position of female relatives.

The Sunni Islamic law of inheritance is therefore, an amalgamation of the Quranic law superimposed upon the old customary law to form a complete and cohesive system. The rights of the asaba were recognised by the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) himself. Abdullah ibn Abbas (RA) reported that the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) said, "Give the Faraid (the shares of the inheritance that are prescribed in the Quran) to those who are entitled to receive it. Then whatever remains, should be given to the closest male relative of the deceased." (Sahih al-Bukhari)


2
Uwe Paschen

Turkey is a Muslim Country as well and does give Woman equal rights same for Algeria and Libya. It is not the religion per say but rather the Government and cultures that force such interpretation. 

Religion is merely the tool used to justify this.

2
Sputnic

Trial by jury is part of sharia law.  If you are so against sexism why dont you reply to the comments made by my sister Info.star? 

     Women are entitled to a third of inheritance under sharia law, and men have to pay more of the bills, including a large dowry upon getting married. It all balances out in the end.

2
merlingraycat

Nothing balances out when women are opressed.  Why  don't u say the same for men?  Put them in prison for abusing women and girls.  No man should have power over women.  It is barbaric and should be stopped wherever it exists in the world. 


Anyone who thinks that men should have dominance over women should be aware that they are breaking moral laws as well as God's laws be it Muslin, Christian, Catholic, Jew or ?

1
info.star

Woman in Islam are not oppressed, anyone who abuses anyone has to suffer great punishment, men do not have power over woman as I explained in my previous posts.

Men in the west still have power over woman, look at the statistics of domestic violence, look at the punishments metered out in the west for crimes such as rape.

As I stated earlier woman have their areas of dominance and men theirs, this is to be distinguished from oppression as you can be dominant without being oppressive.

1
Uwe Paschen

Okay, now you just crossed the line to propaganda Info.star.

Saying that 

"Woman in Islam are not oppressed, anyone who abuses anyone has to suffer great punishment, men do not have power over woman as I explained in my previous posts."

Is rather stretching it same would be the case for some one saying that woman in Christianity or Hinduism are not oppressed.

Men any where still have power over Woman and control all key areas, such as Politics, laws, Money, Real Estate and so on. 

The Only area of dominance a woman has any where in the World is the ability to give birth and be in the kitchen. 

Come on get real here and stay objective, factual and honest.


0
Babel-Fish

Its within the religion and the women are indoctrinated into the belief that they have a set position within the Islamic religious society. Muhammad set the laws that concerned women and men and those that are dedicated to Islam wish to pursuit its path.

Other law's have been added and of course some what cruel punishment as an additive based on the laws within the Koran.

What we see as cruelty and oppression and crimes against human rights such as non equality for women is seen as part of the dedication to Islam by many of its dedicated followers including women. Even in moderate Muslim states some of the things we see as being human rights abuse are seen as being part of Muslim life and culture.

USA and the west puts pressures on change and wants to install democracy within states that are normal ruled by religious laws and a Islamic way of life.

The point is that is it right to over shod the real wishes of the citizens of Islamic nations such as Iraq and Afghanistan and replace governance that contradicts their religion? 



.  



 

 

1
info.star

Hey Salaam Paschen,

You are being unfair, if you noted my earlier posts, I was talking mainly of individual power, i.e, a husband over his wife. Not collective power, of course I accept that men still hold top posts, get paid more etc, but in domestic situations under Islamic Law men take the lead in cirtain areas and woman in others was my point.

As a further point I am a Muslim woman, I wear Islamic Hijab and it was not forced upon me to do so. I attend university and am studing Law, soon to be studying Islamic Shari'a for my masters, encouraged to do so by my soon to be husband Insha Allah.

0
Babel-Fish

Its within those religious laws that a woman should obey men and in fact each are as bad as the other concerning woman's equality.  What i am saying is concerning the Islamic faith many women seemingly prefer not to be equal to men because Allah has set the pecking order.

Our ideals and thoughts on such issues is that they should be equal in every way. But by trying to false this on to the Muslims that are dedicated to religious laws and the verses within the Koran is frowned at as its not Allah wish, so to speak. Women that are indoctrinated to the ways of Islam think its a sin to disobey the religious indoctrination.

Actually most women are treated well in Muslim house holds their husbands respect their wives and love them. However within any society abuse will take place.  The strict laws of Islam have cruel punishments however many within the Islamic world believe they are just and it stops sins and crimes effectively. Chopping of a thief's hand for stealing and having a death sentence is to them the standards to stop crime and just in the name of their God. To us barbaric and inhumane etc. We want it stopped! its against human rights etc, etc.

We talk of democracy, of which is geared people voting for what they want and the majority vote wins the day. Now we are imposing democracy on Afghanistan and if the majority of the people their really want Islamic laws and to be ruled by the religion. We are very wrong as what we are imposing is not there democratic wish but ours. If women want to live by Islamic laws they should be allowed to its their human rights.

   

 







 

0
info.star

Salaam,

Thanx Babel-fish you make some good points, However I am a little unsure still of your point on woman not being equal to men, if you could explain I would appreciate it, thank you.

0
Sputnic

Exactly,

When talking of equality why does no one mention that a woman is not obligated to use ANY of her money she recieves as inheritance, gifts, wages etc on anyone else other than herself, not even her children, whereas the man is obligated to spend on his wife and his children. Thierfor the man needs more money to be able to achieve these obligations.


0
info.star

Hey sorry guys above post is from me, info.star not my bro Sputnic

1
a211423

There is a political aspect to the adoption of these family codes.  The European Union gave US640 million dollars for poverty in Mali from 2000-2007, and now is going to condition further aid on social reforms.  There are approximately one thousand new articles designed by the parliment, and now they have to get the support of their constituency. 

National Assembly President Traore, one of the 117 lawmakers who voted for the code said all lawmakers must now educate their communities. "All representatives have the obligation to get information to their constituents about the advantages of the [proposed] law."

Does this sound familiar?

The president of the national Womens Association Oumou Touri states the family codes promote social justice citing girls being married at 10,11, or 12.  The codes restricts marriage age to 18.  Amnesty International cited that in 2005 60% of girls married in Mali were under 18.

 

0
Sputnic

Let me clarify things, a culture of a country does not equal Islam. Tyrants and oppressors will go to hell, so says the Quran. I am muslim and I know for a fact that I respect women and that the Quran tells me to do so. The women you talk of being suppressed are poor women, do poor men not suffer from suppression? If followed correctly there should be no rich and poor in Islam. Capitalism could not exist without interest, interest is forbidden in Islam and Christianity, Jesus overturned the tables of the money lenders after all

0
bettermaker

If you are a moderate, it is easy for you to speak out against the radicals on the internet.  Go to Mali personally and tell them to calm down on Sharia/etc a bit, and see what happens.  That is the problem, moderates are afraid to speak up in most Islamic nations, and the radicals take over.  Even if moderates do rebel (like in Iran), they get imprisoned.

0
bettermaker

If you are a moderate, it is easy for you to speak out against the radicals on the internet.  Go to Mali personally and tell them to calm down on Sharia/etc a bit, and see what happens.  That is the problem, moderates are afraid to speak up in most Islamic nations, and the radicals take over.  Even if moderates do rebel (like in Iran), they get imprisoned.

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