Women in Islam Flashcards
How is Islam viewed to outsiders with regard to women?
Islam is often viewed as “misogynist” (hostile to women) religion
Why do many view Islam as misogynist? What has resulted?
- For the past 50 years, Islam’s treatment of women has been used to justify policies against Muslims
- It has also been used as a pretext for Western hegemony and aggression against Muslim countries in the name of “liberating” the “oppressed” women.
What is the reality of a woman’s life in Islam? What problems have resulted from misunderstandings in the Western context?
- The reality is that many religiously sanctioned norms regarding women in Muslim society are mixed with customary practices that are either not directly supported by the Qur’an/hadith or blatantly contradict them
- We often compare the relative freedom and equality that modern Western women enjoy with reality of pre-modern women in Muslim society, without considering specific socio-economic and political conditions of each society.
True or False: In the context of the highly patriarchal Middle Eastern society, Islam improves the status of women.
True
What rights does the Qur’an give women?
- The Qur’an gives women the right of inheritance, which was historically unavailable among Arabs, and which women in other Abrahamic traditions did not attain until the late 19th century
- It also specifies that a woman’s marriage dowry was to be given to the individual woman, not to her family
- However, in subsequent Muslim society, the role of women seemed less favourable than those that modern Western women enjoyed
How are men and women view din comparison to each other in the Qur’an?
In the Qur’an, men are women are moral equals in God’s sight and are expected to fulfill the same duties of worship, prayer, almsgiving, fasting, and pilgrimage to Mecca.
What does the Qur’an say about female infanticide?
The Qur’an prohibits female infanticide and recognizes women’s full personhood.
What are the Qur’an views on female inheritance and divorce?
- It guarantees women’s rights of inheritance and to own and manage property
- In the case of death or divorce, it guarantees women the right to live in the matrimonial home and receive financial maintenance.
How are women in the Qur’an compared to women in Arab cultures?
Compared to Arab cultures, the rights of women in the Qur’an were meant to improve the status of women.
True or False: Some women and types of female behaviour are highly praised in the Qur’an.
True
True or False: The Qur’an also contains ambiguous and controversial verses despite chapters of the Qur’an being named after women, and women being praised in the Qur’an
True
Does the Qur’an contain the concept of “equality” between men and women?
Yes
What do the following verses legitimize in the Qur’an? :
- “Your wives are a tilth for you, so go to your tilth, when or how you will, and sen (good deeds, or ask Allah to bestow upon you pious offspring) for your own selves beforehand” (2:223).
- “Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of they property (for the support of women)” (4:34).
Verses that appear to legitimize male superiority
What are the most difficult texts to deal with in the Qur’an?
Those that are used to justify the inequality in the Islamic society.
How do Muslim scholars interpret the role of women in society? Problem with this?
On the basis of the ambiguous passages from the Qur’an and hadith. Their interpretations oaf the texts were often conditioned by local customs. In many cases, Muslims’ readings of the Qur’an and hadith were shaped by the pre-Islamic customs and traditions, which led them to justify practices that are detrimental to women.
