Islam teaches respect for women
By Martin R. Herrera
Issue date: 4/18/08 Section: News
Originally published: 4/18/08 at 9:46 AM CSTLast update: 4/18/08 at 10:44 AM CST
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Often perceived by the Western world to have an oppressive attitude toward their women, Muslims often have been subjected to scorn and ridicule because of a misconception that these negative behaviors are rooted in Islamic belief, speaker Brenda Meneses said.
Meneses said that is not true.
Islam actually teaches equality and respect for everyone, including women, but people often confuse cultural behaviors with the actual theology, Meneses said. Christians in the Western world, she said, have difficulty understanding because they have a different attitude about the role of religion in their lives.
Christians - Westerners in general, for that matter - have long separated their religious life from a secular one. They are "compartmentalized," she said.
In contrast, Muslims integrate their religion into every aspect of their lives, affecting how they dress, court one another and conduct politics, she said.
Meneses and the other two women on the panel, Aurora Deiri and Narjis Pierre, acknowledged conditions for women vary from country to country but they stem largely from the culture that existed prior to Islam's spread throughout the world and the nuances of varied interpretations of the theology.
Deiri likened it to the subtleties of the many Christian faiths that exist today.
Except for extreme instances of disparity, which Meneses said is becoming more rare, Islam has pushed women's rights sooner and more significantly than Christianity. "If you ask me if there is any feminism in the Muslim world I say ... it is in the Muslim world," Pierre said.
It is difficult for the Western world to see this, Deiri said, because there is very limited understanding of the Islamic religion.
This ignorance causes people to misinterpret some of the external practices of Muslims that Westerners often cite as oppressive, she said, such as the wearing of head scarves by women.
When asked how Christianity and Islam can be so far apart today when they have so much they share in common ancestry, Deiri replied, "In some instances, ignorance allows you to retain power."
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Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 31
Vince P
posted 4/18/08 @ 12:45 PM CST
It's absurd to think that Islam shows any respect for women. Certainly there are communities of Muslims around the world who definately do respect women and grant their rights; however, this tolerance is in spite of Islam not because of it. (Continued…)
butterfly
posted 4/18/08 @ 1:03 PM CST
"Islam actually teaches equality and respect for everyone."
This is a bald face lie. Anyone can go the Qur'an and find any number of verses that refute this, 8:55, 98:6, and 7:176 for example. (Continued…)
James Dhimmi
posted 4/18/08 @ 1:14 PM CST
The Prophet Mohammad said, "Is not the evidence of two women equal to the witness of one man?" The women replied in the affirmative. He said, "This is due to the deficiency in her intelligence. (Continued…)
Mekan
posted 4/18/08 @ 1:27 PM CST
To put this article under a news heading is pure folly. At the least it should be an opinion article. Did Mr. Herrera do any research on his subject?
While there are many Muslims that do not follow the teachings found in the Koran, just as many Jews do not follow rabbinical laws, but the fact remains that Islam treats women as inferiors. (Continued…)
kelly
posted 4/18/08 @ 1:35 PM CST
Who is this Brenda Meneses and why does she make these unfounded assertions? Devout Christians do not "comparmentalize their lives" or pray any less than Muslims do, although many Muslims like to think so. (Continued…)
C
posted 4/18/08 @ 1:52 PM CST
A few questions Ms. Meneses was not asked:
Even setting aside the clearly stated approval in the Koran about beating wives, owning women as sex slaves, restricting women's testimony in court, limiting their inheritance and custody rights, and the proper handling of prepubescent child-wives, why are these supposedly ancient "cultural" practices so persistent only in Muslim areas?
Further, why are these "cultural" practices so similar between peoples that are geographically separated and distinct in virtually every other way other than the profession of Islam?
Ms. (Continued…)
Bob Smith
posted 4/18/08 @ 3:10 PM CST
It is hard to imagine Islam teaching respect for women. Mohammad was 51 years old when he married Aisha who was 6.
Muslims view Mohammad?s actions as the gold standard on how to live life. (Continued…)
Sharon Kowalski
posted 4/18/08 @ 3:20 PM CST
Basically, this is just a matter of semantics. If we start calling "women's right" the right to be beaten, raped, tortured, killed (or another name for this is 'honor killing') then I guess the left and muslims think that this is ok?!
It shows us they have NOT read the koran or hadiths and are only taking the world of the muslims for this who are told they can lie to us if they feel threatened, or to smooth over islam. (Continued…)
anne carr
anne carr
posted 4/18/08 @ 4:08 PM CST
There is no shared common ancestry between Christianity and islam unless one takes into account that the islamic world of the Middle East was Christian until the moslems overran the area and forcibly converted much of the population. (Continued…)
BradNsa
Brad
posted 4/18/08 @ 5:14 PM CST
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=24329
'nuff said.
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