in the name of god, the beneficent, the merciful

women in christianity and islam

salamu alaikum,

one of the primary misconceptions among non-muslims is women in islam are

oppressed and subjugated. often ayaat [verses] are taken out of their qur'anic
context giving rise to common allegations such as in islam, women are considered
infirior to men. that islam allows the beating of woman. it degrades the her by
forcing her to cover up. a woman only gets half the inheritance compared to a
man. two female witnesses equal one male witness and so on. generally, the
people who are making these claims are christians. so the purpose of this article
is not only to refute false criticism but also, to raise a few concerns about
christianity (insha-allah).

equality

we read in the qur'an, considered by muslims to be a divine revelation of god;

'and their lord hath accepted of them, and answered them: "never will i suffer to
be lost the work of any of you, be he male or female: ye are members, one of
another: those who have left their homes, or been driven out therefrom, or
suffered harm in my cause, or fought or been slain,- verily, i will blot out from
them their iniquities, and admit them into gardens with rivers flowing
beneath;- a reward from the presence of allah, and from his presence is the best
of rewards.' [al-qur'an 3:195].

another ayah[verse] reads;

'he that works evil will not be requited but by the like thereof: and he that works
a righteous deed - whether man or woman - and is a believer- such will enter
the garden (of bliss): therein will they have abundance without measure.' [al-
qur'an 40:40]. a similar messages are repeated in;
[al-qur'an 16:97], [33:35],[57:12,18].

we clearly see in the qur'an that both man and woman are indeed equal in the
sight of god. the criteria for superiority is not sex(male or female) but rather
righteous deeds and piety. neither has any authority over the other though man
has a greater responsibility in looking after the women.[1] the qur'an describes
man and woman as 'garments of each other' [2], both are assistants and
protectors of each other. the qur'an also describes both man and woman as of
similar nature.[3]

in the christian bible however we see in the words of st.paul how women is
considered infirior to men; [1tim 2:12] "i permit no woman to teach or to have
authority over men." [1co 11:3] 'but i want you to understand that the head of
every man is christ, the head of a woman is her husband, and the head of christ
is god.' in islam no man has any authority over their female counterparts, the
qur'an states; 'o ye who believe! ye are forbidden to inherit women against their
will'
[al-qur'an 4:19] so women have a free will and aren't under men as the bible
states.

the bible also states;"i find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare,
whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains. the man who pleases god
will escape her, but the sinner she will ensnare....while i was still searching but
not finding, i found one upright man among a thousand but not one upright
woman among them all" [ecc 7:26-28].

the qur'an never makes such a claim instead in islam we have several examples of
great and righteous women. the qur'an relates to two of them in the following
ayaat; 'and allah sets forth, as an example to those who believe the wife of
pharaoh: behold she said: "o my lord! build for me, in nearness to thee, a
mansion in the garden, and save me from pharaoh and his doings, and save me
from those that do wrong"; and mary the daughter of 'imran, who guarded her
chastity; and we breathed into (her body) of our spirit; and she testified to the
truth of the words of her lord and of his revelations, and was one of the devout
(servants).' [al-qur'an 66:11-12].

the biblical notions that "the birth of a daughter is a loss" [4] and statements
such as; "keep a headstrong daughter under firm control, or she will abuse any
indulgence she receives. keep a strict watch on her shameless eye, do not be
surprised if she disgraces you" [5] are repeatedly condemned in the qur'an. it
describes how people felt sorrow at the birth of a female child;
'with shame does he hide himself from his people, because of the bad
news(female child) he has had! shall he retain it on (sufferance and) contempt,
or bury it in the dust? ah! what an evil (choice) they decide on?' [al-qur'an
16:59].

in pre-islamic arabia female infanticide was very common, the qur'an put a halt
on this evil practice; 'when the female (infant), buried alive, is questioned - for
what crime she was killed?' [al-qur'an 81:8-9]. allah[god] further ordains; 'kill
not your children for fear of want: we shall provide sustenance for them as well
as for you. verily the killing of them is a great sin.'
[al-qur'an 17:31].

moreover the prophet muhammad[p] said "anyone who up brings 2 daughters

properly and takes good care and brings them up with love and affection, they
will enter paradise" [ahmad].

'hijab'

its claimed that islam degrades the women by hiding her behind a
hijab[covering].
it is true that 'hijab' has been perscribed upon who every believing women [al-
qur'an 24:31]. an ayah prior, the qur'an talks about the 'hijab' for men; 'say [o
muhammad] to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard
their modesty: that will make for greater purity for them: and allah is well
acquainted with all that they do' [al-qur'an 24:30]. the reason for women's hijab
is also given in the qur'an; 'o prophet! tell thy wives and daughters, and the
believing women, that they should cast their outer garments over their persons
(when abroad): that is most convenient, that they should be known (as such)
and not molested. and allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful' [6] thus the purpose
of hijab is not to degrade anyone. it is a sign of modesty for both man and a
woman. to a muslim it sounds strange that people take the hijab as a sign of
oppression when its clearly stated in the glorious qur'an that hijab prevents
women from being molested. it is there to protect women from strange men who
may carry a disease in their hearts. muslims wonder, 'where do people get this
idea of subjugation?'

when we look into the christian bible we fined the roots for this notion. st.paul
says in;
[1co 11:7-10] 'for a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and
glory of god; but woman is the glory of man [8] (for man was not made from
woman, but woman from man [9] neither was man created for woman, but
woman for man) [10] that is why a woman ought to have a veil on her head,
because of the angels.' man need not cover his head since he is the image of god
whereas the woman is the image of man so she should cover her head as a sign of
her submission to man.

[1ti 2:9] "also that women should adorn themselves modestly and sensibly in
seemly apparel, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly attire." st.paul
talks about how women should be dressed up modestly. he also emphasises how
women should not wear costly clothing. a few verses later st.paul gives his
reasons; "let a woman learn in silence with all submissiveness [12] i permit no
woman to teach or to have authority over men; she is to keep silent [13] for
adam was formed first, then eve; [14] and adam was not deceived, but the
woman was deceived and became a transgressor [15] yet woman will be saved
through bearing children, if she continues in faith and love and holiness, with
modesty" [1ti 2:11-15].

so there we have a pauline definition of modesty for the women. being a modest
woman in christianity means to be in total submission to man. if women are not
modest[submissive to men], they shall not be saved. this is contrary to modesty
in islam. modesty in islam means humbleness and simplicity, not just for women
but also for men. [7] in islam men and women are told to dress modestly not
because either are being degraded but rather they may learn submission to god
alone and not become arrogant. so the idea of woman's submission to man does
not come from the qur'an at all but rather the christian bible.
inheritance

it is true that in most cases women only inherit half the amount compared to
their men [8] but is that really unjust? a female in islam does not have to worry
about the financial aspects. she need not work for a living because that obligation
is on the man. thus even though the male is getting double the amount compared
to the female, he ends up spending almost all of it on the female. by this method,
women und up inheriting more than men.

what do or do women inherit anything in christianity? we read in the christian

bible:"and you shall say to the people of israel, 'if a man dies, and has no son,
then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter" [num 27:8].

in other words, if there is no son, the daughter shall have nothing. only if there is
no son does the daughter ineherit. moreover, in [num 36:6], the daughter who
inherits by this method is then forced to marry within her tribe. she cannot marry
outside that tribe because the money she has inherited must remain in that tribe.

the last prophet of islam, prophet muhamamd[p] forbade forcing women into
disliked marriages; 'my father married me to his nephew and i did not like this
match, so i complained to the messenger of allah. he said to me: "accept what
your father has arranged." i said, i do not wish to accept what my father has
arranged. he said, "then this marriage is invalid, go and marry whomever you
wish." i said, i have accepted what my father has arranged but i wanted women
to know that fathers have no right in their daughter’s matters (i.e. they have no
right to force a marriage on them). [9]

uncleanliness

in the book of leviticus it is mentioned that the period of menses is 'unclean' and
that period of uncleanliness is doubled when she gives birth to a fermale child as
compared to a male [lev 12:2-5]. no such notions exists in islam and both male
and female children are equal in the sight of allah[a] 'to allah[god] belongs the
dominion of the heavens and the earth. he creates what he wills. he bestows
female children to whomever he wills and bestows male children to whomever
he wills' [al-qur'an 42:49]. and futher in the same book of leviticus, anyone who
touches a menstruating woman shall be unclean till the evening [lev 15:19] which
is not necessary according to islam. a women during menses is not un-touchable
nor contagious but caries on her daily life. narated by aisha[r] the wife of the
prophet[p]; "while in menses, i used to comb the hair of allah's apostle." [10]
"the prophet used to lean on my lap and recite qur'an while i was in menses."
[11]

rape

in case of a man raping an un-married girl, we read in the bible; [deu 22:28-29]
"if a man meets a virgin who is not betrothed, and seizes her and lies with her,
and they are found, then the man who lay with her shall give to the father of the
young woman fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he has
violated her; he may not put her away all his days."

what we can say in light of the above passage is that a man raping a virgin girl is
not much of a sin at all. true the man has to pay some pieces of silver to the girl's
father and has to marry her but is this punishment suffice? surely no women
would like to marry the person who raped her and after that she cannot divorce
him since according to the jewish law, it is the husband alone who has that
authority. moreover, instead of punishing the rapist, you are rewarding him, the
man goes and rapes a virgin of his liking, pays 50 shekels and has her in
marriage.

in the religion of islam however, the rapist does not go scot free just by paying a
sum of money instead, the punishent for a rapist can be a capital one[death].
neither is the lady forced to marry the rapist, infact in islam, such a person is not
fit to marry a chaste woman. the qur'an prohibits such marriages in the following
ayah;

'women impure are for men impure, and men impure for women impure and
women of purity are for men of purity, and men of purity are for women of
purity: these are not affected by what people say: for them there is forgiveness,
and a provision honourable.' [al-qur'an 24:26]

witnesses:

many critics of islam claim that the witness of a woman in islam is only worth
half of the man and they quote; [al-qur'an 2:282], thus they feel islam degrades
the status of women.

however, this is not accually true. yes in certian cases like dealing with the
financial aspects, a male witness does equal two female witnesses but as a whole,
woman witness equals that of the man. infact according to the qur'an, a woman
witness can even cancel the witness of a man;
'and for those who launch a charge against their spouses, and have (in support)
no evidence but their own,- their solitary evidence (can be received) if they bear
witness four times (with an oath) by allah that they are solemnly telling the
truth; and the fifth (oath) (should be) that they solemnly invoke the curse of
allah on themselves if they tell a lie. but it would avert the punishment from the
wife, if she bears witness four times (with an oath) by allah, that (her husband)
is telling a lie; and the fifth (oath) should be that she solemnly invokes the wrath
of allah on herself if (her accuser) is telling the truth' [al-qur'an 24:6-9].

notice that if a man has no evidence agaisnt his wife, all she has to do is accuse
her husband of not telling the truth. she does not have to give any apology or
evidence for her innocence. not only this but if a woman is known to be chaste
and a man accuses her but cannot produce four witnesses in support of his
accusations then that guy recieves 80 lashes and his testimony should never
again be accepted. [12]

in contrast we read in the christian bible [13] that if a husband feels jealous of his
wife or maybe is suspicious of her character, irrespective whether she is right or
wrong, he can take her to a high priest and put her through a bitter water test to
prove her innocence. notice here the wife's witness is never asked for and she is
presumed guilty until she can be proven innocent which is contrary to islam as
we've seen above. but what if the husband was wrong in doubting her? as we've
read above, in islam if a man accuses a modest woman and does not produce four
witnesses he is lashed 80 times. but in the bible the husband apparently goes
scotfree; [num 5:31] "the man shall be free from iniquity, but the woman shall
bear her iniquity." in contrast the punishment for both man and woman is the
same in islam; [al-qur'an 2:178-179],[5:36],[24:2].

furthermore, we read in [num 30:5] that a father can change or cancel the vows
of his daughter: "but if her father expresses disapproval to her on the day that
he hears of it, no vow of hers, no pledge by which she has bound herself, shall
stand; and the lord will forgive her, because her father opposed her."

a husband also can change or nullify the vows of the wife. the husband has full
authority over his wife's pledges; [num 30:8,12] "but if, on the day that her
husband comes to hear of it, he expresses disapproval, then he shall make void
her vow which was on her, and the thoughtless utterance of her lips, by which
she bound herself; and the lord will forgive her..."but if her husband makes
them null and void on the day that he hears them, then whatever proceeds out
of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning her pledge of herself, shall not
stand: her husband has made them void, and the lord will forgive her."

still think it is islam which degrades women? its prescribed in the holy bible [14]
what should happen when a man marries a woman but then accuses her of not
being a non-virgin. once again the woman is considered guilty before she is even
proven guilty hence she has to come up with evidence for her innocence. but of
course her witness cannnot be accepted so her father should produce the
evidence which is the garment from the wedding night. but what if the father
unable to produce that garment? according to the bible, the lady is presumed an
adultress and hence is stoned to death, astonishing!

beating

is it really true that islam allows violent beating of women? one particular ayah of
the qur'an is often mis-quoted and presented as proof text [al-qur'an 4:34]. for
the context we may go back to ayah 19; 'o ye who believe! ye are forbidden to
inherit women against their will. nor should ye treat them with harshness, that
ye may take away part of the dower ye have given them,-except where they
have been guilty of open lewdness; on the contrary live with them on a footing
of kindness and equity. if ye take a dislike to them it may be that ye dislike a
thing, and allah brings about through it a great deal of good' [al-qur'an 4:19].

islam ordians muslims men to treate their women justly and with kindness except
when they commit lewdness so when allah[s] mentions in ayah 34; 'men are the
protectors and maintainers of women, because allah has given the one more
(strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means.
therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in (the
husband's) absence what allah would have them guard. as to those women on
whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them (first), (next),
refuse to share their beds, (and last) beat them (lightly); but if they return to
obedience, seek not against them means (of annoyance): for allah is most high,
great (above you all).' [al-qur'an 4:34].

he is refering to those wives who are disloyal, misbehaving and disrespectful to

their husbands and are causing a rift between their relationship. but even so, the
husband is not allowed to beat the hell out of her. first the husband is to
admonish his wife, then if things don't improve, shun her bed and see if that
brings a change in her behaviour. even if that doesn't work and she is still
disobedient and guilty of open lewdness then only does the husband have a right
to lightly beat[dharb] her. and the beating is not violent at all nor intented to hurt
the woman, it is allowed only as a form of correction, it has nothing to do with
torture. if the difficulties continue then both parties should appoint arbiters to
resolve the issue. so all this efforts are to keep the marriage alive and fined some
way of conciliation.

the bible however has an easier solution, the husbands are encouraged to divorce
their disobedient wives: 'allow no outlet to water, and no boldness of speech in
an evil wife. [26] if she does not go as you direct, separate her from yourself' [sir
25:25-26].

the prophet muhamamd[p] is the best interpreter of the qur'an and he reportedly
said; 'fear allah regarding women, for they are your assistants. you have the
right on them that they do not allow any person whom you dislike to step on
your mat. however, if they do that, you are allowed to discipline them lightly.
they have a right on you that you provide them with their provision and clothes,
in a reasonable manner' [sahih muslim]. but what if the wife is noble and
righteous, is her husband allowed to beat her? no, the husband does not have any
authority to beat her or shun her bed or even admonish her.

orignal sin

the two religions have a contrasting views. as we've read above st.paul considered
woman as the root cause for sin [1ti 2:14]. it is the woman who was decieved and
sinned against god. not only by paul but throughout the christian bible the blaim
is solely put on eve[p]. in the book of genesis we read: "the man said, "the
woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and i ate"
[gen 3:12]. thus god punishes the woman and the curse of pregnancy is inflicted
upon her: "to the woman he said, "i will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth.
in pain you will bring forth children. your desire will be for your husband, and
he will rule over you" [gen 3:16].

a similar accusations against the woman are repeated in; [sirach 25:19,24] "no
wickedness comes anywhere near the wickedness of a woman.....sin began with
a woman and thanks to her we all must die."

we can clearly see how the fall of mankind is solely put on the shoulders of poor
eve[p] and consequently all of us are born in sin. the islamic view on the other
hand is rather simple and rational. in islam there is no such thing as an orignal
sin [15] and no where in the qur'an is the blaim solely put on eve[p]. infact there
is one passage where only adam[p] is addressed. [16] according to the qur'anic
teachings, both adam and eve[p] disobeyed and both were forgiven by god. allah
almighty in his divine wisdom knows that humans are bound to err thus he is
always willing to forgive those who seek his forgiveness, read passages;
[al-qur'an [2:38],[7:10-27],[20:122],[53:32],[91:8]. so sin in islam is not much of
a problem thus there is no need for any substitutionary sacrifice.

pregnancy

as we've read above, pregnancy is a punishment and a curse inflicted upon

women for their dis-obedience [gen 3:16].

in islam pregnancy is not a curse or a punishment from god as seen in

christianity. instead, muslims see it as an immense sign of god's love and mercy.
allah[s] commands the believer in the glorious qur'an; ' o mankind...(reverence)
the wombs (that bore you)' [al-qur'an 4:1].

another ayah reads;

'and we have enjoined on humans (to be good) to his parents: in travail upon
travail did his mother bear him, and in years twain was his weaning: (hear the
command), "show gratitude to me and to thy parents: to me is (thy final) goal'
[al-qur'an 31:14].

the same message is repeated in [al-qur'an 46:15].

and further the prophet muhammad[p] said; 'narated by abu huraira : a man
came to allah's apostle and said, "o allah's apostle! who is more entitled to be
treated with the best companionship by me?" the prophet said, "your mother."
the man said. "who is next?" the prophet said, "your mother." the man further
said, "who is next?" the prophet said, "your mother." the man asked for the
fourth time, "who is next?" the prophet said, "your father."' [17] so in short, a
mother gets 75% of the love and companionship from her children, whereas, a
father is only left with 25%. moreover the prophet[p] said; "paradise lies at the
feet of your mother" [sunan nisai, kital-ul-jihad, h.3106].
paradise

according to the qur'an, muslims will have female companions in paradise [17]
where, they'll also be joined with their families. every muslim man will have
atleast one wife [18] just as the first man adam[p] in the garden of eden. [19]

but strangly this idea is foreign to christianity where woman seemingly have no
part in paradise. we read in the last book of the new testament; [rev 14:1,4] "then
i looked and there was the lamb standing on mount zion, and with him a
hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his father's name
written on their foreheads... [4] these are they who were not defiled with
women; they are virgins and these are the ones who follow the lamb
wherever he goes. they have been ransomed as the firstfruits of the human race
for god and the lamb."

now is "a hundred and forty-four thousand" the actual number of people that will
go to paradise or is it just symbolic? irrespective, the hundred and forty-four
thousand who'll enter paradise will only be men and only those men who did not
'defile' themselves with women. in other words, men who didn't marry and
remained virgins. and from all we can tell from the above passage, according to
christianity, woman won't make it to paradise.

in light of the above analysis we should unanimously conclude that women in

islam are certainly not degraded nor are they considered infirior to men. there
might be some "muslim countries" which deprive the rights of the women but in
light of the qur'an and the sunnah, islam only uplidts them. and when we
compare the teachings of islam to the christian doctrines, there is a world of
difference. women in christianity are seen as the root of all evil, they are
considered a burden and are deprived equal rights to men. we have seen in the
old testament and the writings of st.paul how women have no authority over
men, they are oppressed and subjdugated. whereas islam after the advent of the
prophet muhamamd[p] changed the bad image of women from being a sign of
the devil and a temptress to a gateway of paradise.

man or woman, i recommend to you islam, the path leading straight to god,
salamu alaikum!

"the whole world is a provision, and the best object of benefit of the
world is the pious woman" [20]

footnotes;

1. [al-qur'an 4:34]
2. [al-qur'an 2:187]
3. [al-qur'an 4:1]
4. [sirach 22:3]
5. [ecclesiasticus 26:10-11]
6. [al-qur'an 33:59]
7. [al-qur'an 24:30]
8. [al-qur'an 4:11-12]
9. [fath al-bari, 9/194, kitab al-nikah]
10. [sahih bukhari book.6, h.294]
11. [sahih bukhari book.6, h.296]
12. [al-qur'an 24:4]
13. [num 5:11-31]
14. [deuteronomy 22:13-21]
15. [al-qur'an 2:48],[4:110],[6:54],[17:15,62],[30:44],[34:25], [35:18],[53:36-
42],[sahih bukhari book.93, h.606]
16. [al-qur'an 20:115]
17. [al-qur'an 52:20-21],[55:56]
18. [sahih muslim book.40, h.6793]
19. [gen ch.2,3]
20. [sahih muslim book.8, h.3465]