Reply to Muslim women speak out against the hijab as an element of political Islam

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

You are assuming the khimar may have been worn for protection from the sun instead of modesty reasons. We know that modesty is important in Islam because God asked women to use that cloak or shawl to cover women's breasts. He asked women to cover their adornments too. He didn't ask women to wear the khimar to protect themselves from the sun. Hair is often used to attract people of the opposite sex. It can be seen as a woman's adornment. As such, it can be assumed that covering it is in keeping with the modesty requirement. [/quote]

If God had wanted women to cover their hair, wouldn't He have been clear on such an important issue? Why is it necessary to make assumptions about an important point like this? Further, why can't we make assumptions that go in a different direction, e g., that women aren't responsible for men's urges, but instead men should learn, as a religious duty, to control their own urges.[/quote]
God didn't say women are responsible for men's urges.  He also asked men to lower their eyes and control themselves. [/quote]

Jesus said that. "But I say to you, anyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery in his heart. If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it away...."  Harsh, maybe, but it puts the responsibility where it belongs. Is there a comparable Quranic verse?[/quote]
Why SHOULD there be one? Why do you want Islam to be just like Christianity?[/quote]

Of course not. But if there's no verse in the Quran, and no teaching by scholars, that men are responsible for their lust and their actions, then it is further proof that Islam is fundamentally anti-woman and not feminist. From what I know, which is probably less than most posters on this thread, women are unequal in Islam, lesser compared to men. A head covering is a visual part of that. [/quote]

As PP has pointed out, there is a verse about men lowering their gaze.  Given the times, Islam in my view cannot be construed as anti-women.  It forbade the practice of infanticide, most commonly practiced on female babies.  It guaranteed women the right of inheritance from both their husbands and their parents, giving widows and orphans some means to support themselves.  The testimony of women was accepted legally.  Women were given the right of divorce and the right to put whatever other conditions they wished in their marriage contracts.

These were impressive progressive rights for the time, and much more than what many women in the West had during that period or indeed for centuries afterward.  If we look at them from the lens of today, however, they do appear to fall short.  A man inherits twice what a woman does from his parents.  A husband inherits half from his wife; the wife inherits one-eighth (one-fourth if she has no children).  In most matters, the testimony of a woman counts one half of a man's testimony.  While women can put whatever they wish in their marriage contract, in practice this is seldom done and women rarely negotiate their own contracts.

The tussle today centers on whether the progressive spirit of Islam should move with the times or be ossified in the seventh century.  It is clear the fundamentalists and extremists firmly believe in the latter.  There are reformers, however, who believe the former, but at this point they are a minority voice. Arrayed against them are phalanxes of under- and ill-educated and often not particularly bright Islamic "scholars,"  who disseminate their views on thousands of Islamic websites.

It is no doubt misleading to generalize those who are reform-minded, but if I had to I would say that they do not view hadith, or sayings of the Prophet, as particularly authoritative and believe that many of the verses of the Quran that dictate certain ways of behavior or social arrangements need to be viewed in the context of the times and that they point the way to a spirit that should be followed today.  Thus, they would say the take away of the verse in dispute in this thread is that women should dress modestly, whatever that is for the society in which they live.  And the same would apply to men.

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