Reply to Be Wary of Racism and Islamophobes

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Muslima]Furthermore, the Quran:

forbids female infanticide (practiced in pre-Islamic Arabia and other parts of the world)
instructs Muslims to educate daughters as well as sons
insists that women have the right to refuse a prospective husband
gives women rights if they are divorced by their husband
gives women the right to divorce in certain cases
gives women the right to own and inherit property (though in Sunni Islam they get only half of what men inherit. Men are expected to care for their mothers and any unmarried female relatives, and would, it is reasoned, need greater resources for this purpose.)
While polygyny is permissible, it is discouraged and on the whole practiced less frequently than imagined by Westerners. It is more frequent in the Gulf, including Saudi Arabia. Many Muslims cite the Quranic phrase "But treat them equally... and if you cannot, then one [wife] is better" and argue that monogamy is preferable, or even mandatory.
OMG, did PBS just use the word "Equal"??? Don't they know how confusing this is to their western readers  :shock:

[/quote]

PBS didn't use the word equal. The Quran did.  Again, you may believe that Islam gives women a superior deal.  Others may disagree.  Why is that so hard to fathom? Right of divorce "in certain cases"? As opposed to unrestricted one for men?

Also, there aren't really any rights for women post-divorce, other than a three-month paycheck.

Islam didn't invent the right to own and inherit property for women. Women owned and inherited property long before Islam. There is absolutely no evidence Islam forged a virgin path there.

[quote=Muslima]
In fact, Islam gives women a number of rights, [b]some of which were not enjoyed by Western women until the 19th century. For example, until 1882, the property of women in England was given to their husbands when they married, but Muslim women always retained their own assets.[/b] Muslim women could specify conditions in their marriage contracts, such as the right to divorce should their husband take another wife. Also, Muslim women in many countries keep their own last name after marriage.[/quote]

There is no such thing as "Western women".  Each Western country had its own legal framework.  Women in Spain owned and inherited property independently since 12th century.  The fact that Muslim women keep their names after marriage is a just a custom.  It's not a particular sign of independence.  In fact, some say it is to signify that a woman remains a part of her father's family more so than her husband's.

[quote=Muslima]
Some women in Muslim societies have been prominent political actors. Female relatives of the Prophet Muhammad were particularly important in the early Muslim community because they knew his practice and teachings so well. Other women came to power through fathers or husbands. Still others wielded power behind the scenes.
Aisha, the favored wife of Muhammad, had great political clout and even participated in battle (the Battle of Camel).
[/quote]
That's not particularly special or different from any other environment. There were always powerful women, in all societies.  And just which one of his wives was the favored one is a matter of some debate, even within Islam.  Of course, when your daddy is president, it's easy to become known as "the favored wife."  Didn't Aisha always nurse a gigantic grudge against Khadijah, even most-portem?

[quote=Muslima]
Razia was a Muslim woman ruler of 13th-century India.
Amina was a 16th-century queen of Zaria in present-day Nigeria.
Shajarat al-Durr was briefly sultan in Mamluk Egypt, but was the power behind the throne for even longer.
The so-called "sultanate of women" in the Ottoman Empire during the 17th century was a period when several strong women had enormous power over affairs of state.
Huda Shaarawi, who became famous for discarding her face veil, also established a women's political party and worked for Egyptian independence from Britain in the first half of the 20th century.[/quote]
Again, how is this in any way special or different from other societies?

[quote=Muslima]
And yes Khadijah R.A  was wealthy, she was a business woman. Wealthy women were able to own property and even inherit, the lower class couldn't. Take a history class and come back
[/quote]
Oh dear. What is the source for this? Your opinion?

Apropos that, I doubt very much that an upperclass woman would have entertained marriage to an orphan with nothing much except character to recommend.  AND, if your claim of her upper class status is true, that actually shows us that pre-Islamic Arabia was quite an egalitarian little place - women could propose marriage to much younger men, hire and fire, dispose of their own business, get rich and stay rich, and pick husbands not necessarily from their social milieu.  Not a bad deal, if you ask me.

Incidentally, most of pre-Islamic history was conveniently authored by Islamic scholars.  Mainstream Muslim discourse always tries to cast "jahiliya" in the worst possible light.  I wouldn't rely on Muslims to learn what pre-Islamic society was really like - too much incentive to put it down.[/quote]

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