Misogyny and Religion: How Islam promotes Oppression

Welcome back to the second article in our series Misogyny and Religion!

Today, we shall discuss the next major religion: Islam, and how its teachings have promoted misogyny and patriarchy in the society.

So, gather around again everyone. It’s time for another story. This time, the story is about Aisha.

Aisha was a six-year-old girl who lives in approximately 600 CE in what is now known as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

She was married to Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) at this age, and the marriage was consummated three years later, when Aisha turned nine.

Child Marriages in Germany (Source: Snopes)

Read that again. A six-year-old girl was married off, and the marriage was consummated when the girl was merely 9 years old.

 Oh, and did I mention, that Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) himself was around 52 years old at the time.

No matter the time period this is set in, marriage to a 6-year-old girl ought to be banned in every culture. But this happened, and this incident as well as the age of Aisha is verifiable through several Hadiths. These include: Bukhari Book 58 – Hadith 236, as well as Hadiths 64,65, and 88 from Bukhari Book 62.

A typical child marriage (Source: UNRESERVED)

Islam is the second most followed religion in the world, with a global following of close to 2 billion people, which makes up around 23% of the world population.

However, more importantly, it is also the most misunderstood religion in the world, and the beginning of Islamophobia in the world can be traced back to the 11^th of September 2001, when a few “Muslims” flew planes into the Pentagon as well as the World Trade Center, causing hundreds of deaths.

The 9/11 Attack (Source: Time Magazine)

Since then, Muslims all over the world are associated with terrorism and violence by Westerners. However, that is not the point of our analysis today. We shall today be analyzing the Islamic scriptures to find out whether Islam has traces of misogyny and patriarchy.

Just like in Hinduism, menstruating women are considered impure even in Islam, and it has been said that their prayers will not be accepted while they are menstruating. It also says that after the menstruating period is over, women should purify themselves before praying or engaging in household activities of any sort.

However, Islam also considers women to be secondary or inferior to men. Marital rapes and domestic violence have been permitted and in fact encouraged by the Quran in several verses. The Surah an-Nisa verse 34 says that if a man suspects that his wife is cheating, then he is permitted to beat her and admonish her. In Surah 2:223, it is also stated that, “Your wives are a place of sowing of seed for you, so come to your place of cultivation however you wish and put forth [righteousness] for yourselves.” This is a clear-cut indication that Islam treats women as property, and it is said that the husband may do whatever he wants with his wife, as she has been compared to a place of cultivation.

Women and Islam (Source: Economic Times)

I wish I could say that this was all. But sadly, no it isn’t.

Quran 4:34 also states that men are supposed to be in charge of women, because they were made to excel over women. It has been hinted in several verse that all prophets of Islam were males and not females because females were considered to weak and untrustworthy of performing such tasks.

This is also responsible for the verse in Muslim law that states that the testimony of one man is equal to, if not greater than, the testimony of two women.

The negative influence that following Islam can have on women’s rights can be clearly seen by looking at the condition of women in countries where Islamic law is followed to the letter. The best example of such a country is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with is the birthplace of the religion of Islam.

Women in Saudi Arabia (Source: ABC News)

In Saudi Arabia, women are considered as permanent legal minors. Ever since they are born, they need to have a legal guardian, who is responsible for a variety of decisions throughout their life. This is usually their father or husband, but may also be her brother or son.

Women in Saudi Arabia were not permitted to drive cars until recently. They are not allowed to get passports or travel without the express written permission of their guardians. There are also frequent incidents where girls as young as 8 are married off, since the consent of women is not needed for marriage, and the guardian is the deciding authority. Domestic violence is prevalent and very common, and there is no system for women to be able to divorce their husbands in case of abuse. On the contrary, men are permitted to unilaterally divorce their wives, and very often the women aren’t even aware that they have been divorced until much later.

The first driving licences issued to women in Saudi Arabia in June 2018 (Source: The Hindu)

Perhaps the harshest law is that in Saudi Arabia, women are allowed to inherit only half of what male heirs inherit.

And this brings us to the ultimate question: is it the fault of Islam, or the interpretation, or the time period?

The answer is that it is the fault of all of them, in varying proportions. While Islam in itself has several elements of male superiority embedded in it, a lot of blame can also be placed on translations. Several Islamic scholars have come up with different interpretations of the verses. People often see what they want to see. People understand what they want to understand. And since most verses were written thousands of years ago, they are often open to different translations.

Women being denied rights in Islamic countries (Source: Human Rights Watch)

However, the main fault is with the people, who wish to follow the Quran to the letter. Times have changed since 600CE, and we must learn to change with them. These are times of equality, and it is essential that religious practices be altered in order to fit the message. Islam is a religion of peace and love, however following such old and barbaric practices are responsible for giving Islam a bad name throughout the world.

Therefore, as I said in my previous article, it is essential that teachings and interpretations of religious messages evolve with the times. What is even more important that the practices are the beliefs, and those are nothing but love.

-NK