btw i wasnt saying its not ok to seek reassurance about the religion. Asking questions when your unsure is fine sisters, even the holy Prophet Abraham sought that in the Quran... fact checking is good too especially as these websites chop and change verses at will. read the references they give in context as many times even the full verse is not quoted.
"""And (mention) when Ibrahim (Abraham) said, "My Lord, show me how You bring the dead to life." (Allah) said, "Have you not believed?" He said, "Yes, but for my heart to be satisfied." (Allah) said, "Take four birds and cut them into pieces. Then, put on each mountain a portion of them. Then, call them, they will come to you swiftly. And know that Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise""" (2: 260).
so before all our Saturday's kick off here are a few Quranic verses and points that came to mind when i read that page you posted queen, inshaallah it will help clear up a few issues...
- The Koran actually gives women's testimonies privilege over men's in the case of sexual offences. If a man accuses his wife of adultery and testifies by swearing upon God, she can counter his accusation by swearing that she is innocent. and when that happens her testimony stands over his...
""But it shall avert the punishment from her, if she bears witness four times by Allâh, that he (her husband) is telling a lie.
And the fifth (testimony) should be that the Wrath of Allâh be upon her if he (her husband) speaks the truth." (24, 8-9)
2.in sharia inheritance can be divided equally if the heirs agree islamqa.info/en/12221. we have already decided between ourselves in my family and that stands.
you can talk of the fact that the Quran gave women the rights of inheritance in the first place which was centuries before that came to other parts of the world. that it was remarkable in a book 1400 odd years old that daughters/wives/sisters had a financial share. the ratio of 2:1 for male/female as well as leading to the development of algebra! - is really due to the extra financial responsibility muslim men are under with their families. a common complaint on muslim womens forums is how their often husbands are duty bound to take care of elderly parents, help out impoverished relatives, bail out indebted/ sued siblings/cousins, and look out for the family feckless and the ne'er do wells generally even when they have sisters. these are very strongly imbued responsibilities inculcated in men and is a part of muslim masculinity - this on top of the Quranic injunction that men bear the financial responsiblity to look after their wife and children.
- the verse 'your wives are a tilth for you...' (2:223) is about sexual positions and enjoyment being allowed. this verse is often quoted to encourage muslim couples that sex is healthy and normal, that theres nothing shameful or wrong in trying out different positions or different times/places with your spouse:
"Your wives are as a tilth unto you; so approach your tilth when or how ye will; but do some good act for your souls beforehand; and fear Allah. And know that ye are to meet Him (in the Hereafter), and give (these) good tidings to those who believe." (2:223)
- as for concubines, lots in the Quran about freeing slaves as expiation for sins(the seven doors to freeing slaves), setting them free to earn God's love, marrying believing slaves over non believing free women/men. Lady Hajar, the mother of the Arabs was a concubine of Prophet Ibrahim (as) gifted to him later became his second wife. so the status of such women in islam was really very different to their status in the Torah and Bible. We reverence Lady Hajar, and her story at the annual Hajj each year.
Many of the great and/or famous sultans and caliphs of Islam were the children of concubines, considered legitimate as the children of their wives were. in some parts of the muslim world - north/west/east africa, the gulf, etc its common to have had a grandmother or two who was initially a concubine but was made a wife, not shameful. which was unheard of with the western form of slavery that was very bitter. even Boris Johnson the current foreign secretary said the same of his turkish muslim ancestry
www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/mar/09/boris.localgovernment
anyway thankfully slavery is a thing of the past and the muslim nations of the world are unanimous in that acceptance - though it took alot longer than the western nations to reach that
.
however the curious thing though sisters is that the verse in the Quran about adultery being illegal except with one's spouse or concubine - 23:6 - wasnt gender specific itself. saying this makes muslims especially scholars and men very squeamish to realise and often the verse is translated to mean male masters and female slaves. however it wasnt always so. one 1 occurance 'Qatadah said, "A woman slept with her male slave so they brought her to Umar. And they told him she understood verse 23:6 to say that, so Umar shaved the male slave head and let her go after expelling the slave from Madina and said the woman shouldn’t marry any one after that." (Tafsir Ibn Kathir on Sura 23:6). then ulema were unanimous that this verse only meant for men not women!
anyway im off for day hope that helped. lots to be said about bias in muslim scholarship when it comes to interpreting quran and hadith, its not just the liberal muslim feminists who say so. heres a great series on this subject by the salafi feminist
aljumuah.com/the-myth-of-unbiased-islamic-scholarship-part-1/