Which religion treats women the worst?

[AsMenDclaredWomenTheirInferior]

Untenable
is the idea
you can support a male supremacist ideology
whilst saying you still believe in equality for women and girls.

raving. That is interesting. The woman I know also lets her facial hair grow.

As a Muslim I genuinely believe that Islam treats women and men equally in spite what I read in the popular press. The role that women play in society is recognised and appreciated. An example of this which is pertinent here is that once the Prophet was asked ‘who is deserving of most respect?’ He replied ‘your mother’, the man asked who was most deserving after that, again the reply was ‘your mother’. The third time, the reply was again ‘your mother.’ Another saying of the Prophet is ‘Paradise lies under the feet of your mother.’ These examples from Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) show that Islam understands the great commitment and responsibility raising children is and that on the whole it is women who undertake this. Women are not barred from working or having a career and men are actually encouraged in Islam through sayings of the Prophet to help around the house!- my Muslim husband and I both share childcare duties- he does school drop-offs before he goes into the city so I can get to work to start seeing patients on time.
Islam was the first religion to recognise women’s right to divorce and inheritance which we take for granted now but divorce until 1857 was largely open to men only and required an Act of Parliament to be decreed, and it wasn’t until 1870 when the Married Women’s Property Act was passed in England that we could own our own income or inherit. Islam gave women the right to inherit 1200 years before then. Even today, a Muslim woman is not obliged to spend any of her personal income for the household.
These rights given to women in Islam empower not oppress Musim women. The greatest tool for empowerment is education and this is emphasised for both men and women. It was a Muslim woman, Fatimah al-Fihri, who founded one of the world’s oldest universities in 859 CE.
I believe that religion should be judged by its teachings and not the actions of those who might claim to follow it.

Men have always had religiously an over bloated sense of their own self worth.
Running around screaming
"We are in charge, we are in charge!"

"Ooooh boy don't throw like a girl you don't want to be classed as one of them do you?
A men?

mumchou
As a woman who is not Muslim, but has many Muslim friends and colleagues, what you say makes complete sense. They live their lives in a similar way to you.
I've had an invite to the local mosque for a women's social meeting and I will attend because I think it's important to develop a greater understanding of these issues.

Hi Ladies Interesting question I don’t think any religion dictates the unfair treatment of women, its how perpetrators distort religion as a basis to justify their ill treatment of women. We also live in a media driven world which dictates what society should view of religion Islam is always portrayed negatively when it come to women.

@Adviceplease360 thanks for asking the genuine question. I’m a Muslim woman, born and brought up in the UK. I am one of thousands raised in Muslim households where religion was a part of us but never enforced on us. In fact we were encouraged to learn about our rights.

@ AsMenDeclaredWomenThierInferior Muslim women are not confined to the kitchen sink and the home as slaves, in fact Muslim women are encouraged to seek education including learning about our rights. We are not restricted to pursue a professional career. Thousands of Muslim women excel to the highest standards of academic achievement and careers such as medicine, science, law, education etc. the list is endless. Muslim women have all the rights that Muslim men enjoy, and in some ways, have certain privileges, which men do not enjoy. ‘In a recent survey amongst 323,500 American adults, 56% of working moms with kids under age 18 said they would prefer to stay at home and take care of their house and family.’

A Muslim woman has the right and choice to stay at home and raise the children and her husband has to shoulder the financial responsibility for family. Another privilege is that if a couple mutually decide that the woman would like to work either to pursue her career or support the family, in such circumstances Islam clearly instructs that her husband has absolutely no right to demand anything from his wife’s salary, property or wealth Islam gives her the right to spend it as she wishes its all hers. Most men would consider that as unfair but they have no choice whereas Muslim women have the choice to work or stay at home.

@AsMenDclaredWomenTheirInferior

Just to clarify the Holy Quran was not plagiarised from the Bible the reason why it may appear that the scriptures have similar accounts is because Islam is a part of the Abrahamic Faiths alongside Judaism & Christianity. Comparison of the scriptures will show that the Holy Quran mentions the same Prophets from Adam to Jesus. However as the Quran was revealed later it gives clarity on the stories of the Prophets mentioned in the Abrahamic scriptures and sheds further light on the prophecies foretold in the Old & New Testaments.

The Holy Quran reveals much more a French surgeon Maurice Bucaille extensively reviewed the Quran and this is what he concluded,

"In view of the state of knowledge in Muhammad's day, it is inconceivable that many of the statements in the Quran, which are connected with science, could have been the work of a man. It is, moreover, perfectly legitimate, not only to regard the Quran as the expression of a Revelation, but also to award it a very special place on account of the guarantee of authenticity it provides."

I think in the current turbulent times we are living in its important to learn about each other respectfully and most importantly not to become divided so that we can make the world a better place for our children.

Oh no they weren't happy, but at the point she won her award her family were in melt down, so she went anyway.

Yes, this makes perfect sense, her strict controlling Muslim family who beat her up and controlled her didn't lock her in the cellar to prevent her from going. Ridiculous.
If they were strict she would not have gone, she would not have an education and certainly wouldn't have the guts to leave her family and go abroad without their permission. Your posts are not making sense now

These rights given to women in Islam empower not oppress Muslim women.

These sorts of statements always have me asking "who gave the rights to women"? The answer seems to be men. Which then has me asking what bloody right have men got to decide what rights women should have? None.

Which is why feminism and religion are basically incompatible.

As a feminist I don't need a bloke to empower me. Thanks all the same.

@Adviceplease360 you are absolutely right talking down to women of faith helps no one and it certainly wont eliminate the problems of the world. We’ve lived together peacefully side by side for centuries regardless of theological differences. We are all mums here if we can live peacefully with one another we can ensure our future generations will too.

@whoputthecatout we believe the rights given to women in Islam were granted to us by God and revealed through scriptures via the Holy messengers of God. The Holy Prophet of Islam is our liberator and guides us to learn about our God given rights to become empowered. There is no compulsion in Islam It’s all about freedom and choice. We are all entitled to our own opinions may you always remain happy in the choices you make in life all the best

MultiTaskingMom Even if rights were granted by God, do you not find it a little coincidental that they were all written down by men? This is not Islam-bashing. I say the same about the Bible as well. None of these God-given rights appear to put women in the strong position they put men in - possibly another coincidence?

And no, it is not an advantage, for example, or empowering to have the 'privilege' of being financially cared for by men - that merely infantilises adult women and makes them extra vulnerable if life goes pear-shaped.

Religion pretty much had women where men wanted them until females started to grow up and say, hang on a minute - we are not putting up with this any more.

@whoputthecatout
Muslim women also contributed in recording the history of Islam, It is a well-known saying of the Holy Prophet of Islam (peace be on him) that ‘half of the faith could be learnt through Ayesha his wife. She was the most scholarly and highly educated woman of her time. Ayesha is recognised in Islamic history as a great teacher and respected leader she taught both Muslim men and women and she is a significant role model and inspiration for us all.

If Muslim men are instructed to shoulder the financial responsibility for the family it certainly does not infantilise adult women and make them extra vulnerable if life goes pear-shaped. Muslim women are not confined to the house if they choose not to work, they have every opportunity to study, or partake in voluntary and charity work. The community I belong has its own women’s organisation and the women of the community are always doing something to contribute to the wider society, enabling Muslim women to develop many life skills which help them cope with the ups and downs of life which women from all walks of life face.

Adviceplease360
Yes, this makes perfect sense, her strict controlling Muslim family who beat her up and controlled her didn't lock her in the cellar to prevent her from going. Ridiculous.
If they were strict she would not have gone

That's right, when my friend was 16 her father took her to Afghanistan, he told her he was taking her there for a holiday and to meet her grand parents who she had never met.
It was supposed to be for a month however she was there for six months because her father was trying to engineer an arranged marriage for her.
When my friend realised why her father had taken her there she wasn't having any of it and in the end he had to return to the UK because he couldn't afford to stay in Afghanistan any longer.
When she and her father returned, her father left her mother and as I said he moved in with my friends aunt, her mothers sister and that meant there were no men living in the house.

So for over three years there were just 3 women living in the house, my friends mother and her younger sister.

And my friend went to Europe alone unrestrained by any men.

My friend had no support from her family and she has a lot more guts than you can ever imagine & how she got out of an arranged marriage in Afghanistan was by pretending to be crazy.. yeah she had to pretend to be crazy to get the monkey off her back..
For six months she struggled to get free whilst her father was trying to suffocate her in his culture of male supremacy..

You don't know anything, zilch, nada, nothing.. nothing at all

MultiTaskingMom
Apparently Mohammed said prior to Islam men would kill their daughters because they only valued sons and Muslim men would not treat females as badly as that

"Men are superior to women because Allah gave men supremacy over women. Therefore, men receive from Allah twice as much as women. Husbands who are disobeyed by their wives can punish them, confine them to bed and even beat them. Women are the greatest calamity men received from Allah.”
Quran, written by disciples of Mohammed, Arabia, circa 700

This is really a villains world isn't it and vain cowardly thugs?

If men really want equality with women, men will have to lower their fists not raise them.
Men shouldn't use their fists to prop themselves up should they?

Men must feel inferior to women because men have always used their fists against them and used them as props to elevate themselves.

You would have to come up with far better references than that womendeclared if your quoting from the Quran, and you wont because theres no such statement anywhere.

the thing is as islam is practised suits many women indeed who would regard themselves as feminists. my feminism is on upping a woman's status and bargaining power in forming and maintaining relationships and a family not a feminism of a woman going it alone all the way.

its a big part of muslim men's masculinity that they can provide for their families. its a point of dishonour to take money from their wives for anything and in sunni religious law it is a formal debt if a woman spends on her family if her husband cant make up the earnings. i happily take advantage of this religious teaching in keeping my earnings separate to family money in a way my husband cant and i feel no guilt about it nor does hubby feel any resentment. or if he does, he knows he cannot ask anything of me anyway.

likewise, any crap goes down in my family its on my brothers to sort it not me because i had the privilege of being born female whereas they are lumbered with the religiocultural obligation of seeing to family problems. the comfort for their wives is that when it comes to inheritance the split takes the extra responsibility shouldered by them on, whereas i inherit according to the degree of responsibility i would have taken on for our parents which has been minor. even if there is no inheritance at the end anyway they still have to do their obligations/spend their surplus on the family if required. in the area of finances muslim men may feel just as trapped by religious expectation and duty and obligation as women can in other areas.

It’s all very well talking about property rights in the Islamic world 1000 years ago. Or that Mohammed said whatever and that means all Muslim women are emancipated sisters. Because the reality on the ground is quite the opposite.

The reality in all countries where Islam is the state religion is that women have lower status. Women in Saudi still have guardianship laws. They can’t see a doctor without male permission, nor can they go out in public, work etc. So yes they ARE confined to the house. That’s not respect. Women are still being killed and raped to ‘restore honor’ - that’s not respect. Until a woman can function in the public sphere in the same way a man can, there is a problem.

Islam as a religion has some very troubling aspects (as do most religions) - Islam as a political system is a disaster. No dissent is allowed, blasphemy is deemed criminal and apostasy is punishable by death. This is not a healthy modern society. Judicial killing for what is a victimless crime is insanity. Let’s say there is a god (there isn’t, but let’s justvpretend.) do you really think an omnipotent all knowing all powerful being can be offended? Why is this god (and I include all of them here) behaving like a toddler and throwing tantrums at what insignificant humans do? It’s all utterly bonkers and in the middle are real, living humans having their lives ripped apart. Atheist bloggers getting macheted to death in public for example.

I do not buy this ‘women of religion x are treated like princesses’ nonsense. It’s exactly what abusive men say - I keep you in because I love you. Do t wear that short skirt because men will think you’re up for it. It is the ultimate ‘look what you made me do’ and frankly humanity needs to grow up and ditch it.

When I was growing up the most powerful religion in my community was Catholicism. Similar justifications to those I've read here were used that family and mothers were sacrosanct, women looked after etc. It didn't really tally with what I saw about me but I was young and accepted people's own accounts of themselves.

Then I have seen the subsequent exposure of school violence, paedophile priests not dealt with, Magdalene Laundries.

I love many individual people of faith but I really can't stand the hypocrisy within religious groups.

Faith brings many comforts but you have to be very wary of the types who will use the opportunity to control you through your faith. Difficult, eh?

But invite not just talking about princesses or 1000years who lifestyles.

Let’s talk about the ‘most oppressed Muslim women in the world’.
In the present day 70per cent of money in Saudi banks is held by women. 70 per cent. 11billion dollars. (Time magazines figure).

Of real estate women own the majority in the capital riyadh and the commercial capital Jeddah. Source m.huffpost.com/us/entry/246848

They own the majority of businesses and property, as well as work as professionals. Isn’t money where the real power lies? It’s not so cut or dried as ‘they have to wear veils’. And certainly if Their other rights are curtailed they stil because of a religious proscription have the right to earn, inherit, invest and save their own money.

@AsMenDeclaredWomenThierInferior Its tragic what your friend had to go through, but Islam is not to blame her family acted completely against the teachings of Islam.

As I mentioned before the perpetrators of atrocities use religion to justify thier crimes against humanity no matter what faith they belong to. Islam instructs to treat all human beings with equity and justice.

please provide us with the exact source of reference you for your information which is inaccurate.

Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) abolished the barbaric practice of infanticide and the ill treatment of women.

(Ignore that’s first part no idea what happened there!)

Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) abolished the barbaric practice of infanticide and the ill treatment of women.

But he hasn’t. Women in Saudi need male guardian permission to access medical care

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) abolished the ill treatment of women...

You must be kidding yourself. There is just as much abuse of women in Islam as there is in other faiths/non faiths. that is sexual abuse by their husband, psychological abuse, and physical abuse. I think it's extremely naïve to think that there are no Muslim women who are suffering abuse at the hand of men.

Pretty much all religion is patriarchal. Christianity in the form of western state secularism is right up there.

Esposito, an Islamic affairs professor at Georgetown University and a rare Western scholar who can write about Islam with a clear head, estimates that 70 percent of the savings in Saudi banks are owned by women

How can he possibly know that?

In the UK, you can look up the Land Register and find out who owns land. If it is owned by a UK company you can look up who owns the shares. If the shares are owned by a trust or a non UK company you won't get much further.

So far as bank accounts how can you possibly know who holds them in any jurisdiction?

I'd think the OP is being fairly disingenuous - the enquiry isn't about balancing the qualities of formal religions - it appears to be a bash at Islam, and anything/one who offers any notion that doesn't fit with her world vision.

In our household we are and are treated equally and with loving respect. Nothing about the horrors recorded here. Sorry to disappoint.

You really should get out more and from behind a computer screen. imho

Who pays this professor's salary is the first question that jumped into my head. I know I'm cynical but I've learned to be.