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Life Talk!

Women in the West and in Qur'anic civilization

~MemoTheHun~

Germany

read before answering ;)

 

 

 

Women's liberation is a much discussed subject, can you compare the attitudes of materialist Western civilization and Qur'anic civilization towards women and demonstrate where true freedom for women lies?


It may clear from the descriptions in the first and second sections above that the aim of materialist Western civilization is not to fulfil the needs of human nature, but rather to exploit that nature in whatever ways it can in order to perpetuate itself despite its rotten foundations. The position of women in the West is truly grievous. Their true nature and role in the family and home are being systematically destroyed. They are the main sacrificial victims to the voracious idol of the consumer society.
The system demands that their bodies are exploited for advertising purposes. And besides exciting the greed and lust of others, they themselves are under constant presssure to spend and acquire ever more in the way of possessions and luxuries for the home. The inducement of fashion is utilized to astonishing degrees in the West, so that women are encouraged not only to buy more and more in the way of clothes and to follow fashions in make-up and the like, but also to change all the furnishings in their homes, down to even their bathrooms, every year or two. Of course, all this means that they have to abandon their homes and families and go out to work.
These developments are portrayed as progress and liberation for women, as the gaining of equal opportunities with men in the field of work and the professions. The false concept of equality is taken as the aim.  Totally contrary to human nature, women are encouraged to seek equality with men in every field, from work to the home. But in fact this unachievable aim is cynically put forward to deceive unfortunate women and to cloak the ugly reality of the situation.
While feminists in the West have reacted strongly against the exploitation of women in maintaining the capitalist system, in fact, they support many of these developments since they encourage the 'liberation' of women from the 'slavery' of their role in the home and family. 'Sex roles' being an artificial device engineered to perpetuate that 'slavery'. However, they themselves are calling women not to freedom but to even greater slavery. For what they are calling them to is the rejection of their own natures for the sake of some ill-defined 'rights' that consist of absolute freedom to follow their own whims and what they imagine to be their own interests unrestricted by the rights of others. How can women stripping themselves of their womanhood be seen as freedom? They are making a very bad bargain, their compassionate natures and exalted position in the scheme of things in return for total enslavement to their own individual whims and desires.
How different is the attitude of Qur'anic civilization towards women! The mercy that is Islam recognizes the manner in which they have been created and ensures through Islamic dress and other requirements that they are able to carry out their duties with their children and in the home protected and in perfect dignity.
Islamic dress and the 'position of women' generally in Islam are much misunderstood in the West, but as the many thousands of women brought up in Western society testify, Islamic dress is in complete accord with their natures and gives them the protection and ease of mind that that nature requires. And they find that indeed 'the woman's place is in the home,' that it is not a prison-sentence but on the contrary is a most gratifying duty and service of the greatest responsibility since it entails the bringing-up of thesucceeding generation. Islamic dress is a safeguard for this vitally important role, indicating to its importance and protecting women from any kind of indignity and exploitation.
The contradictory position of feminists is very apparent here, for they vigorously oppose the exploitation of the female body for advertising and other purposes while at the same time seeking 'freedom' or to get rid of any sort of restriction on women's dress and behaviour. However, what becomes apparent to the many 'new' Muslim women is that to expose their bodies at all to men outside their families is to both exploit themselves and to be exploited. To act as a means of exciting the lust, desire, and greed of strangers is to be exploited and for women to take pleasure in thus doing is to exploit and to degrade themselves. It is not freedom but once again to enslave themselves to their own individual desires and the desires of others.
What is freedom for women, then? Freedom for women lies in recognizing their true nature, in recognizing what teaches them what that nature is and  then _ protects   and   safeguards   it.   God


Almighty's final revealed religion of Islam does this in the most perfect form. And what does that mean? It in fact means abandoning their own desires and recognizing that they are not beings with 'rights', but creatures with duties, like all the beings in the universe, and that happiness and freedom are only to be found in the performance of those duties.
And if they are creatures with duties, then that happiness and freedom will increase in proportion to their learning to know the Giver of those important and pleasurable duties, the Single All-Wise and Compassionate Creator. For the more they learn about the Giver of the duties, the more they will learn what the duties truly consist of. The more they can abandon their own wishes and desires the more they may draw closer to conforming to the will and wisdom of the One Who plans and runs the whole universe, which are so apparent from its order, balance and harmony. This is where true freedom lies. In belief and in submission to a Single All-Wise and Compassionate God Who thus orders and administers the whole universe as a unified whole and employs all the creatures in it according to His absolute wisdom. Freedom lies in Islam, therefore, which is that belief and which protects and safeguards those who recognize and adhere to it.


At the same time it is essential to point out here that this duty of women should not restrict the development of their intellectual and other abilities. Rather, the one should complement the other. If women are truly to carry out their duties in bringing up their children, they have to continuously study and develop their belief. In other words, as human beings their primary duty is to develop their belief in God, as women their duties are in the home. These complementary duties are essential to each other, one should never be an obstacle to or prevent the other.

05:48 PM Dec 30 2009 |

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~MemoTheHun~

Germany

by the way, to let you know, I read all the texts I share.

05:56 PM Dec 30 2009 |

gkisseberth

Germany

that's good to know. Sadly, some don't.

07:07 PM Dec 30 2009 |

moon_light_2008

Saudi Arabia

good say Memo .. thanks ..

I would like to clarify couple of points for what you said.

when we talk about the role of women being in homes, it is usually getting the wrong idea and being misunderstood. First thing they would think is cleaning, washing and cooking etc …. they forgot that someone has to educate the children, someone has to bring them up , teaching them , take care of them .. someone really has to provide love and mercy between the members of the famliy .. they are good and perfect in managing home's matters. And it is better for me to go out working and struggling while my wife is taking care of home, her honor and her children regarldless of seconday things such cooking and whatever else. but when father is all the time out looking for money or wahtever , and the mother does so , hmmm what kind of famliy would that be ..

Another point is that when we are talking about women , i really want to see some comments from women ! we are men talking about women !!! we are muslim men trying to explain to non-muslim women about muslim women !!!!  if someone really wants to know about muslim women, how they feel , what are thier duties, how they interact with their societies , go ahead and ask a muslim woman who knows her religion and has a relationship with her creator , then we can say you got fair enough answer.

Last one is that I my self have been living in both societies of muslims and non-muslims , and really there is big huuuuge difference between their women. One of them really is in such a big mess and being abused badly. However i will leave the answer for you.

And I would remind my self that we really have to reform our treatment toward our women ,, our women are mothers , wives , sisters and daughters. they are our queens :) so let's treat them well and in the best way ;)..

10:41 PM Dec 30 2009 |

~MemoTheHun~

Germany

Yes, I also think it is a topic for only women to talk. But the interest in knowing the truth is less.

 

Another failure for prejudices is the living situation of women in many Islamic states. I would agree that there are many women who get abused and misused. But the ones who fully live after Islamic rules, would never have problems. 

It is in some parts our fault, that the prejudices are so strong. We Muslims just dont live after Islamic rules and dont accept it fully in our life.That's the problem.

09:28 AM Dec 31 2009 |

moon_light_2008

Saudi Arabia

yes and I like this so much " the false concept of equality " i always had this in my mind and finally i got someone thinking the same as me :P

And one more thing … I didn't mean that the muslim society who abuse women, no. I meant that the non-muslims societies are really abusing their women in all patterns and ways .. well that is what I have seen my self :D ..

And regarding your say "the intrest in knowing truth is less", yes you are right, they are totally careless . OMG they are killing me sometimes by their cold reactions :D .. but don't worry brother, really and really then really the TRUTH is CLEAR and the FALSEHOOD is CLEAR .. hell is there and paradise is there ;) so everyone chooses what  fits him/her ..

I still want to see some womenly comments :D ..

good say and thanks :)

01:32 PM Dec 31 2009 |

~MemoTheHun~

Germany

I WONDER WHY SOME SAY IT IS NOT EQUALITY USING AN HEADSCARF.   WHAT IS HARDERWEARING A SCARF OR CLOSING THE EYES? :D 

 I WOULD CHANGE IT; IF A MUSLIM WOMEN WANTS TO CHANGE :P

03:13 PM Dec 31 2009 |

~MemoTheHun~

Germany

At-Tin
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
By the fig and the olive, (1) By Mount Sinai, (2) And by this land made safe; (3) Surely We created man of the best stature (4) Then we reduced him to the lowest of the low, (5) Save those who believe and do good works, and theirs is a reward unfailing. (6) So who henceforth will give the lie to thee about the judgment? (7) Is not Allah the most conclusive of all judges? (8)

08:23 PM Dec 31 2009 |

fabs1

fabs1

United Kingdom

 

 A critifcal look at the article ( Yes, I read it all)

 

The first paragraph lost me.

 

The position of women in the West is truly grievous.

Is it?

 

The system demands that their bodies are exploited for advertising purposes.

Is it the system? Or just people's desires that make it profitable to use such advertising?

 

And besides exciting the greed and lust of others, they themselves are under constant presssure to spend and acquire ever more in the way of possessions and luxuries for the home.

Are they? Women in the West do not have any free will or motivations outside of some pop cultural image according to the article. I wonder if the people that write this actually live in the West, among the people that they're writing about.

 

This article again creates a split, black and white picture: Western civilization is immoral and materialistic . Islamic civilization is good, moral and spiritual.

Is it really? Do the societies of the Muslim world really live up to these ideals? Are these countries that better off socially then the 'decadent, materialistic' West?

Are women, who apparently are nothing more than 'sex objects' in the West, better off in countries such as Saudi Arabia or Iran?

Is an Islamic society better for women? All indications point at no. Rape and oppression still go on in these countries. Need I mention the rape of opposition protesters by the Iranian authorities in jails?

 

Western society is far from perfect, but it sure as hell is better than what Islam has shown to offer. I'd pick the former any  day, and you can call me 'anti-Islamic' if it makes it easier to label me, than consider what I have to say.

 

What the article says about the feminists is true, at least for some of them, that are radical enough.

 

How different is the attitude of Qur'anic civilization towards women! The mercy that is Islam recognizes the manner in which they have been created and ensures through Islamic dress and other requirements that they are able to carry out their duties with their children and in the home protected and in perfect dignity.

According to this, women seem to have only one role in such a society, child bearers exiled to the home.

 

Islamic dress is in complete accord with their natures and gives them the protection and ease of mind that that nature requires. And they find that indeed 'the woman's place is in the home,' that it is not a prison-sentence but on the contrary is a most gratifying duty and service of the greatest responsibility since it entails the bringing-up of thesucceeding generation. Islamic dress is a safeguard for this vitally important role, indicating to its importance and protecting women from any kind of indignity and exploitation.

 

So women want nothing other than to have their hair covered, by 'nature' and to wear clothes that completely cover every orifice of their bodies.

Again, I've read these arguments hundreds of times by Muslims and it seems that to them, there is no middle ground between this:

 

 

 

and this:

 

 

Is this logical to me? No.

 

However, what becomes apparent to the many 'new' Muslim women is that to expose their bodies at all to men outside their families is to both exploit themselves and to be exploited.

This again jumps to the assumption that women wear the clothes that they do just for the sake of men. What of those that do it just for its own sake?

Why is 'exploitation' used in every second sentence when talking about Western women? The approach of this article is typical to the usual dualism that religous Muslims apply to the world.

 

The article continues on the same tangent:

"To act as a means of exciting the lust, desire, and greed of strangers is to be exploited and for women to take pleasure in thus doing is to exploit and to degrade themselves. It is not freedom but once again to enslave themselves to their own individual desires and the desires of others."

Again, there's only two possibilites apparently available to women: Dressing freely -> exploitation by men   OR Dressing conservatively and according to Islamic standards -> happy life and lots of children.

Is this really all that is available?

 

 

It in fact means abandoning their own desires and recognizing that they are not beings with 'rights', but creatures with duties, like all the beings in the universe, and that happiness and freedom are only to be found in the performance of those duties.

I think its thinking like this by which the religious men in Islam have legislated women out of ANY rights, as they are unable to play an active role in their own lives. 'Duties', who defines those duties? It certainly isn't a female ulama. Women are forced into a circumscribed role, and kept in it through tradition.

Modesty is a virtue for sure, but its not something that someone else decides and forces on women. It has to be understoof and chosen freely, unlike how Islam and Islamic countries do.

 

Freedom lies in Islam, therefore, which is that belief and which protects and safeguards those who recognize and adhere to it.

 

This map from Freedomhouse.org can help anyone try and estimate the correlation between 'Islam' and practical, everyday, respect of human rights and freedom of the individual:

 

 

10:59 PM Dec 31 2009 |

~MemoTheHun~

Germany

The false concept of equality is taken as the aim.

 

I marked this sentence for you.

 

It is useless for me to read your answer and writing answer to it. I just read the first part and as I have always been saying: It is wasting time talking with you, isnt it? Keep in contact with DJ.

11:09 PM Dec 31 2009 |

Lovely Fabian

United Arab Emirates

Most Southeast and Fareastern countries are westernized in some ways, not to mention..

 

I should not add more because Fabs already dissected the article exactly the way I wanted it.. However, I would like to give a differrent angle to that selection..

04:41 PM Jan 01 2010 |