This quote exemplifies gender inequality in the Qur'an, a problem that continues to occur in Muslim society today. Many of the most notable religious texts, including the Bible, contain passages that seen to demean women. Men were seen as the dominant and superior gender of the time these ancient texts were written, and it is often difficult to transfer over these texts to resound with women of religion today. This chapter of the Qur'an ends with the following quote: "a man is titled to twice the sharing of the female" (Women 4:176). This reiterates the fact that men were believed to have more value than women. My question for the class is as follows, keeping in mind that I am not familiar with Islam. Does the Qur'an demean women more than other religious texts, or are these passages simply a product of the time in which they were written, similar to other philosophical works from this time period?
I think that the Qur'an contains a similar amount of gender inequality as other religious texts from the time. When reading the Bible, especially the Old Testament, there were many parts where women were treated unfairly or ignored. However, people today see Muslims as much more oppressive to women than other comparable religious groups, and they point to the Qur'an as the cause of this. I think that the difference is that as was pointed out in the Plenary, the Qur'an is considered the direct word of Allah, and therefore there is little room for error or human interpretation, whereas in the Bible and other works, they are seen as written by humans, so there is room for error and change, which has led to changes in the way women are seen and treated.
ReplyDeleteI think that the Qur'an contains a similar amount of gender inequality as other religious texts from the time. When reading the Bible, especially the Old Testament, there were many parts where women were treated unfairly or ignored. However, people today see Muslims as much more oppressive to women than other comparable religious groups, and they point to the Qur'an as the cause of this. I think that the difference is that as was pointed out in the Plenary, the Qur'an is considered the direct word of Allah, and therefore there is little room for error or human interpretation, whereas in the Bible and other works, they are seen as written by humans, so there is room for error and change, which has led to changes in the way women are seen and treated.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that the oppression of women in modern day Islamic societies is not derived directly from the Qur'an. It is from centuries of developing through time in these cultures that the current situation has derived. The Qur'an, Old Testament, and New Testament all exhibit equal amounts of gender inequality, and it is therefore unreasonable to blame the current oppression of women in islam purely to the Qur'an.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that the Qur'an seemed to me to give more rights to women than other texts that we have studied as this was not what I expected. Especially in the section that outlined how women have a right to their own inheritance in their families and that what they inherit is not immediately passed to their husbands.
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