Women in Islam – Free or Slaves?

*Exerpt from “Half in Islam Whole in Jesus – A Woman’s Worth” Chapter 3 Cultural Traditions – published January 2020 by Mona Sabah.

Half in Islam, Whole in Jesus – A Woman’s Worth by Mona Sabah

In 2001, TIME magazine published an article that stated: “For his day, the Prophet Muhammad was a feminist. The doctrine he laid out as the revealed word of God considerably improved the status of women in 7th century Arabia. In local pagan society, it was the custom to bury alive unwanted female newborns; Islam prohibited the practice. Women had been treated as possessions of their husbands; Islamic law made the education of girls a sacred duty and gave women the right to own and inherit property. Muhammad even decreed that sexual satisfaction was a woman’s entitlement.”

The factual truth is that Muhammad helped the status of women during the pagan times and his belief in following one God was a direct departure from what the society dictated. Pagans in Arabia included those practices listed in the article as a form of idol worship, mixed with a desire to have sons to increase their family’s wealth and power. However, much of Islam’s policies on women began and ended in the 7th century. The Arab culture today firmly clings to the ancient tribal structure along with recognition of the father of the family as the patriarch and authoritarian. The women in a traditional Arab and Muslim family are subject to all the patriarch’s actions and to restrictions, including education, finances, marriage, along with any contact with outsiders. The result is controlled isolation. The author of the TIME article redeemed herself a few paragraphs later by stating that fourteen centuries later, there hasn’t been much improvement, in fact “under Islam today, it is clear that the religion has been used in most Muslim countries not to liberate but to entrench inequality.”[1]

      When I was a Muslim, I was invariably asked by American women about the status of women in Islam. I would always give a similar robotic response as the author above. I would tell people that Muhammad was ahead of his time. He prohibited female infanticide which was a pagan custom (where instead of aborting a child in the womb, women would give birth and then bury the living unwanted child in the desert sand while their tribe moved to a different location). There are Bedouin stories about how the cries of buried infants used to haunt the mothers who practiced this tradition. Muhammad banned this practice and said that children were a blessing from Allah – even female children. Surah an Nahl (The Bees in Arabic) addressed this pagan custom:

“And when the news of [the birth of] a female [child] is brought to any of them, his face becomes dark, and he is filled with inward grief! He hides himself from the people because of the evil of that whereof he has been informed. Shall he keep her with dishonor or bury her in the earth? Certainly, evil is their decision” (Quran 16:58 & 59).

      This tradition was played out in my life when my aunt came crying out of the delivery room with news that my mother had given birth to a third daughter. She was visibly upset and thought that my father (who has no sons) would have been terribly upset. My father simply told her in front of me that it was Allah’s will and that all children (girls or boys) were a blessing from heaven. Still today, Muslims believe that the Quran is unclear on its stance for abortion. There is debate today that affects modern Muslim women who wish to abort their children and are unclear on rulings from the Quran due to confusing language. An article from the Muslim Institute titled “The future of abortion rights in Islam”[2] shares the frustration of what is a proper ruling on the matter. However, the Muslim Brotherhood published a statement[3] to clarify Islamic ruling by stating:

“A closer look at these articles reveals what decadence awaits our world, if we sign this document:

1. Granting girls full sexual freedom, as well as the freedom to decide their own gender and the gender of their partners (ie, choose to have normal or homo- sexual relationships), while raising the age of marriage.

2. Providing contraceptives for adolescent girls and training them to use those, while legalizing abortion to get rid of unwanted pregnancies, in the name of sexual and reproductive rights.

3. Granting equal rights to adulterous wives and illegitimate sons resulting from adulterous relationships.

4. Granting equal rights to homosexuals and providing protection and respect for prostitutes.

5. Giving wives full rights to file legal complaints against husbands accusing them of rape or sexual harassment, obliging competent authorities to deal husbands punishments similar to those prescribed for raping or sexually harassing a stranger.

6. Equal inheritance (between men and women).

7. Replacing guardianship with partnership, and full sharing of roles within the family between men and women such as: spending, child care and home chores.

8. Full equality in marriage legislation such as: allowing Muslim women to marry non-Muslim men, and abolition of polygamy, dowry, men taking charge of family spending, etc.

9. Removing the authority of divorce from husbands and placing it in the hands of judges and sharing all property after divorce.

10. Cancelling the need for a husband’s consent in matters like: travel, work, or use of contraception.

These are destructive tools meant to undermine the family as an important institution; they would subvert the entire society and drag it to pre-Islamic ignorance.”

The Muslim Brotherhood further encouraged all women’s organizations, the leaders of Muslim countries and their United Nations representatives to reject and condemn these types of actions and to repent of this as an act against the standards of Islam. So, it seems that while one side is trying to cater to modern issues and women’s rights, the other (and perhaps more forceful) side is saying the opposite to the Muslim world. There exists a great dichotomy that causes confusion.


[1] Beyer, L. (2001). “The Women in Islam.” TIME Magazine. http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,185647,00.html

[2] Shameen, N. (2013). “The future of abortion rights in Islam” https://musliminstitute.org/freethinking/islam/future-abortion-rights-islam

[3] March 14, 2013. Muslim Brotherhood Official Statement. http://ikhwanweb.com/muslim-brotherhood-statement-denouncing-un-women-declaration-for-violating-sharia-principles/

Father’s Day

dadandI
My father and me in Murree, Pakistan

Father’s Day is a reminder to us to go back and think of our earthly father who has influenced us over the course of our life. My father has been a generous source of caring and love. I have photos of him carrying his daughters around and you can see his giant grin that goes from ear to ear. He is the kind of father that is ready with a hilarious joke, a well-told story or the loving kindness in his smile – even for strangers.

Over the years, I have come to the realization that some don’t have a warm, fuzzy recollection of our father. For some, that person was just a “donor” and left soon after they were born. Others never knew an earthly father who raised them up.

We live in a broken, messed up world. There are painful stories people have shared with me that have brought me to tears, listening to the cruelty and heartbreak of an uncaring, missing father. Some of these personal stories have left me wondering how does this person carry on with their life or even more than that – how do they have a role model to follow?

Not only did I have my father who raised me up, but we had the additional blessing of having our maternal grandparents who lived with us for several years. My grandfather (lovingly called “Abba”) was also kind, caring and ready to sit with you. He wanted to be involved in your life and was genuine in his affection.  He was quiet in his manners and demeanor but made you feel special even when you sat next to him. He had all the time in the world to spend with you.

When I became a Christian, imagine my surprise at reading about how Jesus taught his disciples to pray in Matthew 6: “Our Father in heaven,  hallowed be your name…” He told them to call God their Father. It even got more strange for me, because I was told the Aramaic (what Jesus spoke to his disciples) – “Abba.”  I about flipped out of my chair that Sunday morning! Abba was my grandfather – my grandpa. Abba was not God Almighty’s name!

As a Muslim, I was taught that God was way up high in the heavens and that he was indifferent to us unless it was during the time of prayer. You see, as  a Muslim, you have to have an appointment to truly talk to God. Even then, you aren’t really “talking” to him as an equal. You are bringing in your petition like a slave does to a king. You bow down low (literally the case during prayer) and then you say certain verses in Arabic. You don’t just plop down on the couch and chit chat with God (YIKES! Blasphemous!) but you approach His throne (see another post I wrote on this here: MY Dad’s Chair) carefully so you don’t cause offense.

There is no relationship with God. That is just a ridiculous notion to a Muslim. When I heard someone praying and calling God Almighty her “Daddy,” I freaked out then also. I did not realize that Jesus had given us the model to pray. We truly DO have the freedom to call Him our Father in Heaven, as well as “Abba.” He is just that close to us in a true relationship.

What a mind-blowing revelation to me! Yet, many Christians take this fact as nothing special. When we realize that we have officially been adopted into the Kingdom of the LORD God Almighty – creator of Heavens and earth, we should be shaking in our shoes. Instead, He welcomes us into an embrace – He runs to us (Prodigal Son parable – see Luke 15:20) with joy and His arms open wide!

On Father’s Day today, if you have a crummy earthly father, don’t give up hope. If you have a missing earthly father, don’t give up looking. If you have a wonderful earthly father, give God praise. For all of us, remember that we have a PERFECT Heavenly Father who is waiting for us very patiently to return to Him so He will run to us, embrace us, and call us His child.  What a wonderful God, Redeemer and Savior we have! Amen.