Muslims seem to be getting a bit more defensive about the role of women in Islam.
This first one comes from Thursday's Tehran Times, West betrays women in the name of supporting them: Leader. An excerpt:
During the (anniversary of one of Muhammad's daughters) ceremony in Tehran on Wednesday, which was also the birth anniversary of the late Imam Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khamenei (the current Iranian leader) said that the fact that the day has been named Mother’s Day provides an opportunity to reflect upon the lofty status of women in Islam.
Although there are some misunderstandings in this regard, it is essential to recognize the value and dignity of women in Islam, he added.
The Supreme Leader said that women have played the most sensitive, lasting, delicate, and efficient roles over the course of history.
The greatest mistake of Western civilization is that it betrays women in the name of supporting them and actually ignores and diminishes their true role in history, society, and the family, he observed.
Ayatollah Khamenei also pointed out the unique effects of women’s affectionate motherly methods in transferring culture, civilization, and morality to society.
By giving women vain promises, the West is actually preventing women from playing their unique role in the family, and through neglecting their real rights, weakens the family, which is the foundation of every society, he stated.
Okay, we've heard from Tehran and the Shi'ites. Now over to Riyadh and the Sunnis....
From Thursday's Arab News:
Inter-Faith Marriage: Reasons for Restrictions
Q. 1. It is permissible for a Muslim man to marry a Christian or a Jewish woman. Why cannot the other way round — a Muslim woman marrying a Christian or Jewish man? It might be for the children’s sake, because children take their father’s name and religion. So, what if the husband agrees that the children will follow their mother’s religion? The mother normally has a greater effect on her children than their father
A: A.1. Islam believes in religious freedom. It does not accept that a man or a woman could or should be pressured into accepting a faith in any way other than personal conviction. Hence it allows marriage between a man and a wife belonging to a faith that is recognized by Islam as divine. When a Muslim man marries a Christian or Jewish woman, he believes in the truth of the messages God revealed to the Prophets Moses and Jesus. He respects his wife’s faith and ensures her freedom of belief and worship. If he does not, he is accountable to God for his omission. How could the same freedom be guaranteed in a reverse case where a Muslim woman marries a non-Muslim husband?
(I added the bold for emphasis)
People may profess to accept that men and women are equal, but in practice, a woman is often the weaker party in a family situation. So, why expose a Muslim woman to such a situation by allowing marriage with a man who does not believe in the truth of the message given to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)?
As for your point about a particular couple who make all sorts of agreements concerning their life together and their children, you have to remember that laws are enacted for general application, not for individual cases. Thus, if in the majority of cases, religious freedom cannot be guaranteed, we cannot say that an individual case may be excepted because we have guarantees or agreement between the two parties.
As you see, I have not referred to the status of the children, because this is a different issue. It is the question of religious freedom, and the fact of the husband’s disbelief in the Prophet of Islam that are more relevant here.
Okay, I do agree on the part about the family being the bedrock of our society.
But both Islamic views of women are shameful.
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