I was talking with my friend the other day about Islam and women and we came to a conclusion that Muslim women are definitely in a lose lose situation. Partly if not in whole, they are to blame. Here are why we reached that conclusion!
1- They have to follow a dress code, as they have to cover up their body from head to toe. While it is OK for men to go in Shorts and T-shirts.
They did not protest this early on in Islam.
2- Prophet Mohamed says they are lacking in brain and in Religion.
They did not grab that as an excuse and run naked and do whatever they wish to do and if told off they just say: Allah made us with less brain and less religion.
3- Prophet Mohamed says the majority of Hell's residence are women.
They did not protest that.
4- Women who are fortunate and go to heaven, they get to watch their husbands shag 72 virgin girls in heaven.
They did not ask why they can't have 72 sexy young men in heaven.
5- They don't inherit as much as their male counterparts.
6- They testify in pairs, as one man testimony is equivalent to 2 women in Islamic courts!
7- They are not allowed to travel without a male companion.
8- They can not pray in mosques alongside men. They have to go to the very back of the mosque or preferably they pray at home with the children.
9- Men allowed to marry 4 women, and women can not marry 4 men!
10- Men allowed by Quran to hit women.
11- Women can not marry someone without the permission of her father or brother or a male gardian.
12- Women can only marry muslims, men do not have to
13- A nation headed by a woman shall never succeed
14- The worst sin and distraction from virtue that I have left for man is woman
15- If I have commanded kneeling for somebody, I would command a woman to kneel for her husband
16- The husband has the right to have sex with his wife even if she is above the camel
17- A woman shall not fast without the permission of her husband
If you have more points that show woman in a lose lose situation please feel free to continue with the list!
Women are as much to blame for the misogyny in Islam as the men. They perpetuate the rigid patriarchal system that imprisons them and other muslim women because they are used to it, because they are brainwashed into thinking their lot in life is to be good little slaves to god and his men.
Just like muslim men, muslim women are trapped inside the dogma they were raised in, believing it to be the only truth, the unquestionable, righteous path. The more ignorant you are, the better Muslim you'll make. The difference is that while muslim men get to enjoy the perks Islam gives them (multiple wives, higher status than women, ownership rights over wives and children, financial independence, wearing whatever they want, etc.), muslim women are second class citizens in the Islamic world. They are disempowered and tend to find their power vicariously by propping up the men around them, which of course works great for the their muslim fathers, husbands, brothers and sons. Muslim women also seem to have little to no concern for other women. Their only semblance of power comes from being submissive little slaves to muslim men and to cooperate with men to subjugate other women.
Thus you have mothers who raise sons with a lot more freedom and attention than they raise their daughters, women who push their sons and brothers to be stricter with their wives, to marry multiple women, etc. All this is just part of muslim women's lives because they believe they are muslim first and women second. This is also why feminism in Islam doesn't take hold until a woman becomes secularized, or totally irreligious. But then, of course, other traditional muslim men and women stop listening to her.
The only way to be a muslim woman is to accept that you are a slave to god and to god's men, from mohammed on down to your husband. Why more women don't apostate more than men, I'm still trying to figure out, but I would guess that women have been so used to being lower in status, they've adapted to it. Plus, women are generally more concerned about community reputation "what will others think" partly because they want their children to be protected and admired in their communities.
Plus, women are raised from a very young age to be demure, subdued, quiet, submissive, polite, and non-confrontational. Unlike boys whose curiosity and rebellion are encouraged and often rewarded, the same traits are discouraged, mocked and denounced in girls. As a result, many women grow up never learning how to respect their own points of view, how to demand respect and how to question authority. Islam also discourages women from being financially independent, by giving her less in inheritance, by encouraging early marriages and lots of breeding. Thus, women when they become biologically and hormonally attached to protecting their kids end up accepting their "fate" however bad it might be, with abusive husbands, polygyny etc. Those women who happen to be in happy muslim marriages also tend to disregard that they got lucky but that their religion allows their husbands to exercise an immense amount of power over them. In general, I find the state of muslim women to be truly sad - they are suffering from a kind of stockholm syndrome, identifying with their oppressors.
Ultimately, every oppressive man was raised under the roof of a woman who has no idea who she is as a woman, only that she is a creature of lesser status in her religion and that's something she's learned to live with by various means of adaptation.
Topic: Women in Islam are in a lose lose situation!