Islamic Bill of Rights for Women

[The American]

Text of the 10-point Islamic Bill of Rights for Women in the Mosque, presented Friday by author and Islamic activist Asra Q. Nomani during the controversial mixed-gender Muslim prayer held in New York.

Woman have an Islamic right to enter a mosque.

2 Women have an Islamic right to enter through the main door.

3 Women have an Islamic right to visual and auditory access to the main sanctuary, or musalla.

4 Women have an Islamic right to pray in the musalla without being separated by a barrier, including in the front and in the mixed-gender congregational lines.

5 Women have an Islamic right to address any and all members of the congregation.

6 Women have an Islamic right to hold leadership positions, including positions as prayer leaders, or imams, and as members of the board of directors and management committees.

7 Women have an Islamic right to be full participants in all congregational activities.

8 Women have an Islamic right to lead and participate in meetings, study sessions, and other community activities without being separated by a barrier.

9 Women have an Islamic right to be greeted and addressed cordially.

10 Women have an Islamic right to respectful treatment and exemption from gossip and slander.

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4282578

I am just wondering, do American women know how good they have it? I am curious to hear some of the input from women here.

[Mia]

I'm not saying we have it worse, by any means, but women over here get beaten, raped at a much higher rate than in Islamic countries, 'deadbeat dad's', which many Islamic countries don't allow...I think women everywhere and in all times have their disadvantages. At the end of the day, most men can get the upper hand with superior strength and/or earning power. Also, all Islamic countries are not the same, and the negatives to women come from the rulers not the religion. The Quron gives more respect to women than the Bible in a lot of ways.

[Hazzard]

Women are treated like shit all over the world. Not to victimise them or anything but hey its true. So lets avoid a competition of who treats our women best. We are all human beings and should be treated as such. I personaly do think that women are better suited at certain roles then men, and men likewise. Women physicaly and mentaly are better suited to care for children and attend to a household. Men are better suited for providing. If a women doesnt want to hey she should have the choice I think. If a man doesnt want to, he doesn have a choice I find .

[The American]

The point here is, however, when a woman is sh*t on here, she has the rights to defend herself, in which many do not. The Koran, does not give much respect to women. It definately does not set them up as an authoritive figure. You cover your face, and there are only certain times you are even able to speak.

Islam women even had to be cautious of what door they entered. I don't disagree with any of your answers, it is what I asked for. Thanks for responding.

[Nono]

(...) women over here get beaten, raped at a much higher rate than in Islamic countries (...)

Source? Cause that don't ring true a-tall.
Have you ever been to an Islamic country, Mia? It might be an eye-opener for you.

You're certainly right that it's the clergy -- as in all cleric-ridden religions -- that uses it as a power tool. There's definitely enough stuff in the Koran, like the Bible, that anyone can find anything he's looking for (many are cold but few are frozen, whatever). No wonder the Sufis have such a tough time.

[RickSp]

I would be cautious generalizing too broadly about what Islam is or is not. There is no single answer. Many Americans take Saudi Wahabi fundamentalism as all of Islam, when they are a relatively small sect. Until recently the world's largest Islamic country, Indonesia, had a woman Prime Minister until she was defeated in a free election. The US has never had a woman chief executive while Islamic Turkey and Pakistan both have had women Prime Ministers, in Pakistans' case, twice.

If you took the "rules" for worship for women in the traditional Orthodox Jewish services, you might not find them to be so different from "Islamic" rules. Even many Christian fundamentalist groups in the US have some pretty horrific rules regarding women. All three Semetic religions have much in common.

Before claiming that "the Koran, does not give much respect to women" you might consider that neither does the Christian or Jewish Bibles, depending on how you interpret them.

[Lilith]

Before claiming that "the Koran, does not give much respect to women" you might consider that neither does the Christian or Jewish Bibles, depending on how you interpret them.

Amen, to that. It does all stem on how one interepets these texts. Some better than others. I think it's all BS myself. With roots in far distant ancient times when Female dominated religions were upsurped by Male dominated ones...not that I am advocating one over the other. There should be a balance. Hopefully, we as human beings are on the road to finding that balance.

[Hazzard]

Exactly, nowhere in the Koran does it say anything about treating women like crap. Like the bible, which also teaches women to respect men, it also asks men to treat women with love. I dont think Islam teaches men to abuse women at all, its just how they behave generaly, or how they CHOOSE to perceive the Koran. I love it when americans are duped into concidering Islam to be some evil monstrous thing. Sheep! you realy dont understand how well your government has made a monster out of muslims. ROAR! LOOK OUT ITS THE EVIL MUSLIM MONSTER ROAR!

[Mia]

The point here is, however, when a woman is sh*t on here, she has the rights to defend herself, in which many do not. The Koran, does not give much respect to women. It definately does not set them up as an authoritive figure. You cover your face, and there are only certain times you are even able to speak.

Islam women even had to be cautious of what door they entered. I don't disagree with any of your answers, it is what I asked for. Thanks for responding.

The Quron does not require covering, except for in prayer, and that is for men also. It is the other books that most Muslims believe in, and the current-day scholars that call for that.

The Quran says that women naturally bear more burdens than men, and should accordingly be given the respect and taken care of for it. It says if she wants to work, she shall be allowed, but the husband may take no part of her earnings. And if she doesn't wish to, she shall not be compelled to.

So the joke 'what's mine is mine, and what's yours is mine' actually came from a meaningful source!
:p

What some of these Islamic countries do is not from the Quran, but from men, like everywhere else.

[Mia]

Source? Cause that don't ring true a-tall.
Have you ever been to an Islamic country, Mia? It might be an eye-opener for you.

You're certainly right that it's the clergy -- as in all cleric-ridden religions -- that uses it as a power tool. There's definitely enough stuff in the Koran, like the Bible, that anyone can find anything he's looking for (many are cold but few are frozen, whatever). No wonder the Sufis have such a tough time.

The beaten wasn't meant to be in the 'more often' category. Only rape. I was just mentioning that women here are beaten too, and left with children and no way to care for them properly, etc., and Islamic law does not allow a man not to provide for his wife and children.

No, I haven't beeen to an Islamic country. And there are many I wouldn't set foot in. And many non-Islamic as well. Brazil, for instance, is worse for a woman that KSA, which is one of the worst Islamic nations for a woman. I believe some of the African Islamic nations are the worst of the worst - still doing female circumcision :( , etc.

I shouldn't act like I know that much, though, when my real familiarity is with Syria, which is a secular state. But my understanding from reading is that rape is far lower in Islamic nations on average. (when the penalty is public castration, you can see why).

But I do know they cannot all be lumped into a general category, and that in some there are balances that put women in as good of a position as here.

What about Eastern European countries that still marry girls off at 14? I just think that everyone likes to pound on anything Islamic or middle-eastern, and there is just as much nastiness all around. Eastern Europe, South America, China......

Women are playing a large role in the drawing up of Sharia Law in Iraq, which was the original topic header. It's part of their religion and affords them as many safeguards as limitations, if applied correctly.

[Nono]

Yes, they shouldn't be lumped together. Syria, Tunisia or Jordan, say, are a far cry from Mauritania, Somalia or -- God help us -- Saudi Arabia.

India is an interesting case, what with about 110 million Muslims constituting the country's second-largest religious community. From what I know it doesn't sound like much fun being a Muslim woman there, unless you one of the pampered few. But is it any better on the whole for Hindu women? I doubt it.

As Hazzard pointed out, women are treated like shit practically the world over.

[Mia]

I love the old Hindu practice, occassionally still occuring, that when a man dies, his wife is burned alive on his grave. That's nice.

Tunisia is one of the better ones for women? I have excellent memory for concepts and conclusions, but not details. I studied this, and found some of the African 'Islamic' (that's in quotes because these practices are NOT Islamic any more than the actions of Jim Jones are Christian) nations are the most backward and unforgiving. One of them had a big ta-do over something to do with the Miss World contest, and people were killed over it.

Again, in addition to bashing Islam, people only seem to want to talk about Islam in Middle-Eastern States. So sometimes I wish everyone would call a spade a spade and admit that we have a gigantic prejudice over here against the Middle East. Just the term 'middle east' conjurs up negative connotations.

Hell, the IRA has committed more terrorist actions than Middle-Easterns. More planes have been hijacked by white people, but we are scared of any Arab we see. It's really getting retarded.

And back to the thread title, why does no one talk about the bad circumstances of women in all the countries that come to a lot bigger number than the total of Islamic or Middle-eastern states?

I know the answer - the TV. But we shouldn't be so ignorant.