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Islam and Women's Rights
Jan. 31st, 2007 02:50 pmSince Islam's position on women's rights is such a hot topic in the West, I thought I'd post a leaflet on the topic that was given to me by one of our students, part of a packet of materials produced by Qatar Guest Center.
( Women's Rights )
#23 is my personal favorite: "If a man kills a woman intentionally, he -- under Islamic law -- incurs the death penalty, even if the victim was his wife." The "even if the victim was his wife" seems like a rather telling phrase. Apparently the author assumes that the default position is that men do have the right to kill their wives, and Islam is to be applauded for saying otherwise. Hmm.
Now don't get me wrong, I think that Westerners tend to overstate the oppression of Muslim women. Women's rights are nowhere close to Qatar's biggest human rights problem, and we should never forget that the advent of Islam was radically feminist. Still, I am very much bothered by the objectification of women that underlies brochures like these. I don't want to be a jewel, a rose or a gazelle. I am unimpressed that men are killed for "fail[ing] to preserve the jewel[s] ... in [their] possession." If the author was trying to give me warm, fuzzy feelings about Islam, he failed pretty spectacularly.
( Women's Rights )
#23 is my personal favorite: "If a man kills a woman intentionally, he -- under Islamic law -- incurs the death penalty, even if the victim was his wife." The "even if the victim was his wife" seems like a rather telling phrase. Apparently the author assumes that the default position is that men do have the right to kill their wives, and Islam is to be applauded for saying otherwise. Hmm.
Now don't get me wrong, I think that Westerners tend to overstate the oppression of Muslim women. Women's rights are nowhere close to Qatar's biggest human rights problem, and we should never forget that the advent of Islam was radically feminist. Still, I am very much bothered by the objectification of women that underlies brochures like these. I don't want to be a jewel, a rose or a gazelle. I am unimpressed that men are killed for "fail[ing] to preserve the jewel[s] ... in [their] possession." If the author was trying to give me warm, fuzzy feelings about Islam, he failed pretty spectacularly.
