Chapter 11 Topic

In Chapter 11, of Ways of the World, the author goes into detail about the different role males and females played in the Islamic tradition. I find this to be very interesting and relevant to today and at the same time find it very shocking. There are still parts of the world where governments, cultures, or tribes still follow these strict Islamic Laws/Beliefs. In these places, abuse of women is rampant. Just like a thousand years ago women are promised equality when the reach heaven, but during their time on Earth equality is just a dream. In the Quran, men are considered superior and have authority over women. According to the Quran, it is okay to beat women until they do want the man wants. The Quran does give women some rights but those rights are limited and not the same as man's. For example, men are allowed to practice polygamy while women aren't. Honor killings that took place thousand years ago are still found throughout the world today and in some places are condoned. A least five times a year I read that some poor 13 to 18 year old girl was stoned to death or beheaded because she had a boyfriend or didn't want to be part of an arranged marriage. This is wrong and needs to be stopped.

I truly cannot understand why Islamic beliefs haven't developed more over time to allow for better treatment of women. I believe that you can tell a lot by a religion by the way they treat their followers as well as non-followers. Take for example Christianity, it looked a lot different a thousand years ago, and if it hadn't of changed, as its followers changed, it wouldn't be as prevalent as it is today. It would probably still believe that Earth is the center of the universe and that Science is a sin. For a religion to thrive it needs to accommodate the needs of everyone and not just the men, eventually Islamic beliefs will have to change or Islam will start to break apart. You are starting to see change happening all over the world, especially in the Middle East. More and more people are gaining access to the internet and by doing so are increasing the communication between themselves. I have been seeing women advocacy groups starting to pop up all across these Islamic countries. Soon, these groups will have more power and will have to be listened too.

But what do I know? This is just my opinion.