PANEL: ISLAM TREATS WOMEN WITH RESPECT, EQUALITY

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3 total messages Started by Mir Sat, 19 Apr 2003 04:58

#128

Author: Mir
Date: Sat, 19 Apr 2003 04:58

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Jonathon Williams, The Morning News, 4/18/03
http://www.nwaonline.net/283702058639901.bsp

FAYETTEVILLE -- The religion of Islam granted social and property rights to 
women centuries before non-Islamic Western nations and is undeserving of 
its stereotype as the world religion least friendly to women, speakers at 
the University of Arkansas said Thursday.

Aicha Elshabini, a Muslim and the chair of the department of electrical 
engineering at the university, said women who are oppressed in some Islamic 
nations suffer because of politics or culture, not because of religion.

"Islam acknowledges women as equal partners to men in fulfilling God's 
mission for us on this Earth," she said.

Elshabini spoke with two other Muslim women as part of a panel discussion 
about Women in Islam in the Arkansas Union. The discussion was sponsored by 
Al-Islam, a student organization founded after the terrorist attacks of 
Sept. 11, 2001, to foster peace among different religions and cultures.

The increased American interest in the Middle East has flooded people with 
media reports about the repression of women in Islamic nations, symbolized 
by the image of women wearing the traditional Muslim veil, speakers said.

Salma Ghania, a Muslim from Philadelphia, said she is "shocked and 
outraged" to see reports of how women are treated in some Islamic nations, 
but that oppression is not from the teachings of the Koran or the Islamic 
prophet Mohammed, she said.

Islamic scriptures allowed women to inherit property and choose and divorce 
husbands centuries before Western nations, she said. Men are instructed 
repeatedly throughout Islamic holy texts to respect and honor their 
mothers, daughters and wives, she said.

Re: PANEL: ISLAM TREATS WOMEN WITH RESPECT, EQUALITY

#129

Author: John Gilmer
Date: Sat, 19 Apr 2003 20:10

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"Mir" <Mir_Saheb@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:62078165.0304182058.410512a5@posting.google.com...
> Jonathon Williams, The Morning News, 4/18/03
> http://www.nwaonline.net/283702058639901.bsp
>
> FAYETTEVILLE -- The religion of Islam granted social and property rights
to
> women centuries before non-Islamic Western nations and is undeserving of
> its stereotype as the world religion least friendly to women, speakers at
> the University of Arkansas said Thursday.

Yeah, yeah.   The the muslims encouraged scientific research, etc. when
europe was in the dark ages.

But today, Islam is definitely a "barefoot and pregnant" style religion.

Re: PANEL: ISLAM TREATS WOMEN WITH RESPECT, EQUALITY

#130

Author: The Expatriate
Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2003 07:52

34 lines
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In article <62078165.0304182058.410512a5@posting.google.com>,
 Mir_Saheb@hotmail.com (Mir) wrote:

> Jonathon Williams, The Morning News, 4/18/03
> http://www.nwaonline.net/283702058639901.bsp
> 
> FAYETTEVILLE -- The religion of Islam granted social and property rights to 
> women centuries before non-Islamic Western nations and is undeserving of 
> its stereotype as the world religion least friendly to women, speakers at 
> the University of Arkansas said Thursday.
> 
> Aicha Elshabini, a Muslim and the chair of the department of electrical 
> engineering at the university, said women who are oppressed in some Islamic 
> nations suffer because of politics or culture, not because of religion.

The problem with this argument is, "religion" and "politics" are not 
mutually exclusive in most Islamic nations. It strikes me as 
simple-minded to say that women are oppressed as they are in places like 
Iran and Taliban-era Afghanistan all because of "politics and culture," 
when those making the rules, no matter the country, are citing the Koran 
as their justification for their actions. How these speakers can deny 
that Islam isn't a factor is beyond me.

Also noteworthy is that anytime a woman actually rises to become a 
leader in an Islamic country, it's a HUGE DEAL. Why? Because many, if 
not most, Muslims object to a woman's having such authority. Politics is 
only a secondary concern. Quick quiz: When Megawati Sukarnoputri became 
leader of Indonesia several years ago, were objections being raised over 
her politics, or her gender? How many guesses do you need?

This whole presentation smacks of politically correct revisionism. All 
Muslims may not be chauvinistic, but don't pretend that chauvinistic 
Islamic states aren't using religion to hold women down. That just flies 
in the face of facts.

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