Chapter 15 Women in Christianity and Islam

Whenever the topic of Islam isbrought up among Westerners, it has been my experience that thefirst objection that immediately springs into their minds is:”But women are so extremely oppressed in Islam.” And,”But women are second class citizens in Islam.” Forexample, they see that Muslim women usually observe modest standardsin their clothing and they automatically equate their modestywith oppression. They appear to feel that freedom is in some waydirectly proportional to how little clothing one wears, and thatoppression is directly proportional to the degree of modesty oneexhibits in their clothing. Although this topic does not directlyrelate to the main topic of this book, still it seems inevitableto touch on this subject even if only very briefly due to it’simportance.The problem is twofold: First of all, those peoplewho make such objections usually only have a very superficialknowledge of what the true teachings of Islam, and secondly, theydo not realize what The Bible requires of all believing women.I was once passing through Canada with my parent’sin law and their family. As we walked down the street a CanadianChristian girl (in her late teens to early twenties) passed byus with a group of her friends. She looked at my mother in lawwho was dressed in modest clothing and had a large scarf wrappedaround her head such that only her face was showing. She thenstopped my mother in law and said words to the effect of: “Whydo you allow your men to oppress you?. Why do you wear these clothes?.”Now, my mother in law is a university graduate, astraight A student, highly respected by her peers, and gainfullyemployed as an inspector of the public educational system backin my home country. My mother in law has also distinguished herselfin her study of the English language and it’s grammatical structure.However, she did not have an extensive working knowledge of Americanand Canadian pronunciation and slang, and thus, she missed thetone with which this question was delivered to her.I decided to move a reasonable distance away andlet her handle this situation herself. My mother in law was veryhappy to answer this girl’s question and went on to explain toher about our religion and customs and how we prefer to dressmodestly, and that Allah Almighty requires us to do this. However,this was not the answer this girl was looking for so she retorted:”Thanks for sharing!,” then spun around and stormedoff.Now, in my home country, our elders are quite usedto being highly respected by those who are younger than them andbeing served by them. For this reason, it did not even occur tomy mother in law that this question could have been anything morethan a young girl respectfully asking an innocent question ofa trusted elder, and I hated to tell her otherwise. I would havehated for her to leave Canada thinking that all Canadians or allChristians speak this way to their elders since I know that thisis not the true case. However, this episode did indeed saddenme.Many non-Muslims feel sorry for any Muslim womenthey see adorned in their modest clothing. They feel that theyare deprived the freedom to roam around in more scant and revealingclothing. Anyone who lives in a manner other that which they havebecome accustomed to is seen by them to be oppressed and forcedto live in this manner. There are certain tribes in the Amazonjungle, in Australia, and in Africa which have become accustomedto walking around in a simple g-string around their waist. Whatwould the people of the West say if these people were to condemnthe Western habit of “forcing” their women to wear “excessiveamounts of clothing” and to demand that all women in thewest immediately stop wearing anything but the simplest g-stringaround their waist? What if they were to say that the Westernsociety should immediately stop unjustly persecuting their womenand preventing them from freely roaming the streets wearing onlya pair of socks? They would say that the people making these demandshave no morals or shame. Philosophers would have a field day withsuch a question.What if someone were to claim that it was immoral,discriminatory, and unjust to separate men and women in differentpublic bathrooms just as it is not just to do so with blacks andwhites. What if this person were to then call (in the interestof equality, fairness, and constitutional freedom of course) fora merging of men and women’s bathrooms into one “unisex”or “equal-opportunity” bathrooms for both men and women?Once again, the philosophers would have a field day. Anyone whofollows the news will see that this may indeed be where the USAis now headed. In the New York Post (31 Aug. 1994 or alittle before) it was reported that women have now won the rightto appear topless in the New York subway system. Where will theUSA be a few years from now? That is anyone’s guess.Who has the power to determine what is decent andmodest clothing? Who is to determine what is decent and modestbehavior? Muslims assign this right to God alone. This is theessence of “Islam.” “Islam” means “Thesubmission to the will of God.” What God commands, a Muslimdoes. They do not demand that God justify his commands beforethey accept them. Once they have verified that a command is indeedfrom God then they abide by it without hesitation.We can indeed find this lesson in the story of Adam.In the Islamic version of the story of Adam (slightly differentthan that of Judaism/Christianity), Adam and Eve werecreated by God, educated, clothed, and then allowed to inhabitheaven. They were told by God that they could have anything theirhearts desired except they must not eat from the tree. Out ofenvy, the devil encouraged them to eat from the tree and toldthem that it’s fruit would make them angles or immortal. Theyate from the tree and immediately, their bodies were revealedto one another, so they took to scooping up the leaves off thetrees in order to cover themselves. This is when Allah sent themdown to earth. What mankind learned from this lesson is that justbecause a person does not know the wisdom behind a command ofGod, and others tell him to disobey it, then if they do not abideby it, by the time the reason for the command is made apparentto them it may be too late.

Fig. 15 Example of dress worn by a Christiannun.Compare it with how Muslim women dresstodayWell then, what is the Biblical view on these matters?Actually, even in this day and age there still remains tracesin Christianity of the common ancestry with Islam with regardto the accepted norms of modest dress for Christian women as ordainedby her Creator. In the above figure we have an example of thesort of dress codes observed by Christian nuns. We are strangelyamazed to find that it is almost the striking similarity it bearsto the sort of outfit which most Muslim women wear. Why is that?Well, although there are quite a number of very pronounced differencesbetween Biblical and Qur’anic laws in this regard, let us startwith the Biblical view:What the New Testament has to say:1 Timothy 2:11-14 “Let the woman learn insilence with all subjection. But Isuffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurpauthority over the man, but to be insilence. For Adam was firstformed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but thewoman being deceived was in the transgression.”1 Corinthians 14:34 “Let your women keepsilence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them tospeak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saiththe law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask theirhusbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in thechurch.”1 Corinthians 11:5-10: “But every woman thatprayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovereddishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she wereshaven. For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn:but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let herbe covered. For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuchas he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the gloryof the man. For the man is not of the woman: but the woman ofthe man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the womanfor the man. For this cause ought the woman to have power on herhead because of the angels.”1 Corinthians 11:13: “Judge in yourselves:is it comely that a woman pray unto God (with her head) uncovered?”What the Old Testament has to say:Genesis 3:12-16 “And the man (Adam)said, The woman (Eve) whom thou gavest to be with me,she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the LORD God saidunto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the womansaid, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the LORD Godsaid unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursedabove all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thybelly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thylife: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and betweenthy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shaltbruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiplythy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forthchildren; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shallrule over thee.”Leviticus 12:2-5 “Speak unto the childrenof Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born aMALE child: then she shall be unclean SEVEN DAYS; according tothe days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean.And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying THIRTYTHREE days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into thesanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled. But ifshe bear a FEMALE child, then sheshall be unclean TWO WEEKS, as in her separation: and she shallcontinue in the blood of her purifying SIXTY SIX days.”Ecclesiastics 7:26-28 “And I find more bitterthan death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap andwhose hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her,but the sinner she will ensnare….while I was still searchingbut not finding, I found one upright man among a thousand butnot one upright woman among them all”.Leviticus 15:19-30 “And if a woman have anissue (her period/menses), [and] her issue in her flesh be blood,she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth hershall be unclean until the even. And every thing that she liethupon in her separation shall be unclean: every thing also thatshe sitteth upon shall be unclean. And whosoever toucheth herbed shall wash his clothes, and bathe [himself] in water, andbe unclean until the even. And whosoever toucheth any thing thatshe sat upon shall wash his clothes, and bathe [himself] in water,and be unclean until the even. And if it [be] on [her] bed, oron any thing whereon she sitteth, when he toucheth it, he shallbe unclean until the even. And if any man lie with her at all,and her flowers be upon him, he shall be unclean seven days; andall the bed whereon he lieth shall be unclean. And if a womanhave an issue of her blood many days out of the time of her separation,or if it run beyond the time of her separation; all the days ofthe issue of her uncleanness shall be as the days of her separation:she [shall be] unclean. Every bed whereon she lieth all the daysof her issue shall be unto her as the bed of her separation: andwhatsoever she sitteth upon shall be unclean, as the uncleannessof her separation. And whosoever toucheth those things shall beunclean, and shall wash his clothes, and bathe [himself] in water,and be unclean until the even. But if she be cleansed of her issue,then she shall number to herself seven days, and after that sheshall be clean. And on the eighth day she shall take unto hertwo turtles, or two young pigeons, and bring them unto the priest,to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And the priestshall offer the one [for] a sin offering, and the other [for]a burnt offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for herbefore the LORD for the issue of her uncleanness.”In other words, the Bible teaches us that:

1. Women should learn in silence and subjugation.
2. Women should not teach.
3. Women should not have authority over men butshould remain silent.
4. Adam and Eve were not equalin sin. Adam was not deceived but Eve was.
5. Women are commanded to be under obedience tomen. God ordained that men shall for all time rule over women
6. Women must keep silent in Churches. It is shamefulfor them to open their mouths therein. If they have a questionthey should ask their husbands before going to church and thentheir husbands will ask for them in the church.
7. A woman should neither pray nor profess withher head uncovered.
8. If a woman prays with her head uncoveredthen she might as well shave her head.
9. Man was created in the image and glory of God,and Woman was created in the glory of Man, thus Man must havepower over her.
10. Any woman who delivers a male baby shall be uncleanfor one week. But any woman who delivers a female baby shall beunclean for TWO weeks. Thus, females make their mothers DOUBLYunclean as compared to males.
11. While it is possible to find one upright manin every thousand, it is impossible to find even one single uprightwoman in every thousand
12. Woman is a snare, her heart is a trap, and herhands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her, butshe will ensnare the sinner.
13. If a woman had her period and touches a chairor a bed or anything else then that item immediately becomes unclean.Anyone who then touches those things shall also become unclean.They must then bathe themselves and wash their clothes becausethey have touched an item that a menstruous woman has touched.

What the canonized saints of Christianity said aboutwomen:”Woman is a daughter of falsehood, a sentinelof Hell, the enemy of peace; through her Adam lostparadise” (St. John Demascene)”Woman is the instrument which the devil usesto gain possession of our souls” (St. Cyprian)”Woman is the fountain of the arm of the devil,her voice is the hissing of the serpent” (St. Anthony)”Woman has the poison of an asp, the maliceof a dragon” (St. Gregory)St. Tertullian, while hewas talking to his ‘best beloved sisters’ in the faith, he said,”Do you not know that you are each an Eve? Thesentence of God on this sex of yours lives in this age: the guiltmust of necessity live too. You are the Devil’s gateway: You arethe unsealer of the forbidden tree: You are the first deserterof the divine law: You are she who persuaded him whom the devilwasn’t valiant enough to attack. You destroyed so easily God’simage, man.” Once again, St. Augustinewrote to a friend, “What is the difference whether it isin a wife or a mother, it is still Eve the temptress that we mustbeware of in any woman.” Centuries later, St. Thomas Aquinasstill considered women as defective, “As regards the individualnature, woman is defective and misbegotten, for the active forcein the male seed tends to the production of a perfectlikeness in the masculine sex; while the production of woman comesfrom a defect in the active force or from some material indisposition,or even from some external influence.” (all these quotationscan be found in Karen Armstrong’s book, The Gospel Accordingto Woman, London: Elm Tree Books, 1986, pp. 52-62. See alsoNancy van Vuuren, The Subversion of Women as Practiced by Churches,Witch-Hunters, and Other Sexists Philadelphia: Westminster Presspp.28-30.)Orthodox Jewish men in their daily morning prayerrecite “Blessed be God King of the universethat Thou has not made me a woman.” The women, on the otherhand, thank God every morning for “making me according toThy will” (Thena Kendath, “Memories of an Orthodox youth”in Susannah Heschel, ed. On being a Jewish Feminist, New York:Schocken Books, 1983, pp. 96-97)According to the Jewish Talmud, “womenare exempt from the study of the Torah.” In the first centuryC.E., Rabbi Eliezer said: “If any man teaches his daughterTorah it is as though he taught her lechery” (Leonard J.Swidler, Women in Judaism: the Status of Women in Formative Judaism,Metuchen, N.J: Scarecrow Press, 1976, pp. 83-93)According to Rabbi Dr. Menachem M. Brayer (Professorof Biblical Literature at Yeshiva University) in his book ‘TheJewish woman in Rabbinic literature’, it was the custom of Jewishwomen to go out in public with a head covering which, sometimes,even covered the whole face leaving one eye free (PsychosocialPerspective, Hoboken, N.J: Ktav Publishing House, 1986, p. 239).He quotes some famous ancient Rabbis saying, “It is not likethe daughters of Israel to walk out with heads uncovered”and “Cursed be the man who lets the hair of his wife be seen….awoman who exposes her hair for self-adornment brings poverty.”Rabbinic law forbids the recitation of blessings or prayers inthe presence of a bareheaded married woman since uncovering thewoman’s hair is considered “nudity” (Ibid., pp. 316-317.Also see Swidler, op. cit., pp. 121-123). Dr. Brayer also mentionsthat “During the Tannaitic period the Jewish woman’s failureto cover her head was considered an affront to her modesty. Whenher head was uncovered she might be fined four hundred zuzim forthis offense.” Dr. Brayer also explains that veil of theJewish woman wasn’t always considered a sign of modesty. Sometimes,the veil symbolized a state of distinction and luxury rather thanmodesty. The veil personified the dignity and superiority of noblewomen. It, also, represented a woman’s inaccessibility as a sanctifiedpossession of her husband (24. Ibid., p. 139). It is clear inthe Old Testament that uncovering a woman’s head was a great disgraceand that’s why the priest had to uncover the suspected adulteressin her trial by ordeal (Numbers 5:16-18).St. Tertullian in his famoustreatise ‘On The Veiling Of Virgins’ wrote, “Young women,you wear your veils out on the streets, so you should wear themin the church, you wear them when you are among strangers, thenwear them among your brothers…” Among the Canon laws ofthe Catholic church today, there is a law that require women tocover their heads in church (Clara M. Henning, ” Cannon Lawand the Battle of the Sexes” in Rosemary R. Ruether, ed.,Religion and Sexism: Images of Woman in the Jewish and ChristianTraditions, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1974, p. 272.).Some Christian denominations, such as the Amish andthe Mennonites for example, keep their women veiled to the presentday. The reason for the veil, as offered by their Church leaders,is “The head covering is a symbol of woman’s subjection tothe man and to God” : The same logic introduced by St. Paulin the New Testament (Donald B. Kraybill, The riddle of the AmishCulture, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989, p. 56.)Russian Orthodox women are expected to wear a headcovering when in the church. Most don’t outside of it in America,but many in Russia and many other eastern Orthodox women all overeastern Europe, Greece, and the middle east do wear scarves ontheir heads all the time when in publicThese are only a small sampling. For many more similarquotations please obtain a copy of the 70 page book “Womenin Islam Versus Women in the Judaeo-Christian Tradition: The Myth& The Reality,” By Dr. Sherif Abdel Azeem, World Assemblyof Muslim Youth.Continuing, according to the Old Testament, a childlesswidow must marry her husband’s brother, even if he is alreadymarried and regardless of her consent, so that she might beara child from him (Genesis 38).Further, according to the Bible:”If a man happens to meet a virgin who isnot pledged to be married and rapes herand they are discovered, he shall pay the girl’s father fiftyshekels of silver. He must marry the girl, for he has violatedher. He can never divorce her as long as he lives” Deuteronomy 22:28-30One must ask a simple question here, who is reallypunished, the man who raped the woman or the woman who was raped?What is to prevent someone from finding the best looking womanin town, raping her, telling everyone about it, and then havingthe courts force her to be his wife for the rest of her life?According to Numbers 27:1-11, widows and sistersdon’t inherit at all. Daughters can inherit only if their deceasedfather had no sons.So what is the standpoint of the Qur’an with regardto women? Women are indeed commanded by Allah to cover their headsand wear modest clothing, however, in Islam this is not a signof denigration or subjugation to men, rather, it is a sign ofchastity, modesty, and the fear of God. It also designates thiswoman to all men who might deal with her that she is to be dealtwith respect. This could be compared to the situation in the Westwhen one meets a nun or priest, how the nun’s habit and the priest’srobes signal those who meet them that this person does not condonevulgarity of speech or evil actions. This is made apparent inthe Qur’an in Al-Ahzab:”… that is closer to their being recognizedso that they shall not be abused, and Allah is ever Forgiving,Merciful” Al-Ahzab(33):59 (also see Noor(24):31)What about the rights of women in Islam? Are theyindeed, as the popular propaganda would have us believe, “secondclass citizens”? Let us read the Qur’an:”And they (women) have rights similar tothose of men over them in a just manner”The noble Qur’an, Al-Baqarah(2):228″And their Lord has heard them (and He says):Verily! I suffer not the work of any worker, male or female, tobe lost. You proceed one from another. So those who fled and weredriven forth from their homes and suffered damage for My cause,and fought and were slain, verily I shall remit their evil deedsfrom them and verily I shall bring them into Gardens underneathwhich rivers flow. A reward from Allah. And with Allah is thefairest of rewards.”The noble Qur’an, A’al-Umran(3):195.”And covet not the thing in which Allah hasmade some of you excel others. Unto men a fortune from that whichthey have earned, and unto women a fortune from that which theyhave earned. (Envy not one another) but ask Allah of His bounty.Verily! Allah is Knower of all things.” The noble Qur’an, Al-Nissa(4):32.”Unto the men (of a family) belongs a shareof that which parents and near kindred leave, and unto the womena share of that which parents and near kindred leave, whetherit be little or much, a legal share.” The noble Qur’an, Al-Nissa(4):77.”And whoso does good works, whether of maleor female, and he (or she) is a believer, such will enter paradiseand they will not be wronged the dint in a date stone.”The noble Qur’an, Al-Nissa(4):124.”And the believers, men and women, are protectingfriends one of another; they enjoin the right and forbid the wrong,and they establish worship and they pay the poor-due, and theyobey Allah and His messenger. As for these, Allah will have mercyon them. Lo! Allah is Mighty, Wise.”The noble Qur’an, Al-Tauba(9):71″Whosoever does right, whether male or female,and is a believer, him verily We shall quicken with good life,and We shall pay them a recompense in proportion to the best ofwhat they used to do.” The noble Qur’an, Al-Nahil(16):97.”And of His signs is this: He created foryou spouses from yourselves that you might find tranquillity inthem, and He ordained between you love and mercy. Lo, herein indeedare signs for folk who reflect.” The noble Qur’an, Al-Room(30):21″Whoso does an ill deed, he will be repaidthe like thereof, while whoso does right, whether male or female,and is a believer, (all) such will enter the Garden, where theywill be nourished without stint.”The noble Qur’an, Mumin(40):40.In the Qur’an, both Adam and Eveshare the blame for eating from the tree. This canbe seen in the Qur’an in such verses as Al-Baqarah(2):36, Al-A’araf(7):22-24.They were also both forgiven by God Almighty for this sin. Actually,in one verse of the Qur’an (Taha(20):121), Adam is specificallyblamed.Islam encourages spouses to take each other’s counciland to seek mutual agreement in matters which affect them, forexample, in the Qur’an, Al-Bakarah(2):233 we read:”Mothers shall suckle their children fortwo whole years; (that is) for those who wish to complete thesuckling. The duty of feeding and clothing nursing mothers ina seemly manner is upon the father of the child. No one shouldbe charged beyond their capacity. A mother should not be madeto suffer because of her child, nor should he to whom the childis born (be made to suffer) because of his child. And on the (father’s)heir is incumbent the like of that (which was incumbent on thefather). If they desire to wean the child by mutual consent and(after) consultation, it is no sin for them; and if you wish togive your children out to nurse, it is no sin for you, providedthat you pay what is due from you in kindness. Observe your dutyto Allah, and know that Allah is Seer of what you do.”Husbands are commanded to treat their wives withkindness and respect. In Al-Nissa(4)-19 we read “..But consort with them in kindness, forif you hate them it may happen that you hate a thing wherein Allahhas placed much good.”The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: “The best believers are the best in conduct,and the best of you are those who are best to their wives.”When Muhammad (pbuh) first became the prophet ofIslam, the Pagans of Arabia had inherited a similar disregardfor woman as had been passed down among their Jewish and Christianneighbors. So disgraceful was it considered among them to be blessedwith a female child that they would go so far as to bury thisbaby alive in order to avoid the disgrace associated with femalechildren.Through the teachings of Islam, Muhammad (pbuh) puta swift and resounding end to this evil practice. Not only didhe severely discourage and condemn this act but he also used toteach them to respect and cherish their daughters and mothersas partners and sources of salvation for the men of their family:AbuSa’id al-Khudri narrated: “The Prophet (pbuh) said: If anyone caresfor three daughters, disciplines them, marries them, and doesgood by them, he will enter Paradise.” (Narrated by Abu-Dawood)Abdullah the son of Abbas narrated: “The Prophet (pbuh) said: If anyone has afemale child, and does not bury her alive, or slight her, or preferhis male children over her, Allah will bring him into Paradise.”(Narrated by Abu-Dawood)Muhammad (pbuh) is also sited in “Sahih Muslim”as saying: “Whoever maintains two girls till they attainmaturity, he and I will come on the Day of Resurrection like this;and he joined his fingers”.In other words, if one loves the messenger of Allahand wishes to be with him on the day of resurrection in heaven,then they should do good by their daughters.To learn more about the rights of women in Islam,the issue of modest dress codes, the issue of polygamy, and manyother issues which can not be covered here, I highly recommendthe following books:

1. Women in Islam Versus Women in the Judaeo-ChristianTradition: The Myth & The Reality, By Dr. Sherif Abdel Azeem,World Assembly of Muslim Youth.

• “The Status of Women in Islam,” byDr. Jamal A. Badawi, World Assembly of Muslim Youth.
• “Women’s rights in Islam,” by Lea Zaitoun,World Assembly of Muslim Youth.
• “Gender Equity in Islam,” by Dr. JamalBadawi, World Assembly of Muslim Youth. Muslim-SA@acsu.buffalo.eduLast modified: Mon Nov 18 14:13:05 EST 1996