Koran And Women Essay Research Paper The

Koran And Women Essay, Research Paper

The Koran’s Attitude Towards Women

The Koran is a book following the religion of the Muslim people. In it, many aspects of their ways of life and their attitudes towards different people are addressed. It mentions the strong feelings of the true believers towards Jews and Christians, however it gives a view of women that is taken two ways. A major part of their religion is the way women should be treated. This idea is a controversial topic as seen from a person that is not a true believer, or a Muslim. Conventional thinking brought out by the media have led non-Muslim people to perceive the treatment of women as suppressive. The Koran shows the reader both sides of the coin, and therefore, the reader must form an opinion of the way they thing women are treated. After reading The Koran, one would think that it belittles women, such as the way they are treated, and the role they play in society. However, with respect to their society habits, rituals, ways of life, and their religion, Muslim women are actually treated with more respect, and with more decency.

The people of the book have very strict ideas about how society is to be run based upon their religion and culture. They are given certain rules and are expected to follow them. They have a proper understanding of how they are to live their life and how they are to treat other people. In the case of women, The Koran is very specific when it comes down to how they are to be treated and their role in life. “Women shall with justice have rights similar to those exercised against them, although men have a status above women.” As long as you are not a true believer, you will never really know what this exactly means. Obviously in The Koran, men have more rights than women. But then how is this statement to be understood. In The Koran, men and women have rights that are far more gender bias; men are guided more towards money and power, while women are guided towards a family and the home. It is a society in which the woman is in charge inside of the house while the man has more power outside. People would think of this as degrading towards women, but it is done to look after them. As a protection to women, men are forced to go outside of the house into the world that is cold and evil. They are told that they must do this everyday and bring home money to provide for their family and wife. The woman is to stay home in a safe place and take care of what she knows best. This is not mean to make women feel inferior but to make them feel safe and free from the world.

There are many reasons why people believe that women are treated without respect in the Islamic nations. First and foremost, it says in The Koran that women may be beaten:

Men have authority over women because God has made the one superior to the other, and because they spend their wealth to maintain them. Good women are obedient. They guard their unseen parts because God has guarded them. As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them, forsake them in beds apart, and beat them. Then if they obey you, take no further action against them. (64)

Many people see this as wrong, but why. It is clearly stated in the Islamic religion that women may be beaten if they are disobedience. Why then, would a woman do something defiant if she knows that she will be hurt. She should realize that she must be a true believer and not be insubordinate; and if she is, then she must realize that she did something wrong, and according to her religion, she must be punished. She will know that she has done something wrong, and unfortunately will get beaten; however, if she is smart, she will know not to do it again and obey her husband. Another point that is stated in The Koran is that if a woman feels like she is being treated unfairly by her husband, either emotionally or physically, she may go to him and others of the community and ask them for help. She can make an agreement with her husband, “for agreement is best.” (74)

Another reason why the idea that women are treated fairly is disagreed with is because women aren’t given as many rights as men. A prime example of this is for divorce. When a man wants to divorce his wife he can do so with ease, whereas a woman has to pronounce it many times before it can occur. People use this case to say that men are superior to women, which is true, but the woman still has the right to divorce and if she chooses to divorce her husband, she isn’t looked down upon, and isn’t treated without respect. It says in The Koran:

Divorce may be pronounced twice, and then a woman must be retained in honour or allowed to go with kindness. It is unlawful for husbands to take from them anything they have given them, unless both fear that they may not be able to keep within the bounds set by God; in which case it shall be no offence for either of them if the wife redeems herself. (33)

In anything that a woman has the right to do, even if that right is inferior to a man’s right, she is treated with the utmost respect and love.

In the Koran it says that men are higher in status than women but that the duty of the man is to protect the woman. They are to be cherished. It says:

If you fear that you cannot treat orphans with fairness, then you may marry other women who seem good to you; two, three, or four of them. But if you fear that y