Skip to main content

The Treatment of Women in Islam

This article may sound harsh on Islam, and we had many reservations to post it on our web site. It contains a language that could be offensive to many specially - the minors. We decided to post it as it reflects the plain truth about the religion of Islam.

It is one of the most critical subjects that Muslims try to hid from Westerners, as no one can imagine that there is a religion that can confess such statements about women, I will mention what The Koran and the Hadith (Mohammed's teaching, sayings, or acts) mention about women in Islam, as well as, the opinion of the prophet Mohammed and the Khalifs

WHAT IS A WOMAN IN ISLAM

A woman in Islam is considered a "toy" (that is why I used the word "what" instead of "who"). This is taken literally from what the prophet Mohammed and the Just Khalif Umar Ibn Al Khattab (one of Mohammed's fathers-in-law) declared; from actual acts toward women in most Islamic countries today; and from the different doctrines concerning women in Islam (marriage in Islam, the rights of women, the status of women compared to men, a woman's duties to her husband, etc.)

In his book Al-Musanaf (Vol 1, part 2, p. 263), Abu Bakr Ahmed Ibn Abd Allah (one of the Muslim scholars) said; "umar (the Just Khalif) was once talking when his wife interjected, so he said to her, "You are a toy, if you are needed we will call you." Amru Bin Al Aas (also a Khalif) said, "Women are toys, so choose" (Kanz-el-Ummal, Vol. 21, Hadith No. 919). Mohammed himself said, "The woman is a toy, whoever takes her let him care for her," according to Ahmed Zaki Tuffaha on page 180 of the book Al-Mar'Allah wal-islam ("The Woman and Islam)

MEN'S SUPERIORITY OVER WOMEN

Sura 4:34 (a chapter in The Koran) states, "Men have authority over women because Allah has made the one superior to the other." On page 36 of his book, The Women and Islam, Ahmed Zaki Tuffaha wrote, "God established the superiority of men over women by the above verse (Sura 4:34), which prevents the equating of men and woman. For here man is above the woman due to his intellectual superiority…."

As Christian's, we can rejoice in what the Bible says, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)

In Islam not only is a woman considered a toy and men superior, but woman are also considered to have many deficiencies:

1. Women are deficient in intelligence and religion.

In Sahih Al Bukhari's book, which Muslims consider the most authentic book after The Koran we read, "Allah's Apostle once said to a group of woman ; "I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religion than you. A cautious, sensible man could be led astray by some of you." The woman asked; "O Allah's Apostle, what is deficient in our intelligence and religion?" He said; "Is not the evidence of two women equal to the witness of one man?" They replied in the affirmative. He said; "This is the deficiency of your intelligence…Is not it true that a woman can neither pray nor fast during her menses?" The woman replied in the affirmative. He said: "This is the deficiency in your religion….This Hadith has been agreed upon, which gives it the highest degree of authenticity in Islam. That is why it has been accepted and used by eminent scholars such as Ghazali, Ibn Al Arabi, Razi, and others

2. Women are deficient in gratitude.

In Sahih Al Bukkhari (Part 1, Hadith No. 28) we read, "Women are ungrateful to their husbands and are ungrateful for the favors and the good (charitable deeds done them). If you have always been good (benevolent) to one of them and then she sees something in you (not of her liking) she will say, "I have never received any good from you"

3. Women are likened to a crooked rib.

In Sahih Al Bukhari (Part 7, Hadith No. 113) it is stated "The woman is like a rib; if you try to straighten her, she will break. So if you want to get benefit from her, do so while she still has some crookedness." This Hadith has been agreed upon

MARRIAGE

In the matter of marriage, Islam proves that the woman is considered a toy

1. Forced marriage.

"The virgin can be forced by her father to get married without being consulted." That is what Ibn Timiyya (known among the Muslims as the sheikh of Islam) stated in Ibn Timiyya, Vol. 32, p. 39. And in the same volume (pp. 29, 30), he wrote, "Even the adult virgin, her father may force her to get married. "This is in accordance with Malek Ibn Ons, Al Shafi, and Ibn Hanbals, who are among the chief Legists of Islam (specialists in Islam law)

Ibn Hazm (one of the greatest scholars of Islam) mentioned in his book Al-Muhalla ("The Sweetened") in Vol. 6, Part 9, pp. 458-460, "A father may give his consent to have his young virgin daughter married without obtaining her permission, for she does not have a choice,. exactly as Abu Bakr El Sedick (the first Khalif after Mohammed and his fathers-in-law) did to his daughter, Aisha, when she was six years old. He married here to the prophet Mohammed without her permission." Aisha said, "The messenger of Allah betrothed me when I was six years old, then married me when I was nine years old." He was 54 years old when they married

2. The significance of the marriage contract.

In his book Women in Islam Rafiqul Haqq summarized the significance of the marriage contract according to the three different Islamic schools. Quoting from the book Al-Fiqh ala al-Mazahib Al-Arba'a (Vol. 4, p. 488) by Abd Arabic Rahman Al Gaziri, he said, "The accepted understanding in the different schools of jurisprudence is that what has been contracted in marriage is for the benefit of the man from the woman, not the opposite." The followers of Imam Malik declared that the marriage contract is a contract of ownership of benefit of the sexual organ of the woman and the rest of her body

The followers of Imam Shafi said; "The most accepted view is that what has been contracted upon is the woman, that is, the benefit derived from her sexual organ." Others state, "What has been contracted is both the man and the woman ". According to the first opinion, the wife cannot demand sex from her husband because it is his right, not hers. According to the second opinion, she can demand to have sex with him

The followers Imam Abu Hanifa said, "The right of sexual pleasure belongs to the man, not the woman; by that it is meant that the man has the right to force the woman to gratify himself sexually. She, on the other hand, does not have the right to force him to have sex with her except once (in a lifetime). But he must from the religious point of view have sex with her to protect her from being morally corrupt

3. The number of wives

Men may marry up to four free woman at the same time, then he can divorce one of them and marry a fifth, as long as he does not keep more than four wives at one time. He may have sex with a unlimited number or slave girls and concubines. Sura 4:3 says, "If ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, marry woman of your choice, two or three or four, but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one, or that which your right hands possess that will be more suitable, to prevent you from doing injustice."

In his book Al-Fiqh ala al-Mazahib al-Arba'a (Vol. 4, p. 89), Abd Arabic Rahman Al Gaziri wrote; "For if a man purchases a slave girl, the purchase contract includes his right to have sex with her." This contract is primarily to own her and secondarily to enjoy her sexually

A very famous scholar among Muslims cited one of the justifications for marrying more than one woman; "Some men have such a compelling sexual desire that one woman is not sufficient to protect them (adultery). Such men , therefore, preferably marry more than one woman and may have up to four wives." (Ihy'a "Uloum ed-Din by Ghazali, Vol. 2, Kitab Adab Al-Nikah, p. 34). Ghazali gave an example for this overpowering sexual desire in the same book (Part 2, p. 27); "Ali (whom the Shites consider the prophet of Allah), who was the most ascetic of all the companions, had four wives and seventeen slave girls as concubines. "In Sahih Bukhari (Part 7, Hadith No,. 142), it says: "The Prophet used to pass (have sexual relations with) all his wives in one night, and at that time he had nine wives," "He once said of himself that he had been given the power of forty men in sex, as stated in Al-Tabakat Al Kobra (Vol. 8 p. 139) by Mohammed Ibn Saad (a Muslim scholar)

Dear brothers and sisters, we praise the Lord that He is not a respecter of persons. He loves men and woman the same and He does not discriminate on the basis of sex.

  • Hits: 26096