10-31-2004, 04:15 AM
Quote:One more point Rehmat, Islam is not a religion of femisim, if we say so then we are seggregating the Ummah.
Here we go again! Do you know the meaning of 'Feminist movement'? These women are fighting for the so-called 'equality with male gender in everything' - And they mean everything - Except that the male should share 'pregnancy too'!
'Ummah' mean the 'unity of the Believers' - but under 'Islamic seggregation' of the two sexes.
Let me elaborate what I meant by Islam being 'the religion of feminism'.
Holy Qur’an, unambiguously and coherent, applies to women and men equally. accordingly to Allah’s final message, both sexes share a common fate, and are subject to the same existential conditions, with the same spiritual potential
and same purpose of being. Now, is it conceivable that this religion (i am not talking about the cultural or ethnic deviations) justifies regulations, which are hostile to women?
Without doubt, women played a major role in the life of the Prophet (pbuh) and were held in the highest esteem by him. Even renowned muslim feminists such as Fatimah Mernissi accepts this in her book ‘Women and Islam: An Historical
and Theological Inquiry’. in spite of the western stereotype conviction, which has become a cliché, that Muslim women are prevented from developing their personality, chained to the kitchen sink, stifled and enslaved – 4 out of 5 new converts to Islam in the united states are women.
Islam gave women some rights (marriage and divorce by consent, inheritance, education political and legal rights) 1400 years ago, which were unknown to their Christian and Jewish sisters until 19th century. Of course Islam’s scheme for life is from ‘that world’. It is an alternative that confronts the so-called modern world, its values, agnosticism, and ‘anything goes’ mentality, with a genuine counter-project that only appears to be outdated because it is timeless – for example:
1. Man and woman are biologically and therefore, both physically and psychologically different.
2. The happiness of man and woman in their partnership is rooted in their polarity.
3. Adult love, but children too, find ideal conditions for development in only marriage conceived as a partnership.
4. Unfettered sex can become destructive both for the individual and society.
The western civilization is already witnessing the casting of doubts on fashionable facets of the sexual and feminist revolution. AIDS alone has forced people to rethink their manners in more than one respect. the first manageress in
the US begin to express regret at their now irrevocable decision not to have children for the sake of their careers – at having placed too much emphasis
on ‘sisterhood’ at the expense of ‘motherhood’. More women than before are now convinced that pure imitation of man is not the best way of liberating women. in the US, as in Europe, it is once again fashionable among formerly ‘swinging’ students to ‘go steady’. In 1968, Vance Packard in his book ‘Sexual Wilderness’ coined the term ‘sex jungle’ for the excesses of the sexual revolution in his country – the USA
For Islam, man and woman have the same dignity, but different tasks; they are of the same values, but have different abilities; they are equal before Allah, but have
different roles in life. the question of whether or not this is ‘modern’ is irrelevant.
Wa Salaam.