Women in Islam

Women in IslamMuslim religion began in Arabia as a revelation to hu whileity by the Prophet Muhammad. This was in stages over a period of twenty trine years. Believers of Islam ar known as Muslims. Muslims believe that there is however wizard God. The Arabic word for God is Allah. In Islam the Holy book cognise as the Quran serves as a guide to the Islam beliefs, morals and behaviors. In Islam, there are several behaviors that are anticipate of the women. Women are expected to be modest and respectful. More so, Islam has always appreciated the femininity of the adult female and regarded her as playing a role integral to that of the troops, and similarly regarded the man as playing a role integral to that of the woman. Neither of them is an obstructionist or a competitor to the opposite. Rather, each is a help to the other in attaining the relative perfection of his or her person.The to the highest degree significant region in women is their dressing. Islam women are requir ed to follow the Hijab. According to Roald (p.14), the Hijab is the principle of substitute and includes behavior as well as dress for both males and females. The most visible form of Hijab is the head covering that many Muslim women mother for granted. Hijab heretofore goes beyond the head scarf. In one popular school of Islamic thought, Hijab refers to the complete covering of everything except the hands, face and feet in long, loose and non gossamer garments. A woman who wears Hijab is travel toed Muhaajaba. Muslim women are required to observe the Hijab in front of any man they could theoretically marry.In the earlier times, the position of women in Islam has always been a contentious one with women being considered as being less(prenominal)er beings than their male counterparts. Indeed, this draws back to the early times when women were only represented by their husbands in public places. Moreover, Islam does not allow women to compound freely with men. A country that still practices this form of sex segregation is Saudi Arabia. In Saudi Arabia, women sit separately from men steady in meetings and other social events. They learn in different acquirement and developmental institutions. They also have their own recreational facilities such as the swimming pools among others. In fact, Nieuwkerk (p.32) reveals that the earlier Islamic teachings encouraged the oppression of women in the Islamic context. This has however changed with the western sandwich civilization as the Islamic women are given share and their opinions respected even in public forums. The critics of women rights in the Islam context use the Quran as their point of argument that women should be oppressed though there is no such direct arguing made in the Quran. at that place are certain aspects that were traditional self-collected towards a certain direction but have however changed imputable to the incorporation of the western civilization. For instance, women in Islam were supposed to be extremely amenable to their husbands while at the same time ensuring that they have no voice in matter of marriage. They were traditionally married off to their suitors. This has changed in the innovational world with the women being allowed to negotiate their way out. In fact, women in the novel world in the Islam context fall in love with the man of their choice onwards they are proposed to, making the entire process a real process.Furthermore, the womens dress code famously known as the Hijab has been a major bone of contention among modern Muslims. Traditionally, Muslim women were never allowed to travel out in public without the full attire comprising of the Hijab. This seems to be less strict with most Hijabs taking a new avenue of way of life where they are not fair(a) black veils, big and bulky on the women. Todays Hijabs are designed to accentuate the womans figure and therefore celebrate women as an imperative being.In addition, traditionally, women e specially girls were given less priority when it came to education than their male counterparts in Islam. This was because, nobody really believed in educating girls since they would eventually be married off to capable and able men. However, in the modern times, this has changed drastically with many women opting to pursue career challenges and eventually becoming career women just like the rest of them. Critics have viewed this as a U-turn to the traditional perception. There continues to be come uping misunderstanding in the way women should be case-hardened in the modern context. Just recently, France was in the spotlight with its president refusing girls to wear headgears while attending class. This threatened to get out of hand until the legal philosophy was relaxed. Islam on the other hand, is to blame for it has viewed women as incapable persons. In the booking circles, women were preferred for jobs that were not so demanding as such. This has prompted several protests u ntil employers had to discard around of the Islam teachings that prohibited the employment of Islamic women. For instance, the famous international Muslim TV station, Al-Jazeera has employed a sizeable number of female presenters.Consequently, women were never allowed in Islam to take a political lead in the society. More frequently than not, the women were merely left to be house wives with very little to call their own in terms of authority and possessions. The introduction of the western civilization has rescued women from the fathomless non political participation as more and more women take up political responsibility, perhaps devoid of what used to be of them before then.Finally, women in Islam were traditionally not allowed to own or possess substantial assets such as land and the like. This therefore hampered the way in which the women could grow financially. Similarly, getance was strictly a preserve of the male dependants (Asgharali, p.17). This meant that women were n ever allowed to inherit a thing from their deceased relatives or parents. However, things have changed with the advent of the western civilization as more and more women have become heirs in very clearly acknowledged circumstances.Works CitedAsgharali, Engineer. The rights of women in Islam. Edinburgh C. Hurst Co. Publishers, 1992.Nieuwkerk, Karin van. Women embracing Islam gender and conversion in the West. Berlin University of Texas Press, 2006.Roald, Anne Sofie. Women in Islam the Western experience. New York Routledge, 2001.Women in Islam. Retrieved July 29, 2009 from http//www.islamfortoday.com/women.htm