equivocal equality

islamic studies offers an interesting insight on islam and its stand on gender equality, or rather, the absence of it.

i take into account the possibilities of my fellow coursemates that might be reading my blog, more specifically, this post. or even lecturers who know their way round the blogosphere. but i doubt anyone would attack what would seem to be thoughts of a young and inexperienced mind.

from what i understand, in islam, a wife is to obey a husband even to the extremes. nothing beyond self preservation, but a simple example of a wife wanting to pay her last respect to her father who just passed away but denied permission by the husband. by which, in this religion, the wife has no say and have to obey the husband. indeed, this is wrong, even in islam, because a son or daughther is to remain loyal to his or her parents. to counter this oxymoron, islam places the sin on the husband. fair enough? for those who choose to believe in judgement day, don't you think justice needs to be swift? if indeed, islam is for this temporary world and the hereafter, why does such punishment needs to wait for till the end of days? why not now? why not before it is too late? before the wife suffers from depression from failing to fulfill her duty as a daughter to her father? i believe, when a person wrongs another, justice is served in this world, and when a person wrongs god, himself, his faith or anything within the context of being abstract, then he needs to pay in the other world.

another interesting issue is polygamy. if indeed, men and women are equal, why is it a man can marry up to four women and a woman have to stick with only one man? a wife cannot object if her husband wants to take a second wife. so where does this put women? i may not know anything about marriage, or love for that matter, but i believe it is a sacred bond between two people. it can't be shared. correct me if im wrong, but i dont even think animals have multiple partners at the same time. and yet muslims insult darwin when he compared homo sapiens to animals. yeah, nice going.

in fact, a father can force his daughter into marriage, even if she doesnt like the husband to be. equality? freedom? islam? they dont belong in the same sentence.

in my defense, i could be wrong....prove it. heh

9 comments:

Kar-Men said...

I strongly recommend you read this article - http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2010/1/31/lifefocus/5502403&sec=lifefocus

I shall quote some of the more interesting comments -

But for the Malays, there is a difference. In Malaysia, it’s legal for a Muslim man to marry four women. The argument is that it is perfectly acceptable because the Prophet had four wives. I will not quote the relevant hadith here, but the basis is that Muslim men are “allowed” to do the same by law. But wait. Many of them conveniently forget the second part of the hadith, which stresses “... only if you’re capable of treating them equally and fairly”.

“What on earth makes a mere mortal think that he is on par with our Prophet and can treat all his wives equally? And how strange that some men in this country are so ready to emulate the Prophet when it comes to wives, but not other things?”

“Let me ask you this: ‘Are we at war? Are you rescuing widows? Are there no men (single/divorced/widowed) left and you have to be the one to rescue all the single mothers out there? Is it your role to marry every starlet wearing a short skirt and too much make-up?”

Funny really if one looks at polygamy and gender equality that way. =P

benjamin said...

wow, u finally left a comment after your hiatus. heh. yea. my brain is working again. woohoo

Kar-Men said...

Lol, just because I don't post regular comments at here anymore doesn't mean I don't keep track of your postings. I have you blog subscribed.

Good of the brain to be working though. God knows where I left mine. XD

Alia'a said...

I.AM.Loving.Kar-Men.
I was just going to hentam you with all that when I saw his comment.
By the way...Ash would like you to know that the cats in her block have multiple partners at the same time.

benjamin said...

how can u hentam me with that when it's not contradicting with what i said. fine, bad assumption. -__-

Wenyi said...

muslims insult darwin when he compared homo sapiens to animals

0_o wth darwin is a genius! homo sapiens ARE animals. Just because we can think better than them doesnt make us NOT THEM.

Anonymous said...

Prophet MOHAMAD married the widows then bcos many of the men were killed fighting the holy war.Its difficult to treat all the wife equally.Most of the men today marry 4 to please their lust and ego.If Prophet Mohamad is still living,definitely he will condemn polygamy of such nature.

a reader said...

When i read this,actually I felt disappointed.. This is because you are questioning about the rules in your religion in this way. You should be more humble, I think~ Because you are talking about Gods rules..
However, there might be just a bit confusion, hope you are determined to try to understand this, not just writing it with no real purpose..

We'll see.. I quote this:

"the wife has no say and have to obey the husband. indeed, this is wrong, even in islam, because a son or daughther is to remain loyal to his or her parents"

This is not true. In Islam, after married, a women need to obey the husband, the loyalty would changed.. seriously. That is why the husband 'have' to be able to think, and consider, to maintain a harmony marriage. I think if you did asked your ustaz for further explaination, you'll understand this better.

"don't you think justice needs to be swift? if indeed, islam is for this temporary world and the hereafter, why does such punishment needs to wait for till the end of days? why not now? why not before it is too late?"

About this, i hope you realised that we are humans.. We make sinsss everyday. If you are requesting that to be punished for all your sins when you are still alive.. MasyaAllah, I cant imagine what will happen to you, to us, everyday.. You tell a lie, a minutes later you fall into drain.. ( example..huu).. Then there would be a lots more punishment everyday that you can't ever imagine.
Have you realised, as Allah is very kind, he give us chances everyday to repent for the wrongdoings we have done.. Subhanallah.. it would be possible that you would be forgiven and would not need to face the punishment afterlife!
We as muslims should belive this strongly.. Allah judgement would be nothing unfair.. Refer to Al-Zalzalah:7-8
"maka barangsiapa mengerjakan kebaikan sebesar zarah, nescaya dia akan melihat balasannya, dan barangsiapa mengerjakan kejahatan walau sebesar zarah, nescaya dia akan melihat balasannya"

"I may not know anything about marriage, or love for that matter, but i believe it is a sacred bond between two people. it can't be shared. correct me if im wrong,"

Well, this is your opinion.. its okey to give opinion, but you can't blame the Quran if it is contradict with what you think.. Just keep it. If you do not like polygamy, then dont do it.. thats enough~ Quran is our guidance, it covers all angle of aspect, conditions and situation. Not all people are in the same situation where polygamy looks to be cruel or unaccepted..

What am I writing may not be enough for you, but I just try to reduce the confusion, hope you can ask a friend of yours who do understand this.. pardon my grammar:)

benjamin said...

dear reader,

thanks for the insight. i know a lot of people arent happy with this post.

but you know what, i can't seem to be bothered to have an arguement about this anymore.

sometimes, it's easier taking a step back and let things be eh?

btw, mind if you tell me who you are?