Top Ten Rules in the Quran That Oppress and Insult Women

[Deacon Marvin Brown]

Top Ten Rules in the Quran That Oppress and Insult Women

James M. Arlandson

Islam in its purest form honors and elevates women, so we are told. But does it?

Truthfully, too often textual reality (the Quran) matches up with seventh-century Arabia. Gender inequality and oppression in the Quran reflect this excessively patriarchal culture. If Allah and Muhammad improved on this patriarchy, then they did not go far enough for a worldwide religion that claims universality.

Therefore, the following rules and attitudes should in no way be transferred to today’s world.

But before reading the list, we should prevent a strategy of Muslim polemicists and missionaries who believe that Islam is the best religion in the world and who want it to spread around the globe. Sometimes they attempt to refute my top ten lists. But attempting to refute such a list is like reviewing a long book only from the last chapter. The reviewer has skipped over the hard work of reading all the preceding chapters. Likewise, Muslim polemicists must not skip over all of the links under each point or all of the commentary from a respected and traditional Muslim scholar, Sayyid Abul A’la Maududi (d. 1979) (The Meaning of the Qur’an). They must not take a shortcut, but must instead do the hard work of refuting all of the supporting articles and Maududi himself. This present "top ten" article is merely a summary of all of the data found in these back-up articles and Maududi’s ideas, all of which are quickly referenced under each point.

Here are the top ten rules in the Quran that oppress and insult women.

10. A husband has sex with his wife, as a plow goes into a dirt field.

The Quran in Sura (Chapter) 2:223 says:

Your women are your fields, so go into your fields whichever way you like . . . . (MAS Abdel Haleem, The Qur’an, Oxford UP, 2004)

We should make no mistake about this verse. It includes sexual positions. In a footnote to this verse, Haleem says that Muslims in Medina heard from the Jews that "a child born from a woman approached from behind would have a squint."

The hadith are the reports of Muhammad’s words and actions outside of the Quran. Two reliable hadith collectors and editors are Bukhari (d. 870), Muslim (d. 875). After the Quran, the hadith come second in importance and sacredness among the vast majority of Muslims around the world.

Since the hadith is explicit, the readers are invited to click here and read for themselves, at their own discretion: Muslim nos. 3363-3365.

See these parallel hadith here and here.

We should have no doubt that the husband controlled their sex life. If a woman does not want to have sex, then angels curse her.

. . . "If a man invites his wife to sleep with him and she refuses to come to him, then the angels send their curses on her till morning." (Bukhari)

Here is the back-up article. This one also provides back up material. See the section at the beginning "Women Are Men’s Property."

9. Husbands are a degree above their wives.

The Quran in Sura 2:228 says:

. . . Wives have the same rights as the husbands have on them in accordance with the generally known principles. Of course, men are a degree above them in status . . . (Sayyid Abul A’La Maududi, The Meaning of the Qur’an, vol. 1, p. 165)

Gender inequality shows up in a theological context. This hadith shows that the majority of the inhabitants of hell are women.

The Prophet said, "I looked at Paradise and found poor people forming the majority of its inhabitants; and I looked at Hell and saw that the majority of its inhabitants were women." (Bukhari, emphasis added; see also these parallel traditions here and here.)

This parallel hadith explains that the majority of the inhabitants of hell are women because they are ungrateful and harsh towards their husbands. There is no word about the husbands’ ingratitude and harshness. It should be noted that some Muslim missionaries and polemicists assert that since women make up the majority of the world, it only stands to reason that they would be the majority in hell. In reply, however, this misses the point—and may miss the possibility that women may be more spiritual than men. Regardless, the reason that women make up the majority in hell is their harshness and ingratitude. So it has nothing to do with a mathematical majority. Islam clearly does not honor women.

See this article for details on women in Islamic hell.

Muhammad was also superstitious (see here for the evidence). This next hadith says that women are part of an evil omen.

I heard the Prophet saying. "Evil omen is in three things: The horse, the woman and the house." (Bukhari)

Here is the back-up article. This one is too (scroll down to the Endnotes and see the brief discussion about Muslim women in hell).

8. A male gets a double share of the inheritance over that of a female.

The Quran in Sura 4:11 says:

The share of the male shall be twice that of a female . . . . (Maududi, vol. 1, p. 311)

For how this religious law works out in early Islam, see these hadith here and here and here.

Malik (d. 795) is a founder of a major school of law. He composed a law book that is also considered a collection of reliable hadith: Al-Muwatta of Imam Malik ibn Anas: The First Formation of Islamic Law (rev. trans. Aisha Bewley, Inverness, Scotland: Madina Press, 1989, 2001). Malik writes:

The generally agreed upon way of doing things among us . . . about fixed shares of inheritance (fara’id) of children from the mother or father when one or the other dies is that if they leave male and female children, the male takes the portion of two females.

This Islamic law is regressive. But in the US, for example, the inheritance is divided equally among all siblings, regardless of the gender. No religious law prohibits this from happening in advance. So American secular law fits into a modern context better, where women have more economic opportunities and freedom.

This online booklet has a short explanation on women’s inheritance "rights." Click on Chapter 15.

Along with the previous link, here is the back-up article.

7. A woman’s testimony counts half of a man’s testimony.

The Quran in Sura 2:282 says:

And let two men from among you bear witness to all such documents [contracts of loans without interest]. But if two men be not available, there should be one man and two women to bear witness so that if one of the women forgets (anything), the other may remind her. (Maududi, vol. 1, p. 205).

It seems that the foundational reason for having two women witnesses is that one of the women may "forget" something. This goes to the nature of womankind. Philosophers teach us that one of the main differences between animals and humans lies in humankind’s rationality. But this verse implies that a woman’s mind is weak.

This hadith removes any ambiguity about women’s abilities in Sura 2:282:

The Prophet said, "Isn’t the witness of a woman equal to half of that of a man?" The women said, "Yes." He said, "This is because of the deficiency of a woman’s mind." (Bukhari, emphasis added)

Here is the back-up article, and so is this one. This article too explains Islam’s view on women’s mental inabilities (scroll down to "Women Are Inferior to Men"), citing many hadith and Muslim commentators.

6. A wife may remarry her ex-husband if and only if she marries another man, they have sex, and then this second man divorces her.

The Quran in Sura 2:230 says:

And if the husband divorces his wife (for the third time), she shall not remain his lawful wife after this (absolute) divorce, unless she marries another husband and the second husband divorces her. (In that case) there is no harm if they [the first couple] remarry . . . . (Maududi, vol. 1, p. 165)

The finally and absolutely divorced couple is not permitted to remarry each other unless she marries another man, they have sex, and he divorces her. Sura 2:230 engenders a divorce on the road to a possible reconciliation. Why should it be necessary to have the intervening steps of a second marriage and divorce before the first couple can work out their differences and get back together?

To see this tragedy in real life, go to this question and answer at a traditional Muslim fatwa website. Apparently, a Muslim husband pronounced divorce three times, the divorce is final, and now he regrets his decision made in haste and anger. The cleric or scholar says that they are allowed to reconcile only if she follows the Quranic steps of her marrying someone else, consummating that marriage, and then his divorcing her. However, Islam should allow this original divorced couple to reunite without the intervening steps or without an analysis of different levels of anger (click on the link). Let them reconcile—period.

As for divorce generally,

This article analyzes the ethics behind Quranic divorce procedures and contrasts them with the New Testament.

This very short article at a Muslim website shows concern for the divorce rate in Islam.

This short page at a Muslim website explains divorce.

This short article at a (sectarian) Muslim website also gives an overview on divorce, under the larger section on women.

The next two links demonstrate that sharia (Islamic law) generally must not be allowed to spread around the world.

This news report says that problems emerge in the modern world during the Islamic divorce proceedings.

This news report says that Malaysia permits "text messaging" divorce.

At this Muslim website an Islamic scholar answers the question of a Muslim who wrote in about divorce.

Here is a fatwa (legal decree) on divorce from a Muslim website.

These links add up to this: Islamic divorce is ambiguous and favors the man.

Here is the back-up article, and this one replies to a Muslim polemicist. It analyzes the differences between Christianity and Islam on divorce.

5. Slave-girls are sexual property for their male owners.

The Quran in Sura 4:24 says:

And forbidden to you are wedded wives of other people except those who have fallen in your hands (as prisoners of war) . . . (Maududi, vol. 1, p. 319).

Click on the following link to read the remainder of this article:

http://answering-islam.org/Authors/Arlandson/women_top_ten.htm