The Place of Women in Islam
An exhaustive and informative post at Sunni Sisters:
I was physically barred from entering the masjid in front of my mother by two men who explained, “There’s no room for women here. Sorry.”
“Where do the women pray?” I asked.
“They don’t,” said one. “At least, they don’t pray here.” Women were not expected to attend Jumu’ah, and if they showed up, were not allowed to enter.
Lovely.
I lived in an apartment with my family in Saudi Arabia. The building had four elevators--two main ones in front of the entrance and two small ones on the side. The women were told to use the tiny, and slow, elevators if they were alone. Once, I was waiting for an elevator (the male-only one) and when the doors opened, I entered it right away. A woman in a full abaya was in there. Before the doors could close, she quickly walked out.
That sorry mindset indirectly relays quite a bit about men:
When men say that women in the same space will create a situation of intolerable sexual fitnah for them, they are really doing themselves a disservice. They’re saying that generally speaking, Muslim men can not be relied upon to be responsible adults or conscientious Muslims.
Indeed. Though, it is the women who, no question, suffer the most:
I know some older women who never learned to read because their fathers thought it would lead to them “reading and writing love letters.” Their fathers did not “protect” their sons in this same way.
- Women Are Banned From Starbucks In Saudi Arabia After Partition Between Men And Women Collapses
Women are BANNED from Starbucks in Saudi Arabia after partition between men and women collapsesWomen were barred from a Starbucks in Saudi Arabia and told to send ‘their driver’ to get a coffee for them instead after religious police noticed...
- Preserving The Islamic Principles
Jihad Watch:Over the next few days, as more details emerge about the murders of Amina and Sarah Said, we will see Islamic spokesmen on TV (Ibrahim Hooper is probably sitting for make-up as you read this) explaining that honor killing is a cultural practice...
- Islam Says No To Wickedness
A question that needed to be asked:What is ruling of hijab if a woman is at a women’s gathering? I know it is permissible for her to remove her scarf, but how much of her body can she expose?This is how the answer starts:If she is in the presence of...
- Women Are Too Dirty To Walk On Saudi Sidewalks
From Omri at the Astute Bloggers: The Saudis are now segregating sidewalks so their men don't get icky girl cooties: Saudi Arabia's religious police are insisting that authorities of Medina, one of Islam's holiest cities, should build separate...
- The Fitna Feminists
MSNBC:Muslim feminists from around the world vowed to create the first women’s council to interpret the Koran and overcome two stereotypes about their religion: Muslims are terrorists and Islam oppresses women.The following excerpt doesn't jive...