Islamic Misogyny

There are so many terrible teachings and practices in Islam that it makes it difficult to say which one is the most reprehensible. Near the top of that infamous long list is the treatment and status of women.

Will Muslim women ever break out of their bondage and claim their rightful place among emancipated non-Muslim women? It has long been sub-humanized Muslim women who must discard Islam and claim their equal human rights. Muslim men will resort to every means to maintain their privileged position and their cruel dominance over women, citing the Quran as justification. Any document that consigns half of humans to second-class status is null and void.

Islam is consistent in its injustice. It demonizes the kefirs (unbelievers), it formally condones slavery, and institutionalizes oppression of even Muslim women. In fully 71% of the verses of the Quran where women are mentioned, they are ascribed lower status and assigned subservience to men. The Hadith even outdoes the Quran by 89%. In the Quran itself, wife-beating is recommended (Surah 4:34), marriage to prepubescent girls is condoned (Surah 65:4), following the example of Muhammad himself, who married Ayesha when she was only six years of age. Men are to view sexual intercourse as plowing a field (Surah 2:223). Sexual slavery is clearly condoned (Surah 33:50); polygamy is ordained (Surah 4:2); temporary marriages, tantamount to prostitution, are permitted (Surah 4:24).

According to Islam, women are naghes-ul-aghl (intellectually defective) and men are rulers over women Quran (4:34). A woman’s testimony is worth one half of a man’s; they are to be obedient to their husbands. A man can “marry” as many women as he desires and divorce them at will, while a woman can only be married to one man and has no such right to divorce.

It makes one wonder if Muslim women are indeed intellectually defective, as the Islamic scripture stipulates, since millions of them fully subscribe to their assigned subservient status and work their best to raise their children and indoctrinate them in this misogynistic discriminatory belief.

Studies show that considering women intellectually inferior to men is indeed a product of longstanding male prejudice rather than the facts. Women are every bit as intelligent as men, and this subservient role assignment to women is nothing more than a misogynistic dogma concocted by chauvinistic men to hold women in bondage.

Life goes on for Muslim women with all the trappings of Islamic misogyny. Here are some rules that keep women in their Muhammad-stipulated place.

Islam, by sanction, discriminates against women. Qur’an 4:11 “Allah directs you in regard of your Children’s (inheritance): to the male, a portion equal to that of two females…. These are settled portions ordained by Allah.”

There are many more “directives” that for all intents and purposes makes women chattel of men. Oppression of women in general is tragic indeed. Men can have as many as four wives simultaneously and as many concubines as they wish or can afford. Men can easily divorce their wives and automatically have custody of the children, if they so decide. Women have subservient status to men in all areas of the law. Equality under the law has no meaning in Islam. Just one example of the dreadful way of treating Muslim women is a case of a Saudi woman who was gang-raped. The Islamic court convicted the woman to a prison term and lashes for having committed the “sin” of riding in a car with a male who was not her relative. This is a standard form of Islamic Sharia justice—a savage heritage of barbarism that ruled the Arabian Peninsula some centuries ago.

Islam is arguably the most discussed subject in the West today, in both the media and society, and, after terrorism, the plight of Muslim women is probably the most controversial topic of debate.

Islam is the greatest gift that Muhammad bequeathed to charlatan men to exploit the masses of fools. “For as long as there are donkeys, there are those who would ride them” is our apt Persian metaphor that explains why the cast of Muslim clergy is so intent at keeping the donkeys they have and doing all they can to get more donkeys with fresh legs and strong backs to continue their joyride.