Does Allah really value women?

A Muslim man, if happens to meet an unrelated woman, he must rush immediately to his wife and have intercourse with her to repel the devil in that woman - Bukhari Book 8, Hadith 3240

Since childhood, I have been told by Muslims that women's value Islam is unprecedented in other cultures or religions; no other religion gives that much value to their women as does Islam. Being raised a non-Muslim in a predominantly Muslim country and having seen the plight of Muslim women there, I deeply knew that what my Muslim neighbors and friends were telling stems from their sheer ignorance of Islam as well as of other religions or cultures.

---

In this article, I will discuss the above mentioned topic. Since childhood, I have always heard from Muslims that the value given to women in Islam is unprecedented in other cultures or religions, that no other religion gives that much value to their women as gives Islam. Being raised a non-Muslim from a predominantly Muslim country, and having seen, with my own eyes, the plight of Muslim women (muslimahs) in this country of my birth, I deeply knew that what my Muslim neighbors and friends were telling stems from the fact that they were and are ignorant of Islam and other religions or cultures.

I have no intention, whatsoever, of making a comparative analysis between Islam and other religions. I am here only to write about what the ‘only true’ and the supposedly ‘merciful religion’ to mankind teaches about women.

First, it is important to mention here that some of the most important of Prophet (PBUH) teachings are collected in what is called Hadith—a record of Muhammad’s words and deeds according to His wives, relatives, and faithful companions. Next to the Quran, it is the most important part of Islamic law; its teachings are just as authoritative as the Quran’s. The Hadith is recorded in many books, but not all of them are agreed upon by all Muslims though. All of our quotes here are from ‘Sahih Al-Bukhari’, which comes in nine volumes, and contains thousands of Hadiths. Al Bukhari is accepted as authentic words of the Prophet Muslims and Islamic scholars through the centuries.

Because of the limited space, I will mention here just a few examples. My purpose here is to give the reader a taste of the teachings of the Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. Some of these teachings may shock you, and some may amuse you. Others may simply leave you mystified.Once again, I mainly know two things about Islam: 1) Quran & 2) Sunna (Hadith). Most of Muslims agree with this comment that, without Hadith, it is not possible to understand the Quran, which is indeed the case.

For example, Muslims know that the Quran vaguely mentions about the Hajj and five-time prayers a day, but says nothing about how to perform them. Here Hadith becomes indispensable as it goes on to explain how to perform the hajj and prayer rituals, what prayers should be said at what time of the day and when you go for Hajj etc.And it is by this that we actually learn the real value of women in Islam. It is an undeniable that most Muslim women are proud to be Muslims. In fact, most of the western converts to Islam are women. But if you, by chance, get to interview some of these Muslim women about what they feel so great about Islam, the likely answers are as follows:

• They feel great on what Islam promise them about their inheritance (half of what a man is likely to inherit);
• They feel great because, in Islam, they are not a public property (of course a non-Muslim will be bewildered at this claim);
• They are kept under constant male guardianship (husbands, male relatives, etc), interpreted as constant protection and having little responsibility about earning money (you know making money on your own is a huge task!);
• They are guaranteed to be married: Parents will just find a husband for their little cutie teenage girl (it does not matter if the arranged husband is 70 years of age), as long as those dating balderdashes seen among young people in non-Muslim societies are avoided. Islam is great!

Does Allah really value women? Because Muhammad sure didn't.

So, let’s look on the real value of women in Islam in detail, in the light of authentic Islamic scriptures. Click here