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Once again I find myself discussing Islam. Last time, I expounded on why religion (herein superstition) has no place in the public sphere. Though in the last entry, I was able to exchange my terms of superstition, i.e., Christianity and Islam. The nature of these supersititions, their historical connexion and common origin, i.e, Jewish traditions and Greco-Roman thought, allows for the interchangeability of terms. But now, I will strictly deal with Islam, with slight deviations, again, these are allowed because of the large similarities between Islam and Christianity.

I would like to carry out an indagation, if not a divagation into the nature of Islam in connexion to women. We Westerners are under the impression that Islam is an oppressive religion, especially when it comes to women. The headscarf being the prime example of Islam’s nature. I believe that just as Islam is oppressive, so is Christianity as well as Judaism. These superstitions call upon man to deny himself certain things that are all-too-human and therefore natural. For example, Islam and Christianity, at one point of their respective calendars, call upon their respective followers to fast. Perhaps Islam in this particular case is more inhuman, more savage and unnatural, forbidding man to even delight his gustatory sense by the soothing coolness of a drop of water. On the other hand, Christianity inculcates a servile and meek character; it elevates weakness while denegrading pride and strenght.

Recently, I read an article (Islam femenists urge gender jihad) that has inspired me to discuss the subject of women and Islam. First, the use of the term jihad seems anything but prudent. It demonstrates the Wests flimsy if not vapid understanding of Islam. Having said this, I must say that I disagree with the belief that Islam and gender equality are not compatible. It is not a matter of interpretation as these feminists would argue, but it is a matter of reality. It can be said that Christianity is also incompatible with gender equality. In Christianity, woman is reduced to a carrying vessel, a host for the Lamb of God. Woman is made into and object. She neither contributes nor influences. The fact that we do not know where Mary was buried even says more à propos her importance. But in Islam, the inferiority of woman is made more clear, so it seems.

The Qur’an is a rather repetitive work. The monotony especially to those that are forced to read a translation may seem vexatious; at times, the reader may suspect that he has already read the passage he now finds himself reading. But the repetitiveness of the Qur’an aids in memorization.

Multiple times, the Qur’an turns to the accusation or the attribution of offspring to God, or rather, of daughters. The Qur’an responds in this way:

Yet they assign some of His own servants to Him as offspring! Man is clearly ungrateful! Has He taken daughters for Himself and favoured you with sons? When one of them is given new of the birth of a daughter, such as he so readily ascribes to the Lord of Mercy, his face grows dark and he is filled with gloom – ‘Someone who is brought up amongst trinkets, who cannot put together a clear argument?’ (45:35 – 15)

Also:

What? Has your Lord favoured you people with sons and taken daughters for Himself from the angels? What a monstrous thing for you to say!

In these responses, God seems more offended, not by the fact that man attributes to him children, which would lead to the production of a Holy Duality or perhaps a Holy Trinity in an attempt to establish the relationship between these entities as is the case of Christianity, confounding monotheism with polytheism, but rather, by the fact that man would attribute daughters instead of sons. God is surprised by the audacity of man to attribute daugthers, which are, inferior to sons.

Many societies view women as burden, for when she marries, she will leave the home. On the other hand, a son is an asset for he will stay with the family and continue to assist them, financially, etc. In society, I would suspect all societies in varying degrees, view women as burdens. In the West, a man is probably more likely to be hired than a woman; the gift of giving life is also an imposition. If a woman becomes pregnant, she must take time off to rear the child. A man does not really have this problem. So some societies establish a system where a family is compensated through a dowry for the loss they ostensibly suffer when a daughter is given away in marriage.

In the classical

focused on Islam per se for there are certain attributes of this superstition that are conspicuous, e.g., headscarf, I interchanged the name of the superstition; it is.

Nota bene: the title of this post seems to have disappeared and I naturally was unable to recall it.