The Distorted Image of Muslim Women

Since the height of the feminist movement in the late 70's there has
been a magnifying glass placed over the status of Muslim women.
Unfortunately, themagnifying glass that has been used is an unusual
one. Unusual in the sense that it is very selective about which items
it will magnify; other items it will distort to such a degree that
they will no longer look familiar. I remember once reading in an "in
depth" article about the lives of Muslim women. This
article"explained" that at any time a man can divorce hiswife by
simply stating "I divorce you, I divorce you, I divorce you". This
article can lead anyone ignorant of the Islamic ruling regarding
divorce to believe that in less than five seconds the woman is left
with no husband and is left to care for herself (and possibly
children) by any means necessary. The question that immediatelypopped
up in my mind was, "Did the author innocently write that out of
sincere ignorance or was it another of the many attempts to degradethe
religion of Islam and its followers (muslims)?" Itmay be my own
paranoia, but I tend to believe it wasthe latter of the two.
The truth of the matter is that Islam has the most humane and most
just system of divorce that exists. Firstly, many options are taken
and tried before coming to the decision of the divorce. If the man and
woman decide that they can no longer live together successfully as a
husband and wife, the husband (in most cases, not always) pronounces
the divorce by saying "I divorce you". At this point the waiting
period begins. The waitingperiod lasts for three menstrual cycles to
assure the woman is not pregnant. This period allows the couple time
to think about what they are doing and if this is what they really
want to do. There are no lawyers involved to antagonise an already
delicate situation.
In the case that it is realised, that the woman is pregnant, the
waiting period lasts the entire timeshe is pregnant. During thewaiting
period (whether the woman is pregnant or not) the man is obligated to
provide food, clothing and shelter to the woman as he did before the
divorce pronouncement. If the couple carries the divorce through to
the birth of the child and the woman suckles the baby, the man is
obligated to feed and clothe both his ex-wife for the time the woman
suckles (the maximum being two years). After this weaning, the child
will be provided for by the father until he/she is no longer in needof
support.
It is quite ironic that in such an "advanced society"as America, there
are divorce cases in which women are being forced to pay alimony to
their ex-husbands. Can this and many other things we know about the
American system of divorce compareto the Islamic system of divorce?
I have also read stories wherein it is stated that women are forced to
marry men without their consent. This in no way resembles the marriage
system in Islam. In Islaam the woman marries the man of her choice.
She may even marry someone that her mother and/or father objects to.
The pointis that it is the woman who makes the final decision as to
whom she will marry. Once the man and the woman decide that they are
interested in one another for marriage, a dowry is decided upon.
Adowry is not a brides price but, it is a gift from the groom to the
bride. They agree upon a gift that is affordable by the groom. In the
time of the Prophet (sas), often things such as livestock and money
were given. This is a wise decision in the event that a woman becomes
divorced or widowed, she has some financial securityto fall back on
even if it is for a limited amount of time. Once the man and woman are
married, the man is required to clothe, feed, shelter and educate her
(or allow her to be educated) in the same manner as he does himself.
The last distorted image that I will cover is that of the Muslim
women's dress.The western influenced media portrays our dress to be
outdated and oppressive. Needless to say however, I differ with these
adjectives. Our dress code does not hinder us from doing anything
productive in our lives. Muslim women maintain avariety of jobs, non
of which are devalued nor hampered due to their dress code. And as for
the timing of muslims women's dress during these contemporary times,it
seems most appropriate due to decreasing morals in the world today.
For those who say that Islamic dress is outdated, they speak from
great ignorance. The decreasing morality and trials of this time makes
Hijaab even more in need. More than ever before sex crimes are
rampant. Although this society tells women they can wear what they
want to wear, anytime a rape occurs the woman is the one put on trial
an one of the first questions is,"What were you wearing?"