Islam vs. Women: Introduction
This is the introduction of the Islam vs. Women series.
Is Islam a feminist religion?
The answer seems to be a resounding yes.
Amani Al-Khatahtbeh, founder of online magazine MuslimGirl.com, is happy to inform you that "so many people are unaware of how feminist Islam is." She goes on to claim, "Islam literally founded the principles of gender equality that we call feminism today," and offers the example that under Islam, a woman has the marital right to be sexually satisfied by her partner in marriage. In fact, she claims, a woman's sexual pleasure is so important that it is a legitimate reason for her to ask for a divorce in a court of law on the basis that her husband is not sexually satisfying her.
Aabiyah Baqai, a young academic from Pakistan, informed us in her 2017 "Feminism in Islam" TEDx Talk, that, prior to the birth of Islam, "[women] had no say in anything whatsoever [...] but all of a sudden, Islam allowed women to vote, to partake in political activities, and be important parts of society, and this was 600 CE." She then points out that the U.S. only caught up to Islam 13 centuries later when they granted women the right to vote in the 1920s.
Linda Sarsour, an American activist, was featured on Refinery29's YouTube channel in a short clip talking about the relationship between her faith and her feminism. "Oppression of women is absolutely shunned in the Islamic faith," she says in the clip.
It all sounds wonderful, and it is the basis of many Muslim women's arguments in favor of Islam. There seems to be an endless list of reasons to praise Islam, as they claim its embracement of women's rights and social empowerment.
However, I am sad to report that...
I could not find a source on a Muslim woman's sexual satisfaction in her marriage from the Quran or hadith. Though I would be happy to be provided with a source, I'm afraid it won't be enough to convince me that Allah cares much at all for the Muslim wife. If he did, why would he send his angels to curse her all night if she turned down her husband's sexual advances? Why, also, does he allow a man to marry a second, third, and fourth wife after her, without ever requiring her spoken or written permission to do so?
Women were granted the right to vote and stand for election much later than 1920 in many Muslim-majority countries. Yemeni women got it in 1970. Bangladeshi women got it two years later in 1972. Kuwaiti women got it in 2005. Saudi Arabian women, who live in the birthplace of Islam, got it in 2015.
As for Linda Sarsour's claim, I wonder what her definition of oppression is. In the Quran, Allah says in chapter 33, verse 21 that the Prophet Mohammed is his example of a good human being, and if we wanted to find our way to paradise, we would do well to follow in the Prophets’ footsteps. The very same Prophet who married a 6-year-old girl and "consummated the marriage" (i.e. raped her) when she was 9 years old, the very same Prophet who owned sex slaves, and the very same Prophet who told his adopted son that he sexually desired his wife, to which his son responded by divorcing her, after which the Prophet married her (adding her to the several wives he already had). I am not totally sure how following in the footsteps of such a character (who did all these things post-Islam) inspires the shunning of the oppression of women.
So, then, is Islam a feminist religion?
The correct answer is no.
Islam and feminism are extremely incompatible ideologies. Islam does not promote the equality of the sexes. Islam does not promote the autonomy and empowerment of girls and women.
Allah spits in the face of womankind. He says in his holy book, "I made the Man to excel the Woman, so that he may protect her and provide for her. She will do well to be obedient to me (Allah) and her husband. And if her husband fears disobedience from her, he must first reprimand her, then he must leave her bedside, then he must beat her."
I am Tamata. I am 26 years old at the time of writing this post, and I left Islam when I was 19 years old. When I was 19, I had gone through years of feeling anger at what I believed to be constant misrepresentations of Islam in the media and in my own home, so I decided to take things into my own hands and become a better Muslim than all of them. I was horrified to find that so much of the disgusting, oppressive, and bigoted attitudes and actions were fully justified in Allah's eyes. The truth was that Allah hated me on account of my sex. He told me that my period makes me impure. He told me that I deserve only half of my brother's inheritance. He told me that I must allow myself to be raped by my husband so that he does not go to sleep angry. I still believed in Islam when I left and for a while after that, but for the first time in my life, I hated Allah more than I feared him. I decided never to bow down to him again.
As I learn more and more about Islam over the years, I feel a strong will to spread the information that I find and share my story. Islam is unapologetically and whole-heartedly anti-female. I strive to live in a world where Muslims can find a way to collectively and officially reform Islam so that it may attempt to catch up to the 21st century and onwards. I want this for Muslim girls and women more than anything else. I want this for my mother, my sister, for all my Muslim female friends and family, for all the girls and women I don't know and never will, who follow and live under this faith. For the ones we lost and the ones that are yet to come. I do this for 8-year-old me, who couldn't fathom why I suddenly had to cover my hair and stop riding bicycles.