Saturday, September 08, 2012

Contemporary Muslim apologetic of mysogeny

Ran across this on Facebook. Nice example of how some Muslims defend what non-Muslims perceive as some of the unjust ways that some Muslim men treat some Muslim women. (How's that for a lot of qualifications?) Anyway, there's a good insight here. (BTW, Alim means teacher or scholar).

A non Muslim came to an alim and asked : Why is it not permissible to shake hand
s with a man?



The alim said : Can you shake hands with queen Elizabeth?



He said: Of course not there are only certain people who can shake hands with Queen Elizabeth. 



The alim said: our women are queens and queens do not shake hands with strange men. 



Then the non Muslim asked: Why do your girls cover up their body and hair?

The alim smiled and got two sweets, he opened the first one and kept the other one closed. He threw them both on the dusty floor and asked, " If I asked you to take one of the sweets which one would you choose?"

The non muslim said, " the covered one."

The alim said: Thats how we treat and see our women. Women should not be like the moon which everyone can see and admire, they should be like the sun which makes the viewer lower their gaze. 

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Nice to see you've taken an interest in this topic. But I have to ask,
what is it about what this comment that is so offensive? I think it is a venerable way of treating women.

Also it isn't just Islam that requires this.
also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. (NIV, 1 Timothy 2:9-10)

A few Christians interpret these passages as a requiring women to dress very plainly and refrain from wearing jewelry or using makeup. But most Christians believe the advice is simply to dress modestly and in good taste, according to the standards of the society they live in.

http://www.twopaths.com/faq_dress.htmhttp://www.twopaths.com/faq_dress.htm



Heres what one famous feminist also said:

A Catalonian legislator recently called the burqa a “degrading prison.” The first thing we should say about this argument is that the people who make it typically don’t know much about Islam and would have a hard time saying what symbolizes what in that religion. But the more glaring flaw in the argument is that society is suffused with symbols of male supremacy that treat women as objects. Sex magazines, nude photos, tight jeans — all of these products, arguably, treat women as objects, as do so many aspects of our media culture. And what about the “degrading prison” of plastic surgery? Proponents of the burqa ban do not propose to ban all these objectifying practices. Indeed, they often participate in them. Once again, then, the opponents of the burqa are utterly inconsistent, betraying a fear of the different that is discriminatory and unworthy of a liberal democracy.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/veiled-threats/

Unknown said...

Nice to see you've taken an interest in this topic. But I have to ask,
what is it about what this comment that is so offensive? I think it is a venerable way of treating women.

Also it isn't just Islam that requires this.
also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. (NIV, 1 Timothy 2:9-10)

A few Christians interpret these passages as a requiring women to dress very plainly and refrain from wearing jewelry or using makeup. But most Christians believe the advice is simply to dress modestly and in good taste, according to the standards of the society they live in.

http://www.twopaths.com/faq_dress.htmhttp://www.twopaths.com/faq_dress.htm



Heres what one famous feminist also said:

A Catalonian legislator recently called the burqa a “degrading prison.” The first thing we should say about this argument is that the people who make it typically don’t know much about Islam and would have a hard time saying what symbolizes what in that religion. But the more glaring flaw in the argument is that society is suffused with symbols of male supremacy that treat women as objects. Sex magazines, nude photos, tight jeans — all of these products, arguably, treat women as objects, as do so many aspects of our media culture. And what about the “degrading prison” of plastic surgery? Proponents of the burqa ban do not propose to ban all these objectifying practices. Indeed, they often participate in them. Once again, then, the opponents of the burqa are utterly inconsistent, betraying a fear of the different that is discriminatory and unworthy of a liberal democracy.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/veiled-threats/

Abu Daoud said...

Hi there IJ,

Where did I say that I think it's offensive? I don't.

I posted this to show how some contemporary Muslims defend what most other people in the world find to be unfair treatment of women.

Now, I will say, and you and I know this quite well I suspect, that many women do not feel like they are treasures, and most Muslim men do not treat the women like they are treasures. If anything, my critique is that this parable is misleading--it does not really tell the truth about Islam and Muslims. It is propaganda.

But no, I have nothing against modesty. I'm a fan of it. I don't think that modesty correctly understands requires the niqab however.

What do you think? What does your wife wear? Why?

Unknown said...

Great to see we see eye to eye!

However, I do have a certain outlook on life that others may find questionable.
I believe that if it found to be harmful for society for any specific practice to be common, than I don't see a problem in prohibiting it (at least on religious grounds).

Thus, I do not think it matters how women (or even men) feel about dress. What is better for society should be followed.
For example, with regards to modesty,here are some interesting articles:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200106/why-i-hate-beauty

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-big-questions/201008/sexualized-women-are-seen-objects-studies-find

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/homo-consumericus/201110/the-beauty-myth-versus-the-veil-feminist-perspective


After reading this, I am convinced that hijab is indeed the best option to follow.

With regards to my wife, I am not married yet but the women I am thinking of wears a veil (which makes her attractive in my eyes)!!