Feminism in Islam

Blond, you are right. If 50% of a population is oppressed, that society cannot move forwards.

Mind you, if a society always looks outwards to blame others (eg: foreignors)for their problems, and never inwards, then that is a huge problem which will hinder a society's progress too, but that's a topic for a different thread, I think.  :}

Kim...

That makes a lot of sense, Blond.  It is logical that happy women will raise happy, productive children, whereas unhappy or oppressed women would raise unhappy, dissatisfied children.

Peace, ummziba.

Islam gave women some rights (marriage and divorce by consent, inheritance, education political and legal rights) 1400 years ago, which were unknown to their Christian and Jewish sisters until 19th century. of course Islam�s scheme for life is from �that world�. it is an alternative that confronts the so-called modern world, its values, agnosticism, and �anything goes� mentality, with a genuine counter-project that only appears to be outdated because it is timeless.

The western civilization is already witnessing the casting of doubts on fashionable facets of the sexual and feminist revolution. AIDS alone has forced people to rethink their manners in more than one respect. the first manageress in USA begin to express regret at their now irrevocable decision not to have children for the sake of their careers � at having placed too much emphasis on �sisterhood� at the expense of �motherhood�. more women than before are now convinced that pure imitation of man is not the best way of liberating women. in the us, as in Europe, it is once again fashionable among formerly �swinging� students to �go steady�. in 1968, Vance Packard in his book �Sexual Wilderness� coined the term �sex jungle� for the excesses of the sexual revolution in his country � the USA.

For Islam, man and woman have the same dignity, but different tasks; they are of the same values, but have different abilities; they are equal before Allah, but have different roles in life. the question of whether or not this is �modern� is irrelevant.

You are right, Angel, men and women are two sides of the same equation, we cannot do without each other.  And Israfil, for sure "feminist Muslim" is an oxymoron.  However, that doesn't mean there aren't many issues in the ummah that need to be addressed as far as inequality goes.  Muslims need to realize that just because an atrocity is commited and blamed on culture doesn't mean we should shrug our shoulders and say "that is not Islam".

We need to address inequality head on and help stop practices such as so called "honour killings", women forced to marry someone they don't want to, dowry being paid to the bride's family or the groom's family instead of the bride, woman banned from some mosques, and so on and so forth.

It isn't good enough to just declare that these things are not Islamic, we must speak out and put an end to any "cultural" practices that are clearly wrong. Men and women are equally responsible before Allah for their actions or lack of them.

Peace, ummziba.