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The other sad reality is the socio-economic effect of Islam on women’s lives. In Islamic countries all doors are closed to women. There are little to no opportunities available for women to live a productive and independent life. They have little education and no job training. All they know is household chores. If women do not marry and do not find a husband who will take care of them, they will have a very difficult life. Marriage is the only hope a Muslim woman has for her own survival. She knows that perfectly well. She knows that she has to marry soon and that if she is dumped, her future will be ruined.    

In Islamic countries, the patrimony of the family is not divided equally between the estranged husband and wife but rather, the man keeps everything, as everything has been his earnings. The Qur’an makes it clear that everything is his property and a good woman is one who takes care of her husband's property.  

The work of the woman in keeping her husband’s house orderly, cooking for him and raising his numerous children is not recognized as valuable and hence after a divorce she is entitled to nothing. She will also lose the custody of her children as in Islam women are nothing but incubators for the children of men. All she can get is her mahr (a fee agreed upon prenuptially) that often is only a token and sums up to nothing. It could be something as insignificant as a dress. Women often do not demand too much for mahr, not only because Muhammad insisted that good women should also be cheap but also because they risk not marrying at all and that would be a great disgrace to them and to their families.  

Clearly divorce could mean disaster for a Muslim woman. It not only means she will lose her social status but she could actually face starvation. If she is not young enough to re-marry, she will be forced to find menial work. Work is not readily available to women in Islamic countries. The only work available is domestic and janitorial work, which is extremely poorly paid and very demeaning. Only the lucky ones can get jobs as maids. Many divorced women will end up in the streets as beggars.  

Thus, it is understandable that Muslim women prefer an abusing husband who beats them regularly to divorce. This also explains why women consent to sharing their husbands with second, third or fourth co-wives. They know that the alternative is getting divorced and that means facing a very bleak future of uncertainties and assured poverty.  

Stigmatization is just one dilemma that a divorced woman faces. The real challenge is survival after the divorce. Only after we take into consideration the psycho-religious and the socio-economic factors that subjugate Muslim women can we appreciate the gravity of the problem and can understand why Maryam would be happy if her husband beats her only once a week instead of everyday. Only then do we understand why she says that she still loves him. Maryam knows perfectly well that if her abusive and savage husband dumps her, she will have to either commit suicide or live a life of abject poverty and misery. All Maryam wants is to live. Isn’t this the basic instinct of all living beings? Thus, she is willing to be beaten once a week for that privilege. Maryam is willing to keep her psychopathic husband content by allowing him to beat her regularly so she can continue to live her wretched life.  

To Maryam and to millions of Muslim women who live in abusive relationships and in abusive societies, life is not a right but a privilege. It is a privilege that they have to earn by pleasing their husbands even if it means enduring their violent tantrums.  

Muslim women with no husbands have no hopes. If they are divorced or if they are widowed, if they have no huge inheritance and if they can’t find another husband, they have no future. They are outcasts and burdens to the society and to themselves. Death is far more enticing to them than this dismal and miserable life. Perhaps this explains the raison d'être of the Chechen Black Widows. These women have lost their husbands and being Muslim women there is nothing left for them but to die. However, as good Muslims they want to take their revenge and kill as many innocent people as they can before they face their own coveted death.

Abuse of women is one of the problems facing the Muslim world and it is not a minor one. Unfortunately there is no resolution to this problem unless Islam is eradicated from these societies. Misogyny is just one of the many symptoms of the sick Islamic world. The disease is Islam!

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