As an 18-year-old, non-Muslim American, the first time I met a raised-Muslim woman, I came face to face with misconceptions I held about women in Islam and Muslims … literally.
I looked into the gorgeous eyes of an Indian Muslim woman who could only be described as the inspiration for Jasmine from Aladdin.
I watched her kind manners, listened to her intelligent conversation and boisterous fervour for life, and decided that this woman couldn’t be like all the rest or “them”. She couldn’t be like all those sad submissive and oppressed women from “that” part of the world.
She was so self-possessed and gracious. She even had impeccable style all while wearing “that thing on her head”.
Myth: In Islam, Women Are Less Than Men
Reality: When Islam was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), woman was not defined in relation to man, as she had been in so many societies and religions before.
She was not a mutilated version of man, as the Greeks had claimed. And she did not carry the responsibility for the downfall of man, as men in other religions decided. She was not killed or abandoned simply because of her gender.
In Islam, the woman was her own individual-believing woman. No spiritual superiority exists in the male role or the female role. Men and Women are complementary to one another and should not be defined in relation to one another, except by our piety and deeds.
Myth: In Islam, a Woman Is Completely Dependent on a Man
Reality: In Islam men and women are dependent on each other:
Men and women are protectors of each other
Muslim women in the 7th century in the desert of Arabia gained the right to be their own legal entities.
Women voted, gave advice on all matters from political to religious, owned property, signed contracts, and inherited- all rights promised to them through the religion of Islam.
Women were not property handed from father to husband, something the Western world would not realize until the 19th. and 20th. centuries.
Myth: A Muslim Woman Can’t Even Say Who She Marries
Reality: In no uncertain terms, every bride must consent to her marriage.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:
The widow and the divorced woman shall not be married until their order is obtained, and the virgin shall not be married until her consent is obtained. (Al-Bukhari)
Once a woman came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said that her father had married her to a man against her wish. The Prophet gave her the right to repudiate the marriage.
Myth: Muslim Women Aren’t Allowed to Get an Education
Reality: Muslim women not only have the right to obtain an education, they have the obligation.
The Prophet Muhammad said: Seeking knowledge is incumbent upon every Muslim man and woman. (Ibn Majah)
Every Muslim must instil in mind a desire to seek knowledge. Allah instructed His Prophet — and thus all Muslims — to ask Allah to increase him in knowledge.
Myth: Islam Considers Women to Be Second-Class Citizens
Reality: During his lifetime, Prophet Muhammad took counsel with and encouraged over 600 women who were scholars, warriors, nurses, businesswomen, teachers and students.
Muslim women and all women have the right to good treatment. The Prophet Muhammad even proclaimed that: The best of you are those who are best to women. (At-Tirmidhi)
