Women and Leadership Roles in Islam
There are different ways to view women's roles in Islamic society. On one hand, traditional Islam protects women and emphasizes their important place in caring for home and family. On the other hand, women's work has been restricted to domestic settings, thus keeping them from reaching their full human potential. Women were often treated as property, being brought and sold, and men could take as many wives as they wished.
Women often could not initiate divorce, and sometimes they had little right to own land or money. Seen against this background, some of Muhammad's views can seem quite liberal. For example, the Qur'an Forbids infanticide. It gives women the right to initiate divorce. Women may own money and property. And religious duties are demanded of women and men alike. Thus it has been argues that Muhammad did a great deal to improve women's individual rights. |
Malala-yousafzai
She is known mainly for human rights advocacy for education and for women in her native Swat Valley in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of northwest Pakistan, where the local Taliban had at timesbanned girls from attending school. Yousafzai's advocacy has since grown into an international movement.
|
Today, However, what some see in Islam as protection of women, others see as repression. Women's attire is a good example. In Muhammad's day, women were required to dress modestly and in a way that protected them from any possible scrutiny from male visitors.
But since that time, extreme forms of veiling have emerged in some countries, where women must be entirely covered when they are outside the home; even their hands are to be covered with gloves and their eyes with cloth mesh. |
The women who are members of the Nation of Islam are treated and viewed quite differently from those who are apart the traditional Islam Religion. The men attempt to safeguard the honor of black women, the bearer of black children. Muslim men chaperon women, who might be in the company of ill-willed men, to prevent inappropriate activity. Women, according to Nation ideology, have to learn to control their sexual desires. Apparently highly impressionable, women require male guidance. Muslim women have to dress conservatively, showing as little flesh as possible. the men of the Nation of Islam (NOI) "BELIEVE our women should be respected and protected as the women of other nationalities are respected and protected".
The women in the Nation of Islam are reborn in a sense, they take classes called MGT (Muslim Girls in Training) classes, which help them in becoming the black queens that they are taught and meant to be. they are taught how to rear their children in the right way, how to upkeep a household, how to honor their husbands etc, and things of that nature. they are taught essentials that were taken from the black woman years ago beginning from slavery. |
The Women from the NOI are respected on the highest level, (The fruit of Islam/Precious Jewels) because they are viewed as the most important essence next to their men (Adam and Eve). The Black women are also Honored just by Being Black women, and the givers of life, the men in the Nation of Islam do not Oppress their women, for they uphold them with the highest honor and respect and they are taught to protect them.
The Nation of Islam still maintains rules such as a ban on interracial dating, a dress code for women (including head coverings and no makeup or tight clothing) and a focus on traditional gender roles within the family. While women often work outside the home, they are generally expected to take the lead role in running the household and raising the children. If need be women who are members of the NOI, can work if they want to and earn money for their families. but it is known that the man is to work, but if she can wants to she can provide towards bills etc. but the women who are members of the NOI are taken care of and do not have to worry about such things. Women who are members of the NOI are rising to be more prominent leaders within the nation, and they are also help creating programs to help attract and bring forth young black women to help educate them. For example : Ava Muhammad |
Sources Derived:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation_of_Islam
Text Book: World religions text book, Section: Women in Islam
http://www.noi.org/muslim-program/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpfznmNBl1k (MGT: Women in Islam)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation_of_Islam
Text Book: World religions text book, Section: Women in Islam
http://www.noi.org/muslim-program/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpfznmNBl1k (MGT: Women in Islam)