Through the history different belief systems and religions have arisen in which genders’ social standing has varied in some degree. Among all these religions, Islam is one of the most worshipped ones; therefore, how women are socially active, and how they are treated in this belief system should be discussed. Even though there are mainstream stereotypes claiming that women are mainly discriminated in Islam, actually in this religion females and males are perceived to be equal in many aspects. I strongly believe that the main reason behind all these stereotypes is the misinterpretation of Islamic rules by some Muslim societies in which people, who hold the power, mislead people about religious issues. The genuine value of women in Islam should be distinguished from what some believers consider as the so-called requirements in order to get a reasonable understanding of females’ importance in this religion. Despite the fact that people’s misusage of the religion creates different stereotypes about it, in Islam, women are considered as equal as men by being valued in the same degree and having similar rights such as the right to education.
Islamism, which is, unfortunately, considered as an inevitable part of the current world, is one of the obvious causes of misinterpretation and stereotypes about Islam. In order to define how all these undesired issues arise, the difference between Islam and Islamism should be clearly stated. Even though Islam came to the surface in ancient times, as a hope bringing religion, Islamism, associated with politics, is another term which is used to differentiate the real Islam from misused version of it. To my way of thinking, the reason for the rise of Islamism can be due to the actions of some authority members who wanted to gain more power by manipulating and affecting people’s feelings through the religion in several Muslim countries. Thus, I think it is obvious why todays numerous girls are deprived of many rights in the name of so-called Islam. The reason is that the authorities of several Muslim countries know that with female population who fully utilize their rights, it would be difficult to control people because a woman who knows her rights somehow means children who acknowledge their rights. While talking about the misusage of Islam, it would be quite fair to analyze how Islam considers women significantly valuable and how this situation is misinterpreted.
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If women’s social life in Islam is discussed, firstly, their value in the society should be examined. Not only in the Islam, but world widely, it is accepted that males and females cannot be considered as equal in terms of certain characteristics of physiology and psychology; however, their status and value in the society are appreciated in the same way in Islam (Khayat, 2003). An example of that can be the attitude toward newborn girls before and after Islam; before the Islamization of Arabian Peninsula, an infant could be killed just because she was a girl. However, after people saw how the Prophet Muhammad treated his daughter, the situation started to change (not completely, unfortunately). From my perspective, this means that Islam gave back the right to live to countless girls by simply reminding the society the true value of women. It should also be remarked that the language of the Koran, the sacred book of Islam, addresses both males and females separately, and it indicates that Islam sees the members of both genders as separate valuable individuals.
Even though in several Muslim countries, especially the ones located in Africa continent, females’ illiteracy rate is high, Islam puts significance on education regardless of one’s gender. It is a well-known fact that the first order of this religion is “Read!”, and while giving this command Islam does not state girls cannot get education or only boys can. In my opinion, today, if some people are against the women’s education and support themselves with so-called Islamic rules, it is just because of their misunderstanding, misinterpretation, or just biased view. Speaking of Muslim girls’ education, I would like to emphasize the first girls’ school in Baku founded by Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev, who believed that females should also have a right to education. I firmly believe that he opened this school because maybe he thought that the girls could not become educated since some Muslim families were against women’s education. Those families, I guess, misunderstood some requirements of Islam and completely rejected women’s right to education. I also tend to think that maybe when a girl was illiterate, families easily made them obey their rules and regulations; therefore, by misinterpreting the nature of Islam, they refused to send their daughters to the school. Therefore, in my opinion, it can be concluded that although Islam puts equal significance to both genders’ education, sometimes people intentionally or unintentionally do the opposite without deeply understanding it.
All in all, the value of women in Islam and how it is interpreted can be varied from each other in some degree. Despite the fact that Islamism is used as a tool for gaining power within different types of societies, most people are not still aware of it; therefore, they are easily manipulated. Nonetheless, putting those misinterpretation issues and stereotypes aside, Islam is the religion of equality for both males and females in respect to their value in the society and their rights. Also, education, which is a crucial element of the 21st century, has been one of the basic rights for both men and women since the beginning of Islam. From my point of view, in order to fully perceive the real value of women in Islam, an individual should try to put away all the Islamism factors and follow the true rules of this religion.
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