• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Isa And Islam
  • Home
  • Site Goals
    • About Us
    • Isa, Islam and Al-Fatiha
    • Our Privacy Policy
    • Article List
  • The Straight Path
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Articles
  • Videos
  • Contact Us
Isa And Islam > Frequently Asked Questions > Al-Quran > Does the Quran Marginalize Women?

Does the Quran Marginalize Women?

14 July 2014 by Web Administrator 6 Comments

Kitab-07

“Behind every great man is a great woman.” This famous quote has been proven true. Many famous and successful men admit the only way they’re successful is because their women are behind them.

However, it seems this doesn’t apply to women in the Quran. The Quran makes women inferior. What does the Quran teach about women?

A Man Can Marry More than One Woman!

“… marry those that please you of [other] women, two or three or four. But if you fear that you will not be just, then [marry only] one or those your right hand possesses …” (Qs 4:3). Muhammad failed to abide by his own teaching! He had nine wives and gave preference to Aisha above his other wives. No man can treat all of his wives the same!

Husbands May Beat their Wives

The Quran allows physical abuse! “… Admonish women who disobey (God’s laws), do not sleep with them and beat them …” (Qs 4:34). One Hadith records, “Aisha said, ‘I have not seen any woman suffering as much as the believing women'” (Bukhari 72:715). Muhammad’s own wife complained of the abuse that Muslim women suffer when compared with other women.

bigstock-Poverty-and-poorness-on-the-ch-26665829

Women Are Less Intelligent

Qs 2:282 taught that a man’s testimony is equal to two women. This is because according to Islam, women are less intelligent than men. Narrated by Abu Said Al-Khaduri: “… I (Muhammad) have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religion than you.’ … He said, ‘Is not the evidence of two women equal to the witness of one man? …’” (Al-Bukhari 301:1)

The Quran’s teachings do not agree with the teachings in God’s Holy Book. So what does the Injil teach about women?

Isa Al-Masih Didn’t Allow Polygamy

Isa taught that marriage is the joining of one man and one woman, becoming one flesh. No one can separate them. “… ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together” (Injil, Matthew 19:5-6).

Isa Al-Masih Restores Women’s Dignity

rajam

Isa cared about women’s dignity. One day, a woman was caught in adultery. Isa didn’t stone her as the Law of Moses commands. “‘… he [Isa] …said to them, ‘Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’… Jesus straightened up and asked her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’… ‘Then neither do I condemn you,’ Jesus declared. ‘Go now and leave your life of sin’” (Injil, John 8:7-11).

Isa Didn’t Treat Women as Second Class

One day, Isa was visiting His friends, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, in their home. Mary sat at Isa’s feet listening to him. “… Martha was distracted by all the preparations… She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’ ‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘… Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken from her’” (Injil, Luke 10:40-42). Isa wanted Mary, a woman, to learn the same way as a man from him.

Isa offered equal status to women and men even though the Jewish law didn’t permit it. He did this because God loves all people equally, both men and women. He proved this when He gave Isa, His own Son as a holy sacrifice to save them. “But everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved, …” (Injil, Romans 10:13). If you want to learn more about this salvation, please go to our Way of Salvation page.

[We invite you to visit us at https://www.isaandislam.com/way-of-salvation to learn more about God’s gift of Salvation. God loves you and waits to hear from you. Isa clearly said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (Injil, John 14:6). For a deeper understanding of Isa we suggest you subscribe to “Isa, Islam, and Al-Fatiha” at this link.]

SOME QUESTIONS FOR THE COMMENT SECTION BELOW

We encourage our readers to comment on the article above. Comments that don’t directly relate to the topic will be removed. Please start a dialogue with us by focusing on one of the following questions:

• Do you agree with the quote “Behind every great man there’s a great woman”? If yes, why? If no, why?
• Do you agree that the Quran makes women inferior to men? Why or why not?
• What do you think about the way Isa treated women as described in the article? Why?

If you have a question regarding this article, please contact us by clicking this link.

Share this article:

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on WhatsApp Share on Email Share on SMS

Filed Under: Al-Quran

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. jasmin says

    29 October 2012 at 10:59 pm

    `
    Dear Friends: We highly value all comments on our website. Yet we do have some guidelines:

    1. No one may enter more than one comment at a time. Thus you may not fill multiple comment boxes.

    2. Your comment should be directly related to the theme of the lead article.

    3. It is best if you only put forward one or two questions at a time.

    4. Use good English. If the comment is not clear, we may edit it.

    5. Don’t use abbreviations.

    6. Do not use capital letters to emphasize something.

    7. Do not include any hyperlinks.

    If you have extra questions, please email us at .

    Reply
  2. muslim says

    24 January 2014 at 8:16 pm

    `
    In the Bible, men are created in the image of God, but women are not. ”For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman: but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man” (1 Corinthians 11:7-8).

    1 Corinthians 11:5-10: “Hence, women are to cover their head when praying.” We wonder why Christians don’t obey their own scriptures.

    1 Corinthians 11:13: “Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God (with her head) uncovered?” In the Bible, the woman is the gateway of sin in this world, hence she is not to express herself at church.

    1 Timothy 2:11-14: “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.”

    Also, “If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered,  he shall pay her father fifty shekels  of silver. He must marry the young woman, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives” (Deuteronomy 22:28-30).

    Reply
    • aila says

      25 January 2014 at 9:16 am

      ~
      Muslim,

      Contextually, Paul was saying that there is a divinely ordained hierarchy, in which men are directly under Christ as the “head”, and women are under the headship of man. Please also note that Paul wrote only “the glory of man”, not “the image and glory of man.” Genesis 1:27 says, “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; ….’ God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

      1 Corinthians 11:5-10, 1 Corinthians 11:13, and 1 Timothy 2:11-14 are saying that women should be under the submission of men (head covering). Also, I don’t think that women need to cover their head when praying because she is the gateway of sin. It’s because she needs to submit under the authority of man.

      And Deuteronomy 22:28-30 talks about the Law given to the Israelites. It’s applied as an order in the society and to protect the woman.

  3. muslim says

    25 January 2014 at 9:50 am

    `
    Aila,

    If men should not cover their head and the reason is that, they are made in God’s image, doesn’t it follow that whoever is told to cover their head do not fulfill that criterion of being God’s image? Clearly, God’s image should not be covered up, hence, women are not God’ image, according to Paul.

    1 Corinthians 11:5-10: “But every woman that prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonours her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.” Clearly, this head covering is literal and it was practiced by early Christians. The verses clearly state that if a woman does not obey them, her head should be shaved.

    Also, concerning whether the law in Deuteronomy 22:28-30 was given to Israel or not, the same unjust God made this wicked law. Seriously, does this law sound fair to you?

    Reply
    • aila says

      27 January 2014 at 7:56 am

      ~
      Muslim,

      As I said in the previous comment, the Bible clearly states that both men and women are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). The head covering represents authority. A woman covering her head means that she is under the authority. Christ is the head of man, man is the head of woman, and God is the head of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:3). You may be right about the practice by early Christians, yet what Paul meant in these verses was about head authority in the church. In this time period, a woman covering her head was a sign that she was under authority. This is why most Christians no longer practice this today, as it is not a part of the culture.

      About Deuteronomy 22:28-30, the fifty shekels of silver equaled the average bride-price, which means the man should marry her. This was a good thing for Israel, and was actually something God did to protect women. If a person found out a woman had sex outside of marriage, even if it was a rape, she would at the very least be shunned, and possibly be killed. By requiring a man to marry a woman whom he’d already had sex with, God was protecting the woman from shunning and being killed.

  4. aila says

    6 August 2014 at 8:49 am

    ‘
    Dear Friends: We highly value all comments on our website. Yet we do have some guidelines:

    1. No one may enter more than one comment at a time. Thus you may not fill multiple comment boxes.

    2. Your comment should be directly related to the theme of the lead article.

    3. It is best if you only put forward one or two questions at a time.

    4. Use good English. If the comment is not clear, we may edit it.

    5. Don’t use abbreviations.

    6. Do not use capital letters to emphasize something.

    7. Do not include any hyperlinks.

    If you have extra questions, please email us at .

    Reply

RULES FOR COMMENTING

We reserve the right to edit or delete, in part or in whole, comments that contain words or phrases that are offensive, disrespectful, or aggressive in nature as well as comments that do not relate to the topic article. Furthermore, we reserve the right to edit comments to correct grammar or sentence structure to improve its readability.

1. Please use clear and unabbreviated language.
2. Please relate questions and comments to the article.
3. Please do not post more than two questions.
4. Please be polite and unaggressive.
5. Please use only English or give the English translation of non-English words.
6. Please use only one box.
7. Please do not use forms of emphasis such as capital letters, etc…

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

 characters available

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • The True Meaning of Suffering for Devout People 
  • Imam Has Assurance He Will Go to Heaven
  • Prophet Isa’s Birth: The Most Beautiful Gift for Muslims
  • 6 Reasons Why Isa’s Birth is So Important and Worth Celebrating!
  • The Quranic Verse That Permits Muslims to Celebrate Christmas

Most Popular Articles This Month

  • What Does the Quran Say About Isa Al-Masih?
  • Why Muslims Need God As Father
  • Can Muslim “Wudu” Remove My Sin?
  • Are Parts of the Bible Missing?
  • Allah’s Love in the Quran and Injil

Footer

Contact Us

If you have questions or comments, please contact us by clicking the button below.

Contact Us

Weekly Bulletin Isa And Al-Fatiha

If you want to receive the weekly meditations on Isa Al-Masih and Al-Fatiha, please click the button below

Weekly Bulletin Isa And Al-Fatiha

Social Media

Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Hak Cipta © 2009 - 2023 Religous Dialogue - Jesus and Islam. | Privacy Policy | Contact Us