Argumentative Research Paper
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MylastcommentsBaderAbbasTheStatusofWomenUnderIslam1stdraft.docxRunning head: PILLARS OF ISLAM
Abbas1
“The Status of Women Under Islam”
Bader Abbas
Dr. Ghazi Nassir
ENGL 102-14
Research Paper 1st Draft
Date: 28/01/2021
Islam is a faith that is professed in many parts of the world; the religion is distributed in many parts of the world. Islam is a religion that accommodates all people by free will, as long as they share in the faith. Islam, like other religions, has governing principles that guide the lives of Muslims. Muslim women are the most affected by the governing principles. Muslim women are under strict guardianship laws; for women to do most things they have to have consent from their male relatives such as fathers, brothers and even sons. Some of the activities or things that women do that require consent from their male relatives include traveling, marriage and divorce, employment, education, opening and operating a bank account and surgery, more so surgeries that were sexual in nature. For a long time, Saudi Arabian women were not allowed to vote, however, that law was overturned and women are now allowed to vote and also contest for positions in the local government. The above example is one of the many limitations that face Muslim women. The status of women under Islam is not clearly defined, consequentially, the role and functions of women in Islam are not clear. Comment by Ghazi Nassir: Read and follow the map regarding the introduction paragraph. Where is the debate? Where is the research question?Where is your thesis? Follow the map and the checklist. Comment by Ghazi Nassir: Comma splice Comment by Ghazi Nassir: Insert comma after overturned
Through the analysis of Muslim women more so those that live in Western nations, one cannot help but notice that they are more liberated compared to those that live in Islamic nations in the Middle East. Muslim women who live in the United States are at liberty to attend schools as they desire, some of them can participate in sports, they can drive and also influence policies and decisions in their schools and their communities. From the analysis, it is evident that the status of women under Islam is not clearly defined.
The lack of a clear definition of Muslim women status has three main limitations. First, women under Islam cannot function at their full potential. Secondly, based on the current status, women cannot influence as much as they want policy and decisions in their community. Lastly, the lack of a clear status for women exposes the Muslim community to limitations. The current status of women in Islam is not clearly defined for women to fully take up their roles.
The following research questions will help to guide this qualitative study:
· RQ1: What is the status of women under Islam? Comment by Ghazi Nassir: Delete
The gap in the literature is a need to identify current state of Muslim women status in the society. The gap was used to define the problem statement. This study will address the challenges that Muslim women undergo by understanding the Islamic culture. The study research questions each then targets uncovering these reasons contributing to the difference in the status of women under Islam. This study may add to the literature which focuses on women rights in the Islamic culture.
Qualitative methodology will be used in this study. Qualitative methodology is the most appropriate methodology that provides rich data and not bound by limitations. Qualitative methods are appropriate because it will help to provide real life evidence from the explanations of Muslim women. It is appropriate for answering the research questions that focus on the status of women under Islam. It is appropriate for addressing the problem statement which notes the potential of women under Islam is not fully known as their status in the society is not clear.
The design for this research will be a qualitative descriptive study. This qualitative descriptive design is the most appropriate design for the problem statement that the lack of a clear status for women under Islam limits them from exploiting their full potential. Furthermore, it is appropriate for the research questions because it gives the participant an opportunity to express the points in regards to the study subject in length. The literature review involves analyzing five publications.
The first article to be reviewed is one titled American Muslim Women on Campus. The article is about Muslim women and their experiences in College. Yasmin one of the ladies who shares her experiences states that “I learned to tone down my Muslim attributes as I feel that Islam attributes hamper my aspirations and achievements” (174). Yasmin states that she refrains from putting Muslim references on her resume for fear that she may be sidelined due to the Muslim inclination. She believes that the only way she can help her fellow Muslims is by first getting an opportunity and then working from the inside to get other Muslims in the system.
An analysis of Yasmin’s and the other Muslim women experiences in the university and colleges reveals that the women are unsure of their status. There are those women that want to do away with the attributes that identify them as Muslims as it hampers their operations and interactions. It is possible to conclude that the Muslim status of the women hampers their status and limits their potentially as they have to fit into the already set up profile of Muslim women.
The second article is titled engaging with Islam to promote Women’s right by Kirmani Nida. Based on the article, Muslim women do not have equal rights to Muslim men. Furthermore, the few rights that they have are not respected and honored. Kirmani, writes an article that focuses on the use of Muslim faith based organizations to advocate for the rights of Muslim women. The organizations are more likely to be received by the Muslim community as they have been running gender-related projects for a while. Based on the effort being put in aiding Muslim women, it is clear that they have a poor status in the community.
Kirmani emphasizes that women rights need to be developed for the status of women in the community to be lifted and recognized. In majority of Muslim states,
“Women are disregarded in comparison to men” (91). It is easy for them to be abused and nothing much will happen. According to the article, for the status of Muslim women to change, their rights have to be upheld. The Islamic culture needs to put up measures to ensure that their women’s rights are respected and not violated. Through the rights, Muslim women can live to their fullest.
The third article under review is titled Marriage and the status of women in the light of Islam by Abdul Khan. The article looks at two main things. The first thing that the article focuses on is the institution of marriage as per Islam. According Khan, marriage is a sacred contract that every Muslim should take part. As per his explanation, “Marriage is encouraged to reduce sexually immorality” (12). The second focus of the article is the status of women. Surprisingly, Khan states that the individuality of a woman does not merge with her husband’s. An indication that men and women have equal rights as per Islam. Khan uses prophet Mohammed’s explanation to explain why women have equal rights to men. Based on the explanation, the status of women is equal to that of Muslim men.
An analysis of the article confirms that the current status of Muslim women is a forced state as opposed to that which is supposed to be normal. Prophet Mohammed’s teachings confirm that Muslim women are entities by themselves and that they should not be oppressed. The current oppression that is associated with Muslim women status is wrong and it hampers their development and contribution in the community.
The fourth article is titled Muslim Women’s Claims to Refugee Status Within the Context of Child Custody Upon Divorce Under Islamic Law by Krivenko Ekaterina. The article is based on case laws in Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom relating to child custody cases under divorce in Islamic laws. Muslim women divorced in the three countries mentioned above find it easy to win child custody cases which is the opposite of the Islam culture. According to the Islam culture, “Children belong to the father and priority for raising child is given to fathers as opposed to women” (50). Since New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom do not follow sharia laws and also do not observe Islamic cultures, it has become easy for Muslim women that are refugees to win custody cases.
Experts on the Islamic culture caution decision makers in the nation of not taking into account the Muslim experience in making their decisions as regards such cases. The Islam culture’ experts’ advice that decision makers to consider the consequences of their decisions on Muslim children; Muslim children might not relate well with decisions that favor Muslim women as far as children custody is concerned. Based on the article it is clear that the status of Muslim women in Islamic nations is significantly lower than in westernized nations.
The last article under review is titled women in Islam. The article has a lot of information on women under Islam. It focuses on the differences between modern Islam and traditional Islam with emphasis placed on Muslim women. In addition, the article compares Muslim women in Islamic states and those in westernized nations. From the article it is clear that “Muslim women that stay in westernized nations such as Australia have significantly higher status compared to those in Islamic nations in the Middle East” (64). Furthermore, the article states that modern Islam is more liberal compared to traditional Islam. One good example that best explains the difference between the two is women driving in Saudi Arabia. In the past, it was illegal for women to drive but now women can drive legally in the nation.
An analysis of the article confirms that the status of women under Islam is fast changing for their good. Muslim women are slowly getting higher status than before and this is as a result of globalization. Nevertheless, the status of women under Islam is still wanting. According to the article, there needs to be changes in the Islamic culture to accommodate changes in the world.
Based on the literature review study, it is clear that the status of women under Islam is not clearly defined. Muslim women are still tied down by Islamic practices that favor men. The roles and duties of woman of majority of Muslim women are child home keeping and parenting. Based on the study, the first and second hypothesis of the study are confirmed: the status of women under Islam is not defined and Muslim women do not have a status by themselves as they are considered to be under men. There is a need for the status of Muslim women to be defined.
Based on the study it is clear that the lack of a clear definition of Muslim women status has three main limitations. First, women under Islam cannot function at their full potential. Secondly, based on the current status, women cannot influence as much as they want policy and decisions in their community. Lastly, the lack of a clear status for women exposes the Muslim community to limitations. The current status of women in Islam is not clearly defined for women to fully take up their roles.
· Obviously, you did not understand the nature of the assignment, and certainly you did not follow the map and the checklist.
· I would like to see an essay(Introduction (Background info, debate, research question, and thesis) ends with a thesis/ your position, Body-at least four paragraphs- each paragraph starts with a topic sentence that includes one of the reasons behind your thesis, supported with quotation(s), summary, or paraphrase) from your sources (articles and books)to show and to support your points/topic sentences, and conclusion).
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Works Cited
Khan, Abdul Majeed. “Marriage and the Status of Women in the Light of Islam.” Alpha
Kappa Deltan, vol. 24, no. 1, (Sept 1953): 10–15.
Kirmani, Nida, and Isabel Phillips. "Engaging with Islam to promote women’s rights.” Progress in Development Studies, vol. 11, no. 2, (Apr 2011): 87-99.
Krivenko, Ekaterina Yahyaoui. "Muslim women's claims to refugee status within the context of child custody upon divorce under Islamic law." International Journal of Refugee Law, vol. 22, no. 1, (Mar 2010): 48-71.
Lovat, Terence. Women in Islam: Reflections on historical and contemporary research. Dordrecht: Springer, 2012
Mir, Shabana. Muslim American women on campus: Undergraduate social life and identity. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2014.
