STATUS OF WOMEN IN ISLAM & CHRISTIANITY

15.Women Should be at Home — Titus 2:3-5 In a letter to Titus, Paul outlines some guidelines for young women that, at first glance, feel quite restrictive and rather gender stereotypical. He tells young women that they should “love their husbands and children… be working at home… and submissive to their husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.” In Paul’s era,[even up to 100 years back] girls received little to no education, and had very little prospects for work outside the home. Again, the social structure was dominated by males. Jews and Greeks would not have questioned this inferior place given to women, but the people of Jesus believed that everyone was made in God’s image. They valued everyone that society ignored. As these revolutionary ideas spread, members of the old guard began to associate Christianity with “loose women,” women who were not following the rules of hearth and home. So Paul, here again, teaches women to be submissive to their husbands. Far from infe

  13.Paul’s letters provide vivid clues about the kind of activities in which women engaged more generally. Paul's letters also offer some important glimpses into the inner workings of ancient Christian churches. These groups did not own church buildings but met in homes. Such homes were a domain in which women played key roles. It is not surprising then to see women taking leadership roles in house churches. As prophets, women's roles would have included not only ecstatic public speech, but preaching, teaching, and leading prayer. Paul tells of women who were the leaders of such house churches (Apphia in Philemon 2; Prisca in I Corinthians 16:19). This practice is confirmed by other texts that also mention women who headed churches in their homes, such as Lydia of Thyatira (Acts 16:15) and Nympha of Laodicea (Colossians 4:15). Paul greets Prisca, Junia, Julia, and Nereus' sister, who worked and traveled as missionaries in pairs with their husbands or brothers (Roma

  4.Woman with flow of blood : Blood was considered to make one ritually impure. In the parable of the Good Samaritan the priest and the Levite did not attend to the wounded man because he was bleeding. It is legally prohibited that people with flow of blood should stay away from others. But when the woman who was suffering hemorrhages for 12 years with trepidation she touched the fringe of Jesus’ garments to get healed. And not only was she allowed to be healed but Jesus called her, ‘daughter’, making her his own family. She was scared of getting a scolding for her audacity but instead she was treated as a little daughter. 5.Women at the foot of the Cross : There are a several women mentioned at the foot of dying Jesus on the cross. They were there because of the compassion he offered to them. Not because he treated them as any other Jew would. Veronica wiped the face of Jesus and Jesus granted her a special gift of her love. 6.The first witnesses of resurrection were women : Jesu

  PART –B Women And Sex in Christianity. Christianity and Judaism share together a part of the Bible, i.e. the Old Testament. However, both do not share the same view of God or morality. The Jews do not consider Jesus as the promised Messiah or as the second person of the Holy Trinity of the Christians.   The Old Testament is important for the Christians in so far as the New Testament is its fulfillment. As St. Augustine says, Old Testament reveals the New Testament and the New Testament is concealed in the Old Testament. The Old Testament reveals God’s revelation in history, choosing a people for Himself for the redemption of the whole human race through Christ. There are numerous prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament and quoting some of them St. Mathew uses in his gospel 16 times the phrase, “so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled.” The Christians do not consider any purificatory laws of the Jews binding on them.   When the New Testament teachi

  Another attempt to rape : In another incident reported in Bukhari 5255, Bk.68, H.5, Muhammad asked a noble woman for sex and on being rejected he raised hand to beat her. This is translated by Islamic sources as Muhammad asking for marriage and not for sex. I quote here the translations rendered by an Arabi speaking author and Islamic Scholar, Christian Prince,   in his Book ‘Sex & Allah, Vol.1, ISBN:1-943375-06-2, ISBN:13:978-1-943375-06-6. “…. The Jauniya (the name of the lady) had been brought and roomed in a house in a date-palm garden in the home of Umaima bint Al-Nu’man bin Shara’hil, and her wet-nurses was with her. When the Prophet (Allah pray on him and salute him) entered upon her, he said to her, “ Give me yourself (for sex) as a gift .” She said, “how it is possible that a Queen would give herself to a Savage man ?” The Prophet (Allah pray on him and salute him) raised his hand to slap her so that she might obey and do his request . She said, “I seek refuge with A

  82.Muhammad’s incestuous relationship with aunt : What is striking is that this Khaula bint Hakin, "one of the aunts of the prophet, " was one of the women who presented themselves to Muhammad. We learn this from another hadith, this one found in Sahih Bukhari  7.62.48 . In this hadith, related by Hisham's father, the subject involves one of the women who offered themselves to Muhammad for marriage, as allowed by the Qur'an 33:50. The woman happens to be Muhammad's aunt, Khaula bint Hakim. The prospect of Muhammad's aunt offering herself to Muhammad elicits a natural aversion by young Aisha, one immediately squelched by a Quranic revelation: Khaula bint Hakim was one of those ladies who presented themselves to the Prophet for marriage. 'Aisha said, "Doesn't a lady feel ashamed for presenting herself to a man?" But when the Verse: "(O Muhammad) You may postpone (the turn of) any of them (your wives) that you please,' (33.51) wa

  77.Female circumcision : “…That is because the purpose of circumcising a man is to make him clean from the impurity that may collect beneath the foreskin. But the purpose of circumcising women is to regulate their desire, because if a woman is not circumcised her desire will be strong. Hence the words “O son of an uncircumcised woman” are used as an insult, because the uncircumcised woman has strong desire. Hence immoral actions are more commong among the women of the Tatars and the Franks, that are not found among the Muslim women…” Majmoo’ al-Fataawa, 21/114 https://islamqa.info/en/9412 Therefore the male circumcision is obligatory and female circumcision is Sunnah. 78.What should a Muslim do if he gets horny? Recommendation to the one who sees a woman sexually aroused is to go to his wife or slave woman and have intercourse with her. Jabir reported that Allah's Messenger ( ﷺ ) saw a woman, and so he came to his wife, Zainab, as she was tanning a leather and had sexua

  74.Muhammad’s marriage privileges : There are 16 privileges given to Muhammad as mentioned in Tafsir Al-Qurtbi page 423. Here are some of them. To take more than four women. To marry, (or have intercourse), with a woman who verbally pronounces her dedication (to him). To marry, without the presence (or permission) of a legal guardian. To marry, without a dowry. (In Islam man gives dowry (Mehr). To marry (and have intercourse) during a state of ritual consecration and purification. The annulment of an oath he may make to his wives. If Muhammad looks at a woman (and desires her) then it is necessary for her husband to divorce her and for Muhammad to marry her. The number of wives that Muhammad gathered gives the impression that they were like pets or playthings for him. “A lady came to the Prophet and declared that she had decided to offer herself to Allah and His Apostle. The Prophet said, "I am not in need of women." A man said (to the Prophet) "Please ma

  71.“The deceased is punished for the women wailing over him .”(Sunan Ibn Majah 1593, Bk.6, H. 161). 72.No second wife for Son in law,Ali until Fatima dies: Fatima was Muhammad’s daughter. He did not allow his son in law to have a co-wife for Fatima, but everyone else could have. This show the belittling attitude of Muhammad to women in general. "Banu Hisham bin Al-Mughira have requested me to allow them to marry their daughter to `Ali bin Abu Talib, but I don't give permission, and will not give permission unless `Ali bin Abi Talib divorces my daughter in order to marry their daughter, because Fatima is a part of my body, and I hate what she hates to see, and what hurts her, hurts me ." ( Sahih Bukhari 5230, Bk. 67, H. 163). This hadith shows that women don’t like to have co-wives for them. Muhammad clearly knew it. And so he didn’t allow it for his daughter. 73.Muhammad’s sexual relations with women: Muhammad said: 'In this world, women and perfume have

  63.Muhammad fought with his wives and he stayed away from them for a month. “Narrated Um Salama: The Prophet vowed to keep aloof from his wives for a period of one month, and after the completion of 29 days he went either in the morning or in the afternoon to his wives. Someone said to him "You vowed that you would not go to your wives for one month." He replied, "The month is of 29 days." (Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 31, Number 134). 64.Women  are deficient in intelligence and religion, should be submissive to men: Commentary of Quran 4.34  by Jalal - Al-Jalalayn: Men are in charge of, they have authority over, women, disciplining them and keeping them in check, because of that with which God has preferred the one over the other, that is, because God has given them the advantage over women, in knowledge, reason, authority and otherwise, and because of what they expend, on them [the women], of their property. Therefore righteous women, among them, are obedient

  60.A girl should not express her consent verbally for her marriage but through silence . A virgin should not be married until her consent is sought, and her consent is her silence.”(Sunan Ibn Majah 1871, Bk.9, H. 27). 61. Muslim men will get 72 Houris in heaven. But women get none other than her husband: “There is no one whom Allah will admit to Paradise but Allah will marry him to seventy-two wives , two from houris and seventy from his inheritance from the people of Hell, all of whom will have desirable front passages and he will have a male member that never becomes flaccid (i.e., soft and limp).’”( Sunan Ibn Majah 4337, Bk.37, H.238). One would wonder why Allah is so concerned with the sex organs of those in heaven, especially of women, to make it attractive for men so to get them to fight to enter this heaven.   Of the 72 Houris, seventy are brought up from Hell because most women are in Hell and they are purified and made attractive for Muslim men for sex in heaven. Is

  52.Women are forbidden to have false hair, alter teeth, tattooing or remove facial hair . (Bukhari vol.6, Bk. 60, H. 408). 53.Sex toys in heaven only for men: "Indeed in Paradise there is a market in which there is no buying nor selling- except for images of men and women. So whenever a man desires an image, he enters it ." (Jami at-Tirmidhi, Bk.38, H.2747).   No sex toys allowed on earth but in heaven you can have enough of that. However, only for men’s comfort and a man can have a man’s sex toy and take pleasure from it (homosexuality is allowed in heaven). 54.Defects in Children is due to defect in sex and its timings. Muhammad said, O Ali, do not have sex with your wives at the beginning of the month,, and in the middle or the end of the month , because madness and leprosy and foolishness would infect her and her new born baby! (Makarem AL-Akhlaq page 210, as quoted by Christian Prince, Sex &Allah, Vol.2, page 79). Muhammad said, O Ali, do not have sexu

  46.Halal Marriage : Islam dictates that a Muslim man has the liberty to divorce and remarry the same woman twice. However, if he divorces (‘Talak)’ three times, he can only remarry the same woman only if she first marries another man, consummates the marriage, and only if the man dies or willingly asks for divorce, can the woman go back to her former husband and remarry him. “from the Prophet, concerning a man who had a wife then divorced her, then another man married her but divorced her before consummating the marriage. Could she go back to the first man? He said: “No, not until he tastes her sweetness .” (Sahih Sunan Ibn Majah 1933, Bk. 9, H. 89). Often Muslim men divorce wives in triple “Talak” in quick succession and later regrets the action. But then they cannot remarry until the woman gets married to another man and that man in turn   divorces her after consummating the marriage. However, if it is done intentionally to convenience the remarriage with her former husband,