Specific Women’s Issues: Heather Gladden Poem

 

 

Demystifying Islam

 by Dr. Ali Shehata

In conclusion, the head covering in Islam does not result in negative feelings among most Muslim women. It remains a fact fourteen hundred years after the message of Islam was delivered by the Prophet Muhammad that women still proudly wear this garment of modesty and religious distinction. Furthermore, the act of covering for millions of Muslim women today remains a choice that they freely make, and not an act of coercion as is often portrayed in the West. These women choose to dress in this way so as to “please God,” in the words of one woman, while others dress the way that they do in order to please the societies in which they live.  To highlight this issue of choice and the positive outlook of a number of women regarding the head cover, this section will close with a beautiful poem written by Heather Gladden, an American convert to Islam: Muslimah: a Muslim woman Hijabi: a woman who chooses to wear the Hijab.   

 

Me,

Love,

Respect,

Sense of Self,

Covering my hair,

Showing God I care,

Protecting my modesty,

Exchanging lies for honesty,

Without Hijab, no one could tell,

Unprotected; without my Islamic shell,

Lies, as if to tell the world “Muslim, I am not”,

“I want to die with all of you and burn in Hell so hot”,

“Come men and talk with me, I am married but do not care”,

“I give you my permission to desire with your unbroken stare”,

“I want to show you what I have, make it look pretty for you to see”,

“I want you to desire and lust, while other Hijab-wearing women envy me”,

But I chose to be honest allowing the world to see; I am a Muslimah so happy,

Free from Satan’s enslavement, free for Heaven’s engagement, I am free!

God’s blessings so gently bestowed upon my head, so gently in deed,

Hugs from the cloth that covers me, Liberated from Satan’s greed,

I am a Muslimah, Shouting it out, yet silently without a voice,

I am a Muslimah, I am a Muslimah by my own choice,

No man owns me, no man controls me. I am free,

God owns me, God freed me to be me,

God loves me, and I respect God,

Allah is my God, Oh Allah!

I am me, I am a Hijabi!

My Sense of Self,

My Respect,

Love,

Me!

 

 

Table of Contrast

 This comparative table briefly summarizes a number of subjects as they relate to women. 

 

	Judaism	Christianity	Islam
Education	Forbidden for females to study the Torah/Talmud.	Women should learn from the husbands. Women are prohibited from teaching in Bible except to children.	Women are obligated to Study scripture; Female scholars contributed much to the development and spread of Islam.
Post childbirth	Unclean for 33 days with birth of male, but for 66 days with birth of female.	As with Judaism, but not practiced in current era Christianity	No distinction is made between male and female child.
Marital Consent	Scripturally the woman has no right to consent to her own marriage, but must accept the decision of her guardian.	Had no rights to consent to her own marriage until somewhere between the 9th and 12th Century CE	Marriage is invalid without the consent of the woman  as was demonstrated in the life of the Prophet.
Polygyny	Allowed Biblically and historically till the 10th century without limitation  as to number of wives	Prohibited entirely	Restricted to 4 wives at once, provided the man can equally divide time and finances between the 4
Wife beating	Historically mentioned as a punishment for disobedient women till the 16th century; not commonly a grounds for a woman to obtain a divorce.	Was a written part of Church canon and English Common Law till the 16th century as a form of  domestic chastisement	Viewed only symbolically; Strongly discouraged by the Prophet; forbidden to cause injury or pain to  woman; violence is grounds for divorce.
Divorce Rights	Women have no right to contract their own divorce, but must instead obtain certificate from husband.	Divorce is forbidden per the words of Jesus, and in the canon based on these words.	Women may divorce their husbands through “khul’a” by going to court.
Inheritance	Do not have the right to inherit per Torah/Talmud.	In accordance with Old Testament verses, Church canon also denies women rights to inheritance.	Women have a God-given right to inheritance and cannot be prevented from getting their share.
Bearing Witness	Forbidden in all cases due to the general unreliability and deficient intellect of women per Scripture.	Same as in Jewish tradition.	Women are admissible as witnesses in all legal cases, except in cases of criminal punishment. Also, in some legal cases, their testimony  is the only one admissible (men barred as witnesses).

 

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