Religion has over the years been used as a positive force of change when genuinely offered, regardless of the existence of gender differences. Most if not all world religions have been extensively patriarchal with systematic exclusion of women from authority, women oppression and devaluation with notable numbers of enslavement. Women have been considered inferior to men, no rights and are prohibited from utilizing their gifts and abilities (Gage 147). These forms of discriminations have been noted in various religious books including the Bible where Paul says that women are servants to their men who are their masters. In the Quran, men are said to be above women as Allah has given them superiority. Feminist movements addressing issues of morality and ethics where women are treated as less human being have been employed to reduce this inequity although their progress is slow.
Islam has been portrayed as one of the worst offenders in the role of their women with a high majority of non-Muslims voicing their representation as second class citizens. There are some quotes in the Quran that portrays how women are to be treated such as; men have the permission of control as well as correction of disobedience which would amount to beating their wives. A woman’s testimony and inheritance are worth half that of a man’s. Men ought to stay away from menstruating women who are regarded unclean, and they have also been represented as a property. Men can have sex with them as they please which highly supported by the issue of polygamy. The most common form of oppression viewed by the West is the wearing of the veil that is constituted to a voiceless being, denied of rights and forced into silence. However, Muslim women have responded to the wearing of the hijab as a choice, not a burden. Equitable verses in the Quran and other sacred books are greatly ignored to retain the possession and oppression of women. The Quran demands respect, justice, and honor towards women by condemning unfair treatment for all. Women in Islam based on the Quran’s teachings have their rights to own property, access to education, accept or refuse marriage and should be held with high regard (Badawi 102).