The Value of a Woman According to Islam

Ladies, in this world you suffer many challenges. Society fosters a perception that women are less valued than men. A woman’s value is too often associated with her sex appeal instead of her intrinsic worth. I want to tell you that you are precious in the sight of God and should be treated with the highest honour. The Bible says men and women are made in the image of God, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female…” -Gen. 1:27.

The Bible says that men and women are equal in the sight of God, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” -Gal. 3:28.

During Jesus’ generation, distorted religious rules and customs permeated the poor treatment of women. That’s why Jesus’ recorded actions with women are a model for a civilized society. Jesus is the greatest liberator of women’s rights the world has ever had. He would astonish the religious elite and abrogate society’s discriminatory practices. It’s recorded in Scripture that the disciples and religious leaders would “marvel that He talked with a woman ...”, and they questioned, “Why are You talking with her?” -John 4:27, and they would make comments like, “This Man (Jesus), if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a 

sinner” -Luke 7:39. Jesus simply didn’t care about the bigoted norms that had tainted religion and society. He saw each person as created by God and having immeasurable worth, and ministered to them.

The first person Jesus revealed himself to as the Christ (the Messiah) was a woman in John 4:1-26. The first person Jesus appeared to when he rose from the dead was a woman in John 20:11-18. Jesus let women sit at his feet when he was teaching, turning around thousands of years of tradition, “Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word” -Luke 10:39. Even in Jesus’ closest inner circle, women were included, “He (Jesus) went through every city and  village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him, and certain women…Mary called Magdalene…and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward,  and Susanna…” - Luke 8:1-3.

The Bible describes marriage as a relationship between Jesus and the church “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her” -Eph. 5:25. This means that a husband should be willing to die for his wife, just as Jesus was willing to die on the cross for the church. God commands husbands not to hold anger toward their wives, “Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them” -Col. 3:19. God also commands husbands to honour their wives and to pursue understanding them, or the husbands’ prayers will be hindered. “Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honour to the wife, as to the weaker vessel ... that your prayers may not be hindered.” -1 Peter 3:7.

There is not a single verse in the Bible that speaks about a husband beating his wife or treating her harshly. Let’s read a story of how Jesus treated a woman who was deserving of judgement. Instead of judging her, he extended grace and mercy. “Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?’ This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him … So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, ‘He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.’ …Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, ‘Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.’” -John 8:3-11.

In a generation in which women were the most discriminated against, Jesus stood against the religious establishment to protect the weak. He brought in a new movement that revolutionized women’s rights.

Dear Muslim ladies, I will now share with you some teachings about women from Muhammad and the Qur’an. It is my sincerest desire not to offend you or hurt you, but what I am about to share is insulting. These are not my opinions but come from Muslim authoritative sources; they are all referenced. My intention is for your well-being, so please don’t stop reading. Judge rightly if these teachings are from God Himself.

The Qur’an gives husbands the right to beat their wives, “Righteous women are therefore obedient, guarding the secret for God’s guarding. And those you fear may be rebellious admonish; banish them to their couches, and beat them.” -Qur’an 4:34.

In Islam, for a man to divorce his wife, all he has to say is “I divorce you” three times. When divorced, the woman has to marry another man, have sexual relations with him, and then the first man can take her back as his wife. “And if he hath divorced her (the third time), then she is not lawful unto him thereafter until she hath wedded another husband.” -Qur’an 2:230.

The Qur’an says that women are the sexual property of their husband and allows for marital rape, “Your women are a tilth for you (to cultivate) so go to your tilth as ye will.” -Qur’an 2:223.

In war, a man can take as many women for sex slaves as his right hand possesses, even if they are married. “Also (prohibited are) women already married, except those whom your right hands possess.” -Qur’an 4:24.

Instead of men being faithful to their wives, Allah has ordained prostitution. A man can have temporary marriage for sex for a payment. “We used to participate in the holy wars carried on by the Prophet and we had no women (wives) with us. So we said (to the Prophet) ‘Shall we castrate ourselves?’ But the Prophet forbade us to do that and thenceforth he allowed us to marry a woman (temporarily) by giving her even a garment, and then he recited: ‘O you who believe! Do not make unlawful the good things which Allah has made lawful for you.’” -Bukhari Vol 6, Book 60, Num 139.

Muhammad said a woman can never fulfill her obligations to her husband, “Woe to you, a woman can never fulfill her husband’s right …He (Muhammad) said ‘If you were to go back and find him with his nostrils running with pus and blood and sucked until you got rid of them you would not have fulfilled your obligations.’” -The Life of Muhammad by Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah, A. Guillaume Pg. 644.

Muhammad said women are stupid and that most of the inhabitants of Hell are women, “‘As I have seen that the majority of the dwellers of Hell-fire were you (women).’” They asked, ‘Why is it so, O Allah’s Apostle?’ He replied, ‘You curse frequently and are ungrateful to your husbands. I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religion than you…’” -Bukhari Vol 1, Book 6, Num 301.

A woman was beaten so badly by her husband that her skin turned green, and Aisha said that the Muslim women suffered worse than all women, even from among the unbelievers “So when Allah’s Messenger (Muhammad) came, Aisha said, ‘I have not seen any woman suffering as much as the believing women. Look! Her skin is greener than her clothes!’” -Bukhari Vol 7, book 72, Num 715.

In contrast to the story of the adulterous woman who was to be stoned to whom Jesus showed mercy, there is a similar story with Muhammad. He was approached by a woman who had committed adultery. Let’s look at how he dealt with it.

“There the Ghamidi woman came and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, I have committed adultery…I am pregnant.’ He said…‘go away until you give birth.’ When she gave birth, she brought the child to him wrapped in a cloth, and said: ‘Here he is, I have given birth.’ He said: ‘Go away and breastfeed him until he is weaned.’ When she had weaned him, she brought the boy to him, with a piece of bread in his hand and said: ‘Here, O Prophet of Allah, I have weaned him, and he is eating food.’ He handed the boy over to one of the Muslim men, then he ordered that a pit be dug for her, up to her chest and he ordered the people to stone her. Khalid bin al-Walid came forward with a stone which he flung at her head. The blood spurted blood onto Khalid’s face and so he cursed her.” -Muslim bin Hajjaj, as-Sahih, Hadith 4432 (23-1695).

Dear Muslim ladies, I’m not sure what you feel when you read this. If it causes you to feel despair, I want you to know that these commands are not from God. God sees women as valuable; this is revealed in the teachings of Jesus. Muslims will say they believe Jesus was a prophet, but they never read his words. In the Qur’an it speaks about Jesus’ life events, but there isn’t a single teaching of Jesus’ words in the whole Qur’an! That’s why you need to read the Bible to find out who Jesus is and how his teachings have given enormous value to all people groups of the world, including women. In contrast, the whole Qur’an only has one woman mentioned by name in it. 

If you believe the readings I gave you don’t exist, please research them yourselves. Or if you think they have been taken out of context, then try to explain how such a multitude of clear statements don’t mean what they say.

It is easy to come up with arguments to defend our faith and excuse certain teachings and behaviours from our “holy books”, but let’s look at what the observable evidence points to. It is in countries built on Jesus’ teachings that women have the most freedom, opportunity, dignity, and equal treatment with men in the entire world today.

Global Citizen ranked the best countries for women to live in out of 149 countries. The 10 worst were Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Syria, Iraq, and Pakistan, which ranked as the worst places for gender equality in the world, with Yemen coming in last place. That means nine of the top ten worst countries in which to be a woman are Muslim countries. And Muslim countries in all polls have the lowest rankings for women’s rights.

(www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/best-worst-countries-for-women-2018-list-ranking)

Dear Muslim ladies, you need to make a choice on who you are going to follow: Muhammad or Jesus? This isn’t just a choice about how women are treated but about where your soul will spend eternity. Jesus is the only way to Heaven, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name (Jesus) under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” -Acts 4:12.

Please repent of your sins and put your trust in Jesus!