The Role Of Women In Islam And Hindu Religion



The Role Of Women In Islam And Hindu Religion

Introduction

From the beginning of time, women have been looked down upon as inferior to men. Societies have long since been patriarchal, with only men holding positions of authority. Women were excluded from public life and were left to be in charge of home and children. Even in America today, women fight many social issues traceable to the biblical idea of the "evil woman" who introuduced original sin to the world. Far more contoversial, however, is the issue of women in Islamic and Hindu cultures. While it is generally agreed that the rights granted to women in the Koran and by the prophet Mohammed were a vast improvement in comparison to the situation of women in Arabia prior to the introduction of Islam, Mohammed's death marked a gradual deterioration of the condition of women, as it began to revert back to pre-Islamic ways. Hindu women, on the other hand, are gradually becoming equal in society and have played influential roles in shaping the country. Nevertheless, one should not forget what the women in India have endured for thousands of years. And while poor treatment in Islamic cultures can be attributed to radical regional customs which are easily debunked by the words of the Kora.

Women Role In Hinduism

Women's position in Hinduism has always been unclear. Women were traditionally expected to serve their husbands and to have no autonomous interests. Because Hinduism comes from many different sources and traditions, Hindu sacred writings have many philosophical contradictions. On the one hand, some Hindu sacred writings, predominantly of the earlier period, gave immense value to women and were venerated as a symbol of the divine, on the other hand, other Hindu sacred writings discriminated women to incredible extremes. Women were treated as inferior beings. For example, long time ago, when a man died, his widow had to commit suicide by throwing herself on his funeral pyre. This was going on for long time until the colonial power (England) forbids it with strict laws. Another example is an old Hindu writing "(Manu 9.3) Her father protects (her) in childhood, her husband protects (her) in youth, and her sons protect (her) in old age; a woman is never fit for independence. " in addition, law in India is biased against women rights. An article in a New Delhi's newspaper clearly show the extreme discrimination that women suffers in India (IPS , Dec 18, 2004) "India, where extreme patriarchal attitudes prevail, is about to make a giant step towards gender equality by introducing a bill that would give women an equal share in family property. To be introduced in the ongoing session of Parliament, the Hindu (Amendment) Bill 2004 will remove discriminatory provisions in a law enacted in 1956 that ensured that only males inherit ancestral property. "

The IPS news article continues affirming that the women discrimination has its ugliest face in northern India. The article also affirms that ''Discrimination ...