bv
2011-02-15 12:09:53 UTC
Why Are Women Turning to Islam?
Why Are Women Turning to Islam At a time when Islam is faced with
hostile media coverage particularly where the status of women in Islam
is concerned, it may be quite surprising to learn that Islam is the
fastest growing religion in the world, and even more ironic to
discover that the majority of converts to Islam are WOMEN . The status
of women in society is neither a new issue, nor is it a fully settled
one. And where Islam is mentioned, for many the term 'Muslim Women'
prompts images of exhausted mothers chained to the stove, 'victims'
suppressed in a life of indoctrination, frantic to be westernized and
so on. Others will go to great lengths to explain how the hijaab is an
obstacle, clouding the mind, and comment that female converts are
either brainwashed, stupid or traitors to their sex. I reject such
accusations and pose to them the following question: why is it that so
many women who have been born and brought in the so called 'civilized'
societies of Europe and America are willing to reject their 'liberty'
and 'independence' to embrace a religion that supposedly oppresses
them and is widely assumed to be prejudicial to them? As a Christian
convert to Islam, I can only present my personal experience and
reasons for rejecting the 'freedom' that women claim to have in this
society in favour of the only Religion that truly liberates women by
giving us a status and position, which is completely unique when
compared with that of our non-Muslim counterparts. Before coming to
Islam, I had strong feminist tendencies and recognized that where a
woman was concerned, a lot of shuffling around had been going on, yet
without being able to pin her on the social map. The problem was
ongoing: new 'women's issues' being raised without the previous ones
being satisfactorily resolved. Like the many women who shared my
background, I would accuse Islam of being a sexist religion,
discriminating, oppressing and giving men the greater privileges. All
of this, coming from a person who did not even know Islam, one who had
been blinded due to ignorance and had accepted this deliberately
distorted definition of Islam. However, despite my criticisms of
Islam, inwardly, I wasn't satisfied with my own status as a woman in
this society. It seemed to me that society would define such terms as
'liberty' and 'freedom' and then these definitions were accepted by
women without us even attempting to question or challenge them. There
was clearly a great contradiction between what women were told in
theory and what actually happened in practice. The more I pondered,
the greater emptiness I felt within. I was slowly beginning to reach a
stage where my dissatisfaction with my status as a women in this
society, was really a reflection of my greater dissatisfaction with
society itself. Everything seemed to be degenerating backwards,
despite the claims that the 1990's was going to be the decade of
success and prosperity. Something vital seemed to be missing from my
life and nothing would fill this vacuum. Being a Christian did not do
anything for me, and I began to question the validity of only
remembering God one day a week - Sundays! As with many other
Christians too, I had become disillusioned with the hypocrisy of the
Church and was becoming increasingly unhappy with the concept of
Trinity and the deification of Jesus. Eventually, I began to look into
Islam. At first, I was only interested in looking at those issues,
which specifically dealt with women. I was surprised. What I read and
learned, taught me a lot about myself as a woman, and also about where
the real oppression of a woman lies: in every other system and way of
life outside of Islam. Muslim women have been given their rights in
every aspect of the religion with clear definitions of their role in
society - as had men - with no injustice against either of them. As
Allah says: «"Whoever does deeds of righteousness, be they male or
female, and have faith, they will enter paradise and not the least
injustice will be done to them"» [Nisaa 4:124] So having amended my
misconceptions about the true status of women in Islam, I was now
looking further. I wanted to find that thing which was going to fill
the vacuum in my life. My attention was drawn towards the beliefs and
practices of Islam. It was only through establishing the fundamentals
that I would understand where to turn and what to prioritize. These
are often the areas, which receive little attention or controversy in
society, and when studying the Islamic Creed, it becomes clear why
this is the case: such concise, faultless and wholly comprehensive
details cannot be found elsewhere.
If you wish to know more about Islam, we prefer to visit the following
websites:
http://www.islam-guide.com
http://www.islamhouse.com/s/9661
http://www.todayislam.com
http://www.thekeytoislam.com
http://www.islamland.com
http://www.discoverislam.com
http://www.thetruereligion.org
http://www.beconvinced.com
http://islamtomorrow.com
http://www.thisistruth.org
http://www.quran-m.com/firas/en1
http://kaheel7.com/eng
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran
http://www.quranforall.org
http://www.quranexplorer.com/quran
http://www.knowmuhammad.com
http://www.rasoulallah.net/v2/index.aspx?lang=e
http://www.prophetmuhammed.org
http://www.chatislamonline.org/ar
http://www.dar-us-salam.com
http://youtubeislam.com
Why Are Women Turning to Islam At a time when Islam is faced with
hostile media coverage particularly where the status of women in Islam
is concerned, it may be quite surprising to learn that Islam is the
fastest growing religion in the world, and even more ironic to
discover that the majority of converts to Islam are WOMEN . The status
of women in society is neither a new issue, nor is it a fully settled
one. And where Islam is mentioned, for many the term 'Muslim Women'
prompts images of exhausted mothers chained to the stove, 'victims'
suppressed in a life of indoctrination, frantic to be westernized and
so on. Others will go to great lengths to explain how the hijaab is an
obstacle, clouding the mind, and comment that female converts are
either brainwashed, stupid or traitors to their sex. I reject such
accusations and pose to them the following question: why is it that so
many women who have been born and brought in the so called 'civilized'
societies of Europe and America are willing to reject their 'liberty'
and 'independence' to embrace a religion that supposedly oppresses
them and is widely assumed to be prejudicial to them? As a Christian
convert to Islam, I can only present my personal experience and
reasons for rejecting the 'freedom' that women claim to have in this
society in favour of the only Religion that truly liberates women by
giving us a status and position, which is completely unique when
compared with that of our non-Muslim counterparts. Before coming to
Islam, I had strong feminist tendencies and recognized that where a
woman was concerned, a lot of shuffling around had been going on, yet
without being able to pin her on the social map. The problem was
ongoing: new 'women's issues' being raised without the previous ones
being satisfactorily resolved. Like the many women who shared my
background, I would accuse Islam of being a sexist religion,
discriminating, oppressing and giving men the greater privileges. All
of this, coming from a person who did not even know Islam, one who had
been blinded due to ignorance and had accepted this deliberately
distorted definition of Islam. However, despite my criticisms of
Islam, inwardly, I wasn't satisfied with my own status as a woman in
this society. It seemed to me that society would define such terms as
'liberty' and 'freedom' and then these definitions were accepted by
women without us even attempting to question or challenge them. There
was clearly a great contradiction between what women were told in
theory and what actually happened in practice. The more I pondered,
the greater emptiness I felt within. I was slowly beginning to reach a
stage where my dissatisfaction with my status as a women in this
society, was really a reflection of my greater dissatisfaction with
society itself. Everything seemed to be degenerating backwards,
despite the claims that the 1990's was going to be the decade of
success and prosperity. Something vital seemed to be missing from my
life and nothing would fill this vacuum. Being a Christian did not do
anything for me, and I began to question the validity of only
remembering God one day a week - Sundays! As with many other
Christians too, I had become disillusioned with the hypocrisy of the
Church and was becoming increasingly unhappy with the concept of
Trinity and the deification of Jesus. Eventually, I began to look into
Islam. At first, I was only interested in looking at those issues,
which specifically dealt with women. I was surprised. What I read and
learned, taught me a lot about myself as a woman, and also about where
the real oppression of a woman lies: in every other system and way of
life outside of Islam. Muslim women have been given their rights in
every aspect of the religion with clear definitions of their role in
society - as had men - with no injustice against either of them. As
Allah says: «"Whoever does deeds of righteousness, be they male or
female, and have faith, they will enter paradise and not the least
injustice will be done to them"» [Nisaa 4:124] So having amended my
misconceptions about the true status of women in Islam, I was now
looking further. I wanted to find that thing which was going to fill
the vacuum in my life. My attention was drawn towards the beliefs and
practices of Islam. It was only through establishing the fundamentals
that I would understand where to turn and what to prioritize. These
are often the areas, which receive little attention or controversy in
society, and when studying the Islamic Creed, it becomes clear why
this is the case: such concise, faultless and wholly comprehensive
details cannot be found elsewhere.
If you wish to know more about Islam, we prefer to visit the following
websites:
http://www.islam-guide.com
http://www.islamhouse.com/s/9661
http://www.todayislam.com
http://www.thekeytoislam.com
http://www.islamland.com
http://www.discoverislam.com
http://www.thetruereligion.org
http://www.beconvinced.com
http://islamtomorrow.com
http://www.thisistruth.org
http://www.quran-m.com/firas/en1
http://kaheel7.com/eng
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran
http://www.quranforall.org
http://www.quranexplorer.com/quran
http://www.knowmuhammad.com
http://www.rasoulallah.net/v2/index.aspx?lang=e
http://www.prophetmuhammed.org
http://www.chatislamonline.org/ar
http://www.dar-us-salam.com
http://youtubeislam.com