OPINION - There has been much debate about the sister blogger who proclaims that universities are not for Islamic women. It raises the question then of why they go through the rigours of secondary education. She portrays universities as a pothole of sin and a breeding ground for immorality.
I believe she is vain, self-centred and the focus of her own world. Her own experiences led to a terrible narcissistic injury and she now embarks on a quest to heal her own wounds and in doing so is dragging the entire Muslim womanhood into this debacle.
Islam is committed not only to tolerance and equality, but to the principles of democracy. The Qur’an states that Islamic society is contingent on “mutual advice through mutual discussions on equal footing”. Islam condones neither cruelty nor dictatorship. Beating, torturing and humiliating women are inconsistent with its principles. Denying education to girls violates the word of the holy book.
During the darkness of the Middle Ages in Northern Europe, when barbaric hordes raped and pillaged at will, Islam was building the great libraries and universities of the world, developing the arts, sciences and humanities.
When women were viewed as inferior members of the human family and treated as property belonging to men all over the globe, the Prophet Muhammad accepted women as equal partners in society, in business and even in war.
Islam codified the rights of women. The Qur’an elevates the rights of women to that of men. It guarantees women civil, economic and political rights.
Throughout the Holy Qur’an there is example after example of respect for women as leaders and acknowledgement of women as equals. So in this day and age, I cannot believe that we are still entertaining such warped thinking. This is nothing but the work of a mischief-maker with a skewed view of society.