Islam and Woman Slavery
Woman's Situation in Old Times
in ancient societies in most european, asian and middle eastern countries, the status of woman was less than that of man. the corrupt modes of thinking dominated by superstition, astrology, etc were the main reason of ill-treatment of woman in ancient times was the spread of myth which had risen to the place of religion and thus its effect on human relations was deepened. in this regard, encyclopedia britannica indicates that: "the status of woman in athens deteriorated to the level of slaves. wives were segregated at home without education and enjoyed minimum rights. in the view of their husbands, they were not better than slaves or any movable property. in ancient rome, woman was fully subject to legal authority of her father or brother at first then her husband, who had a parental authority on her. law-wise, woman was stupid."[1]
mocking the ancient greek attitude towards woman, bernard russell once wrote: "aristotle asserted that woman had fewer teeth than man. although he married twice, he never tried to check the mouths of his wives to prove this statement."[2]
Prominent Christian Figures Contempt and Debase Woman
these religious texts must have influenced prominent christian figures raised under the mantle of christianity and who had a deep impact on christian mentality. they spoke in the name of christianity and delivered its views on the status of woman in this religion:
saint thomas aquinas, the 'great' catholic philosopher and theologian, said: "as regards the individual nature, woman is defective and misbegotten, for the active power of the male seed tends to the production of a perfect likeness in the masculine sex; while the production of a woman comes from defect in the active power, malaise in the substance, or even from some external influences such as south humid wind as noted by aristotle, the philosopher."[4]
even martin luther king did not give woman her right and wrote: "god created adam master and lord of living creatures, but eve spoilt all, when she persuaded him to set himself above god’s will. ‘tis you women, with your tricks and artifices that lead men into error… women…have but small and narrow chests, and broad hips, to the end that they should remain at home, sit still, keep house, and bear and bring up children."[5]
pope john paul ii used to tour in the countries with high population density to tell women that they were prohibited from birth control or abortion even in cases of incest or rape. he ordered women to return to the traditional role as "obedient, followers and servants to their husbands." he used to refuse to listen to those who defend the right of women to be a priest in the catholic church which opposes, today as well as in the middle ages, the appointment of women as priests, because the menstruating priest would profane the altar. [6] up till now, the catholic encyclopedia acknowledges that women are inferior to men, "both in body and spirit." bbc website wrote about this: "john paul ii refused to discuss the possibility of ordaining women as priests - despite the desperate shortage of new priests and the fact that that there are twice as many women religious (i.e. nuns) as there are men. this was a brick wall for women. not only did the pope clearly say that he would not have women ordained, he was making it clear that the church could never, ever ordain women. it was one of those eternal truths that could never be changed, something emphasised in 1995 when the church made it clear that this was an infallible teaching."[7]
at freethinkers united conference in 1997, annette van howe, founder and president of women's union of florida (1989-1992) said on woman in christianity: "i will read to you few extracts: st. augsntin said 'any woman who does not give birth to as much as she can will be guilty of killing those to whom she has not give birth'. she added: 'martin luther, a protestant clergyman, as we all know, said: 'women should remain at home, sit still, keep house, and bear and bring up children.' john knox, the christian scottish priest, declared: 'in her great perfection, was created to serve and obey man not to govern and order him.' in 1968, a christian priest from houston wrote about how to treat women, 'it seems that almost every woman needs a man with authority to love', and gave this example of how he reached this fact: 'our family hound will appear in the yard to get a soft strike on its head. the same apply to the wife who often appears in the city, at home, in the room, in your thinking and in everything to give you her love, if you give her yourself and bestow your authority on her.' annette van howe concluded: "i fear that these trends are still prevalent today because at the fourth world conference for women, which i attended in beijing, the church tried to thwart the spread of ideas related to the selection of special reproduction. i am happy that it did not succeed. their motivation has not changed as they still want to keep women pregnant, busy cooking, raising children and busy with their church."[8]
josephine henry, a pioneer feminist activist in the nineteenth century, reprimanded the church on its trend which differentiated between both genders over centuries: "has the church ever issued a decree that recognizes that women must enjoy equal rights with men before civil law? there is no institution in the modern era that is more authoritarian and unfair towards women than christian church. it asks woman everything and gives her nothing in return. the history of the church does not contain any proposal calling for equality for women ... in spite of the existence of only tyranny and falsehood, which subjugated women."[9]
st. john chrysostom (345-407), the path of constantinople, said: "no barbarian monster is more dangerous than woman."[10]
st. john chrysostom also said about women, "leave them without education but let them join the ranks of learners."[11] he harshly rebuked women saying: "when the church needs to a person to be responsible for the church and to be trusted to protect many lives, make all women stay away from such as important matter ... the divine law prevents women from entering the priesthood but they want to enter by force."[12]
the first fathers of the church believed that woman was a problem because through her sin had penetrated through the world. tertullian addressed woman saying, "you're the door from which the devil. you misguide those who the devil does not dare to attack directly. it is your mistake that caused the death of the son of god. you will always lament and tear your clothes out of your sadness for him." [13]
pope gregory i, known as 'the great', says about women: "women understand but slowly and their naïve uncertain mind as natural weakness leads to the inevitability of their presence in the powerful grip of their husbands. women have two functions: animal sex and motherhood."[14]
elizabeth schüssler-fiorenza wrote about the 'silence' of women: "women are not only a silent majority but a majority forced to keep silence in the catholic roman church ..... during the visit of pope john paul ii of the netherlands last may, ms. christina halks, the pioneer women of the catholic church in europe, was prevented from addressing the archbishop."[15]
according to the english general law: "... upon marriage, all wife's real property becomes the property of her husband. he is authorized to lease the land or take any profit resulting from the operation of property during marriage." over time, the english court devised means to prevent the husband from transferring the ownership or real property without the consent of the wife, but it still gives him the right to manage property and take advantage of the resulting profit. as for the personal property of the wife, the husband had the full right to dispose of them as he deems appropriate.[16]
in his essay "subordination of women", john stuart mill wrote: "we consistently say that civilization and christianity have given back women's fair rights while she is in fact a slave without wage for her husband and she is no less than those claimed to be slaves as recognized in the law."[17]
with regard to the right of divorce, the evangelical encyclopedia biblica indicates that: "as one of the man's property, his right to divorce her is a natural expected matter."[18] the right to divorce is only for men. "in the law of moses divorce is a prerogative of only the husband."[19]
in their book marriage east and west, david and vera mars write: "let us not assume that christian heritage is free from these belittling views. it is hard to find anywhere references that refer to belittling the value of women more than you can find in the references of early church fathers. the famous historian leakey wrote about 'the strong incentives that have created this heterogeneous legacy that is contrary to the taste of the writings of the fathers ... woman is the gate of hell and mother of all human diseases so she should be ashamed of being a woman and live in permanent expiation for the curses she caused to exist in the world. woman should be ashamed of her dress for it is the reminder of her fall and should be ashamed of her beauty in particular because it is the strongest and most effective way of the devil.) tertullian's attack against woman is one of the cruelest: 'do you know that all of you are eve? god's punishment on your sex is found in this age and necessarily sin exists as well. you are the gate through which the devil enters of satan and you are the motive to the forbidden tree. you are the first to abandon the divine law and the ones who can convince those whom the devil cannot attack. o man, you have shattered the image of god so easily. because of your desertion - death – even the son of god had to die.) not only did the church belittled the value of woman but also stripped her of the legal rights she used to enjoy."[20]
these statements and extracts from the bible and some christian figures show beyond doubt that christian woman does not enjoy any distinctive status and that she is below the christian man who shows his control and influence on this poor woman. the christian man does not hesitate or feel embarrassed to describe women with the severest descriptions that degrade her dignity and undermine her self-confidence. he considers her the cause of vices and mother of evils. it is clear from these givens that women should accept this humiliation and submission to man without any opposition or demand for mere respect let alone equal rights. woman, as understand and inferred from these texts, is mere property owned by christian man who may dispose of it the way he likes. it is strange that western critics used all these qualities to describe muslim woman. they consider that the muslim men is the one who treats woman in the same way the christian man treats christian women. however, this will be proven to be invalid and groundless when we clarify the status of women in islam.
The New Testament Degrades Woman and Dubs her Tempter
christianity did not improve that situation considerably. the instructions of the new testament that eve was the cause of the expulsion of adam from the garden of eden abused woman more. encyclopedia britannica indicates: "(according to christianity) women are tempters, responsible for the fall of adam, and second-class human beings."[3] the bible contains numerous paragraphs that belittle woman and consider her as property of man who is free to handle her the way he likes. the following extracts are from king james bible:
· "unto the woman he said, i will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." (genesis 3:16)
· "but if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel. then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die:" (deuteronomy 22:20-21)
· "wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the lord. for the husband is the head of the wife, even as christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. therefore as the church is subject unto christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything." (ephesians 5:22-24)
· "let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law. and if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church." (corinthians i 14:34-35)
· "let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. but i suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. for adam was first formed, then eve. and adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." (timothy i 2:11-14)
· "but i would have you know, that the head of every man is christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of christ is god." (corinthians i 11:3)
· "for a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of god: but the woman is the glory of the man. for the man is not of the woman: but the woman of the man. neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. for this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels." (corinthians i 11:7-10)
· "in like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;" (timothy i 2:9)
· "what is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?" (job 15:14)
· "and i find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth god shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her. behold, this have i found, saith the preacher, counting one by one, to find out the account: which yet my soul seeketh, but i find not: one man among a thousand have i found; but a woman among all those have i not found." (ecclesiastes 7: 26-28)
· numbers (27: 1-11) indicate that widows and sisters have no right in inheritance and that daughters take inheritance if the father does not have male offspring.
The Way the Old Testament Describes the Woman
the old testament describes woman as a container full of waste
the old testament, from which the new testament has derived most of its teachings, is not much better in its oppression of woman and considering her less than men. in their teaching, jewish scholars consider woman to be a container full of wastes, greediness, laziness, and envy.
talmud deprived woman to supplicate for her husband because she is a curse for him. it forbids woman, child and salves to read the mishna [the essence of oral law of the jews] and the torah. it bars woman from delivering witness and oath. it considers the adult woman below the baby in status. she is prohibited to speak with foreign men but the husband's relatives. judaism prohibits touching, having sexual intercourse or eating with the menstruating woman. it considers that if a menstruating women passes between two men she is a curse and bad omen for them. woman in judaism is the property of her father, then her husband and therefore denied the right to own property. their falsified books allowed polygamy without controls and without determining the number. the ideal age for marriage was 12 years old. the elder brother had to marry his brother's widow of his brother.
scholars encouraged divorce as a quick solution to the problems of the bad-mannered wife because she is black plague in their opinion. among the reasons for a man to divorce his wife: if ten years of marriage passes without pregnancy; if she goes out bare headed; if she has sex with her husband while she is menstruating; if her voice is aloud; if she does not fulfill a vow she has taken; if she has a birth defect; and if she eats, drinks or breastfeeds a child in the street. in judaism, committing adultery by a married man is not a crime nor punished by the law because woman does not own the man but he owns her. in confirmation of all the above, let us take a look at some of the views and provisions of judaism with respect to woman. i used a very important book entitled women in islam versus women in the judaeo-christian tradition:
the myth and the reality* as an essential reference to expose the status of woman in judaism, by sheriff abdul-azeem.
Jewish Rabbis Prefer Males
jewish rabbis has made imperative for jewish men to double their reproduction. at the same time, they did not hide their clear preference for the male child: "it is good for those who have boys and bad for those who have girls," "at the birth of a male child happiness spread while sadness dominate at the birth of a female", and "peace comes to the world when a boy comes … but nothing comes when it is a girl."
No Testimony of Women in Old Judaism!
on the other hand, woman was not allowed to testify in the old jewish community. [22] the rabbis believe that woman is not qualified to testify because of the nine curses that have afflicted all women after the fall of man. even today in israel, woman is not allowed to testify before the rabbi courts. [23] rabbis justify the inability of women to testify on the basis of the torah (genesis 18:9-16)[1], where it is narrated that sarah, abraham's wife, lied. rabbis take this incident as evidence of the ineligibility of women to testify. jewish religious law recognizes that both jewish and non-jewish women are not allowed to testify before the rabbi courts. however, it allows woman to testify in very narrow limits on matters concerning women. in the cases that involve "fundamental judicial effort" woman is not allowed to testify because "women are lazy by nature." the problem appears when the testimony of a jewish woman contradicts that of a jewish man. the jewish religious law solves this problem as follows: "the testimonies of 100 jewish women are equivalent to the testimony of one jewish man." (this provision is stated in the english translation of the official talmudic encyclopedia (under the section "yisha", i.e. "woman"). however, this does not exist in any book that deals with judaism in english or in any other language).
Judaism Spurns the Nature of Woman
moreover, the jewish laws and rules pertaining to the jewish menstruating woman are too restrictive. the old testament indicates that the menstruating woman is neither clean nor pure. in addition, this non purity is contagious and anything she touches becomes unclean for a day: "and if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even. and everything that she lieth upon in her separation shall be unclean: everything also that she sitteth upon shall be unclean. and whosoever toucheth her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even. and whosoever toucheth any thing that she sat upon shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even. and if it be on her bed, or on anything whereon she sitteth, when he toucheth it, he shall be unclean until the even."(leviticus 15: 19-23).
because of her 'polluted/polluting' nature sometimes the menstruating woman must be separated to avoid any possibility of contact. she is then sent to special place called "the house of uncleanness" throughout the period of non-purity. [25] talmud considers the menstruating woman 'fatal' even if she is not physically contacted: "our rabbis teach us: if the menstruating woman passes between two men at beginning of menstruation, they will kill one of them and if at the end, she would cause conflict between them."[26] moreover, the husband of the menstruating woman is barred from entering the synagogue if he is defiled by her even if by the dust upon which she walks. the priest whose wife, daughter or mother is menstruating could not recite the priesthood blessing at the temple. [27] no wonder then that many jewish women call menstruation "curse". [28]
to this day in israel, if a married man has an extramarital affair with an unmarried woman, the resulting children are treated as legitimate children. however, if a married woman has an extramarital affair with a man, not only the resulting children are treated as illegitimate but they are considered bastards and are deprived from marrying any jewish woman unless the raped and other daughters of adultery of others. this prohibition extends for ten generations when it is supposed at the time that the stigma of adultery has been weakened. [29]
the role of the husband towards his wife in the jewish tradition is based on the concept that the husband owns his wife just as he owns his slave. [30] this concept is responsible for the double-standard laws of adultery and the husband's ability to cancel his wife's vows. this is also responsible for the abolition of women's authority on her property and profits. once she marries, she completely loses any authority over her property and profits and the absolute authority become that of the husband. jewish rabbis emphasize that the right of the husband in his wife's property is a natural consequence of owning her: "since the man owns, does not that result in owning her property, too?"[31] this means that rich women, once married, will become broke. the talmud describes the financial position of women as follows: "how can woman have anything, no matter what she has it to her husband? what he has is his and what she has is his too... any profit or pay she takes and what she finds in the way is his too; home items and even bread crumbs on the table are his. should she invite guests to her home and feed him? she thus steals from her husband ..."[32]
in fact, the property of jewish woman is used to attract prospective husbands. therefore, jewish families allocate part of father's property as dowry for his daughters. this is what makes the jewish girls unwelcome burden upon parents. the father must raise her for years and then provide for her marriage by giving her a large dowry. therefore, the girl is a hindrance and not a help to the family.[33] this hindrance may explain the lack of celebration for the birth of the female in ancient jewish communities. in this way, the dowry is the gift of marriage provided by the groom under the terms of ownership. the husband becomes actually the owner of the dowry but he cannot sell it and the bride loses any authority over the dowry from the moment of marriage. moreover, woman is supposed to work after marriage and give all salary to the husband to fulfill sustenance which he is obliged to provide. woman can recover her property only in the cases of a divorce or death of husband. if she dies first he inherits her property. in the case of death of husband his wife inherits what she had owned before marriage but she is entitled to inherit any of the late husband's property. it is also noteworthy that the groom must provide a gift to the bride but he remains the actual owner thereof during marriage
History has not Forgotten its Role in Destroying the Image of Women!
"the human history is full of wounds and rapes of woman by man because of the direct and absolute tyranny he exercised on her. to prove this let us subject the facts to frankness:
he never allowed her to exercise the right to vote.
he forced her to submit to a law she did not have the right to vote on its drafting.
he prevented her from most rights given to most men, both local and foreign, who are ignorant and trodden.
he deprived her from its first right as a citizen in the election and therefore left her without a representative at the halls of legislation which treated it unjustly in all respects.
he made her as if dead as far as law was concerned if she is married.
he took all her property and even her income.
he rendered her a being that is morally irresponsible. she could commit crimes with impunity under the pretext that her husband was present at the incident. in marriage contracts she is forced to promise obedience to her husband who would remain her master for all purposes. the law gave him the power to strip her of its freedom and to discipline her.
he formulated the laws of divorce and the reasons that he considered appropriate for divorce. in case of separation he granted himself the custody of the children, regardless of the happiness of woman. in all cases, the law adopts the principle that men are of a higher status than women and therefore it places all the powers in his hand.
after being stripped of all her rights as a married woman, he imposed taxes on her as a single woman who has property to support the government that knows her only if she possesses what can generate benefit for it.
he monopolized almost all profitable jobs and allowed her to occupy the positions of meager compensations. he also closed all the roads that would grant her wealth and privilege because he considered these jobs honorable to him. therefore, you cannot find a woman that teaches theology, medicine, or law.
he denied her full access to education and closed the doors of all colleges before her.
he did not allow her to occupy but secondary positions in both the church and the state. he claimed the authority to keep her away from the priestly service - and with some exceptions – and any public participation in the affairs of the church.
he created a false public sentiment through providing a moral code for women that is different from that of law of man and in this he placed all the sins that make society so averse to woman while it forgives man for the same and considers them quite significant.
he even usurped the rights of the lord himself by claiming the right to assess her functions while this is related to her conscience and lord.
he tried all ways to destroy her confidence in her capabilities and reduce her self-esteem to make her live her life willingly humiliated and dependent.
these injustices experienced by american women were mentioned by elizabeth cady stanton in women's rights convention 1848, seventy years after the american revolution that had prioritized human rights and democracy but they were not respected during this period and therefore stanton and her colleagues write this document.
udaism Allows Men to Divorce Women without Giving any Reason
judaism also allows divorce even without reasons. the old testament gives the husband the right to divorce his wife for only not loving her: "when a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. and when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife. and if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife; her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled;" (deuteronomy 24: 1-4). the previous verses raised considerable debate among jewish scholars because they disagreed on the interpretation of the word "find no favour in his eyes" and "some uncleanness in her" and "hate her." the talmud records the different views: "the school of shammai is of the opinion that man should not divorce his wife unless he discovers her sexual misconduct. the school of hillel says that he might divorce her if she spoils his food. rabbi akiba says he might divorce her once he finds a more beautiful woman."[35]
the new testament follows the view of shammai school while the jewish law follows that of school of hillel and akiba. [36] since the view school of hillel is the prevailing one, it has become a tradition in the jewish law that a man divorces his wife without any reason. not only does the new testament give men the right to divorce the annoying wives, but also makes this a duty on them: "a wicked woman abateth the courage, maketh an heavy countenance and a wounded heart: a woman that will not comfort her husband in distress maketh weak hands and feeble knees. of the woman came the beginning of sin, and through her we all die. give the water no passage; neither a wicked woman liberty to gad abroad. if she go not as thou wouldest have her, cut her off from thy flesh, and give her a bill of divorce, and let her go." (ecclesiasticus 25:23-26)
talmud cites several acts of wives that forced their husbands to divorce them: "if she eats on the road, drank ravenously on the road, and if she breastfeeds on the road," says rabbi meir in all these cases she should leave her husband."[37] in addition, talmud obligates the husband to divorce the sterile woman (who does not give birth for a period of ten years): "our rabbis believe that if a man marries a woman and lives with her for ten years during which she does not has give birth, he must divorce her."[38]
moreover, according to the jewish law, wives cannot initiate divorce. however, a jewish woman can apply for divorce before the jewish court, but because of a very strong reason. the motifs available for women to apply for divorce are very few such as if the husband has a physical defect, skin disease or if he is unable to perform his sexual duties. in this case, what the court can do is to ratify the wife's application but it cannot dissolve the marriage; only the husband can do so by giving the wife the divorce certificate. the court can flagellate, penalize, imprison, or deprive him from entering the synagogue to force him to hand over the necessary divorce documentation to the wife. if the husband refuses and if he is strong enough he can keep her waiting for indefinitely. worse still, he can forsake her without divorcing and so she becomes remains married and unmarried at a time. he can marry another woman or just live with her without marriage and beget legitimate children according to jewish law. on the other hand, the woman cannot marry another as long as she is legally linked to her husband and cannot live with another because that shall be considered as adultery and her children from the other person shall be illegitimate for ten generations. this 'suspended' woman is called 'agunah', that is, the restrained woman. [39] in the united states there is approximately 1.000 or 1.500 woman in this situation while their number in israel is approximately 1.6000. the husband can blackmail thousands of dollars from his restrained wife in return for jewish divorce. [40]
with regard to inheritance, rabbi epstein aptly described the viewpoint of the torah regarding woman's inheritance from her deceased relatives of the deceased: "the continuous habit that none since torah was revealed broke does not give the female family members - the wife or daughters - any right to the inheritance of family property. one of the primary rules of the inheritance system is that woman is considered a part of the family property and she is far from the legal capacity of heirs as slaves. according to the moses' law, girls may have the right to inheritance in the absence of male heirs but the wife has no right to inheritance, even under this condition." [41] why then do female family members are considered part of the family property? rabbi epstein answers: "before marriage, they are among the father's property of the father and after marriage husband's." [42] the laws of inheritance are summarized in the old testament book of numbers 27: 1-11. the wife takes nothing from her husband's property while he is her first heir even before their sons. the daughter can inherit if she has no brothers. the mother never becomes an heir but the father inherits. in the case there are sons, widowed women and girls shall be at their mercy. for this reason, the widows and orphan daughters are the poorest in the jewish community. furthermore, judaism says: "women do not have wisdom except in spinning things" [43], "women are greedy" [44], and "from them emits a foul sweat smell (they must use perfumes)" and they have the highest voice (sharp voice)." [45] the rabbis explained all this discrimination based on the story of creation. r. joshua explains to his followers: "women have an obnoxious smell because they were created from flesh and not like men who were created from earth ...."[46]
these opinions and judgments in both christianity and judaism belittle women in an unbelievable manner. at least she is deemed in the best cases less than men in rights. woman is not equal but a follower and salve of man. she serves him and is treated merely as a property he owns and disposes of the way he likes. this racism against women in the west caused the of women's rights movement in 1848 in the united states by 'elizabeth cady stanton' and a group of her colleagues who said that the american declaration of independence of america, written seventy years before this date, stipulated that "god created men and women equal in rights and duties, and that god granted them the right to life, liberty and happiness."
Women are banned from driving... and Even Occupying the Front Seat in Some Parts of America!
although the situation has changed in americatoday but it did not embrace all american women. this may be surprising to the westerners and americans in particular. however, a little bit of clarification along with evidence will reveal that the united states itself, which calls saudis to allow women to drive, prevents some american women not only from driving, but to occupy the front seat, even if the driver is this woman's son, husband, or father. this occurs on american soil, particularly in the williamsburgdistrict of brooklyn, where the hasidic village [48] inhabited by jewish hasidism sect. highlighting the status of woman according to the teachings of this jewish-american sect will reveal, both simply and bitterly, the great difference between man and woman:
the value pyramid of jewish hasidism gives less importance to woman than man. therefore, the education they provide for woman is diametrically different from that for man. since jewish hasidism does not believe that the minds of both man and woman are equal, it is satisfied with telling woman about the religious holidays and diet regulations in the torah. [49]
jewish hasidism carefully women separates women from men from their early years to marriage. sex issues are never discussed and there is no preparation of the physical changes that occur in puberty or any talk about matters of marriage between a mother and her daughter. [50] female education often ends at secondary education and a few of them join universities. some women hold jobs in trade or factories before marriage. after marriage woman can work until she becomes pregnant because this prevents her from engaging in any profitable outdoor activities. [51] in this society, men are the religious and political leaders while women raise children and strengthen the integrity of marriage and the family. in addition, they can provide financial assistance to the needy and visit them, go shopping and cooking for them. they light the saturday candles to prepare the house for the holy days. there exist blinds or woven wood networks that obscure women from the gaze of men. on the holy days, some women gather to pray behind the curtains and watch the activities practiced on the main floor of the house in which the lesson is delivered. this separation between men and women occur during the social and religious activities as well. [52]
this is not all. according to the teachings of hasidism, "it is forbidden for a dog, a woman or a palm tree to be between two men and men are forbidden from walking in the middle of dogs, women or palm trees. there is serious risk when woman menstruates or sits at the crossroad." (pesahim, 111a). joseph caro - author of the fifteenth century constitution of jewish law (shulhan aruch) – describes the status of woman in the jewish society accurately as follows: "a man is forbidden to walk between two women, two dogs, or two pigs. if there are two men, they should not allow a woman, a dog or a pig to pass between them." [53] this shows how woman was at the level of the dog and pig in the belief of jewish hasidism! this is confirmed by another quotation: "man should take care not to pass between two women, two dogs or two pigs and if there are two men, they should not allow a woman, a dog or a pig to pass between them." [54] the orthodox jewish writer, evelyn kay, wrote a whole volume (the hole in the sheet) to document the miserable life of woman under traditional judaism. she states, "orthodox and hasidic men believe that woman is evil, unreliable and seduce for sex ... when i walked in the streets of new yorkbehind the hasidic jews i felt that feel they tried to evade me as if i were an outcast."[55] this is in addition to the observation of james yaff with respect to traditional orthodox judaism: "a woman has to shave her head after marriage and put hair wig for the rest of her life.
