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THE WOMAN'S STATUS IN CHRISTIANITY & ISLAM
This page was created to compare a woman's status as
seen in Christianity and Islam.
The sources are mainly the Bible, Quran, and the teachings of Prophet
Mohammed.
The First Woman / Eve
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"When the woman (Eve) saw that the fruit of the tree was
good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took
some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband (Adam), who was with her, and he ate
it...Then the man (Adam) and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in
the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the
garden. But the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?" He (Adam) answered,
"I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." And
he (God) said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree
that I commanded you not to eat from?" The man said, "The woman (Eve) you put
here with me-she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Then the Lord God
said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The
serpent deceived me, and I ate." To the woman he (God) said, "I will greatly
increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your
desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." To Adam he (God) said,
"Because you listen to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you,
'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil
you will eat of it all the days of your life."
Genesis 3:6-17 |
(God said):"O Adam! You and your wife dwell in the Garden,
and enjoy (its good things) as you wish: but do not approach this tree, or you run into
harm and transgression." "Then began Satan to whisper suggestions to them (Adam
and Eve), bringing openly before their minds all their shame that was hidden from them
(before): he (Satan) said: "Your Lord only forbade you this tree, lest you should
become angels or such beings as live for ever." "And he (Satan) swore to them
both, that he was their sincere adviser." "So by deceit he brought about their
(Adam and Eve) fall: when they tasted of the tree, their shame became manifest to them,
and they began to sew together the leaves of the Garden over their bodies. And their Lord
called to them: "Did I not forbid you that tree, and tell you that Satan was an
avowed enemy to you?" "They said: "Our Lord! We have wronged our own souls:
if You do not forgive us and do not bestow upon us Your Mercy, we shall certainly be
lost"
Quran 7:19-23 |
Female Gender vs. Male Gender
"...if a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then
she shall be unclean seven days...but if she bear a maid child, then she shall be unclean
two weeks..." Leviticus
12:2-5 |
"To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens
and the earth. He creates what He wills. He bestows female children to whomever He wills
and bestows male children to whomever He wills. Quran 42:49 "He who is
involved in bringing up daughters, and accords benevolent treatment towards them, they
will be protection for him against Hell-Fire."
Prophet Mohammed |
The Female Spiritual Essence
"I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose
heart is a trap and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her, but
the sinner she will ensnare." "Look," says the Teacher, "this is what
I have discovered: "Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of
things-while I was still searching but not finding- I found one upright man among a
thousand, but not one upright woman among them all." Ecclesiastes 7:26-28 |
"And Allah sets forth, as an example to those
who believe, the wife of Pharaoh: behold she said: 'O my Lord! build for me, in nearness
to You, a mansion in the Garden, and save me from Pharaoh and his doings, and save me from
those that do wrong," "And Mary the daughter of Imran, who guarded her chastity;
and We breathed into (her body) of Our spirit; and she testified to the truth of the words
of her Lord and of His Revelations, and was one of the devout (servants)."
Quran 66:11-2 "Heaven is at the feet of the mothers."
Prophet Mohammed |
Menses
| "When a woman has her regular flow of blood,
the impurity of her monthly period will last seven days, and anyone who touches her will
be unclean till evening. anything she lies on during her period will be unclean, and
anything she sits on will be unclean. Whoever touches her bed must wash his clothes and
bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. Whoever touches anything she sits
on must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening.
Whether it is the bed or anything she was sitting on, when anyone touches it, he will be
unclean till evening." Leviticus
15:19-23 |
Ali asked the Prophet Mohammed if when a man and a woman make love
then their clothes stick to them from the sweat of their bodies, or if when a woman has
her period her clothes stick to her body, are the clothes considered unclean?
The Prophet replied: "No, the uncleanness is only in the
semen and the blood."
Prophet Mohammed |
Sexual Relation During Her Menses
"Do not approach a woman to have sexual relations during the
uncleanness of her monthly period." Leviticus 18:19 |
"They ask you concerning women's courses
(period). Say: They are a hurt and a pollution: so keep away (of making love) from women
in their courses, and do not approach them until they are clean..." Quran 2:222 |
A Woman's Right to Education
| "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 woman to speak in the church." 1Corinthians 14:34-35 |
Seeking knowledge is obligatory on every Muslim man
and Muslim woman. Prophet
Mohammed |
Right to Inheritance
| "Say to the Israelites, 'If a man dies and
leaves no son, turn his inheritance over to his daughter...'" Numbers 27:8 |
"From what is left by parents and those nearest
related there is a share for men and a share for women, whether the property be small or
large, -a determinate share." Quran 4:7 |
Dressing Modesty / Head Covering
| "Now I want you to realize that the head of
every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. And every
woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head...If a woman does
not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman
to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head" 1 Corrinthians 11:3-6 "I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not
with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate
for women who profess to worship God"
1 Timothy 2:9-10 |
"O Prophet! Tell your wives and daughters, and
the believing women, that they should cast their outer garments over their persons (when
abroad): that is most convenient, that they should be known (as such) and not molested.
And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." Quran 33:59 ...they (believing
women) should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear
thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty
except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their
husbands' sons, their brothers or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their
women...or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex..."
Quran 24:31 |
Polygamy
| "After he left Hebron, David took more
concubines and wives in Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to
him." 2 Samuel 5:13
"He (Solomon) had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three
hundred concubines..."
1 Kings 11:3 "And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah,
and the name of the other Zillah."
Genesis 4:19 "If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they
have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the first-born son be hers
that was hated: then it shall be, when he maketh..."
Deuteronomy 21:15 "if he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of
marriage, shall her not diminish."
Exodus 21:10 |
"If you fear that you shall not be able to deal
justly with the orphans, marry women of your choice, two, or three, or four; but if you
fear that you shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one... to prevent
you from doing injustice."
Quran 4:3 |
Prohibition in Marriage
| "Do not take your wife's sister as a rival wife
and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living." Leviticus 18:18 |
"Prohibited to you (for marriage) are: -your
mothers, daughters, sisters...and two sisters (the wife and her sister) in wedlock at one
and the same time..." Quran
4:23 |
Divorce
| "...Anyone who divorces his wife and marries
another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries
another man, she commits adultery." Mark 10:11-12 |
"O Prophet! When you do divorce women, divorce
them at their prescribed periods, and count (accurately) their prescribed periods: and
fear Allah your Lord..." Quran
65:1 |
The Divorcee & Widow
| "...who marries the divorced woman commits
adultery." Matthew
5:32 "'The woman he (the priest) marries
must be a virgin. He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by
prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people.'"
Leviticus 21:13-4 |
"If any of you die and leave widows behind,
they shall wait concerning themselves four months and ten days: when they have fulfilled
their term, there is no blame on you (marrying widows) if they dispose of themselves in a
just and reasonable manner..." Quran 2:234 |
The Respect of Parents
| "Then he (Jesus) went down to Nazareth with
them(his parents) and was obedient to them..." Luke 2:51 "For
Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'Anyone who curses his father or
mother must be put to death."
Mark 7:10 "Each of you must respect his mother and father..."
Leviticus 19:3 |
"He (God) has made me (Jesus) kind to my
mother, and not overbearing or miserable." Quran 19:32 "And We have enjoined
on man (to be good) to his parents: in travail (pains of childbirth) upon travail his
other bore him, and in two years was his weaning: (hear the command), "Show gratitude
to Me and to your parents: to Me is (your final) Goal."
Quran 31:14 |
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