Islam isn't a patriarchy

SporkTornado · 2018-04-25T02:42:08+00:00

Islam, like all Abrahamic religions are patriarchies. Not in the feminist sense of a patriarchy, in which they claim it's a society setup by men, for men, that privileges all men at the expense of all women. But rather a literal patriarchy. Patri - meaning father, and archy - as in hierarchy. The father is the head of the family unit, and god himself is often referred to as 'holy father'. In this system the father is viewed as the head of the household, he has more rights, and more responsibilities. Women are treated like children, in that they have less rights, but also lack the responsibilities that come with those rights.

afireinthesky · 2018-04-25T02:18:12+00:00

You're still plucking out a few verses to make your strawman argument.

Alphonetic · 2018-04-25T03:31:49+00:00

Well, liberal Islam in general is a very different matter compared to the literalist version. Just about all western muslims adopt some degree of ideas that are based around Islam, but aren’t often as radical, and if they are, not directly discriminatory or at least not unfair.

The middle east has a low standard for human rights in general, especially taking into consideration how boys will sell themselves as sex workers to make money for their family if they do not have a father. The father is also obligated to work and all earnings are sent to his family, whereas the mother can make whatever money she wants (if she obtains a job) without being obligated to spend it on others, even her own children, and her working makes it so then the father must also cover for a child caretaker. When the army was helping people who needed medical attention in Iraq around the Taliban’s rule, men always were cared for first because if there was no man, then there was no one to provide for the family, and the wives came last because the children are the future of the country. Not to say that women are disposable, but if a man dies, so do his children if there is no boy who can at least offer himself to please men for money.

There’s also the dynamic that a man is responsible for his wife, and that he must take care of her and his children or the state will come after him. This is much harder knowing that his wife cannot leave unattended, and so he must do all he can outside of the house to care for them, even at the risk of his own life. She is completely subservient to him in exchange.

However, to pretend as though every man is completely fine in a system where they literally condone chopping off the hands of a thief is naive, especially since it also condones male circumcision (not as bad as FGM, but still pretty bad) and other old world views that harm both men and women.

mikesteane · 2018-04-25T04:05:12+00:00

There are other examples of this. The well known story that a man can divorce his wife simply by repeating a declaration 3 times under Islamic law also has a female equivalent: Khula. In effect, a woman can divorce her husband simply by returning her wedding gifts, known as mohr or mehr. There is, in fact, substantial cost to a man divorcing his wife under Islamic law; he cannot simply abandon her.

PS There was a lengthy article linked on this subreddit a few years ago which detailed the costs of getting married and getting divorced for men in Saudi which I cannot find. If anyone can link it, I would be grateful.

Title	Islam isn't a patriarchy
Author	2018Now2018New
Upvotes	0
Comments	20
Date	April 25, 2018 2:16 AM UTC (8 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/8eq39r/islam_isnt_a_patriarchy/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/islam-isnt-a-patriarchy.1178201 https://theredarchive.com/post/1178201

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