Can we talk about Islam?

I think you are wrong. Let me explain a few reasons why.

(I'm not advocating for Islam. I'm not Muslim and I believe the Judeo-Christian God is a genocidal maniac. I just have Muslim relatives and thought I should shed some light on this.)

*Islam isn't a monolith. Many Muslims share a progressive feminist ideology - in fact, some see wearing a hijab as a feminist act - and a lot of times we don't entirely understand the cultures behind their behavior.

*Did the person who took this survey control for things like... English fluency? Immigrant status (first-generation immigrants almost always skew conservative, particularly if they hail from developing nations)? Sect of Islam? Age? Were there any controls whatsoever, or did they just collect a bunch of Muslim people into a room and ask them what they believed about marriage?

*Are you aware that traditional wedding vows across all the Judeo-Christian religions include "honor and obey"? That it isn't just Muslim people who believe wives should obey their husbands?

*Are you aware that many Muslims believe that the husband should obey his wife as well? That many believe marital obedience goes both ways? That in some ways, a Muslim marriage can be more egalitarian than a Quiverfull marriage?

*Are you aware of the fact that LGBT Muslims exist?

*Are you aware of the fact that the overwhelming majority of mass shootings are committed by white men? If so, why don't you also advocate for limiting white male advancement? Is it because you believe they're not a threat, against all odds?

*Are you aware that some Muslims don't adhere as strongly to the precepts as others might? That much like Christianity, Islam has shades of gray in its religious philosophy?

*Are you aware that much of the Middle East is unstable in large part because of American intervention, which caused a deepening of conservative views in response to abject poverty and horrible living conditions? None of that excuses terrorism, but at some point, we need to admit we fucked up.

Because I'm just gonna say it: a lot of this rhetoric sounds very similar to Nazi propaganda in the 1940s. "Muslims hate women!" "All Jews are communists!" Please replace the word "Muslim" in your post siht the word "Jew" and see how far you get before you throw up in your mouth.

Let's stop being disingenuous here. We bought into propaganda. That's why we're so scared.

Some examples of progressive Muslim nations:

*The Ottoman Empire was Muslim and included parts of modern India. It was also one of the most progressive empires in modern history, far more similar to the Roman empire than any of the other competing empires of its time. They allowed women to divorce their husbands in 1400 (the US didn't allow divorce for five hundred years after that) and pioneered fields of math science like algebra, medicine, and cartography, while Europe still had no idea what germs were

*Iran had a large feminist population before their current upheaval began, as did Afghanistan. Wanna know why the upheaval started in the first place? The United States interfered and destabilized the region, causing them to descend into civil war.

Look it up. You'll be horrified

*Jordan is a Muslim-majority nation. The Jordanian monarchs, particularly Queen Rania, are well-known for being humanitarians. (I wanted to go to Jordan for a journalism internship before I found out I'm technically an Israeli citizen.)

*Pakistan has accepted more Syrian refugees than any other nation, even though they're half the size of Texas and obviously have their own shit going on.

Just some things to think about.

/r/AskFeminists Thread