The Woman's Status In Islam & Christianity
Creation
| Christianity: 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." |
Islam: (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 forever." 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." |
Female Gender vs. Male Gender
| Christianity: "...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..." |
Islam: "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." "He who is involved in bringing up daughters, and accords benevolent
treatment towards them, they will be protection for him against Hell-Fire." |
The Female Spiritual Essence
| Christianity: "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." |
Islam: "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)." "Heaven is at the feet of the mothers." |
Menses
| Christianity: "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." |
Islam: 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." |
Sexual Relation During Her Menses
| Christianity: "Do not approach a woman to have sexual
relations during the uncleanness of her monthly period." |
Islam: "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..." |
A Woman's Right to Education
| Christianity: "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." |
Islam: "Seeking knowledge is obligatory on every Muslim
man and Muslim woman." |
Right to Inheritance
| Christianity: "Say to the Israelites, 'If a man dies and
leaves no son, turn his inheritance over to his daughter...'" |
Islam: "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." |
Dressing Modesty / Head Covering
| Christianity: "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" "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" |
Islam: "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." "...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..." |
Polygamy
| Christianity: "After he left Hebron, David took more
concubines and wives in Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to
him." "He (Solomon) had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred
concubines..." "And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and
the name of the other Zillah." "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..." "If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of
marriage, shall her not diminish." |
Islam: "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." |
Prohibition in Marriage
| Christianity: "Do not take your wife's sister as a rival
wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living." |
Islam: "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..." |
Divorce
| Christianity: "...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." |
Islam: "O Prophet! When you do divorce women, divorce them
at their prescribed periods, and count (accurately) their prescribed
periods: and fear Allah your Lord..." |
The Divorcee & Widow
| Christianity: "...who marries the divorced woman commits
adultery." "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." |
Islam: "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..." |
The Respect of Parents
| Christianity: "Then he (Jesus) went down to Nazareth with
them (his parents) and was obedient to them..." "For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother', and, 'Anyone who
curses his father or mother must be put to death." "Each of you must respect his mother and father..." |
Islam: "He (God) has made me (Jesus) kind to my mother,
and not overbearing or miserable." "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." |