Feminist Movement and The Tragedy of Western Women 

European women had realized now that their gender was hated, detested and even despised of by men, by the authorities, by the society and, worst of it, by their own religion. They foresaw no brighter future, as none of these four was ready to accord them a due recognition and respect. They realized that their chronological growth went hand – in –hand with a corresponding increase in their suffering and degradation; as daughters, as wives and as mothers. They therefore deemed it necessary and inevitable to engage in a serious struggle for their rights. They resorted to strikes and anon-co-operation; addressed public meetings and employed Journalism to advance their cause. This paved the way for the emergence of the feminist movement.  

The movement has different ideological dispositions, which include the liberal, the classical Marxist, the Radical, the social, the lesbian separatism and the modernization feminisms.  

The liberal feminists hold lack of political and civil rights to be the genesis of women’s oppression the solution to which is creation of equal opportunities for the accessibility to any social position regardless of sexual differences along with the elimination of all legal restrictions.³³ 

Excluding women form public production and relegating them to the domestic work within four Corners of the matrimonial home, according to the classical Marxist feminism, is what perpetuates male domination. Abolishing capitalism and bringing family into public care is where lies the panacea according to them.³⁴ 

The radical feminism subscribes to the view that child bearing is the root of women’s oppression and subordination by men and that the way out is the artificial insemination, which is expected to obliterate inequalities of the bearing and raising of children. ³⁵ 

For the socialist feminism the origin of women’s oppression is similar to that held by the radical feminists, but unlike the latter they see the solution in transforming the whole framework of social relationships particularly those which relate to women in child upbringing, production and reproduction apart form merely transforming the economic base. ³⁶ 

Heterosexual relationship, according to the lesbian separatism, is the nebula of women’s oppression to which only lesbianism can be the solution.  

The modernization feminists trace the origin of women’s subordination ad oppression by men to the reverence given to traditional values and for women to be free out of this miasma replacement of traditional with modern values is absolutely inevitable. ³⁷

The movement in the United State of America came into being in 1948 at the famous Seneca Falls convention demanding in its manifesto “women’s right to her complete control over her property and earnings, the right to divorce her husband, guardianship of the children and an end to sexual discrimination in employment along with the right to receive equal pay with men for the same work and, most important, female franchise.”³⁸ It was only in1920 that women in the United States of America were given the right to vote during the 19^th amendment of the constitution. After this, the feminist movement lay dormant for more than forty years.  

It resurfaced in the early sixties with far more radical demands as a result of the establishment of the President’s Commission on the Status of women by the them U.S President’s John F. Kennedy on the 14^th of December 1961.  In the largest and most enthusiastic feminist demonstration ever held, on the 26^th of August 1970, hundreds of women marched down fifth Avenue, New York city, carrying placards which read:

Housewives are UNPAID SLAVES! STATE PAY FOR HOUSE WORKS! OPPRESSED WOMEN! DON’T COOK DINNER!  STARVE YOUR HUSBAND TONIGHT!  END HUMAN SACRIFICE!  DON’T GET MARRIED! WASHING DIAPERS IS NOT FULFILLING! LAGALIZE ABORTION! ABORTION! DEPENDENCY IS NOT A HEALTHY STATE OF BEING! ³⁹  

The feminists assert the absolute and unqualified equality of men and women, notwithstanding anatomical differences. They deny that there is any inherent biological difference bewe3een men and women on the basis of sex which determines that the wife should be the housewife and mother and the husband the breadwinner and authoritarian head of the family, they demand the abolition of the institution of marriage, home and family, assert complete female sexual freedom and that the upbringing of children should be a public responsibility.  They demand the legalization of abortion and promotion of lesbianism as another form of political protest and the only way to freedom from the oppression of men. They insist that lesbians and homosexuals should be treated as individual human beings and not as a special group either by law or social agencies or employers. ⁴⁰ 

All this resulted to grievous consequences: promiscuity replaced chastity; the family disintegrated and collapsed like a house of card; women abandoned it and men disliked it; streets became the centers of activities; restaurants and parks become the places of romantic ventures. This further fanned the flames of sexual fire. “Today” says George Ryley, “By far more than ever before in the world’s history there are for the finding large number of girls of responsibility excitement and satisfaction.” ⁴¹  

All these combine to show that the struggle so far engaged in by western women in the name of liberation has ended to their being more enslaved and dehumanized in another form different from that of the old days. While sleeveless gowns are approved for the female full sleeve ones are recognized for the male. Similarly when only skirts are for the female, full pants are for the tucked in ones are approved for the male. Men’s garments tent to be opaque fabrics, whereas the female is forced to wear transparent. Modern society labels a male as improperly dressed when he is not in full suit but taunts women when they want to cover their legs. Woman is taught to hate her own body – the form of her eyelashes and eyebrows, the style of her walking and her speech, the colour of her lips, nails and cheeks are all given an artificial look she hates the natural trend or her hair. If it is straight, she tries to give it artificial curls; if it happens to be kinky, she is busy trying to straighten it. She is expected to copy animal’s parts such as a camel hump or a horsetail for her hairstyle. While men balance themselves on a tree-inch shoe sole, women are expected to balance themselves on al half a centimeter hell, which creates and abnormality called lordosis. ⁴² 

This is done under the name of liberation and civilization. Such is the story of women in the west and their struggle to obtain their rights, all of which were already granted to Muslim women about 1400 years ago. In spite of all this women in the west are still not liberated for they are still discriminated against in one way or the other. For example women in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Denmark, French, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Austria, Australia and so forth, receive fewer wages for the same job they and their male counterparts do. ⁴³

In the United States women’s work in the wage labour force is still under-valued as they earn less than 70 cents on the dollars, relative to men with similar educational levels. ⁴⁴  

At the international level, women’s organizations operate in such a way that their presence eventually fades away from the macro economic political and cultural international system. For instance in the International Trade Organization (ITO), International Labor Organization (ILO), World Health Organization (WHO), and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) women are not in a position to vote in support of their own interests. The maximum levels of activities for women are the regulation of quantitative affairs and imparting of information to sub-committees. The radical and important decisions are made without the presence of women and without considering their interests. ⁴⁵ this is still happening in-spite of all the furore over absolute equality of man and woman in the so-called civilized age.  

Sadly enough feminists and their boot-lickers deliberately over-look all these and still accuse Islam of being male-biased. Their position is that western women have everything but heir Muslim counterparts have nothing: and therefore in order for Muslim women to gain equality with their western peers, they must abandon Islam. To them a woman is liberated only if she has a carrier, especially political or economic, dresses in a miniskirt and is free to become a wrestler, a disco-dancer, beauty queen, model, politician or a massage parlor hostess.  

In1995, at the women conference in Beijing, feminists talked about the need to “liberate” Muslim women from Islam and in general all women from religion. An American feminist, Betty Freidan, talked about the dangers, which Islamic conservatism poses onto women. The leader of a lesbian group, attending the conference, declared that the biggest mistake in the universe is to think about an omnipotent or a perfect God for the world and that people should understand the “frailty of God”⁴⁶ 

This is the position o woman today. Let it not be forgotten that this is called a ‘civilized age’ in which any kind of discrimination based on gender is claimed to be wiped away. The next paragraph examines the system of inheritance among the Jews, who claim to be the chosen race. It brings out how woman inherits according to the laws of the Jews.  

The Inheritance of Women under Jewish Laws 

In the Jewish law only sons are entitled to inherit and if they are many the eldest son takes twice the share of the rest, there being no difference between a legal son and son gotten out of wedlock. If the children are all daughters only the son’s son inherit the whole estate and. As for the daughters the only one entitled to feeding and accommodation is that of below twelve years. When she reaches the age of twelve the feeding and accommodation stops and she is not eligible to inherit. Daughters inherit only when there is no son or son’s son how low so ever.  

In the absence of daughters the male children of the daughter inherit and not the female ones. The father and never the mother inherit when there are no descendants. In the absence of the father, even if the mother is alive, the grandfather inherits the whole estate.  

Male collaterals, i.e male brothers, inherit the whole property in the absence of ascendants. Ff there are no male collaterals their male children inherit. ⁴⁷ If the deceased is survived by female ascendants only, or grand daughter or female collaterals, a temporary caretaker takes over the estate pending the ascertainment of an “eligible heir”. Ownership is conferred on the care-taker over the estate when there is no “eligible heir”. ⁴⁸   Continued...

Part 1
Introduction

Part 2
The Inheritance of Women Before and After the Advent of Islam
Women Under The Indian Civilization
Women Under Chinese Civilization
Women under Greek Civilization
Women Under The Roman Civilization
Women In Early Christianity
The Position of Women in Europe
Women In The Post – industrial Europe

Part 3
Feminist Movement and The Tragedy of Western Women
The Inheritance of Women under Jewish Laws

Part 4
The Inheritance Of Women In the Western World past and Present
The Inheritance of Women in The Jahiliyya period