Understanding Islam — Page 137
135 good treatment of women, and demonstrated this with his own excellent model. Given this context, it is hard to assume that Islam violently oppresses women. D OES I SLAM P ROMOTE D OMESTIC V IOLENCE ? One of the most unjust claims against Islam is that husbands have been given permission to beat their wives. Such critics ignore the fact that prior to Islam, women in Arabia had no rights whatsoever. Islam provided them the right to choose their own spouse, the right to hold jobs, the right to manage their own property, the right to inherit from their brothers, husbands, fathers and sons, as well as the right to divorce. Such rights were not afforded to women until some 1300 years later in the western world, but Islam granted women all these rights more than fourteen centuries ago. Such critics also ignore the fact that using physical violence against women is a problem that extends beyond any specific community – Muslim