DakotaGypsy said:
I fall to see why men cannot govern themselves not to go into a sexual frenzy at the sight of a woman's hair. I have no problem with men admiring a woman as a sexual being, as long as they admire from afar and with respect. I do the same thing myself with men, I do not treat them disrespectfully as mere sexual objects.
Furthermore, there seem to be an awfully lot of sexually frustrated men within Islam. I think this is caused by the caste system of polygamy. Rich men can have multiple wives, not to mention harems of concubines, which diminishes the likelihood of a lower income man having a wife. Women are reduced to collectible commodities and are not free to pursue a career or job. Women who are free to work and produce income can also marry lower income men because they are not ornaments who are non-productive in a society.
What an awfully materialistic lot Islam seems to me. The reducing of women to mere commodities!
i don't blame you for having this perspective about women in islam, however one thing is true the examples that you are using are likely from some of the arab countries, where there are strict rules and laws, for example in saudi arabia the women can't even drive! and these countries are bad examples, im not saying all of the rules in saudi arabia are bad, but some of them may be irrational. but i would like to clear some of your misconceptions. during our prophet muhammad's (pbuh) time, women were oppressed, treated as sexual objects, male babies were given higher priorities and thus female babies were buried alive. the revelation of the qur'an to our prophet (pbuh) changed this, the qur'an emphasized on respect for women,
Considering the fact that before the advent of Islam the pagan Arabs used to bury their female children alive, make women dance naked in the vicinity of the Ka'ba during their annual fairs, and treat women as mere chattels and objects of sexual pleasure possessing no rights or position whatsoever, these teachings of the Noble Qur'an were revolutionary. Unlike other religions, which regarded women as being possessed of inherent sin and wickedness and men as being possessed of inherent virtue and nobility, Islam regards men and women as being of the same essence created from a single soul. The Qur'an declares: O mankind! Reverence your Guardian-Lord, who created you from a single person, created, of like nature, his mate, and from this pair scattered (like seeds) countless men and women. Reverence Allah, through Whom you demand your mutual (rights), and reverence the wombs (that bore you); for Allah ever watches over you. (4:1)
The Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him) said, "Women are the twin halves of men." The Qur'an emphasizes the essential unity of men and women in a most beautiful simile: They (your wives) are your garment and you are a garment for them. (2:187)
Just as a garment hides our nakedness, so do husband and wife, by entering into the relationship of marriage, secure each other's chastity. The garment gives comfort to the body; so does the husband find comfort in his wife's company and she in his. "The garment is the grace, the beauty, the embellishment of the body, so too are wives to their husbands as their husbands are to them." Islam does not consider woman "an instrument of the Devil",</EM> but rather the Qur'an calls her muhsana - a fortress against Satan because a good woman, by marrying a man, helps him keep to the path of rectitude in his life. It is for this reason that marriage was considered by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as a most virtuous act. He said:
"When a man marries, he has completed one half of his religion." He enjoined matrimony on Muslims by saying:
"Marriage is part of my way and whoever keeps away from my way is not from me (i.e. is not my follower)." The Qur'an has given the raison d'�tre of marriage in the following words: And among His signs is this, that He has created for you mates from among yourselves, that you may dwell in tranquillity with them; and He has put love and mercy between you. Verily in that are signs for those who reflect. (30:21) support them. And before stating islam as a "materialistic lot" :sarcastic you should really look at the western society. the east was living a fair life until the western materialistic influences came in, for example you would be walking in some street in turkey right across of you would be a mosque and then right next to it would be a billboard of some pretty girl sporting a mini-skirt and promoting some perfume! here in the west there is a little something that you can try for yourself, go up to a little kid and ask her who her hero is, she is likely to tell you that its britney spears than ghandi, and its not that britney is visually appealing and ghandi is too boring for a kid, its because our media promotes britney more than ghandi. a majority of us want to watch the latest oscar best dressed show than to watch a documentary on martin luther. islam tells us to move away from the materialistic world, we are to focus on things that we really "need" to live a life with a good meaning, so that we can feel a sense of purpose in our lives. just look at the statistics on the amount of anorexic and bolemic women in the west! they all want to be skinny and beautiful its disgusting! if thats beauty, i don't want it! sure us muslims are allowed to enjoy ourselves, but we have limits, us women don't have to worry about what to wear and how to make our hair, we dress simply and some even wear head-dresses (hijabs). just look at our annual pilgrimage to makkah (the hajj) we all wear white, simple cotton clothes to show our unison and show that we are all equal to ALLAH, people of all races, all colors, ethnicities, social classes come together to show their unison, and that is the beauty of islam, and that is what we are taught.