Theological Debate: Islam Does Not Degrade Women

It is unfortunate that my opponent forfeited the second round. I believe that the debate is as good as over, which is why I will summarize a few points and argue against random objections.I have already made it clear that Con's objections to the resolution are weak. I rebutted his arguments in the previous round. One can easily notice that the verses he dealt with were about finance. One cannot simply read a verse from the Qur'an and conclude that Islam degrades women. He has to look at the classic commentaries, the narrations of the Prophet (peace be upon him), modern interpretations, and so on. That way it is easier to connect the dots and draw a conclusion. We realize that the reason why women generally have to inherit a smaller amount than men in specific cases is because the males have to use the money on themselves and their family members. They are the shepherds and have to provide needs for their flock. On the other hand, the woman will inherit less, but she will not be obliged to spend a cent on her husband. It is impossible to call that degradation of women.One of the most common attacks on Islam is its command for women to cover themselves modestly. People spare no words with their tongues when they attack the head-covering, also known as the hijab. They call it oppressive. Degrading. Humiliating. Burdensome. They also like to claim that Muslim women do not want to wear the hijab. Ironic, since the group of converts to Islam that consists of women tends to outnumber the group of men. "A key area of the study involved a survey of 122 converts in August and September. About 56 percent were white British and 62 percent were women." http://www.aolnews.com...The hijab is a symbol of modesty and morality. A woman who wears the hijab is also supposed to wear the spiritual hijab. It refers to covering not only one's outer beauty, but also one's negative desires that occur naturally. When a woman wears modest clothes, she displays that she is a honorable woman. She does not want attention from every male, and does not want to be recognized by her outer beauty rather than her inner beauty. She does not want to be treated as a sex object. The West has come to the point where a disastrous number of females starve themselves so they can become skinny and attractive. They spend money on new clothes, cosmetics, etc., in very high amounts.Recently I read news about high school females competing to be displayed on the front page of a famous magazine. They had to wear horribly revealing clothes and make all kinds of moves to be "noticed" and be picked as the front page person. How horrible is this. What kind of treatment of women is this? What does this tell about those girls' future lives? Will they be able to live with one partner each, and be truthful to them? Will they be able to live their lives without jealousy and strong need of attention? And who forces these women to behave like that? Their society. They have grown up and developed very strong thoughts about how their society portrays them. They feel that if they do not live up to certain criteria, they will be excluded from certain social goods. This is psychological force, and it is highly oppressive.Islam will never accept this. If a woman wants to dress half-naked, then she can do so. But Islam will not tell her to do that. It will tell her to display her innerr beauty, to not make men feel good about women who are not their wives, to not spread fornication and adultery which result in STD's, abortions, disastrous lives for children who live with adulterous parents, and so on and so forth. This is not acceptable. Moreover, the Qur'an commands first and foremost the males to be modest and lower their gaze from looking at unlawful things (such as naked women). The fact that people only attack Qur'anic passages which deal with women and their modesty is a sign of intellectual laziness. Or bias. Another myth about women in Islam is that they are not allowed to work. This is not agreed upon by prevalent scholars of old days nor modern times. What Islam says is that a man's primary work is outside the house, where he works and earns money that he will have to distribute among his household. On the other hand, a woman's primary work is in and around her home and household. What this means is that she has the obligation to make sure that the children can be ready to go to school, be fed properly, that the house is not messy and stress-causing, and so forth. This leads to good discipline of children, good relations with her husband, and an environment that is free of mess for both her and her household. However, she has every right to work like her husband. It is honorable for a woman to work as a teacher, doctor, and other things that help others, especially other women. So if both the husband and the wife work, they have to figure out how to balance their works outside the home and inside the home, so that their relationship can be stable and happy, and also that their children can be raised properly. As long as the woman can fulfill her duties as a wife and mother, she can work outside the home. Similarly, the husband should provide goods for his wife and children and fulfill their needs. There is no degradation of any gender, nor are the roles unjust. If people followed such guidelines, divorce would not be very widespread, nor would children grow up with problems caused by their parents' horrible relationships.The woman also has the right to seek knowledge and educate herself. The fact that certain cultures in the world take away these fundamental rights of women does not have much to do with Islam. Honor killings are also forbidden and highly cultural. They do not take places in all Islamic societies, but in specific ones (noticeably in Asia). A caste system in India that many Muslims also follow is clear proof of cultural influence, since Islam has no words in favor of a caste system.Many people argue against the Qur'anic permission for men to have up to four wives. [Qur'an 4:3] "Marry women of your choice, Two or three or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one." The first thing to notice is that this is not a command for men to marry four wives, but a permission. Without going through the reasons for this, I will shortly explain why there is nothing wrong with this verse. Notice how the Qur'an strictly says that if a man cannot deal justly with all his wives according to his best ability, the he must marry only one wife. The command to marry only one wife in any given scenario is not found in any verse of any scripture I have read. Only the Qur'an emphasizes on "marry only one." Moreover, if a woman does not want her future husband to marry other women, then that can be applied to the marriage contract, since it is not an obligation for the man, and it can therefore be ruled out.To conclude, there is nothing in Islam that degrades women. It honors them by setting proper guidelines for them that are of equal value compared to those of men. I have gained a lot of information about women in Islam, and the more I get to know about their rights according to Islam, the more I feel closer to Islam itself. It is shameful how women are treated in the West, and what kind of expectations they have to live up to. They have to be slaves to the eyes of men, fashion, and cosmetics, gossip, backbiting, etc. Not acceptable by Islam.[Qur'an 33:35] For Muslim men and women,- for believing men and women, for devout men and women, for true men and women, for men and women who are patient and constant, for men and women who humble themselves, for men and women who give in Charity, for men and women who fast (and deny themselves), for men and women who guard their chastity, and for men and women who engage much in Allah's praise,- for them has Allah prepared forgiveness and great reward. Thank you.