Islam honours and Respects women

I ask my opponent not to claim I've been "defeated" while he has brought verses out of their original meaning and has misinterpreted commentary for the sayings of the Prophet Muhammed. I ask my opponent to take a bit of thought in his work and not copy them from the hundreds of ant-Islam sites available. As well, I'd like him to bring more reliable sources than just Wikipedia. Before I begin, I want to say there's going to be things we won't be able to agree on. You might say some practices are barbaric while I'll say they're justified and vice-versa. There's always going to be 2 sides of every topic. Beginning with verse 4:34, I'll have to summarize my points from my co-authored response which is available here: http://answeringchristians.blogspot.com... 1) Men have to provide for their wives and protect them. He's suppose to sacrifice his freedom for her. A husband's money goes towards his wife's needs FIRST before anything else. Even if women have a job, the wife's money is for herself ONLY.All household expenses is mandatory to be paid for by men. 2) Quran verse 4:34 refers to specific women. The verse doesn't say to beat those who aren't listening to their husbands. It speaks of women who are rebellious and acting in an ill-conduct way. Now if we backtrack to verse 4:19, men cannot be harsh to women unless they're openly lewd which means sexually open. A modern day example is Las Vegas. Women are pole dancing in the public, there's people handing out cards with nude women on it. These women are making themselves objects for all to see because they've been blessed with those perfect features. And it's a shame that they insult God and other women by showing it all off. 3) There's 3 steps for a husband to take which MUST be followed in order. By the way it's in a man's nature to not like his wife wear revealing clothes. The first is to talk to her, if she keep's doing it then don't sleep with her and the final step is hit. Now the word here is "daraba" in Arabic which is better understood as hit. Interesting you chose Pickthall's translation that uses the word "scourge". I can tell you that's a wrong translation, he has a few other errors as well. Funny you didn't know that. 4) All scholar's and all commentaries say this is a "light" and "symbolic" tap meant for humiliating. It's usuallly said to be done by a toothbrush or cloth, anything that doesn't leave a mark. 5) The West leads the world in rapes and harassments of women. Skimpy outfits won't help The point you brought up is inheritance. I suggest you read the verse in full. There's an excellent article here: http://www.islam101.com... The last line of the verse says "men's soul's are swayed by greed". However the laws of inheritance have rules on them as well. Again whatever a woman recieves is for herself only while whatever a man recieves is for supporting the family. Women in Islam don't have to work while men do. Also dowries are paid by men to women. So in the end women who don't inherit the same amount as men, still are getting supported. I don't see anything wrong here. You have totally screwed up verse 4:19. It speaks of women who's husband's have died, brother's of the husbands can't take them in. In pre-Islam that was the case. Men died due to wars or illness, so their brother's would take their wives. Women in Islam are always free to marry whom they want. You brought up verse 33:36. All it says is follow the messanger and the Quran. So we don't become alcoholics, gamblers, prostitutes or pill munchers. All of which are harmful to society. As for divorce, that's not true. A man can't divorce his wife for any reason. A great article about marriage and divorce is right here: http://www.religioustolerance.org... Islam condemns divorce and it should be the last step. Read this verse : 4:35): "If the fear Shiqaq (breach) between the Twain, appoint (two) arbiters, one from his family and other from hers, if they wish for peace, God will cause their reconciliation." Quran 4:21 and 33:7 say marriage is a solemn covenant. 30:21; 7:189 , and 2:187 says that husbands and wives should live together in a comforting and tranquil manner as well as they're both garments for each other. The next topic you brought up is polygamy. I have no clue why you cut off more than half the verse. If you kept reading verse 4:3 it says God prefers men to marry ONE. Polygamy in islam is a condition, not a rule or a command. If men do take more than one wife, they have to treat them all equally with kindness. Anything less and there's consequences. You should realise that women hundreds of years ago, when their husbands died due to wars and diseases (a woman's body better defends viruses and bacteria), women were incapable of supporting themselves financially and phsically. So polygamy was needed back then Keep reading and you'll notice how God in the Quran says men are going to face the consequences when taking this route (4:129). Also Polygamy cannot contradict what is on the marriage contract. The Quran says to honour the contract which is signed during the wedding. If the contract says men cannot take another wife, then they cannot take another wife. Simple as that. I'll ask my opponent once again to not take verses out of context. You only posted part of 2:282. This verse actually refers to finances, if you read the beginning, this is what it would say: "O Beleivers, when you contract a debt for a fixed term, you should put it in writing..." The finances refer to dowries, inhertance, salaries/wages etc. I'm a med student and women have more psychological problems than men. And these cases can fall at the wrong time (like if a woman's pregnant). So the Quran call's for 2 women just in case if the woman forgets something. Also take not how the Quran call's for 2 men as well. Here is another great article: http://www.jannah.org... Quran 5:6 refers to ablution. Please read the full verse. Here is a list of translations: http://islamawakened.com... Whenever we pray or read the Quran, we clean ourselves. You quoted Bukhari 6, 301. This hadith breaks off in the middle (again you presented only half of the entire thing). That means this hadth is considered weak. Hadiths are placed in 4 categories: Authentic, Good, Weak and Fabricated. So it's not considered reliable. Keep in mind the number of narrations is also important. But nontheless we should try to understand to context. All we can tell is 1) This day is Eid and 2) The Prophet is talking about women's menses and how they don't have to pray. Overall it is meant to be takin as a joke and not seriously. I doubt the Prophet Muhammed would insult women, especially on the day of Eid. We have a similar issue with Bukhari 62:81. I have provided hadiths from the book of "Marriage and Nikah" here: http://www.islamicemirate.com... Sex by the way is part of marriage. Like I said above men and women are garments for each other. "Your body has a right over you, your eyes have a right over you and your wife has a right over you." (Sahih Bukhari, Vol.7, No. 127) Commentary for verse 2:187 by Al-Qurtubi: "She has over him the same right of sexual cohabitation he has over her." You quoted Tabari Vol 9, Number 1754. Dear opponent, this is commentary by Ibn Tabari. This is not the sayings of Muhammed. Tabari is comparing the situation of the 2. Back before Islam women weren't seen as human. They were seen as useless men-making machines. When Islam came it gave women rights and freedoms to the same level as men. But it took a while. Some women were still dependent on men. Tabari is showing a comparison. Next point you mentioned is clothing. All I can say is modest dressing is commanded. Muslim women cannot be forced into anything.