N.C. American Muslims from Arabic-speaking backgrounds make up about 20 percent of the total. But I understand it as a contemporary person. The human mind changes, even if the Koran does not, so the understanding of it changes, within the rules of Arabic. Westerners, and some more-liberal Muslims, both men and women, often view the Koran as supporting male supremacy. However, Osman believes that is a false reading if the full range of references to women are considered.
Critics often seize upon that.
But if read in the context of the full Koran, it becomes clear that what is meant is not in the sense of superiority, but rather in the sense of responsibility. . . . Men have a greater responsibility to women than women to men because a woman with children or who is pregnant cannot earn a living as easily as can a man.