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I know during the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khomeni ordered Blacks and Women freed first. Does Iran support womens groups like they suport minorites like Black Americans? Do they speak out for women in americaa and count them as oppressed too still?

Traditionally, differences in gender roles between men and women have been justified by actual innate difference between men and women. For example, in justifying the gender roles of carer for women, and provider for men, people may say that women are psychologically and emotionally better suited to stay at home and look after the children, whereas men are better suited to go out and work. In their attempt to undermine traditional gender roles, feminists have downplayed the actual difference between men and women, and claimed that either they don't exist, or where they do exist they are due to social/cultural factors, not innate biological factors, and therefore have no normative value. I would like to look into the evidence from psychology for differences in men and women, and to what extent these differences are innate/biological versus cultural / due to socialisation. I started with empathy, and read this 2014 review: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25236781 They present evidence that empathy is biological in origin, and therefore women are naturally more empathetic then men. I have briefly noted some of the key evidence below. Its worth noting that empathy is a complex phenomenon, and has a pre-reflective element that can easily be studied in animals and babies, involving 'mirroring' which is when an individual copies/reflects they body language of another in their own behaviour. For example, writhing when seeing another in pain or automatically smiling when being smiled at. For details on the exact studies have a look at the review. Some key points: In animals with prolonged maternal care periods (where the female looks after the children for a prolonged period of time), females are more empathetic, e.g. in mirroring others, and they are also more quick to help other animals in need. This is explained by the fact that mums need to be responsive to baby's needs - having more empathy allows them to do that, and fulfill their roles as carers better. Women are overall more altruistic than men, and better at judging facial expressions, body language and emotion, all of which aid empathy. Female neonates more likely to cry, and cry longer than males when they hear an infant crying. This is a form of 'emotional contagion' and is likely a precursor to empathy. This cannot be explained by socialisation. Female neonates also show greater mimicry (copying behaviours). Giving males pacifiers which interfere with facial mimicry (ability to copy facial expressions) seems to have an impact on later emotional intelligence. Female toddlers show greater empathy than males. As do female adolescents compared to males Testosterone decreases empathy – one study involved giving it to females, and showed their ability to 'mind read' was reduced. 'Mind reading' is an important ingredient of empathy. Men have more testosterone than women. Oxytocin increases empathy, and women have more of it than men

I don’t know how to make this sound less misogynistic (I’m sorry), but do women actualise their purpose in life by worshipping Allah through servitude to their husbands? I mean, based on this tradition, can’t we say that women were created to serve their husbands and to be “obedient” to them. In another tradition attributed to Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم), the advantages or freedoms that men have in the jurisprudential sense could be attributed to the way Hawwa was created from the leftover dust of Adam: Is this why women are not allowed to hold certain positions of prominence in the dunyawi sense, where they cannot be judges and are primarily supposed to be adornments for their husbands (based on what I have read in other threads)? According to the Sunni jurist al-Qurṭubī, all women are not supposed to go out of their homes unnecessarily, based on Qur’an 33:33. According to former member Ibn al-Hussain: The member also elucidated that such seemingly misogynistic views of women have been the view of both Shia and Sunni scholars for centuries, and that it is inevitably irreconcilable with modernity. Further, in one report of Risalat al Huquq, Imam Zayn al Abidin (عليه السلام) says that “you must treat her [your wife] with compassion, since she is your prisoner (asir) whom you feed and clothe” (another version of this report does not contain this line). Another tradition (from Facebook) demarcates the preference of men over women: I feel like I should quote this verse now because I can see how this thread will bother a lot of my brothers and sisters: Perhaps I should also add that both women and men are creations of Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى), they both manifest His beautiful attributes, and that they complement one another. @Mohammad313Ali @Northwest @shia farm girlthoughts, brothers and sister?

Salam, within the western society that I live in, feminism has become the new craze and it seems everyone is identifying as a feminist. I am a female myself and of course, believe we as women deserve the same place in the workplace as men as well as the rights to make our own decisions. However to what extent does that go with Islamic beliefs? Of course, a Muslim woman has her rights named by religion but since feminism revolves around men and women being equal, doesn't that go against Islamic thought? I'm honestly not sure whether I want to identify as a feminist or not. Please let me know your opinions!

Dear marriage age sisters (and brothers) - A 2017 study shows the number of newlyweds decline among the educated white men and a dramatic rise among those who do chose to marry, marrying non-whites. http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2017/05/18/1-trends-and-patterns-in-intermarriage/ If you are a college age Muslim girl out there, do not, I repeat do not give in to those cultural ethos of western feminism. Whatever they are teaching you in the MSM, in sitcoms and in the talk shows etc., is designed to destroy you in the longer run just like they destroyed family values among Christian cultures. Instead spend time with your mother, grandmother, aunts or other traditional womenfolks of your family and learn how to be a 'traditional' good daughter, a good wife, and a good mother. I see 'women induced' divorce rates among the Muslims in the West and I shudder. Did feminists already get us before we knew it???? Thoughts!

Denmark's feminist mosque founder challenges norms Copenhagen (AFP) - The founder of Scandinavia's first female-led mosque is a soft-spoken "imama" who has riled conservatives with her views on marriage but others say her project is not progressive enough. The Mariam Mosque opened in March and held its first Friday prayer in August, when Danish-born imam Saliha Marie Fetteh spoke to around 60 women -- just over half of them Muslim -- about female scholars in Islam and women's rights. "It was fantastic and very moving," said Ozlem Cekic, a Turkey-born Danish commentator and former lawmaker, who attended the sermon. "I believe it will strengthen Islam." Christian and Jewish community leaders also attended the prayer. "Talking about women's rights is not a Western phenomenon, it's an Islamic ideal," Sherin Khankan -- one of the five female imams-in-training -- told AFP in a sparsely furnished room where the weekly prayers are held. Arabic calligraphy and Islamic literature adorn its white walls, but the sounds of a bustling Copenhagen street permeate into the apartment. An "anonymous donor" is paying the lease of the mosque, located in a building in an area that is one of the most expensive in Copenhagen. The 42-year-old mother of four was born in Denmark. She describes her father, a Syrian political refugee who married a Finnish woman, as "a feminist icon". Her Christian mother would fast during Ramadan with the rest of the family, while Muslim family members would join her in church on special occasions. Inter-faith dialogue has always been vital to Khankan who earlier this year publicly met with French female rabbi Delphine Horvilleur in Copenhagen. In 2001 she founded "Critical Muslims", a group promoting "a democratic and pluralistic approach to Islam." One month later, the 9/11 attacks in New York had a dramatic impact on how Muslims were viewed around the world, and she found herself spending more time defending Islam. The role of Islam in Denmark came under renewed focus last year after a Danish-Palestinian gunman killed a filmmaker and a Jewish security guard in twin attacks in Copenhagen. - Changing power balance - Not everyone is a fan. Khankan said she had received threats from right-wing extremists on social media. Public reaction from conservative Muslims has been muted, possibly because of the fear of wading into Denmark's high-pitched debate on Muslim immigration, which has often dominated political debate over the past 15 years. "When you are changing structures in religious institutions, you are changing the power balance. You are challenging men's monopoly," Khankan said. "Of course you will meet resistance, that's obvious and we were aware of that. But I think the opposition we have met has been quite moderate," she added. Representatives from some of Copenhagen's major mosques did not respond to requests for comment. After the opening of the Mariam Mosque, Waseem Hussein, an imam from one of the city's biggest mosques, suggested there was no need for it. "Should we also make a mosque only for men? Then there would certainly be an outcry among the Danish population," he told the Politiken daily. "According to the Koran, men and women are equal spiritual partners," said Khankan, wearing a long, white skirt and a long-sleeved top but no veil, which she said she only wears while praying. "We are re-reading the Koran according to our times and our society," she added. The mosque is inspired by Sufism, a mystic form of Islam, and mostly caters to Sunni Muslims, although "everyone is welcome". Female imams have existed in China since the 19th century, and are currently active in a handful of countries including Germany, Belgium, Canada and the United States, where The Women's Mosque of America opened in Los Angeles last year. Denmark is home to around 284,000 Muslims, according to an estimate by Brian Arly Jacobsen, an associate professor at the University of Copenhagen specialising in religion. - Islamic feminism - Islamic feminism is at the heart of the Copenhagen project, and a concrete example of that was the mosque's marriage contract, Khankan said. The marriage agreement states that women have the right to divorce, polygamy is prohibited, men and women have equal rights to their children in case of a divorce, and that the marriage is annulled in the event of mental or physical violence. Five couples have been married at the mosque, of which two were inter-faith unions. Another three ceremonies are in the pipeline. Khankan admits that she had to compromise on some of her initial plans to avoid "burning bridges" with the rest of the Muslim community. Both men and women are allowed to take part in the mosque's activities, but Friday prayers have been reserved for women, as having a mixed audience would have been more controversial. "Burning bridges" would only "create chaos," she said. Syria-born Danish lawmaker Naser Khader told Danish media that in a country like Denmark, with its high level of gender equality, barring women from preaching to a mixed crowd was simply not "good enough". But Khankan said the mosque will appeal to "a new generation of young Muslims who feel homeless and who do not feel at home in the existing traditional mosque communities." https://www.yahoo.com/news/denmarks-feminist-mosque-founder-challenges-norms-032536535.html

Check out his other lectures in this month of Muharram here: http://www.shiachat.com/forum/topic/235026089-sayed-baqir-qazwini-muharram-2014-lectures/

An illiterate mother, although she might not appeal to her husband who is fantasizing a more educated woman, is not merely a breeding machine. Motherhood is a patch of honor on the shoulder of women, raising good children is the ultimate success in heavens. That's the true definition of success , if a man put his definition of success for women then that's his definition. Women are not bound to follow the standards he put for their success, this defies the self respect and self worth of any woman. A woman whom her body lost attractiveness , lost the bone density, lost the elasticity of her belly muscles, lost some of her teeth, she might even get a thyroid disease or heart disease during pregnancy and birth, she might lose her life A woman whom might lose her husband interest and care, her family compassion, her community support, her job or chances to get any Yet, she did not give up on her kids, kept provide them with love and care, fought the world and cruel reality to raise them in best of health and psych.. Those women deserve better respect than to label their suffering as breeding machine, this condensing description that is not only unfair but animalistic. It really pains me when these women come to me with low spirits, feeling worthless because of their "housewife" status. Some of them are jihadists and the dust of their sandals worth 1000 feminists. I wonder why we should act like parrots repeating whatever that "looks" smart without putting it in reality context. How one can be a feminist while they downgrade the majority of women and give honoring titles to the fringes? How come you are a feminist when you lack the ability to appreciate the motherhood? If the world is full of worthless men who do not respect women and abuse them, then those who call for women to upgrade their nature to more masculine are not less abusive.