by Eva Dameron
Daily Lobo
There are misconceptions regarding the status of women in Islam, said Ihab El-Kady, an associate professor at UNM.
El-Kady was invited by the Muslim Student Association to present the lecture "Position of Women in Islam" in the SUB on Tuesday. About 20 students attended.
El-Kady lived in Saudi Arabia for eight years.
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Citing the Quran, he talked about women's roles in Islam. He said the first chapter of the Quran tells a story similar to that of Adam and Eve. Eve doesn't take the blame for committing the first sin of mankind. El-Kady said they were both tempted, and they were equals.
"You can't inherit sins," he said. "In the Islamic point of view, everybody is responsible for the sins they commit."
El-Kady stressed the importance of judging a religion by reading the scriptures, not by the actions of the people associated with the religion.
Another reason to read the scriptures, he said, to decide for yourself what is true.
El-Kady said Islam gives women rights. He said Islamic women have always been equal enough to fight in wars.
"Women fought from the rooftops while men fought in the streets," he said. "It's cowardly to put women in front of the men. Women weren't drafted. They were kindly asked to participate."
He said it was a woman who first sacrificed her eyesight for Islam, the first to be martyred, the first to die outside Arabian borders fighting for her religion and the first to get a government-sponsored bank loan.
He said women have the right to work, provided it doesn't interfere with their ability to raise a child.
"You don't degrade women because they are precious," El-Kady said. "And you don't degrade men because they are also precious."
The dress codes are also similar for both genders, he said, except for skirt length and the women's headdress.
"If you're puzzled over women's headdress, think about it," he said. "Why do nuns wear headscarves? Why does (Virgin) Mary wear it?"
Dana Zubari, an international student from Kuwait who attended the lecture, said El-Kady was idealistic.
"I just want to address the actual Islam that is going around in the world," Zubari said. "It's not as idealistic as what is shown in the little lecture."
She said in Saudi Arabia they don't have the right to vote and they can't drive.
"They can buy property and they can inherit, but their inheritance is different. It depends on whether you're Sunni or Shiite. If you're a Shiite, women are allowed to inherit if the father doesn't have a son."
But not if you're Sunni, she said.
"I'm one of three daughters, and my dad has property that he had to put under our names because he was scared if something happened to him and he passed away, we wouldn't inherit any of it because he didn't have a son," Zubari said.
UNM alumna Majdah al-Quhtani said she was glad she attended the lecture.
"I always have to defend Islam to Americans," she said. "This gives me more ammunition to say, look, the religion itself is not bad. It is the culture. Just because the religion says one thing, doesn't mean people follow it. People twist it to their benefit."
The lecture was part of Muslim Awareness Week sponsored by the Muslim Student Association.
