From a thread in Latest World News: American family dies You are repeating a similar claim you have made previously and where I requested links. Im surprised that you dont consider flogging punishments and stoning as extreme versions of Islam however lets look at these countries where you claim Islam has improved womens position. First the Islamic countries where one would expect to find the most evidence: Bangladesh Iran: Do you really need links? Maldives: from matriarchy to an Islamic state Now the other majority Hindu and Bhudist countries: Bhutan: Bhutanese women have traditionally had more rights than men in surrounding cultures, the most prominent being the presumptive right of land ownership. The property of each extended Bhutanese family is controlled by an "anchor mother" who is assisted by the other women of the family in running affairs. As she becomes unable to manage the property, the position of anchor mother passes on to a sister, daughter or niece. This pattern of inheritance is known by anthropologists as matrilinearity. Men and women work together in the fields, and both may own small shops or businesses. Men take a full part in household management, often cook, and are traditionally the makers and repairers of clothing (but do not weave the fabric). In the towns, a more "western" pattern of family structure is beginning to emerge, with the husband as breadwinner and the wife as home-maker. Both genders may be monks, although in practice the number of female monks is relatively small. Marriages are at the will of either party and divorce is not uncommon. The marriage ceremony consists of an exchange of white scarves and the sharing of a cup. Marriages can be officially registered when the couple has lived together for more than six months. Traditionally the groom moves to the bride's family home (matrilocality), but newlyweds may decide to live with either family depending on which household is most in need of labour. source What goes for Bhutan goes for much of Nepal and neighbouring northern India in the path of the Islamic conquests from the West. Taking India as a whole it is notworthy that it is in the south where women are better off compared to the north where very generally the Islamic culture is strongest. Ive already given you a link to the case of one Indian Muslim womens fate illustrating their position compared to Hindus and other non Muslims: Imrana rape case. With the partitioning of British India many of the subcontinents Muslims congregated in Pakistan strange then that you exclude this as it gives a good example of the position of Muslim women in India had the country a majority Muslim population. That leaves Sri Lanka the first nation with a women prime minister not a Muslim Im afraid! Doesnt look so good for Islam Women in Sri Lanka have a relatively high level of protection within the family context, with the exception that some Muslim communities (about 10 per cent of Sri Lankas population) follow Islamic Sharia law, which contains discriminatory provisions. .. Sri Lankas legal age of marriage is 18 years for both men and women. Early marriage is less common than in other South Asian countries, but does occur in some communities that follow certain religious beliefs and cultural practices. For example, Islamic law argues against the concept of minimum age of marriage . Polygamy is illegal in Sri Lanka. However, Islamic law allows Muslim men to take up to four wives. In reality, only a very few Muslim men have multiple wives, and those that wish to enter a second marriage must give prior notice to their first wives. Sri Lankas Constitution provides for equal inheritance rights for men and women, but is again sometimes superseded by other legal systems. Islamic law discriminates against women in the area of property in that Muslim women are typically granted smaller inheritance shares than male heirs. Daughters, for example, inherit half as much as sons. Following the death of a father, Kandyan law ties the inheritance rights of daughters to marital practices: daughters who marry in diga (i.e. the bride is taken into the grooms home) must transfer any inherited property to their brothers or to sisters who have married in binna (i.e. the groom is taken into the brides home). UNESCO reports that males are also given precedence over females in inheritance of agricultural land. source
Yes, they are better off as long as part of their clitoris is not snipped off! In Indonesia and Malaysia, some of the "less" drastic forms of female circumcision are practiced by some of the Moslem populations. http://www.popcouncil.org/pdfs/frontiers/reports/Indonesia_FGM.pdf
