The Place of Women in Different Faiths

 This Blog deals with The place of women in Different faiths and this Blog is written by Mr. Himanshu bhardwaj BBA-LLB STUDENT

To some degree, women are treated unfairly in every major world religion. All major faiths' canonical texts dehumanise, demean, and label women as second-class citizens, if not outright inferior to males. Perhaps the original prophet who wrote that passage of scripture is to blame, perhaps not. But it is unquestionably the responsibility of the men who, following the death of the original prophet, altered the text of those scriptures over the course of many years.

Let's start by reading the sacred texts of the world's major religions to determine the place women hold in each tradition. Second, we must examine the culture where this religion is prevalent, the position of women there, and the effect that the scripture has had on women's lives in that society. Let's say we take a look at the five most popular faiths in the world: Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism.

Buddhism

The Vinaya is the Buddhist canon that lays out the rules of behaviour for Buddhist clergy. It's probable that during Buddha's lifetime, nuns were accorded the same status as monks; yet, they were not permitted to go out seeking for alms unaccompanied by a monk. Eventually, it came to be expected that monks would also participate in religious ceremonies performed by nuns, with the underlying assumption being that women were powerless without the presence of men.

Buddhist monks believe that a woman can't achieve enlightenment since her body is inherently linked to vices like evil, desire, and greed. But if she psychologically transforms into a guy, she can achieve her goal. According to the Buddha, "the female's flaws are larger than the male's... greed, hatred, illusion, and other defilements." You (females) ought to be intending... "Because I want to be liberated from the staleness of a woman's body, I shall obtain the handsome and clean body of a male." (!) Nangsa Oobum is only one of many Buddhist nuns whose stories of bravery and perseverance in the face of adversity have been preserved for future generations.

Christianity

The Bible contains many verses that reinforce the idea that women should be submissive and silent in the classroom (see, for example, I Timothy 2:11–12). However, I will not tolerate a woman who seeks to lecture or asserts her power over a male. Paul writes to the Ephesian wives in 5.22-24, "Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as unto the Lord." Man is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man; "Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of woman." I Peter 3.1-2, 6 advises that wives should "be in submission to your own husbands" and practise "chaste talk mixed with fear."

"intellectually inferior," "unable to grasp philosophy," "burdened with poor memories," "not inclined to self-discipline but willing to follow their instincts," were how the German inquisitors defined women.

The anguish that women have endured due to Christian law is without precedent. The Catholic and Protestant clergy led the battle against women's suffrage in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, arguing that God had designed subservience for women.

Why are Christian women putting up with all this nonsense at the turn of the millennium, twenty-one centuries after the birth of Jesus? When a group of devout Christian ladies next get together to do some volunteer work for their church, they should just sit down and rewrite the Bible to remove all the sexist remarks Paul and others made about women. And please don't call him "St. Paul," because if he actually said those things about women, he was clearly no saint. He was, instead, a typical pig of the chauvinist gender. No man who mistreats or belittles a woman (whether she is his wife or his servant) has any right to consider himself a spiritual creature. A fully developed soul, a true saint, sees the divine in every living thing and is therefore unable to place any value on human or nonhuman life above any other kind of life.

Judaism

According to Genesis 2:14–3:24, God warned Eve that she would experience intense physical suffering during pregnancy and childbirth because of her sin. Your husband will become the centre of your world, and you will submit to his authority. What do you think, is it possible to accept that a God who is righteous would use such language? As we delve deeper into the Old Testament, we come across the following passage: "I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap, and whose hands are chains." The guy who is right with God will be able to evade her, but she will catch the sinner. One honest man in a thousand, but not a single honest woman. This was while I was still looking but coming up empty. (See verses 26–28 of Ecclesiastes). The next line is even more shocking: "No wickedness comes anywhere near the wickedness of a woman. A woman's sinful nature is the root cause of our shared demise. (Ecclesiastes 25:19; 24). Even the stray dogs by the wayside are howling with delight at the absurdity of this speech.

The prayer, "Blessed by God, King of the universe that Thou has not made me a women," is still recited by many religious Jewish males today. Ecclesiasticus is full of sexist religious decrees for the church. A Jewish man has the same ownership rights over his wife as he would over a slave. Sadly, many men still do not allow their women to make decisions about the household budget or the division of financial assets. The lady gave up everything, including her individuality, when she got married. If he so chooses, a Jewish husband may divorce his wife at any moment. A woman, however, cannot do so unless she has compelling grounds to do so, such as a failure to fulfil her marital responsibilities. Even worse, a husband can just leave his wife at any time and then refuse to divorce her. Because of this, she is now considered an agunah, or a shackled woman. She is unable to get a divorce or remarry. Presently, there may be as many as 1,500 such agunot in the United States, whereas in Israel there are over 15,000. After being blackmailed by their husbands for thousands of dollars, forsaken spouses give in and get divorced. How can Jewish women all throughout the world put up with such violence, hatred, and unfair treatment?

Islam

When compared to men, women are seen as inferior in all aspects of Islam's moral and spiritual framework. The Koran and the hadiths both confirm this view, which is stated unequivocally in the holy book that is said to have remained unchanged since Mohammed's day (sayings ascribed to the prophet that are deemed reliable by Muslim theologians). The ulama must be respected in all Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangla Desh. The ulama, often known as mullahs or Muslim priests, are the scholars of Islamic law who, by their fatwas (decisions/dictates), govern the daily lives of all Muslims. In his book, "The Most Satisfying and Final Word on the Matter," the renowned Islamic scholar Ibn Al-Ghazzali argued that marriage is in fact a sort of servitude. A woman's place in society is as her husband's slave, and as such, she must do whatever he tells her to do without question.

Dr. Nawal Sa'dawi is a Muslim lady who has renounced Islam because of the oppression she has experienced at the hands of the faith. Unless we believe that a slave has rights under a slavery system, she argues, it is impossible to talk about women's rights, as "a woman under the Islamic system of marriage has no human rights." The wife becomes her husband's slave and must unconditionally obey his every command.

According to the Prophet Mohammed, "we have not been left any calamity more damaging to mankind than woman." Islam is exclusively a male religion, both now and in the afterlife when only men will enter paradise. The Koran allows a man to have four wives and as many concubines as he can afford. Only one spouse is permitted for a woman, and only the guy has the legal right to end the marriage.

Hinduism

P.R. Sarkar, a renowned philosopher and spiritualist, has penned:

If you look at the entirety of human history from a fresh perspective, you'll notice that people have always tried to take advantage of one another by planting seeds of doubt and anxiety in their brains. What vile psychology it was to implant a complex of terror in people's minds in God's name. So this is where dharma and religion diverge. Religion, as a whole, is responsible for cultivating a widespread fear complex among followers. So many laws and restrictions were set up for women so that they would bow down to men in reverence. The male population, however, is not subject to the same restrictions. For instance, in (Hindu) culture, wives are not allowed to adopt their husbands' surnames or that of their husbands' elder brothers. Why is that, exactly? Aiming to raise respect for men amongst women. A virtuous woman should not have to lie in prostration before her immoral husband, sari border wrapped around her neck. What a ridiculous, pointless waste of time!

We said Islam is actually sexist because of its treatment of women. Is there a way in which Hinduism could be described otherwise? Actually, we can't. It's gotten even worse! This claim is supported by evidence; in this case, mountains of evidence. The realities are the harrowing accounts of misery that continue to unfold in modern-day India. Suffering in quiet is sometimes unavoidable. It's possible that at other times it's with

When offered in marriage, young Hindu girls were free game for abandonment. An example passage from Manu Smrti IX.72 reads as follows: "Though a man may have received a damsel in due form, he may abandon her if she is blemished, diseased, or deflowered, and (if she have been) provided with deceit." Women who had been cast out by their husbands often lived in abject poverty and isolation. But Brahmin males could do whatever they pleased with devadasis. If you follow Hinduism, you're a "stupid male supremacist pig"!

"If a wife, proud of the greatness of her family or (her) excellence, violates the responsibility which she owes to her lord," Manu, the famous Hindu lawmaker, said, "the king shall compel her to be devoured by wolves in a spot frequented by many." Brahmins were the ones who violated women's rights by (1) seizing a woman's property, (2) imposing the dowry system, (3) confining women to the home, and (4) denying their women an education and maintaining them in a state of enforced illiteracy.

"The companionship of women does not survive long," it says in the Rig Veda (10-95-10). They have a hyena-like disposition. According to Manu, women are nothing more than decorations they love to adorn themselves with, and they are full of rage, dishonesty, malice, and ill behaviour. (Manu.9.17). A husband is blessed with a woman from the hands of God so that she may serve him and bring him children, as stated in one passage of the Atharva Veda. Her spouse also frequently refers to her as "his subordinate and slave." (14.01.52) in the Atharva Veda. Only in Hinduism do females have a built-in tendency toward sexual promiscuity. According to the Puranas, just as a butcher won't be happy killing an infinite number of animals, so will women be happy killing an infinite number of men. Throughout Hindu writing, female characters are depicted negatively. A list of eight traits that are uniquely female can be found in the Bible. They are: lying, instability, dishonesty, stupidity, greed, impureness, wickedness, and haste. (Sukra 3-163).

Women are described at length by an Apsara in the great Indian religious epic the Mahabharata (Anusasana Parava, Section XXXVIII), who claims that they are the source of all problems and that they are constantly seeking out another guy no matter how nice their husband may be. This is why women should never have their own means of support because no one can put their faith in them. These lines are still visible in numerous locations throughout India:

According to the adage, "the husband is the ultimate teacher,"

The wife's duty is first and foremost to her husband.

To cripple women's logic and boost men's egos, "a minority of unprincipled, power-hungry men spread these ideologies." Nowadays, these ideas are still taught by some Hindu gurus. These sages advise wives to worship their husbands like gods while instructing husbands to distance themselves from their loyal wives on the grounds that the latter are really an illusion. Swami Shivananda states: “To a woman there is no higher yoga, sacrifice or act than the service of her husband. All the gods admire her who adores him in mind, speech, and deed. A wife should serve her husband with all her heart regardless of how easily angered or harsh he is. She should be nice to him even though he teases and hates her. Never show him any signs of anger. When she mistreats him, she sends herself to a place where she will be permanently miserable. Truly, the intellect is dulled by the vast ocean of outrages done by Hinduism against women!