shariqhitman
New Member
THE JOKE:
Barbara Walters, of 20/20, did a story on gender roles in Kabul, Afghanistan several years before the Afghan conflict. She noted that women customarily walked five paces behind their husbands. She recently returned to Kabul and observed that women still walk behind their husbands.
Despite the overthrow of the oppressive Taliban regime, the women now seem to, and are happy to, maintain the old custom.
Ms. Walters approached one of the Afghani women and asked, "Why do you now seem happy with an old custom that you once tried so desperately to change?"
The woman looked Ms. Walters straight in the eyes, and without hesitation said, "Land Mines."
THE MORAL:
Continuing the joke, the moral is obviously that, "Behind every man is a smart woman!".
All joking aside though, many of the Islamic rules and recommendations stem from the desire for men to shoulder the responsibility of maintaining the women in their family. Males are charged with providing female relatives with security and comfort as they live their lives. In certain situations, it is Islamically sound for a son to inherit more than a daughter. Why? Because Islamically the son also must provide for his family while the daughter may use her money any way she wishes.
Problems arise, as they always do with human beings, when an individual abuses the privileges that they are given. Men can become neglectful and women can become greedy, among other vices. Islam also has checks and balances in place when these types of things happen.
Essentially, what can be taken from the joke above is that sometimes things look a certain way, when they really are something else. One cannot assume that what they believe is correct, when they have no real knowledge or wisdom to support their beliefs.
By the way, there is no Islamic ruling that I know of which states that a woman should walk behind a man. However, there may be several Islamic reasons to do so.
What do you think they are?
Barbara Walters, of 20/20, did a story on gender roles in Kabul, Afghanistan several years before the Afghan conflict. She noted that women customarily walked five paces behind their husbands. She recently returned to Kabul and observed that women still walk behind their husbands.
Despite the overthrow of the oppressive Taliban regime, the women now seem to, and are happy to, maintain the old custom.
Ms. Walters approached one of the Afghani women and asked, "Why do you now seem happy with an old custom that you once tried so desperately to change?"
The woman looked Ms. Walters straight in the eyes, and without hesitation said, "Land Mines."
THE MORAL:
Continuing the joke, the moral is obviously that, "Behind every man is a smart woman!".
All joking aside though, many of the Islamic rules and recommendations stem from the desire for men to shoulder the responsibility of maintaining the women in their family. Males are charged with providing female relatives with security and comfort as they live their lives. In certain situations, it is Islamically sound for a son to inherit more than a daughter. Why? Because Islamically the son also must provide for his family while the daughter may use her money any way she wishes.
Problems arise, as they always do with human beings, when an individual abuses the privileges that they are given. Men can become neglectful and women can become greedy, among other vices. Islam also has checks and balances in place when these types of things happen.
Essentially, what can be taken from the joke above is that sometimes things look a certain way, when they really are something else. One cannot assume that what they believe is correct, when they have no real knowledge or wisdom to support their beliefs.
By the way, there is no Islamic ruling that I know of which states that a woman should walk behind a man. However, there may be several Islamic reasons to do so.
What do you think they are?