First Entry!!

Ok, so I'm writing this for a class entitled- you guessed it- "The Many Faces of Islam"! I'm taking this class, because it's A) an anthropology class and because B) I'm desperately trying to figure out a way to study abroad in Jordan and figure I should know as much about Islam and the Middle East as possible just in case the nice, wonderful people at S.I.T. are crazy enough to let me in. And if not, I've always been fascinated by religions and well knowledge is power, right?

For my first entry I thought I'd talk about one of the two things I've always found the most fascinating (and positive) about Islam from "History of Islam". The first would be how progressive toward women the Qur'an actually was for the time period. Prior to Islam, the women in the region we now know of as Saudi Arabia did not inherit anything upon the death of their fathers or husbands. Though Islam stated they still inherit less than men, the fact that they inherit anything at all, was actually a step foward for the women in that region. Also, in order to accuse a wife of adultry, one must have four witnesses. In addition, they were given the right to divorce their husbands- though it was much more complicated for a woman to divorce her husband than vice versa- should their husband contract a contagious disease or become impotent. In addition, if a husband divorces his wife, than he must feed and house her for three months afterwards to ensure there is absolutely no chance that she is pregnant. If it is discovered she is, and if he still desires a divorce, then it is his obligation to provide for that child until the child is weaned. Though that still seems unbelievable harsh today, for that time period and that region it was definitely a step foward. In addition, there are plenty of passages in the Qur'an that ensure orphaned children will not be abandoned or taken advantage of either.