Page 217 - Bigotry: The Dark Danger

that orders them to walk by the walls when they are outside, that
interferes with every detail of their clothing, that doesn't allow them
to drive, that puts little children in charge of women only because in
their shallow thinking women are not smart enough, that doesn't
allow women to be in rooms that look down on the street, that puts
the blame on women if they are raped, that decides who they should

marry, that considers it acceptable for women to be beaten up by
their husbands, that doesn't allow women to divorce even in the case
of severe violence, is a product of the aforementioned superstitions.

Underlying the fanatics' perspective toward women is the idea
that women are deficient in faith and mind. The idea that women are
semi-people and need to be governed and directed therefore pre-
vails. For people who think like that, even the very existence of

women is a menace and a cause of anger; they therefore feel the need
to keep them covered up, excluded from society, deprived of all
rights and declared non-persons to the maximum extent possible.
They foolishly turn women into second-class citizens and prevent

them from making decisions and becoming involved in social mat-
ters, and seek to turn them into a community under their own
dominion because they know full well that women are quite capable
of thinking in great detail, making rational judgments and drawing
accurate conclusions by analyzing fine detail. Excluding women by
false means has also made it possible for some fanatical types to

spread their own falsehoods very easily.

Yet God has revealed that there is no differentiation between
men and women in terms of piety and that men and women have
equal responsibilities when it comes to doing good works, striving to
disseminate moral virtues and waging an intellectual struggle on His
path. According to the Qur'an, men and women are equal in terms of
responsibility; however, the Qur'an also regards women as superior

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