Islam and Women: The Veil of Oppression vs. the Gospel of Dignity

🕌Islam and Women: Veil of Oppression

The Crescent Against the Cross Article 11

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1. From Violence to Oppression

In our last study, we unmasked Islam’s violence and showed how jihad is not a distortion but a faithful expression of its texts. Yet the sword is not the only fruit of Islam’s false kingdom. Where it distorts peace into war, it also distorts womanhood into oppression.

The treatment of women under Islam is not an incidental cultural issue; it is rooted in the very fabric of Sharia and modeled by Muhammad himself. By contrast, the gospel proclaims: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Gen. 1:27). Womanhood is not a problem to be veiled, but a glory to be honored as part of God’s image.

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2. Women as Property Under Sharia

Sharia law reduces women to second-class citizens, stripping them of dignity and agency.

Polygamy: The Qur’an explicitly permits men to marry up to four wives (Qur’an 4:3), reducing women to commodities in a man’s household.

Custody and Divorce: In Islamic jurisprudence, custody rights overwhelmingly favor men, and divorce can be enacted by a husband with a simple declaration (talaq), while women face lengthy, restricted processes.

Legal Testimony: A woman’s testimony in court is worth half that of a man (Qur’an 2:282). Justice is thus skewed against women by divine sanction.

The system is not designed for their dignity but for their subordination. Under Islam, women are owned, silenced, and weighed as lesser.

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3. The Exploitation of Vulnerability

Beyond systemic inequities, Islam exploits the vulnerability of women and girls.

Child Marriage: Muhammad’s marriage to Aisha, reportedly consummated when she was nine years old (Sahih al-Bukhari 5133), sets a precedent still used to justify child marriage in many Islamic societies.

Honor Killings: Families murder daughters and sisters to preserve perceived family honor, with tacit or legal protection under Islamic law.

Forced Veiling: Women are compelled to cover themselves fully, not as an act of piety freely chosen, but as a tool of control and suppression. Their worth is tied to obedience and silence, not their dignity as image-bearers of God.

This is not honor but bondage. A system that exploits the weak reveals its counterfeit nature.

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4. The Gospel’s View of Womanhood

By contrast, the gospel restores womanhood to its God-given dignity.

Creation: Women, like men, are made in God’s image (Gen. 1:27). Their worth is intrinsic, not contingent.

Redemption: In Christ, “there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). Women are co-heirs of grace, equally loved and equally redeemed.

Marriage: Husbands are commanded to love their wives as Christ loved the church—sacrificially, tenderly, and faithfully (Eph. 5:25). This is not domination but sanctification, not control but covenant love.

Where Islam veils and silences, Christ crowns and dignifies.

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5. Applications for the Church

Expose. Do not turn a blind eye to the crushing weight of Sharia’s treatment of women. Speak clearly about its injustice.

Contrast. Show the freedom and honor Christ gives. A woman in Christ is not half a witness but a full co-heir.

Mobilize. Pray for women under Islam, support ministries that reach them, and engage with compassion. Offer them the gospel’s invitation to freedom and dignity in Christ.

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6. Conclusion: From Veil to Crown

Islam veils women under layers of oppression—legal, cultural, and spiritual. Christ removes the veil, crowning them with dignity, honor, and inheritance in His kingdom.

As Peter exhorts: “Show honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life” (1 Pet. 3:7). The church must live this vision and proclaim it boldly to those trapped under Islam’s veil.

Next, we will widen the lens: having addressed the oppression of women, Article 12 will examine Islam’s broader cultural impact—Islam and Culture: Family, Art, Science, and Civilization.

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✍️ Reflection & Application

Personal: Do you rejoice that in Christ you are a co-heir of grace, whether male or female? How does this truth shape your view of dignity?

Church: How can your congregation defend biblical womanhood against both secular distortion and Islamic oppression?

Mission: What ways can you reach out with compassion to women under Islam’s veil, showing them Christ’s love and freedom?

For Families:

Teach your children that both boys and girls are made in God’s image.

Pray together for women oppressed under Islam, that they may find freedom and dignity in Christ.

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📚 Key Sources Consulted:

Qur’an: 2:282; 4:3.

Sahih al-Bukhari 5133 (on Aisha’s marriage).

Genesis 1:27; Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 5:25–33; 1 Peter 3:7.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Infidel (2007).

Mark Durie, The Third Choice: Islam, Dhimmitude and Freedom (2010).

✒️ The Pilgrim’s Post