An article on Discover Islam is a good example of the lies that some Muslims are willing to tell to help further Islam. The poster entitled, "Does Islam give Women Equal Rights?" says that nowhere in the Qur'an does it say that one gender is superior to another. This is a blatant lie.
Sura An-Nisa 4:34 clearly says that men are better than women:
"Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allâh has made one of them to excel the other, and because they spend (to support them) from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient (to Allâh and to their husbands), and guard in the husband's absence what Allâh orders them to guard (e.g. their chastity, their husband's property, etc.). ..."
Further, DiscoverIslam says that there are other sacred sources apart from the Qur'an, namely the Sunnah, the practice and example of Muhammad. In Bukhari, Vol. 3, Hadith No. 826 we read:
The Prophet said, "Isn't the witness of a woman equal to half of that of a man?" The women said, "Yes." He said, "This is because of the deficiency of a woman's mind."Finally, Muhammad;s most beloved wife, Aisha, said:
“O womenfolk, if you knew the rights that your husbands have over you, every one of you would wipe the dust from her husband's feet with her face.” [Al-Hashimi, M., The Ideal Muslimah, (1996), chapter 4].
Some other miscellaneous teachings on women:
- a slave girl can be sent for prostitution if she is willing (Sura 24:33; Abu Dawud, Hadith 2167) but, if she is forced, Allah will forgive the one forcing her ;
- Treat women well, for they are [like] domestic animals (awan) with you and do not possess anything for themselves.” [The History of al-Tabari, Volume IX, pg 113.];
- a woman is to be used like a field according to the husband’s desires (Sura 2:223);
- women will be the majority in hell (Bukhari Vol. 1, Hadith 301; also Muslim Vol. 4, Hadith 6600);
- the best of women are neither to be seen by, nor to see, a man (Ghazali quoted this Hadith in Ihya’ ‘Uloum ed-Din Vol. II Kitab Adab al-Nikah. Beirut: Dar al-Kotob al-‘Elmeyah. p. 53);
- a man can exchange one of his wives for another (Sura 4:20); and
- angels curse women who do not spend the night in their husband’s bed. (Bukhari, Vol. 7, Hadith 122).
