The Qur’an

Nowadays, many countries like the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong, advocate the freedom of speech, the freedom of thoughts, the freedom of beliefs and also the freedom of religions. Each religion has their own rules, conventions and traditions; and Islam is not an exception. In the community of Islam, “The Qur’an” seems to be a practical guide for them to follow. In “The Qur’an”, it also has their own set of faith and belief. People in Hong Kong, a city with liberty in almost everything, may have a general impression that women rights are being neglected in Islamic community. I would rather claim that there are double standards in this community than inequality is happening in Islam society.

In the perspective of Muslim, women are being protected in “The Qur’an”. The rules like “If any of you die and leave widows, the widows should wait for four months and ten nights before remarrying”(2:234), “Women have to wait for three menstrual cycle for another marriage if her husband divorces her”, “It is not lawful for you to take back anything that husbands haven given to the wives”(2:229) and more are trying to prevent women from inequality. Women are normal to segregate with men before getting married. This can ensure themselves are clean and show their dignity to their husbands in the future. In Hong Kong, it is rare to have Islam Girls school, therefore, some schools established Muslim Girls Class which totally have different class time and break time to make sure that the local students especially boys cannot meet them.

For most of us may have a thought that why should we have such a restriction in our daily life, particularly in a society with autonomy. However, it is a tradition of Muslim. Majority of Muslim girls think it is important for them not to interact with any of the boys before getting married. Some of their parents are not allowing their children to go to school if there is no any Islam Girls Class. An extreme example is...