Are Islamic Ideals Slowing Modernization?

Are Islamic Ideals Slowing Modernization ?

In this essay I will be using MLA as a writing style, this essay will prove

that many Islamic ideals and Extremism are stopping modernization and also promoting

hatred between western and Muslim countries. This fact will be proven using these

supporting points, Firstly the oppression of women in Muslim countries all over the

world holds back a significant population of women who may have great things to

contribute to many aspects of knowledge around the world. Furthermore, Muslim's who

interpret the Qur'an in a very extremist fashion and seek to convert the entire world or

kill those standing in their way bring a kind of hatred that impedes social relations

between western countries and Muslim countries and contributes to the false stereotypes

that all Muslims are terrorists.

To begin with, women in most Muslim countries are treated with little respect

and oppressed because they are believed as being half as important men, therefore their

opinions and ideas are usually disregarded and most of the time never heard. Women

have been persecuted in all corners of the world throughout time but over the past

century have made great strides to be seen as equal to men in most countries around the

world. In Islam however the image of women is far worse than a lot of the ways in which

women were oppressed in other religions or facets of life, they are not supposed to be

seen in public without a man at their side and they must always have their faces covered,

furthermore they have no rights to vote. In Islam women are seen as second class citizens

that have nothing to offer and are treated as so, growing up in a secular society I may not

understand all aspects of their religion but it seems inhumane to do this to women. I

believe that everyone is equal and should have the same chances as everyone else, in

many cases this isn't true but to a much closer respect than the chances Muslim women

are given. However it would seem that many women in Muslim countries accept their

roles in society and very few try to break down the gender roles out of fear and the fact

that they don't agree with the western values out of their blind following of the teachings

of extremist factions that make western values look barbaric and wrong. In Indonesia

where there are some 200 million Muslim's, women are treated much more fairly and

still seek to get more recognition in society while still rejecting that they are feminist's

because they don't want to be associated with western values (Adamson, Clarissa P.5). I

Find it hard to accept that even though there are some Muslim women who agree with

western values for its women's rights, that the vast majority of Muslim women don't

agree with western ways. I believe this to be because in the Muslim countries their

religion is seen to be extremely important and followed without question even if it slows

down technological advances as well as a more logical way of thinking than blind faith.

In the west we have strayed from religion in the quest for knowledge and advancement,

and those who retain their faith do so without trying to stop modernization and practice

their belief's alongside secularism. Even though women may find their roles in society to

be unfair they follow their religion above all. Seeing as there are more than 1 billion

Muslims in the world that means that there are a significant number of women in the

world who don't have many right's and therefore can't voice their opinions and

contribute their ideas to the world. There could be a vast population of very intelligent

women out there that could be bettering the world but instead they can't even try or they

will be persecuted by their peers and even their government for voicing opinions they

aren't "supposed" to have or express.

Finally, extremism is a very big problem concerning modernization because these

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