Maryam Amir – Why does the Quran say men have a level or women or address men about menstruation

Music.

Hi Alan. My name is Miriam, and I specialize. I'm in an Islamic law.

I love the questions you're asking and how critically you're thinking

about the passages that you're reading of the Quran. And those

same passages are the ones that I read in translation and couldn't

understand what they actually meant, which is why I ended up

spending so much time studying you asked some questions I want to

explore very quickly with you here. One, with regards to

menstruation, women are the ones who menstruate. So why are men

being addressed when it comes to menses? And two, why does the

Quran say that men have a degree over women? And the translation

you read said responsibility and authority? So quick background,

the Quran was revealed in an incredibly misogynistic society,

men would inherit women like property. A husband would die. She

would be inherited to his brother. Baby Girls were buried alive by

the fathers of those baby girls, with the support, very often, of

the mothers of those baby girls. You can imagine how men looked at

women in a society like that, and the value that women didn't see in

themselves in a society like that. So then Angel Gabriel starts

bringing the Quran, and the Quran is completely shifting the

narrative on who women are. So men are starting to accept Islam, and

they are having to completely reframe everything they thought

about women and the value and the worth of women, this didn't come

from like a societal movement for women's rights. What we have are

statements from men, for example, a man who said that we used to

think of women as absolutely nothing, until God revealed what

he revealed and gave them rights. So now we have a society of men

trying to understand women's rights and how to interact with

women in an honorable way, which is why the question on Mensis is

addressed to men, because the first part of that verse says they

ask you, the men are asking, how do we how do we be intimate with

women in this vulnerable time of menstruation? There is scientific

evidence that links penetrative * during Mensis with

physical problems for women, and in a society where men didn't see

women have rights, God is not telling women do not approach men

when you have Mensis in that society, God is addressing men.

Because when you look at the power dynamic, it makes sense that God

is going to be telling the one who could potentially take advantage

of someone in a vulnerable circumstance that you have to give

women physical space in this time now, sexual rights are really

important in Islam, including for women. Obviously we have,

historically, menses has been weaponized against women, to make

them feel dirty, to isolate them. Different religious traditions

don't allow women to eat from the same utensils as men or other

women who are not menstruating. This is still something that goes

on today in different cultures and religious communities. So why

would God care about menstruation as a woman, knowing that I know

people personally whose religious faith doesn't even allow them to

eat at the same table. For me, it's important that God addresses

Mensis and teaches us through the example of the Prophet Muhammad,

peace be upon him, that Mensis is a time of blessings, of rewards,

while still honoring the fact that partners may still want to be

intimate in this time, women included, and that's why we have a

number of narrations of women in the time of the Prophet Muhammad,

peace be upon him, talking about how they were sexually intimate

with their partner without being penetrative. Now, the next point

was about men having a degree over women

in modern terms, the way that I would explain that is male

privilege. Men have male privilege in our society. We can see it in

societies all over the world. That verse is connected to divorce

laws. Divorce is a very vulnerable time for anyone going through

divorce, but historically, until today, women are often even more

vulnerable. So the verse is acknowledging the fact that there

is male privilege, by then requiring men to use that

privilege to support women, because it says men have a degree

over women, and what is that degree responsibility towards

women that women do not have towards men. The Quran and the

prophetic narrations are filled with this shift, like we talked

about earlier on, how men must see women who they used to think of

them as to now as the Quran describes their allies and as a

Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, talks about their partners.

Also with regards to women being addressed directly, there are a

number of verses where God revealed the verse because a woman

asked the question, like the concept of mankind in English,

mankind includes men and women. It's just a function of language

that in Arabic, the.

Masculine generally includes men and women, unless there's a

specification that it's two men or that it's two women. So you're

also going to see a lot of that throughout the verses. You will

definitely be coming across other verses that are going to make you

pause I did when I was reading the translation. And I know there's a

trend on Tiktok right now where people are reading the translation

of the Quran, and I think that's so beautiful, and I'm so grateful

for any of you who are taking the time to learn about what Islam is

about. If it's helpful, I'll try my best answer. It would be an

honor if you disagree or want to challenge anything I'm saying.

Please know that you are welcome to do so, and I'm always open for

discussion. I'm also sorry in advance if I respond a little bit

late. I just travel a lot, so sometimes it's hard for me to

reply right away. Bless you. Hello.