Where do I stand?

[themangoagent]

Hi everyone.

So, I won't beat around the bush here.
I had some guys in one of my Comp. Sci. courses, and they seemed to take a genuine interest in trying to impart some knowledge of Islam to me. They even expressed a desire that I convert to Islam.

I admit that I don't know a whole lot about Islam. Most of what I hear is scary, and seems rather extremist. Having said that, I understand that Muslims are people too. People, in general, being labeled as "extreme" is usually an extreme in and of itself. Anyways.
So, what I have heard about Islam is that women don't have souls-that they go to the Christian equivalent of Hell. I am not assuming that this is true, but I'd like to know what you all think about that. I asked these guys about the same point, and they said that that was an extremist point of view, and not all Muslims believe this. But is this a part of Islam? If it is, why should I care less about anything? Why shouldn't I just go do whatever I feel like doing (sin or not), considering my ultimate destination is rather unpleasant?

[Souljette]

Hey themangoagent,
whatever you heard, wherever you heard from is wrong. ...We all have souls for one.. we wouldnt' be alive if we didn't and secondly there is no such thing as this mentioned in Islam.. In Islam Women and Men are considered equals in different ways.. Ofcourse that doesn't mean we are equal in weight .. we are equal to each other but in different ways.. We are ordered by Allah to give respect to each other and we all have role models in Islamic History to look upto.. There are amazing Muslim women in history if you read about Islam ...there are separate books about just Women and the rulings on every little problem they have as well as books on Significant wOMEN in Islam... so no it is nowhere near close to the fact that women have no souls.. indeed they do.. You can ask anymore questions you have

[sim10]

From one computer science student to another..that's a load of rubbish. First time I've heard that islam considers women do not have souls..these stories are getting crazier by the day.

Women do have souls and are not "trapped" in islam, infact they have more freedom than you probably think; it's nothing new, Islam has put women in high esteem for centuries and are considered spiriturally equal to men.

[Dagless]

They told you that women not having souls and going to hell was an extremist point of view? Are you sure these guys are Muslims? It is not any point of view as far as I know. This is the first time I've heard it... although now that I think about it.... some women are quite cold... hmmm :p

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[Insaanah]

Firstly, welcome to the forum.

Secondly, thank you for your questions. You have done the right thing by coming here to clarify your misonceptions about Islam.

what I have heard about Islam is that women don't have souls

This is utter tosh. Both men and women have souls. Without souls we wouldn't be alive. At death, souls get taken from our bodies leaving empty shells which are just the bodies. All human beings have souls. Women are human too ya know!

they go to the Christian equivalent of Hell

Allah can send wrong doers who don't repent, disbelivers in Allah etc to Hell if He so chooses, be they men or women. Each person, man or woman will be responsible for his or her deeds. If a man and a woman, both separately committ the same bad deed, they will get the same sin for it - the woman will not get more. Similarly a woman and a man who have committed atrocities are equally likely to go to hell. The woman is NOT more likely to go to hell.

This is Islam's stance on men and woman, according to their deeds:

"Lo! men who surrender unto Allah, and women who surrender, and men who believe and women who believe, and men who obey and women who obey, and men who speak the truth and women who speak the truth, and men who persevere (in righteousness) and women who persevere, and men who are humble and women who are humble, and men who give alms and women who give alms, and men who fast and women who fast, and men who guard their modesty and women who guard (their modesty), and men who remember Allah much and women who remember - Allah has prepared for them forgiveness and a vast reward. " (The Holy Qur'an, 33:35)

Isn't that beautiful?

I think you get the idea now.

By the way, what you quoted above, if that was what was told to you, is not an extremist point of view - It is not an Islamic point of view full stop!

Hope that helps a bit, and please do let us know if you have any other questions.

Peace.

[Ummu Sufyaan]

first things first. you need to "filter" where you get your knowledge from. the reason why you hear so much extremist stuff about Islam, is probably from people who have next to no knowledge of Islam and just spread what they hear and what suits their own needs, without clarifying or properly understanding it-namely the media.

im no expert or anything but I'll try answer your questions....do feel free to ask anymore if you feel the need to and im sure people will be willing to answer your inquiries as well...

did thee people tell you where they got this knowledge about women from. where on earth did these people get the idea from that women dont have souls! :skeleton: and what is the christian equivalent of hell :?

[Ramadhan]

No muslim, even if they are "extremist", believed that women have no soul and will go to hell.

[Muslima.as]

Assalam Alaikum
I'm not sure I really understood you, but do you mean all women go to hell? Surly not.
The ture thing is, most poeple who go to hell are women.

[_ALI_]

Salam themangoagent

So, what I have heard about Islam is that women don't have souls-that they go to the Christian equivalent of Hell. I am not assuming that this is true, but I'd like to know what you all think about that.

Out of all the misconceptions I've heard about Islam, this is one of the funniest ones! Now I strongly disagree with that. First off, all human beings have souls. The environment you live in must not have the right info regarding Islam because the statement that women don't have souls is very ridiculous. And a woman has as much of an opportunity to go to heaven as a man does. As the Quran says

033.035 إِنَّ الْمُسْلِمِينَ وَالْمُسْلِمَاتِ وَالْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ وَالْقَانِتِينَ وَالْقَانِتَاتِ وَالصَّادِقِينَ وَالصَّادِقَاتِ وَالصَّابِرِينَ وَالصَّابِرَاتِ وَالْخَاشِعِينَ وَالْخَاشِعَاتِ وَالْمُتَصَدِّقِينَ وَالْمُتَصَدِّقَاتِ وَالصَّائِمِينَ وَالصَّائِمَاتِ وَالْحَافِظِينَ فُرُوجَهُمْ وَالْحَافِظَاتِ وَالذَّاكِرِينَ اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا وَالذَّاكِرَاتِ أَعَدَّ اللَّهُ لَهُمْ مَغْفِرَةً وَأَجْرًا عَظِيمًا
033.035 For Muslim men and women,- for believing men and women, for devout men and women, for true men and women, for men and women who are patient and constant, for men and women who humble themselves, for men and women who give in Charity, for men and women who fast (and deny themselves), for men and women who guard their chastity, and for men and women who engage much in Allah's praise,- for them has Allah prepared forgiveness and great reward.
Al-Qur'an, 033.035 (Al-Ahzab [The Clans, the Coalition, the Combined Forces])
Text Copied from DivineIslam's Qur'an Viewer software v2.910

I asked these guys about the same point, and they said that that was an extremist point of view, and not all Muslims believe this.

Those guys were wrong when they said "not all Muslims believe this". They should have said: not a single Muslim believes this since it is not found in Quran or sayings of the prophet. It is not even an extremist view because many revered personalities of Islam are women such as prophet's wives, daughters, the wives and mothers of prophet's companions. In fact the first martyr in Islam was a woman. And Quran also speaks highly of some women such as Jesus' mother, Pharoh's wife etc.
Peace

[iamdaguy]

Such sad and untrue opinion was passed to you. It is an opinion made up by one without knowledge of Islam.

What is even more depressing is the Muslim guys who said "Not all Muslims believe..." they need to learn more about Islam