Interesting Facts

1. Mohammad Khatami, a previous leader, let women go skiing without the normal gender barriers. Women were allowed to wear ski attire rather what all women were supposed to wear. They were also let on ski lifts and gondolas with men and were allowed to ski with men. The gender barrier was nonexistent on the ski slopes and so women saw this as a chance of freedom sort of. They have police that are supposed to make sure none of the Islamic values are compromised or broken but they haven't been given skis. So as long as the women are on the slopes, they are fine.

2."There is nothing in Islam that says that (women) working is forbidden...If a woman wants to work, she should be able to. She should be able to tell her husband that she doesn't want to just sit around the house... Some men and women deny the right of women to work, and this is either a result of ignorance or holding on too tightly to tradition." These quotes were said by Dr. Umayma Ahmad Al-Jalahma. She is arguing the fact that Islam should not prevent women from working. She thinks that people should be able to adapt and have the freedom to work if they wish. I thought this was interesting because this shows progress regarding the rights of women in Islam and my above point does too. You don't normally hear about the freedom women have. You mostly hear about what they struggle with or what they don't have.

3. From one of my sites, I found that women who have been around longer know many things about what women can do that is normally restricted by law. For example, they are allowed to be educated and it is illegal to keep girls from going to school. Apparently the laws may have been altered a little to what people think women can and can't do but in reality they haven't been part of the Islamic tradition and religion.

4. Iranian women were just allowed to participate in the FIFA Youth Olympics if they were caps instead of the traditional hijab. I think that this is both good and bad. They are allowing the women to play but they are not allowed to wear what they are supposed to wear traditionally. I think it is a good step in the right direction but there is still some work and adaptation that other organizations could do.

5. Islam has made some changes to modernize and make more sense of its self. Islam has gotten rid of polygamy because the Koran states that wives should be treated equally and if you have six it is hard to treat them all the same. They considered it too much work for even a very wealthy man. I think that this is interesting because it shows that Islam is adapting and modernizing sort of. They are trying to make their religion more practical and it will only be a matter of time when the women are completely equal to men.