Speaking on Al-Kawthar program “Problems and Solutions”, Sami Khadra said women had been treated imperfectly in ancient civilizations to the extent that it was said that she is not a human but an animal.
He noted that the Greek civilization, the Romanian civilization, the Hindu civilization, the Buddhist civilization, the Confucian civilization and other civilizations in the world preferred a category to a category.
The cleric stressed that Islam does not differentiate between women and men, adding that Islam refers to women, men, young people and old people as humans who have rights.
After Islam, the position of woman was changed, the cleric emphasized.
Khadra added that Islam came with an integrated Sharia (Islamic law) that is valid in every place and every time.
The cleric reiterated that Islam treats all equally.
Khadra also noted that the enemies of Islam, the seculars or the unbelievers claim that Islam did not grant every person his right, and mostly raise the issues of women’s education, the work and the inheritance as well as the marriage and divorce.
Referring to the issue of wealth and ownership, the cleric said, Islam granted the woman the right to dispose of property, including money and real estate, like never before. He noted that the West granted the women such rights just some decades ago.
He added Islam allowed women to possess money and real estate and to grant their wealth to anyone. Khadra added that Islam also allowed women to rent their properties as well as to inherit, while the west passed such pro-women laws just in the fifties and the sixties.
Meanwhile, Khadra said that the husband has no right to take his wife’s salary even if it was more than his salary, stressing the husband has no right to dispose even a penny of his wife’s salary. He further said that the man has to spend on his wife, their children and pay other house expenses.
He further said the husband doesn’t have the right to ban his wife from working. He noted that if a woman works in home, then her husband does not have the right to ban her from working.
However, he said going out of the house must be allowed by the husband in general, noting if a husband allowed his wife to work and she is committed to an employment contract then he should not change his mind.
Khadra added that the woman has the right to add some conditions in the marriage contract such as the right to work.
Referring to the fact that Islam has honored the woman, while some Muslims fail to follow the Islamic injunctions, khadra said Islam is under scrutiny and the enemies of Islam always accuse it.
This while hundreds of instances of other religions and civilizations insulting and degrading women are ignored, the cleric added.
For example, the Mount Athos, which lies on a Greek peninsula and is referred to in Greek as the "Holy Mountain", is forbidden to women, the cleric said.
Women are not even allowed within 500 meters of the shore, he said, adding those who violate the ban are sentenced to up to two years in prison. Even female animals are banned from entering that site, Khadra added.
The European Parliament called on Greece twice to change this law, but the call was rejected, Khadra added.
The cleric also referred to Japan’s sacred island of Okinoshima where women are banned from entering.
Khadra said some women do themselves wrong, like participating in the beauty contests and working as fashion models and allowing others to treat them like a product.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Khadra condemned France for banning Muslim headscarves or hijab and for punishing women who wants to wear hijab, stressing that hijab is a protection and maintenance of women to show her humanity without physical temptation.