Journal: Priscilla Papers
Volume: PP 35:1 (Winter 2021)
Article: Ties That Bind Women In Islam And Christianity
Author: Kristin S. Lassen

PP 35:1 (Winter 2021) p. 9

Ties That Bind Women In Islam And Christianity

Kristin Lassen

Kristin Lassen holds a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and fitness management, with a minor in biblical and theological studies, from Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa. She will graduate with an MA from Western Theological Seminary, near Grand Rapids, Michigan, in May 2021. She teaches courses in philosophy and in marriage and family at Northwest Iowa Community College. Kristin navigates life in northwest Iowa with her husband of seventeen years and their four children, who are their greatest blessings. Kristin blogs at Coffee with Kristin https://coffeewithkristin.wordpress.com.

Many Western, Protestant Christians oscillate between pity, fear, compassion, and scorn for burqa-clad women. Like many Christian symbols and articles of clothing that honor Christian faith, the hijab is often perilously misunderstood.1 In recent decades, two primary views have emerged within Protestant Christianity regarding the ontology and roles of women, commonly known as complementarian and feminist or egalitarian, with the latter challenging years of dominant patriarchal church culture.2 Likewise, Muslim women expound liberating interpretations of their faith, but the cacophony of centuries-long religious conflict often drowns the voices of women in general.

Elizabeth Warnock Fernea, a pioneer in the field of Middle Eastern women’s studies, joins Middle East and Arabic specialist, Basima Qattan Bezirgan, in describing the misperception of Middle Eastern women by those in their own society. These scholars expand the discussion by asking, “How much greater, then, the refraction or even distortion when persons from different cultures view each other through the prism of their own cultural values?”3

Scholars and practitioners of Christianity and Islam make their cases for women’s equality, though equality may be defined differently for each. The tendency in the East is toward greater recognition for women; in the West, a major goal is inclusion of women in senior leadership positions.4 This article will examine the similar ways egalitarian convictions aim to challenge and change cultural mores vis-à-vis the equality of women, within patriarchal strands of Islam and in patriarchal Christian culture.5 Though these Abrahamic religions are distinct, this article will argue that Christianity and Islam have more in common than meets the eye vis-à-vis the treatment of women. It is my hope that this common ground provides a rich ...