Status of Women in Islam and Chinese Religious Beliefs

Almost all major religions have accorded women a lower status compared to that
accorded to men. A comparison of the treatment of women in Islam and in Chinese religious
beliefs, is in effect a comparison of status of women in Islam and Confucianism, Taoism, and
Buddhism, the three religions that are at the core of the Chinese religious beliefs.

In the three religions that are at the heart of Chinese religious beliefs, the status of
women is highest in Taoism and lowest in Confucianism. In Taoism, men and women are
considered to be equal and complimentary beings. Thanks in part to the high regard in which
women are placed in Taoism, women take an active part in spiritual affairs. For instance,
women can take up priestly roles and some deities were in fact female.

Unlike Taoism, Buddhism accords women a relatively lower status compared to that
of men. Women’s role in the religion is limited and it is also taught that women cannot
achieve a state of enlightenment purely because they are female. The status of women is even
worse in Confucianism where women are outrightly treated as being inferior to men in all
respects.

Taken together, the three main religions that form the basis of Chinese religious
beliefs have generally accorded women a lower status compared to that of men. However,
when compared to the status of women in Islam, women have a relatively higher status in
Chinese religious beliefs. Even though the status of women varies from one Muslim society
to another, women in Islamic societies generally occupy a position of inferiority to that of
men. They live in households that are male dominated, often have no right to choose their
marriage partners, their behaviors are usually highly restricted, and sometimes their family’s

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honor is linked to their virtue. Thus, the status of women in Islamic societies is usually worse
than women’s status in Chinese religious beliefs.

The low status assigned to women in Islam and, to a lesser extent, Chinese religious
beliefs, with the possible exception of Taoism, is sad. This is because it makes it seem as
though religions have played a central role in the subjugation of women throughout history in
different societies instead of being a source of enlightenment and progress.