Islam, Faith and Feminism: Women find equality in religious traditions

Islam, Faith and Feminism: Women find equality in religious traditions

By Anna Pratt

Other portions of the Koran have been misconstrued, such as the notion of polygamy, which is something that is reserved only for extreme circumstances. It came about as a result of war times, when many young men lost their lives, Reda said. That left an overabundance of widows. "There weren't enough men to go around. Widows with orphans went prostituting." If a man was worried about the plight of the orphans, he was directed to take another wife. So, widows were taken in. "It was an economic thing ... Judaism has a rule that if a man dies, his brother is to marry his widow."

http://www.newageislam.com/islam,-faith-and-feminism--women-find-equality-in-religious-traditions/islam,-women-and-feminism/d/1025