Sexist practices Westerners blame on Islam were inherited from Christian and Jewish customs

Evidence

As Islam spread, it adopted the cultural practices of various empires, including those of the neighboring Persian and Byzantine empires. The Christians who populated the Middle East and the Mediterranean had more rigid customs associated with women. In the Christian Byzantine empire, the sexes were segregated. Women were not to be seen in public, they were veiled, and they were given only rudimentary education. As the expanding Islamic empire incorporated these regions, it also assimilated these cultural and social practices. In other words, the particular misogynistic practices that Islam came to adopt were inherited from the Christian and Jewish religious customs of the neighboring societies that Muslims conquered. At the same time, however, as Samir Amin argues, the “model proposed by Islam” remained “entirely part of the tradition of patriarchal authority and the submission of women.” The significant point here is that sexist attitudes toward women, far from being unique to Islam, were prevalent among Christians and Jews as well. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 310

Categorization

• XREF: Directly corroborates the vault’s argument that Islamophobia weaponizes gender as imperial ideology — connects to the ‘Muslim women need saving’ trope central to Aziz and Razack. — connects to: Islamic misogyny largely inherited Byzantine Christian and Jewish customs through conquest — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 310; Islam’s misogynistic practices were inherited from conquered Christian and Jewish society — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 172; Islam’s restrictive women’s customs were inherited from conquered Christian and Jewish societies. (+2 more)
• QUESTION: Kumar cites Samir Amin on ‘patriarchal authority’ as core to Islam’s own model — how does this qualify the inheritance argument when she grants Islam’s own patriarchal core?

Broader Connections

• Islam’s misogynistic practices were inherited from conquered Christian and Jewish society #corroborates (0.95) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 172
• Islam’s restrictive women’s customs were inherited from conquered Christian and Jewish societies. #corroborates (0.95)
• Islamic veiling and sex segregation were borrowed from Byzantine Christian customs #expands (0.90)
• Practices Westerners blame on Islam often predate Islam or are geographically limited. #qualifies (0.85) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 311