 I want the history of why women are treated like cattle by Muslims and forced to wear ugly clothes and burkas and hijabs and killed if they don't, and why they have no equal rights. But Israeli and American women and women all over the world do. Only Muslim men deny equality to women, so I guarantee this history is not complete. Lady, where did that come from? Our totally unfriendly and angry comment was about a video I had just released. The history she was referring to was regarding the history of Jewish-Muslim relations. How do we get from that to Islam suppressing women? There are a lot of angry people out there, and some have a very intense and targeted anger towards the supposed suppression that all Muslim women endure. And these angry ones seem to take it upon themselves to liberate Muslim women from both their religion and a male-dominated society. But before we go off-siting regime change or how one religion is more suppressive than another, allow me some leeway. First and foremost, I will assume that she, the angry message lady, is an American. Her resentment sounded very USA-ish, entitled with an ultra, we Americans are out to save the world from themselves, mentality. I was offended for a split second, totally defensive. That said, my immediate thought was that a simple reactionary counter-attack to her insulting commentary would be awesome. I would highlight the many American Muslim women who had achieved the many accolades that they had to date, and whom are supposedly, in her opinion, of a specific oppressed gender, and question her on how they were able to do so even when their religion Islam was limiting their ability to rise in power and prosperity. Or was her commentary not applicable to all Muslim women? Is that what she meant? All Muslim women, except those living in the West, is that who she meant? If that was the case, then I was even more offended. Retaliation time. This was now another opportunity to put her in her place, by stating that the leader of the free world, the conscious and moral compass of our planet, the United States of America, the beacon for democracy, amid a promise of that all men are created equal, has yet to produce a single woman worthy of being president. Now counter that, with the women who have been at the peak of government for their respective Muslim nations, today five predominantly Muslim nations around the world have voted for a woman as the leader of their country, Bangladesh, Singapore, Tanzania, Kosovo, and Tunisia. Take that, you angry American woman. Then after all these thoughts while being on the defensive, and the coming up of various schemes for retaliation, I decided to chill a little. A couple of breaths later, and I finally found what I was looking for, my reason, the objective of me if you may. And with it came back my love for facts and a way of processing that was based on a calm, systematic and structured manner. And hence I had to ask myself, why did she have such an extremist and negative impression of Islam? All the selective and targeted news stories she'd seen, read or heard, there was no denying that the incorrect impression of suppressed women in Islam that my friend the American lady was guilty of, had in actuality a sliver of truth within it. But how did this lady get to a generalization that Islam in its totality suppresses women? I thought, and I thought, allowing myself to find my moment of clarity, and way beyond the obvious. But how did this lady get to the generalization that all of Islam in its totality suppresses women? And I eventually got there. I arrived at my moment of clarity. The main elements that this woman was judging Islam by had to do with two things, choice and the lack thereof. Please subscribe to our channel as it would support us greatly in generating more content that documents our Arabian and Muslim heritage, history and culture. Now back to our story. Let's tackle the lack of choice first and understand how certain Muslim nations deal with freedoms and justice, both societal and individual. So she's been exposed to the Afghanistan's and the Iran's of the Muslim world and has made two fundamental assumptions that all Muslim nations govern in the same exact way. And number two is that Islam is the cause of this lack of freedom or injustice. Both unfortunately were extremely inaccurate conclusions. What do I mean by lack of choice? Well, if we look at the nations I just mentioned, the method of political rule and its subsequent application of fear and suppression uses an extremist misinterpreted theological dogma to achieve its ultimate intention, maintaining power and to establish a comprehensive suppression of a nation. Gender specifics is not applied. All common males and females are stripped of their freedoms and liberties. Injustice is for all. It is political oppression through the use of the oldest trick in the book, religion and avoiding its post-life sufferings to achieve its ambitions. And as history has been witnessed to for many millennia, such a strategy will use any and every method of misinterpretations of any holy book to multiply the required fear to achieve submission. So, our angry lady friend had pretty much generalized that all Islam forces oppresses and kills, yet in reality only a handful of Muslim nations infinitesimally echo or apply the narrative this woman has bought into. But what about the other tens of Muslim nations? Does she even know who they are and how women fare there? But before we go there, let's go back to identifying the second element that's driving my angry American friend's judgment of all of Islam. That second element has to do with the freedom of choice. This freedom is the ability to choose conservatism as a preferred way of life. The American lady herself would most likely be an anti-conservative but let me be clear when I refer to conservatism. I'm not relating it to westernized conservatist concept but a conservatism that is applicable to Muslims in their own part of the world and context to be traditional and dressed as they see fit, to wear a hijab or a burga, to even accept and be part of a patriarchal structure that still exists in their society. It is the right of Muslim women to choose a conservative religious lifestyle, as it is the right of others to choose a liberal religious approach to how they live their life. Who is anyone to question this right or to impose a certain theory of freedom, rule, or lifestyle that might not be attractive or desired by a Muslim man or woman? I had finally grasped why my angry American friend had such immense anger and judgment. She was triggered by the fears of the many things she never knew or understood. Long after my urges to attack her for her naive words and thoughts had subsided, now I wanted to help her, help her expand her knowledge about what I had said before. What did she know about the women of the expanded Islamic world? One aspect alone is necessary to represent the true essence of how Muslim women are not a suppressed gender. And that aspect is power. Muslim women rule in many more ways than one. In politics, they have outperformed even the most liberal of nations. In business, they have eradicated a glass ceiling that still exists to this very day in the oldest of democratic nations. In societies, they have influenced the masses as effectively as any man could, and in the most sacred and important of all places, home and family, their power is undeniable and unquestioned and relied upon to instill the values, morals and ethics that defines their society and nation. So, my American friend, Islam doesn't suppress anyone. Wicked men and wicked women do. Be it in the name of liberty, freedom, justice or religion. And in Islam, as with any other religion, faith or nation, therein exists an extreme minority of wicked people who by their ability to rule, conduct or enforce evil acts. And by acknowledging this fact, your heart will open up and reveal its kindness to the vast and significant majority of Muslims. Men and women who only want to live life the way you would like to. Peacefully, independently and with the ability to choose the way they live, with their own beliefs, with their own laws and their own culture. Peace be with you.