The Criterion by men

I am going to take a detour from my haj trip.

Last Saturday marked the first day of the Islamic calendar - Muharram. Shiites mourn the massacre of the grandson of the Muhammed (PBUH) and his family. One of great traditions of this month is the daily majlises.

Today's majlis made me go hmmmmmmmm. The maulana talked about marriage and its benefits (which I completely agree with). What bothered me was his stereotypical potrayal of women.

Women shouldnt choose a partner based on the car a man drives or on his wealth was his message. I waited for him to continue, but he didnt.

First of all, few women still enter into a marriage for financial gain. I think as a result of our education, women make marriage decisions after considering akhlaq, chemistry and education.

More importantly, what of the criterion the men have set? Sounds a little like this:

The woman I will marry
- will not wear hijab
- must cook and clean
- will contribute to the running of the household

And so on ..... I can deal with the 2nd and 3rd point, but the first is a huge problem. This problem needs to be addressed especially from the mimbar. This new criterion some men have set have put women who observe hijab in a difficult spot.

I wish, rather than furthering wife and mother in law stereotypes, issues such as the above would be addressed from the pulpit!