Thank you for taking the time to thoughtfully write a longer response. I appreciate that. Truly, articles/blog posts are going to be more constructive than twitter conversations, and this is where I intend to spend most of my limited time with this subject.
Now, to the subject at hand, a few notes from my perspective:
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Men being physically stronger than women is not controversial or denied by the general public, the scientific community or myself. If it was just physical strength described as superior, then the passage would not be controversial, nor would it be open to criticism of misogyny.
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As for deducing “men are mentally superior to women”, that’s the piece, that I hope you understand, non-Muslims (and even many Muslims) would consider misogynistic. Now, I do appreciate what you’re saying: that if men truly are mentally superior to women (superior “mental faculties”), why is that so wrong to say?
So for #2, I would say that we should not conflate men and women each having different strengths and weaknesses as equating men as having superior mental faculties. Studies have shown that for example, men, on average are better at 3-D spatial visualization. Women are far better at multitasking. Gender differences and preferences in heterosexual boys and girls at very young ages can be observed. Although culture and nurture plays a role, I don’t doubt that some of our innate difference lend themselves to different career preferences, for example.
The degree of nature vs nurture is up for debate of course. No doubt, there is an element of both at play.
The verse in question, for which the commentary raises an eyebrow (to say the least) deals with why men are in charge of women (“guardians” I believe the terminology is).
I’ve asserted before; if the commentary only referred to brute force, the commentary wouldn’t flag criticism. It might b/c we could ask, “How relevant is that in modern societies for leadership?”. That’s a valid question, but a whole other line of criticism I’m not going to embark on right now.
But think about the implications for believing one’s religious text / belief system advocates that women have inferior mental faculties such that men are better suited as leaders. How does that permeate through society and our attitudes towards women’s roles, capabilities and opportunities?
Most Muslims in the West (not just Ahmadis) promote the view that men and women may have different brains, but that women’s brains (mental faculties) are not inferior to men’s mental faculties. Honestly, I was expecting Ahmadis to see this passage in their commentaries and say, “That’s wrong. That needs to be edited out. We don’t believe women are mentally inferior to men”.
As for my leaving the Jama’at and Islam, it was not from having a “bad experience”. I had a great experience. I was active, well known, well respected and loved the camaraderie. I could deal with backwards Pakistani culture as long as the religious texts – the theology – was not backwards in my view.
And the more I studied, the more I asked tough questions; the more missionaries could not give me answers. I admire their honesty in telling me so.
But to follow my conscience, I had to leave.
Now, I seek to put what I’ve learned out there as my way of promoting what I believe to be true. Just as Ahmadi Muslims have every right to preach their beliefs.
We can vie with one another in friendly civil discourse, promoting our respective views, and let other observers decide for themselves, who’s ideas resonate more.
Thank you again for your thoughtful exposition of your positions. Peace and love.