Oppression is in the eye of the beholder: Why prominent Muslim women, like Ilhan Omar, reject the label of "oppression" and Believe Assimilation Is a Nazi Value

Updated Jan 26

Prominent Muslim women, like Ilhan 

Omar, reject the label of "oppression" and believe assimilation Is a Nazi value, despite the Muslim-T Option: Henry Ford famously declared in his 1922 autobiography, My Life and Work, that: "Any customer can have a Model-T car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black".

The simplest reading of several Quranic verses suggests a framework of spiritual and moral equality: The Quran states that both men and women were created from a "single soul" and will receive the same rewards for righteous deeds (Surah 3:195, 33:35). It describes spouses as "garments" for one another (Surah 2:187), implying mutual support and comfort. At its revelation, it granted women rights to inheritance, property ownership, and the ability to testify, which were revolutionary for the 7th century.

Like with the Model-T car, Muslim women can choose anything they want, as long as it is the one they are told. Muslim-majority nations often show lower average economic participation for women. The consequences of not choosing right can range from ostracizesation to judicial obstacles to honor killings.

The female work participation rate for Muslim women has been recorded as low as 14.77% in some regions, compared to over 32% for Christian women. Then there's Female Genital Mutilation, Pedophilia (child marriage,) polygamy, inheritance laws, and so on.
The 2025 Indian film
Haq , inspired by the landmark Shah Bano case, uses the simplest explanation for Shazia Bano's suffering: patriarchal misinterpretation of faith for personal gain.
• Maintenance and Triple Talaq: The film portrays a husband (Abbas) using "instant triple talaq" to abandon his wife and children financially, showcasing how religious laws can be weaponized to bypass constitutional protections like alimony. It depicts clerics and legal institutions hesitating to grant a woman her rights for fear of offending established male authority, suggesting that the "oppression" depicted is a result of systemic male privilege rather than the faith itself.


Single Salma (2025) illustrates the Muslim T Option. The movie, a romantic dramedyexplores themes of female autonomy and self-discovery against the backdrop of societal pressure.


The Protagonist is a 33-year-old municipal engineer living in Lucknow. As the eldest child and sole breadwinner for her family, she has spent her adult life prioritizing her siblings' and parents' needs over her own happiness.Despite her professional success, her mother remains obsessed with her "unsettled" (unmarried) status, eventually making Salma swear on the Holy Quran to get married.

By the end of the movie Salma's decision to reject two suitors with their respective wedding processions and instead choosing to leave Lucknow for Delhi to pursue a career in modeling, a professional opportunity that arose during her time abroad.

Researchers don't seem to be interested in pthe question of domestic violence in Muslim communities.  What is clear is that Muslim women by western standards are subject to abuse in very high numbers, but most of the victims may disagree that what they are exposed to is domestic violence. Such as a slap in the face, verbal abuse or depriving them of their physical freedom for misbehaving.
Several honor killings have been documented in the United States in recent years. As of 2012 there is no central agency that collects data across all jurisdictions in regards to honor violence in the United States. There is reluctance among some organizations to label events as honor killings to avoid stigmatizing Muslim and Arab cultures. They don't seem to mind stigmatizing African Americans or Hispanics 

We’re each free to believe whatever we want to believe. Sacred Scriptures say life is short, death is real, Hell is hot, eternity is long, and Jesus saves!

Sacred Scripture makes it clear: Jesus warns that if someone harms or leads a child astray, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.  Jesus' warning regarding "little ones" appears in the three Synoptic Gospels: Matthew 18:6, Mark 9:42, and Luke 17:2. 

People see what they want to see despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary driven primarily driven by confirmation bias, an automatic mental shortcut where your brain prioritizes information that supports your existing views while ignoring everything else

Hindu sees the human person as a soul trapped in a body

The Buddhist sees the person as neither a body nor a soul

The atheist views the person as a body without a soul.


Islam's view is that humans are composite beings of physical bodies and spiritual souls.  Many Muslim scholars reject a literal "image and likeness" because of the strict doctrine of Tawhid (the oneness and uniqueness of God). Since "there is nothing like unto Him" (Qur'an 42:11), any suggestion that humans physically or essentially resemble God can be seen as blasphemous anthropomorphism

In  Islam, a person is born pure (fitra), slave to Allah. The rest of his life is to make sure the balance leads to an eternal life of carnal bliss.

The path to salvation in Islam is to check the balance.

The Christian view is that humans are bodies and souls, created in the image and likeness of God.

In Christianity, the person is grafted as a child of God, must deny himself, follow Jesus' teachings and the greatest joy is a  to see the face of God in a one Dimensional eternity.


In Christianity path is to store treasures in heaven to get a perfect new body in a one Dimensional eternity

Every human being has a unique and rational soul that animates his human body, whether in the womb or a jail cell

Everyone made in God's image

Everyone is broken

Everyone is created for love

Everyone has desires that are not good.  We are all broke

Those who identify as gay or trans, have digni

Those who experience same-sex attraction are worthwhile

Those who are grappling with their Sexuality as part of the family, that is, part of the human family, and if they are Christian, they are part of the family of God

If you are same-sex attracted person, you belong to the Catholic Church.

Occam's Razor 

Applying Occam’s Razor—the principle that the simplest explanation with the fewest assumptions is most likely—to why prominent Muslim women reject the label of "oppression" yields several key insights based on their own stated perspectives:

Distinction Between Religion and Culture: For many, the simplest explanation is that Islam and local patriarchal customs are distinct entities. They view the "oppression" observed by outsiders as a product of entrenched cultural traditions or political agendas that predate or misuse the religion, rather than the faith itself.

Empowerment through Choice: Many women describe religious practices, such as wearing the hijab, as a personal choice and a form of empowerment or identity rather than a tool of subjugation. From their perspective, it is a rejection of Western standards of objectification and a way to derive dignity from their faith.

Prominent voices often point to the fact that Islam granted women rights—such as property ownership, inheritance, and the right to initiate divorce—centuries before similar rights were established in many Western legal systems.

Surveys, such as those by The Gallup Organization, show that a strong majority of Muslim women believe they should have the right to vote, work outside the home, and serve in government, while simultaneously valuing their moral and spiritual traditions. They do not see these rights as being in conflict with their religion.

Many women find the Western "obsession" with their "liberation" to be dehumanizing and dismissive of their agency. They often argue that real issues—like economic instability or political repression—are ignored in favor of focusing solely on religious symbols.

 

 
In summary, the "simplest" explanation from this viewpoint is that the religion provides a framework for equality and dignity, while external "oppression" is an aberration caused by human misinterpretation and local power structures.

Confirmation Bias 

People see what they want to see despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary driven primarily driven by confirmation bias, an automatic mental shortcut where your brain prioritizes information that supports your existing views while ignoring everything .


Why the Brain Rejects Evidence

• Energy Efficiency:
Evaluating new, contradictory evidence takes significant mental effort. To save energy, your brain defaults to established "neural pathways," preferring the path of least resistance.

• Emotional Protection:
Encountering evidence that proves you wrong creates cognitive dissonance—a state of mental discomfort. To avoid this "pain," your brain may suppress activity in areas associated with neutral reasoning and instead activate emotional centers to "justify" your current stance.

• Motivated Reasoning:
This is the active process of using logic to reach a desired conclusion rather than the most accurate one. You might demand a "high standard of evidence" for things you don't like while accepting flimsy support for things you do.

• Survival Instincts:
Evolutionarily, it was safer to quickly recognize patterns (like a predator in the brush) than to wait for perfect evidence. This "pattern recognizer" can lead you to "see" what you expect, such as ghosts or specific faces in ambiguous shapes (pareidolia).

Common Biases Involved
• Selective Interpretation:
Two people can see the exact same data and come to opposite conclusions based on their preexisting beliefs


• Selective Recall: 

You are more likely to remember facts that support your view and forget those that challenge it.

• The Backfire Effect: 

In some cases, being presented with strong contradictory evidence can actually cause you to "double down" and believe your original view even more strongly.

 
To counter this, experts recommend practicing intellectual humility—acknowledging your beliefs could be wrong—and intentionally seeking out well-reasoned opposing viewpoints.