u/Glass_Inspector_9729

I saw a video on the progressive Muslim subreddit where a lady describes the issues with verse 4:34 and if the word used translates to “hit” or “leave”. I found the conversation eye opening because if God is all knowing, why did he use a word that could lead to the oppression and abuse of so many women?
Moreover, why do men need a step-by-step guide on how to discipline their wives, and why isn’t a similar guide provided for women? Especially since men were usually the ones causing harm to women back then. Wouldn’t a guide on disciplining men be helpful, especially in 7th century Arabia? People like to claim it’s because women are more emotional, but men get so emotional that they unalive their entire family and random strangers…

This led me down a spiral today were I questioned every alternative understanding of verses in the Quran. I also cannot comprehend why the Quran speaks to men and gives instructions on how women should behave with them.

Lastly, I’m confused on why the Quran doesn’t provide an outright ban on terrible things such as slavery and spousal abuse. Arabs like to claim it’s because it wouldn’t be possible to ban it over night, yet alcohol was way more normalized and that somehow was easy to ban. This lead to a whole slave trade being developed in the Arab world following the prophets death

I just don’t know what to think. Sorry for the random venting. I just don’t have another safe space to talk and the ex Muslim sub is high key racist

I have tried to read the English translation of the Quran and I noticed that throughout the book men are addressed and women rarely are. I feel like an outsider reading a book that was meant to guide me.

You often find passages telling men how to relate to “their wives”, but you hardly find similar passages written to women telling them how to relate to their husbands.

I know there are exceptions, but it’s rare. It feels that the Quran is written for a male audience. Is this a translation error?

Also, please don’t give me half baked reasons such as “women couldn’t read back then” or that “women had no power so it made sense to ask men to teach them religion”. The literacy rate across the globe wasn’t that high until very recently, so both men and women were illiterate. Also you shouldn’t have to have power in society for God to speak to you. God could have addressed women equally. It would be simple to do that, especially for God