Although you bring up good points, they are relevant only to certain interpretations of Islam. The problems and inequalities you speak of occur as a result of following specific interpretations of Islam. And unfortunately in today’s world it does seem that far too many Muslims follow that interpretation.

To be honest, I don’t believe those interpretations that you mention are at all how Islam was meant to be practiced.

The main point of her essay is to ask non-Muslims to stop speaking for Muslim women. Perhaps she gives her interpretation of Islam to back up the idea that not all Muslims believe the same way.

“However, in order to know God, there are at least 99 qualities or names, that are characterised as masculine and feminine, and both are equally critical in learning about and approaching the divine.” The qualities, and indeed any reference to God, are all masculine. “Al Rahim” for example, is a masculine adjective. the feminine of it would be “Al Rahima”.

“Neither is marriage supposed to be a subjugation for women, but a completion and partnership for both man and woman. Every man that is held up as an example has a woman by his side (or you could argue it is vice versa) who is exemplary in her own right: Adam with Eve, Rachael with Moses, Mohamed with his wife Khadijah.” Moses, as far as I know, was never married to a Rachel. That was Jacob, and she was only one of his 4 wives. Which brings us to the main example: the Prophet. It is naked dissembling to ignore the many wives he took…were they all completing partners to him? And what about the current permissibility of polygyny? Please don’t bother to say that it is limited to the equal treatment of wives, which is unlikely. the upshot is, they can do it. By contrast, Muslim women cannot take more than one husband.

regarding the standard marriage contract: in fact, a woman MAY stipulate that she has the power to divorce the man, but the standard contract usually states that he has the right to verbally divorce her without cause by simply saying so. Should a Muslim woman wish to secure a divorce without having stipulated that she also has the “esma” – power to divroce – it results in a long and protracted legal battle, in most countries practising shariah.

Other instances of inequalities that are NOT due to patriarchal interpretations:
- inequality of inheritance
- unequal weight as witnesses in court
- the vastly different requirements to dress modestly.

Unless someone can tell me how the above amounts to “gender equality” it would be nice if people refrained from alleging that. Just pointing out some indisputable truths does not make me an islamophobe either, popular as it may be to point fingers at those making factual points.