“My own feeling is that the greatest defect of Islam and the main reason they fell behind the West is the treatment of women. It’s a powerful point that repressive homes pave the way for repressive governments. “Think of a child that grows up in a Muslim household where the mother has no rights, where she is downtrodden and subservient. That’s preparation for a life of despotism and subservience.It prepares the way for an authoritarian society.”
Benard Lewis, professor, writer and Muslim historian at Princeton.