Women's Position in Islam

 

By Ayman Samy 

Praise be to God and may
God bless Mohammad His messenger (peace be upon him).

God created both females
and males from one origin, and one soul. {It is He Who created you from a single person and made his mate of like
nature in order that he might dwell with her (in love)} (A’raf 189)

Adam appreciated Eve’s
worth and they lived together practicing all the meanings of love, kindness,
respect, and appreciation. Then as years passed new generations were brought up
away from God’s Law, not guided by Him and their lives not brightened by His
message, which led to recurring disasters.

For a long time, women
have suffered disrespect to the extent that in some religions, parents have
prayed to be blessed with male children.

Then if a girl was born,
this meant shame, misery and bitterness for the parents which could only be
taken away by burying the daughter alive. If she survived, then the misery
survived with her and she lived as a negligible object which could be owned and
never own, with no freedom in her actions, hopeless and dispirited. Some religions even allowed her to be sold
like a cow is sold, or if they were kind to her, they rented her for a limited
period.

In societies where statues
were worshipped, if many girls had been borne to a family and they couldn’t
support them, they would leave them in fields to be killed by wild animals or
die from the night frost without feeling any regret or remorse.

With all of that in mind,
what would you expect about educating and culturing them?

Even when it was time for
her to be married, she was married to someone she didn’t want, and by the form
of Shughar Marriage (which is a form of marriage
without a dowry) or exchanged or traded (where a husband may send his wife to
another man for the purpose of having a male child) or sold. Then what would the price of the woman be in
these societies? It would be the number
of bulls being given to her dad.

Then how can she live with
the man who bought her for the price of bulls?!

She has to work as a
servant, fetching water from the rivers, carrying out the house keeping and
with no objections to also helping her husband in his trade. Then if he gets
angry for any reason and leaves her, she becomes suspended, neither a wife nor
able to remarry. What a bitter life she’s living, away from God’s Law following
human decreed laws such as the one written by one of those who had gone astray
“The man is the lord, he has to order. The woman is the follower, she has to
obey”.

What an unfair judgment.

And if this is the
situation of married women, then what about those who are forced into
prostitution?

Your
forgiveness God, for those who have no respect for God.

And you can imagine a
woman from one of the societies sitting and waiting to be burned alive and the
crime that she committed is nothing but that her husband has died and she has
to follow him with dutiful acceptance, until they buried around 6000 women in
10 years.

All these wrongdoings were
asked to be stopped by God’s messengers whenever they were sent because God
doesn’t like wrongdoers. And those
wicked people who changed God’s Law, did not stop sullying the women with their
dirty tricks but also changed the first testimony, adding in that
women were something to be ashamed of, all of which God’s Law is totally
innocent of. The same thing also
happened in changing the bible and even in the 5^th Century when the Makony Group, whom Christians believe are holy, gathered to
discuss the origin of the Woman. They
discussed whether she is a body with no soul, or whether she has a soul just
like men, and the decision was that she does have a soul.

Thank God for that, but
the matter hadn’t finished yet! They decided that she had a wicked soul which
will not escape punishment with the exception of Jesus’ mother for she is the
only woman whom they believed would escape Hell-fire.

O how much suffering have
women had to bear?! Until God permitted
Islam’s light to brighten the earth by God’s Law and His light and His
guidance.

Look and you will see
believers (both men and women), and Muslims ( both men
and women), near Al Kaaba facing it and prostrating
towards it, all together. {And their Lord hath
accepted of them, and answered them: “Never will I suffer to be lost the work
of any of you, be he male or female: ye are members, one of another”}(Al-i-‘Imran 195)

Yes, duties to God are for
both men and women, with the reward of Heaven, and so men and women are equal. {The Believers, men and women, are protectors, one of another:
they enjoin what is just, and forbid what is evil:
they observe regular prayers, practice regular charity, and obey God and his
Apostle. On them will God pour his
mercy: for God is exalted in power, Wise. * God hath
promised to his Believers, men and women, Gardens under which rivers flow, to
dwell therein, and beautiful mansions in Gardens of everlasting bliss. But the greatest bliss is the Good Pleasure
of God: that is the supreme felicity.} (Tauba
71/72)

God is great, His Law
which he layed down to people is all light and all
goodness. {Should He not know, -He that created? And
He is the One that understands the finest mysteries (and) is well acquainted
(with them)} (Mulk 14)

God’s Law made man and his
sister, the woman, equal in many duties and responsibilities for you are all carers and you are all responsible for those in your care.

And also, God’s Law makes
the woman and her brother, the man, completely equal in both rewards and
punishments {whoever works evil will be requited
accordingly. Nor will he find, besides
God, any protector or helper* If any do deeds of righteousness, - be they male
or female - and have faith, they will enter Heaven and not the least injustice
will be done to them.}(Nisaa 123/124)

Islam gave
women rights in this life: human; social; economic and legal rights.

1. From her human rights:

The
right to live; from before she arrives in this world, a baby in her mother’s
womb, Islam took care of her rights and banned killing her for God has banned
the killing of souls, both of men and women {Nor
take life – which God Has made sacred – except for just cause}(Al Isra 33)

And
once she is born, Islam banned killing her or burying her alive. {When the female (infant) buried alive, is questioned – for
what crime she was killed} (Takwir 8/9)

And ordered for he
to be brought up well and promised a great reward for this, such as avoiding
the punishment of Hell and the reward of entry to Heaven and being closer to
the Apostle (peace be upon him) in there.

The
prophet (peace be upon him) said in the hadeeth which
has been agreed as truth, from the Hadeeth of Aisha (mother of Muslims) “Whomever
is blessed with girls and then does well by them in bringing them up, it will
be a protector for him from Hell-fire”
(Saheeh Al Targheeb
1968)

And so Muslim says
in his recording of the Hadeeth by Anas that God’s prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) said “Whoever looks after 2 girls until they are mature, on the Day
of Judgment he and I will be. Then he brought his 2 fingers together” (Saheeh Al Targheeb 1970)

Says
Jaaber that the Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him)
said “Whoever has three girls, and gives them a
refuge, clothes them, and is kind to them, he will surely be rewarded by
Heaven. So one of the men from the land
asked him ‘What
about 2 girls?’ and he replied “And the same for 2 girls” ( Saheeh Al Adab 58)

And so God made
men and women equal in their human pride and so God Almighty says {We
have honoured the sons of Adam} (Al Isra 70)

And
so He made men and women equal in rewards, both in life and in the after-life,
as we have illustrated previously. {Whoever works
righteousness, man or woman and has faith, verily, to him We will give a new
Life, a life that is good and pure, and We will bestow on such their reward
according to the best of their actions} (Nahl
97)

{If any do deeds of righteousness – be they male or female –
and have faith, they will enter Heaven, and not the least injustice will be
done to them} (Nisaa 124)

As also He gave
her the right to express her opinions and to be consulted.

And
the day she complained, God heard her complaint from the top of the seven
skies, and sent part of the Quran concerning her situation, which is recited
until the Day of Judgment. {God has indeed heard
(and accepted) the statement of the woman who pleads with thee concerning her
husband and carries her complaint (in prayer) to God: and God (always) hears
the arguments between both sides among you: for God hears and sees (all things)}
(Mujadila 1)

1. And as for her social rights:

GOD
gave her the right to be educated and to be taught how to behave, exactly like
her brother, the man {O ye who believe! Save
yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is Men (i.e. mankind) and
stones}(Tahrim 6)

And
the Prophet Mohammad had advised of the importance of education, as in the Hadeeth by Anas, recorded by Al Tarmathy that the Prophet (peace be
upon him) said “Education is compulsory for every
Muslim” (Al Targheeb 72)

And so this Hadeeth
shows that there is no difference between a man and woman in this religion when
it comes to learning.

So
was it confirmed in the true Sunnah that the Prophet
(peace be upon him) had advised for a woman (Hafsa)
to be educated and insisted on her being taught to write.

And
it is the woman’s right over her brother and her father of claiming alimony
{But he (the father of the baby following a
separation) shall bear the cost of their food and
clothing}(Baqara 233)

And
when Hind, the wife of Abu Sufyan, complained to the
Prophet (peace be upon him) that her husband was mean and tightfisted and
didn’t give her enough money for her and her children, the Prophet (peace be
upon him) said to her “ Take what you need for you and your children” (Al Nisaa’y 5010)

And
also it is the woman’s right to pick her own husband who is suitable for her
and as the Prophet (peace be upon him) said “ The woman who has
been married before has the right to make the decision on her future marriages,
and for an unmarried girl, her father must seek her approval and if she is
silent then that is a sign of her approval” (The True Series 1807)

And
if a father marries one of his daughters without her approval, the Prophet
(peace be upon him) nullifies the marriage and this is
recorded in Saheeh Al Bukhary.

Islam
made the dowry a woman’s right and Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says {And give the women (on marriage) the dower as a free gift}
( Nisaa 4)

And
He gave her the right to enjoy her husband and decreed that the maximum length
of time a husband can be separated from his wife is 4 months. If he comes back
after the 4 months then it is fine, but if he doesn’t then she can take her
case to court, and says Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala {For those who take an oath for abstention from their wives, a
waiting for four months is ordained; if then they return, God is Oft-forgiving,
Most Merciful* But if their intention is firm for divorce, God heareth and knoweth all things}
(Al Bakara 226/227)

And
she has the right to live well whether she is a mother {We have enjoined on man kindness to his parents} (Ahqaf 15) or a wife {live with
them on a footing of kindness and equity} (Nisaa
19) or even other than that, for she is not forced after marriage to live with
a man she doesn’t love, and she has the right to choose to separate from him
for a legal reason.

If
a married couple are going to separate, then here is shown the woman’s rights
over her ex-husband, for she is entitled to alimony during the period of 3
months after the divorce during which she cannot remarry. And it is her right to breastfeed her baby
and so Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says {The mother shall
give suck to their offspring for two whole years, if the father decides to
complete the term} (Bakara 233)

And
this right to breastfeed her own babies is definite
whether she is married or separated from her husband.

And
so it is her right, whether she is married or separated from her husband, the
custody of her children.

Islam
also gave women her own rights in inheritance {From what is left by
parents and those nearest related there is a share for men and a share for
women, whether the property be small or large, - a determinate share}
(Nisaa 7)

1. And gave her social rights:

For she owns and sells, buys and gives. In short,
women in Islam have their own financial independence.

1. As for her legal rights:

She
is a fully capable human being, who has got rights to appeal or to be a
witness.

In
the end, we have only touched on this huge topic here, but have you truly ever
seen a Law so kind to women as this, or even half of this? But as Allah subhanahu wa
ta’ala says {Truly it is
not their eyes that are blind, but their hearts which are in their breasts}
(Hajj 46)

All quotes used from
the Quran where taken from the The Holy Qur’an translation and commentary by A. Yusuf
Ali, (published by Islamic Propagation Centre International, Durban)