- Status of Women in Islam
-
-
- For women, Islam
is a special blessing; and the Prophet of Islam is indeed
the greatest single benefactor of womenfolk. In Arabia,
before the advent of Islam, the birth of a female child
was regarded as a great misfortune and a shame, and cruel
fathers buried them alive: "When news is brought to
one of them of (the birth) of a female (child), his face
darkens, and he is filled with inner grief. With shame
does he hide himself from his people, because of the bad
news he has had. Shall he retain it on sufferance and
contempt, or bury it in the dust? Ah! What an evil choice
they decide on." (The Qur'an: 16:58-59). Islam made
this primal injustice a case for the highest court when
on the Day of Judgment "the female (infant) buried
alive, will be asked for what crime she was killed."
(The Qur'an: 81:8-9).
-
- "Prior to
Islam," write the authors of Cultural Atlas of
Islam, "a woman was regarded by her parents as a
threat to family honor and hence worthy of burial alive
at infancy. As an adult, she was a sex object that could
be bought, sold and inherited. From this position of
inferiority and legal incapacity, Islam raised women to a
position of influence and prestige in family and
society." Islam gave this oppressed section of
humanity, as it did to all other classes and groups,
their legitimate place in life. In a world where women
was no more than an object of sexual gratification for
men, and at a time when the religious circles argued over
whether woman was human or not, with a soul of her own,
Islam proclaimed, "O mankind! We created you from a
single (pair) of a mail and a female (The Qur'an 49:13).
-
- "O Mankind!
Reverence your Guardian-Lord, Who created you from a
single person, created of like nature his mate, from them
scattered countless men and women. Fear Allah, through
whom you demand your mutual rights and reverence the
wombs (that bore you), for Allah ever watches over
you." (The Qur'an 4:1). Men and Women are of the
same family, and as such have similar rights and duties,
and their Lord promises them "Never will I waste the
work of a worker among you, whether male or female, the
one of you being from the other." (The Qur'an
3:195).
-
- Islam removed some of
the false notions about woman. If for instance refuted
the idea that Eve tempted Adam to disobey God, and thus
caused his downfall. The Qur'an explicitly says that they
both disobeyed and negates the idea that the woman is a
source of evil. The Qur'an mentions some of the women
with great respect, e.g. the wives of Adam, Abraham, the
mothers of Moses and Jesus. Some of them (Mary and Sarah,
for instance) were visited by angels and they talked to
them. This clearly puts woman on a pedestal of personal
and social repeatability they never enjoyed before.
-
- Islamic civilization
rests on two cardinal principles. One, belief in God, and
that He is the Lord and Creator of all humans. As such
all humans are equal and have similar rights and
obligations as servants of God. Second, all humans, men
and women, are created "from a single person,"
(or "form a single pair of a male and a
female"). In other words they are children of the
same parents, members of one family, and have similar
rights and duties. If the first principle represents
God-man bond, the second stands for blood ties or man's
relationship with his fellow men and women. Emphasizing
its importance the prophet (pbuh) said: "The word
Ar-Rahman (i.e. The Gracious One, one of the names of
Allah) and Allah said: 'I will keep good relations with
the one who will keep good relations with you, (womb,
i.e. kith and kin) and sever relations with him who will
sever relations with you.'" (Bukhari). The woman (or
arrahm-womb) thus occupies a pivotal position in human
society.
-
- Islam elevated the
position of woman in society and treated her on an equal
footing with man, and in some cases, as a mother for
instance, clearly gave her precedence over man. Thus when
a man asked the Prophet (pbuh) "Who is most entitled
to be treated with the best companionship by me?"
the Prophet (pbuh) told him "Your mother." The
man asked, "Who is next?" The Prophet (pbuh)
said, "Your mother." Again the man asked,
"Who is next? The Prophet (pbuh) said, "Your
mother." The man asked for a fourth time, "Who
is next?" The Prophet (pbuh) said "Your
father." (Bukhari). On another occasion when a man
came to the Prophet (pbuh) and expressed the desire to
join a military expedition, the Prophet (pbuh) asked him
if he had a mother. When he replied that he had, the
Prophet (pbuh) told him, "Stay with her, for
Paradise is at her feet." (Ahamad, Basa'i and
Al-Baihaqi).
-
- In the transformed
Islamic society, to have a daughter was no longer a
stigma or a matter of shame but a source of perpetual
blessing and a means of winning Allah's pleasure. The
Prophet (pbuh) said: "If anyone cares for three
daughters, disciplines them, marries them and is
kind to them, he will go to Paradise." (Abu
Dawud).
-
- Islam gave woman an
independent identity and declared that her moral and
spiritual gains depend solely on her own performance.
Like man, her ultimate failure or success rests on her
own beliefs, attitude, behavior and conduct. She is a
responsible being in her own right and carries the burden
of her moral and spiritual obligations. The Prophet
(pbuh) said: "Everyone of you is a guardian and
responsible for what is in his or her custody. The ruler
is a guardian of his subjects and responsible for them; a
husband is a guardian of his family and is responsible
for it; a wife is a guardian of her husband's household
and is responsible for it." (Bukhari).