WOMEN IN ISLAM

Shaikh Hashim

Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aalaa) says, which means:
“And among His Signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that ye may dwell in tranquility with them, and He has put love and mercy between your (hearts): verily in that are Signs for those who reflect” (Ar-Roum:21)

Woman’s need for man is just like his need for her. Being with each other, they gain rest and peace of mind as vicegerents on the earth. What was the condition of women and what was their status before Islam? How has Islam elevated their status? What are the differences between man and woman from the perspective of Islam? What are the responsibilities of women in our present society?

Women are men’s counterparts, and womanhood is the opposite of manhood. We should know that just as Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aalaa) created night and day, He created man and woman. Moreover, He mentioned each one separate from the other in two consecutive verses, to show that they differ from each other in nature and in the tasks for which they have been created. Their difference in nature is mentioned in Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aalaa)’s saying which translates as:

“By the Night as it conceals (the light); By the Day as it appears in glory; By (the mystery of) the creation of male and female; Verily, (the ends) ye strive for are diverse.” (Al-Layl:1-4)

The difference in tasks is that man is in fact, created for earning a living while woman is created to care for the home. The difference between man and woman is likened to the difference between night and day as the night is the time for rest and sleeping, and the day the time specified for work and striving for earning a living; in other words their roles are opposite, but complementary. Almighty Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aalaa) thus addressed Prophet Aadam (Adam) saying which translates as:

“Then We said: “O Adam! Verily, this is an enemy to thee and thy wife: so let him not get you both out of the Garden, so that thou art landed in misery.” (TaaHaa:117)

Hadhrat Aadam alone was addressed with this.

After a long day of work, a man returns home seeking rest and comfort and his good wife provides him with it. It is for this that Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aalaa) says, which means:

“Permitted to you, on the night of the fasts, is the approach to your wives. They are your garments and ye are their garments. Allah knoweth what ye used to do secretly among yourselves; but He turned to you and forgave you; so now associate with them, and seek what Allah hath ordained for you, and eat and drink until the white thread of dawn appear to you distinct from its black thread; then complete your fast till the night appears; but do not associate with your wives while ye are in retreat in the mosques. Those are limits (set by) Allah: approach not nigh thereto. Thus doth Allah make clear His Signs to men: that they may learn self-restraint” (Al-Baqarah:187)

We should also know that woman’s main characteristics are femininity and motherhood. Man, on the other hand, is characterized by masculinity, strength, and forbearance. A woman who gives up her nature and imitates men in their way of talking and walking deserves the Prophet Mohammad (SallAllaho Alaihe WaSallam)’s curse. Likewise, those men who act in a feminine way deserve the Prophet’s curse.

“Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aalaa)’s Messenger (SallAllaho Alaihe WaSallam) cursed effeminate men and masculinized women”. (Ahmad & Abu Daawood)

In addition, no one is allowed to wish for a nature other than that in which he’s been created, Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aalaa) says, which means:

“And in no wise covet those things in which Allah hath bestowed His gifts more freely on some of you than on others: to men is allotted what they earn, and to women what they earn: but ask Allah of His bounty. For Allah hath full knowledge of all things”. (An-Nisaa:32)

A group of women said to prophet Mohammad (SallAllaho Alaihe WaSallam):
“We wish we had been men to fight in Allah’s Cause”.

Thus, the Prophet (SallAllaho Alaihe WaSallam) directed them to something more beneficial for their families and for the whole society saying:

“Showing obedience to your husbands and fulfilling your duties towards them equal fighting in Allah’s cause. Surely, only a few women do this and observe such tasks” (Al-Bazzaar)

We should also bear in mind that no Muslim should accept the view of those ignorant persons who claim that Prophet Aadam was driven out of Jannah (Paradise) because of Hawwaa (Eve). No one was driven out of Jannah because of woman. Anyone with a good understanding of the Quraan will realize that they both were deceived by Shaitaan (Satan) and they both repented, as Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aalaa) says, which means:

“They said: “Our Lord! We have wronged our own souls: if Thou forgive us not and bestow not upon us Thy Mercy, we shall certainly be lost” (Al-A’raaf:23)

In another Aayah (Verse) of the Quraan, Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aalaa) attributed the act to Aadam only and says, which means:

“In the result, they both ate of the tree, and so their nakedness appeared to them: they began to sew together, for their covering, leaves from the Garden; thus did Adam disobey his Lord, and allow himself to be seduced.” (TaaHaa:121).

This was because he was responsible for his wife.

However, it is important to look into the status of woman before Islam?

In Europe, during the dark ages, philosophers used to hold meetings to discuss the matter of a woman having a soul like that of man. Does a woman have a human or bestial soul? Their discussions culminated in declaring that a woman has a soul greatly inferior to that of a man.

In the Roman law, the wife was the purchased property of her husband, who could also divorce her. A man could make a choice of whether or not he wanted to accept paternity.

In Athens, the situation was worse as they did not allow women to inherit.

In India, there existed the practice of burning the widow along with her husband’s corpse.

As for the Arabs, a man used to grieve when receiving the news of his wife bearing a female. Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aalaa) thus says, which means:

“When news is brought to one of them, of (the birth of) a female (child), his face darkens, and he is filled with inward 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?” (An-Nahl:58-59)

A woman, in the Arab men’s eyes, was a den of shame, a jinx and a source of poverty. Refuting their claims, Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aalaa) says which means:

“When the female (infant), buried alive, is questioned, for what crime she was killed” (At-Takweer:8-9)

What has this innocent girl done to be treated in this way? Once Qais bin Asim came to the Prophet (SallAllaho Alaihe WaSallam) and said:

“O Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aalaa)’s Messenger (SallAllaho Alaihe WaSallam)! I’ve buried my twelve girls alive”

The Prophet (SallAllaho Alaihe WaSallam) answered:
“For every girl set a slave free” (Al-Bazzaar)

As for fear of poverty, Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aalaa) says which means:

“Kill not your children for fear of want: We shall provide sustenance for them as well as for you. Verily the killing of them is a great sin.” (Al-Israa:31)

Amongst Arabs, women were not entitled to inherit, rather they were themselves inherited. A man was entitled to marry his father’s wife and even to usurp her dower. Therefore, Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aalaa) says which translates as:

“And marry not women whom your fathers married -- except what is past: it was shameful and odious -- an abominable custom indeed.” (An-Nisaa’:22)

There was a kind of marriage known as a “marriage of exchange”, whereby two men would exchange their respective wives. There was also a group marriage in which less than ten men had sexual intercourse with a woman and when she bore a child, she would choose one of them to be the child’s father.

As far as the status of woman in perspective of the previous religions is concerned, it is worth looking.

In Judaism, a menstruating woman is considered impure. The Jewish worshippers used to isolate menstruating women to remote tents and avoid talking or sitting with them for, according to their distorted Torah, when such a woman touches anything it becomes impure. In Judaism, women were also deprived of inheritance, for males alone were to inherit.

Christianity, in its distorted Gospel, considered women the devil’s gateway. King Henry VIII decreed that a woman should not touch the Gospel for she is impure. In Hammurabi’s law (king of Babylon), a woman was one of her husband’s animals. This was the status of woman before Islam.

Let us see, what did Islam do for women? Everyone should know that it was Islam that brought honor and dignity to women in many respects.

Firstly, women are equal to men in having the same parents i.e. Adam and Eve as Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aalaa) says, which means:

“O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise each other). Verily the most honored of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full Knowledge and is well-acquainted (with all things).” (Al-Hujuraat:13)

Also Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aalaa) says:
“O mankind! Revere your Guardian-Lord, who created you from a single Person, created, of like nature, his mate, and from them twain scattered (like seeds) countless men and women; fear Allah, through Whom ye demand your mutual (rights), and (revere) the wombs (that bore you): for Allah ever watches over you” (An-Nisaa’:1)

Secondly, women are equal to men in receiving the same reward or punishment, as Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aalaa) says which means:

“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; those who have left their homes, and were driven out there from, and suffered harm in My Cause, and fought and were slain, verily, I will blot out from them their iniquities, and admit them into Gardens with rivers flowing beneath -- a reward from the Presence of Allah -- and from His Presence is the best of rewards.” (Aale ‘Imraan:195)

Same is the case in efficiency to act and dispose the affairs:

“And in no wise covet those things in which Allah hath bestowed His gifts more freely on some of you than on others: to men is allotted what they earn, and to women what they earn: but ask Allah of His bounty. For Allah hath full knowledge of all things.”(An-Nisaa’:32) 

(Continued)