Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!usc!cs.utexas.edu!mailrus!accuvax.nwu.edu!youssef%LOCAL From: youssef%LOCAL@cs.umn.edu (Habib Youssef) Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam Subject: Status of Women in Islam Message-ID: <4312@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 24 Feb 90 04:02:45 GMT Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Organization: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis - CSCI Dept. Lines: 305 Approved: naim@eecs.nwu.edu (Naim Abdullah) Assalamou Aleikom, This is in response to, what I believe, were incorrect statements about the status of women in Islam. The interpretations of some verses of the Holy Koran or the saying of the prophet (PBUS) reflect rather the point of view of the commentators rather than the true position of women in Islam. Islam sees women different than men not because men have bigger brains, and for that matter are smarter. This is like saying that someone with longer legs always outrun anyone with shorter legs!!! The differences are rather of other physiological nature, which make the duties of each sex different. Men and women are different and they complement and perfect each other weaknesses. Anyway, sometime ago, I read a five page publication on the subject of woman in Islam. The author of the publication is (I think) Nizar Al-Talib, from the Muslim Student Association (MSA) in Pa. The publication dates back to 1964. I personnally think that the publication gives a very concise summary on the subject aforementioned. Dr. Habib Youssef Csci Department Univiversity of Minnesota =============================================================================== STATUS OF WOMEN IN ISLAM 1. INTRODUCTION In the pre-Islamic days, the pagan Arabs regarded the birth of a girl-child the very opposite of a blessing. They had the custom of burying alive such of them as they considered superfluous. They held women in supreme contempt, ill-treated, and defrauded them habitually. With the advent of Islam, a complete metamorphosis took place. Within the 23 years during which prophet Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) promulgated the message of Islam, the position of women was raised from the lowest degradation to the greatest heights of esteem, honor, and respect. At a time when woman-hood in the west was held in such a state of impurity that even a woman's touch was an evil polution of the Bible, Quranic manuscripts were held in the trust of the Lady Hafsa at Medina. At a time when Romans held conferences to debate whether woman was a "person" or a "thing", Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him (pub)) stood up to declare that "women are but the sisters of men" and to shatter the pre-Islamic era of darkness and injustice, so that a woman could argue with the Prophet in the courtyard of the mosque and say "I have been deputed to you on behalf of women". Islam elevated woman to heights of prestige which have neither precedent nor parallel in human history. It is the purpose of this article to state the Islamic view of the status of woman in society. If in certain Eastern countries the position of woman is a degraded one, it is precisely because the Islamic injunctions in this regard are not obeyed there, on account of ignorance and illeteracy. The situation, however, is fast changing, and in many Muslim countries women enjoy the freedom, honor and deep esteem accorded to them by Islam. 2. POSITION OF WOMAN. Before discussing the specific aspects of the position of woman in Islam, it must be made clear that while Islam professes unconditional equality between man and woman in the matters of duties and rights, it recognizes the limitations of sexes. Thus, instead of saying that man and woman are equal in every respect, Islam teaches that man and woman have distinct functions in life, and are created to perfect each other. One of the Quranic verses of exquisite beauty, which has been subject to misconstruction by certain non-muslim authors: "They (the wives) are a garnment for you and you are a garment for them" (Surah 2, Verse 157). Just as a garment in the grace, the beauty, the embellishment of the body, so is a wife to her husband and a husband to his wife. Thus, man and woman mutually form complements of one another. Without one the other is incomplete. The Quran states states this fact as follows: "And of his signs is this: He created for you helpmates from yoursleves that ye may find rest in them, he ordained between you love and mercy." (Surah 30, Verse 21). God has not willed a perfect equality between the two sexes, but a distribution of avocations and functions. While Islam requires strict equality between man and woman in the matter of rights, moral, and social obligations, it recognizes that man's responsibilities are far greater than woman's. Islam regards the "family as the important unit of society, and places on man the task of supporting in the best of possible manner and to look after the household affairs. This is only too natural, since the physical differences between man and woman demand such an arrangement. It is for this reason that Islam regards man as being prior to woman, although his duties and rights are the same as hers. This is evident from the following verse of the Quran: "The women ought also to behave toward their husbands in like manner as their husbands should behave toward them, according to what is just: but the man ought to have a superiority over them". This superiority is purely a dictate of wordly efficiency. Family leadership belongs to man by divine arrangement, and it is in this respect that man is given priority. Moral superiority and excellence, genuine moral worth, is as much possible to man as it is to woman. Only Allah (Allah is the Arabic name for God) can judge whether a man or his wife is "better". 3. POSITION OF WOMAN AS MOTHER, WIFE, AND DAUGHTER. The position of mother is very exalted in Islamic tradition. Prophet Muhammed (pbu) has gone so far as to say: "Even Paradise lies underneath the feet of your mothers". He said, that next to saying prayers at the appointed hour, what pleases Allah most is being kind and generous to your parents. The Quran mentions this often, reminding man the fact that it was his mother who had borne him in her womb, suffered much on his account and reared him up after making all sorts of sacrifices. As regards the status of woman as wife, the saying of Prophet Muhammad (pub) is well known: "The best among you is the one who is best toward his wife". Islam holds a wife in great esteem. The rights and concessions allowed to woman as wife are many. A few of these will be discussed below. With regard to woman as a daughter, the Islamic attitude can be judged from the reproaches which Quran makes (e.g. see Surah 16, Verses 57-59) against the excesses committed toward daughters in the pre-Islamic Arabia. Prophet Muhammad (pbu) was very fond of his daughters and exhorted Muslims to be very affectionate to their daughters. About divorced women, he has said: "Shall I not point out to you the best of virtues? It is doing good to your daughter when she is returned to you having been divorced by her husband". 4. RIGHTS OF WOMEN. The Quran places woman at the same level as man where the rights of property, honor, education, etc. are concerned. In certain instances, the rights of woman are held to be more important. For instance, the Quran decrees (see Surah 24, Verses 4 & 5) that if a man accuses a woman of immorality and does not produce proof, he is exposed not only to the penalty prescribed for false accusation, but to be declared unfit for serving as a witness in any court, for the rest of his life. The perfect and complete individualtiy of the person of woman is manifest in a most striking manner in the matter of property. According to Islamic law, the woman possesses a most absolute right over her property. She may dispose of it as she wishes without reference to anybody else, whether it be her father, brother, husband or son or any other person. The latter may not touch her property without her consent. The husband is required to fully support his wife and children in every respect, barring, of course, exceptional circumstances which may require the woman to go to work. The idea of maintenance goes so far in Islam that, according to the law, the wife may refuse to nurse her baby and demand a renumeration for bringing up her children, if she so wishes. As regards marriage, the Islamic law allows the woman the fullest freedom of choice of the partner in the sense that if a marriage is contracted by her parents or guardian without her consent, the marriage will not be valid. Al Ghazali [1] cites the example of a girl who complained to Prophet Muhammad (pbu) that her parents contracted her marriage without her consent. The prophet (pbu), thereupon, ordered that the marriage be annulled. However, the girl changed her mind, saying that actually she came to like her husband. It should be mentioned that a woman has the fullest right to divorce her husband, if reasonable grounds exist. Finally, as regards polygamy, this matter has been discussed in [2]. Briefly, polygamy in Islam is neither forbidden nor necessary. It is a preventive measure allowed in exacting circumstances. However, a woman has the right to legally ensure that her husband does not take a second wife. 5. THE RIGHT OF INHERITANCE. A woman's right to inheritance requires some explanation. The Islamic law allows a person to dispose a maximum of one third of his assets in any manner he wants, the rest, however, must be distributed among the children and the wife (and brothers and sisters and parents, under certain conditions only) of the decrease in certain proportions. Without going into details (for which the reader is referred to the excellent summary given by Yussuf Ali [3]), it may be mentioned that, on the whole, women get somewhat smaller share than men. There are many reasons for this, some of which are these: a woman has fewer financial responsibilities than men, she does not have to spend her share on the family while the man must, she is fully supported by her husband, she recieves a contractual sum ("mahr") from her husband at the time of marriage, which is her personal property, etc. It is characteristic of the social justice of Islam that in spite of the fact that Islams frees woman from all financial responsibilty under normal circumstances, she still recieves a substantial share of the inheritance. 6. RELIGIOUS OBLIGATIONS OF WOMEN. In religious matters, the first duty of the muslim woman, as also of man, is to believe in the Unity of Allah and in the teachings of Islam. She is required to bring up her children in such a manner that they have sound knowledge of the principles of Islam. Among the religious practices, it is incumbent upon Muslim women, as also upon men, to say prayers, observe fasting, etc., though with certain concessions. An adult woman is exempt from these duties during the menstruate period and after childbirth. With regard to the pilgrimage to Mecca also, there are certain rites from which she is exempted, if she cannot perform them for feminine reasons. As to the payments of poor-tax ("Zakat"), she has equality with man, though certain schools of law on the savings, yet the savings converted into ornaments of personal use are exempt from tax. To be brief, Islam is lenient and considerate to a woman, and recognizes her physical weaknesses as well as her feminine tastes. 7. WOMEN AND MORALITY. The Muslim woman is required to strictly observe the Islamic code of morals in the interests of her own chastity as well as the moral stabilty of the society as a whole. She must avoid all practices which may arouse feelings of lust or evil thoughts in those who may observe her. Briefly, not only a woman must observe certain rules of decency as regards dress and public manners, laid down by Allah in the Quran, and further expounded by Prophet Muhammad (pbu). A few of these will be mentioned. Al-Ghazali [1], one of the greatest Muslim thinkers of this century, shows by authoritative arguments that Islam never required a woman to wear a veil or to stay indoors. What it does make clear is that women, when they go out of the home, should be fully dressed but not over-adorned. Showing their faces is not a sin as long as they are not painted or perfumed. In the context of dress and public manners, the Quran states: "Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: that will make for greater purity for them: and God is well acquainted with all that they do. And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands...". (Surah 24, Verse 30 and part of Verse 31). Some of the other requirements laid down by the Prophet (pbu), to be observed by the Muslim woman are, that a woman may not travel a whole day and night's distance without escort, she may not be left alone with a man (an outsider), whether in her home or outside it. Women are further required to be reserved in their conversation and to discourage their interlocutors from tempting them. As regards dress, categorically, Islam does not tolerate the uncovering of arms, legs, and breasts, or the wearing of transparent or semi-transparent clothes. Some of the Muslims jurists do allow the Muslim woman to wear very conservative Western dress, provided it fulfills certain requirements. In the end, it must be emphasized that the Quran specifically prohibits Muslim women from exhibitions of themselves under any circumstances, even if their dress fulfills the conditions laid down by the Islamic law. 8. THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION. Islam accords paramount importance to the education of women. This is evident from the sayings of Prophet Muhammad (pbu), as well as from the numerous examples of muslim women, who played important roles in the early history of Islam. The reader may refer to whole books on the topic [4, 5]. According to Islam, education is not a luxury a person may do without. It is an absolute necessity for men and women alike. In the early Muslim society, the educational standards of men and observance of the religious obligations by both, the Quran as well as the sayings of the Prophet (pbu) place a great deal of emphasis on the value of learning for Muslims in general, women and men alike. A Muslim woman does not get educated to enter a clerical or government service, or to take some other job. Rather, her primary aim is to build the home and the family, and consequently, the whole nation. The poet Al-Rasafi says: "There is no place where moral character could be better developed than in the laps of women. A mother's lap is a school whose distinction is the education of sons and daughters. The morals of a child can be no better than those of his mother." Thus, it is seen that Islam's strong emphasis on the education of women is not only wisely based, but also it has far-reaching implications concerning the development of the whole Islamic society. 9. CONCLUSION. Finally, whatever may be said, Islam regards a woman most favorably. If she is a mother, then "Paradise is underneath her feet", if she is a child, then "to educate her is to escape hellfire", and if she is a wife, then "her husband's goodness and dignity lie in loving and protecting her." (Sayings of the Prophet (pbu)). To a Muslim, a woman is far above an object of lust. She is among the noblest of Allah's creations. She is capable of the highest emotions, and she is worthy of the greatest honor, for she is the procreator of the human race. 10. REFERENCES. [1] Muhammad Al-Ghazali: Our beginning in Wisdom, Published by American Counc 1 of Learned Societies, Washington, D.C. (1953). [2] Nizar Al-Talib: Polygamy in Islam, Studies in Islam Series No. 2, published by the MSA, University Park, Pa. (1964). [3] A. Yussuf Ali: The Holy Quran-text, Translation and Commentary. Available from the Islamic Center, Washignton, D.C. (1963) (see footnotes to Surah 4: Women) [4] Famous Women in Islam, Available from Specialty Promotion Co., P.O. Box 3034, Newark, N.J. [5] A Sulaiman Navdi: Heroic Deeds of Muslim Women, Islamic Publications, Ltd., 11C Shah Alam Market, Lahore, Pakistan.