The status of women in
Islam has been one of controversy and stereotypical
public discourse since Islam was introduced.
One of the main reasons for its existence today is the melding of
cultural traditions and Islam as well as the Western disagreement with the
concept of supposed female subjugation in Islam. As Professor Ali Asani, the
chair of the Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Department and the
Director of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Islamic Studies Program at Harvard
University and a scholar in Islam, explains, we have to ask which women and
which Islam are you talking about? Are you even talking about Islam or the
culture, nation-state, etc.?[1]
Religion cannot do anything, people can; it is religious institutions that were
rejecting women not the religion itself. Religious traditions change with time;
when the world was shunning women so was religion and now that the world is
embracing women, the religious scriptures seem to reflect a similar attitude.
But why are there stereotypes of oppressed Islamic women? Stereotypes such as
these began to generate from a variety of factors, for example when colonial
powers suggested that they needed to “liberate” Islamic women, this was a way
to justify imperialism; while
most women from the countries that colonized remained unable to vote, gain an
education or work.[2]Late
Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto claimed that it was men and rulers that
restricted women, not Islam. [3]Iranian
Human Rights Activist ShirinEbadi blames mothers who raise their sons to create
and enforce patriarchal cultures.[4]
Others call for gender neutral reading of Qur’an translations which ring truer
to the Qur’anic context. For example the word “zawj” is translated as wife in
Qur’anic translation when it actually means spouse. Most men and women call for a better use of Qur’an,
the Islamic religious scripture in order to enforce Women’s Rights.[5]
Islam teaches that men and women are equal before God. It grants women divinely
sanctioned inheritance, property, social and marriage rights, including the
right to reject the terms of a proposal and to initiate divorce.
Historically,
the Qur’an has been instrumental in protecting and liberating Women. The Qur’an
is what prohibited female infanticide, granted divorce rights, female rights to
inherit, manage property, choose your own spouse. Islam does not follow the
patriarchal tradition of taking your husband’s name or the notion that women
cannot work. During the Islamic Golden Age women were educated, held monopolies
over most of the textile industry, and performed surgery the concept of
treating a woman with respect was far ahead of its time let alone providing
women with an education, and employment with worker’s rights attached. In fact,
the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), the Prophet of Islam’s first wife Khadijah was a
wealthy business woman, after her death he married Ayesha who was both a
teacher and a political leader. Another figure, Umm ulSulaim was one of the
first female nurses creating a Red Cross-like system; Summaya was the name of
the first martyr in Islam.
Just
like men and women, the roles and rights of men and women differ, they are
however equitable. A woman has her own identity, she is just as accountable as
a man for her actions. Although, it is the responsibility of the husband to
provide for his family, it does not stop the woman from assisting him, the
Prophet Muhammad fulfilled his responsibilities while helping out with chores
at home.[6]
Before Islam it was perpetuated that Eve caused Adam to fall, making women the
source of evil, women were not given the right to inherit but were inherited
themselves as property. [7]
The
amount of Qur’anic verses portraying the equity of men and women in Islam is
incredible, here are a few:
v For
men is a share of what the parents and close relatives leave, and for women is
a share of what the parents and close relatives leave, be it little or much -
an obligatory share.(4:7)
v Whoever
works righteousness, man or woman, and has Faith, verily, to him will We 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. (16:97)
v O
mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its
mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. (4:1)
v The
believing men and believing women are allies of one another. They enjoin what
is right and forbid what is wrong and establish prayer and give zakah and obey
Allah and His Messenger. Those - Allah will have mercy upon them. Indeed, Allah
is Exalted in Might and Wise. (9:71)
v Allah
has promised the believing men and believing women gardens beneath which rivers
flow, wherein they abide eternally, and pleasant dwellings in gardens of
perpetual residence; but approval from Allah is greater. It is that which is
the great attainment. (9:71)
v Indeed,
the Muslim men and Muslim women, the believing men and believing women, the
obedient men and obedient women, the truthful men and truthful women, the
patient men and patient women, the humble men and humble women, the charitable
men and charitable women, the fasting men and fasting women, the men who guard
their private parts and the women who do so, and the men who remember Allah
often and the women who do so - for them Allah has prepared forgiveness and a
great reward. (33:35)
Written by Yasmeen Husain
yf_husain@hotmail.com
[1]Asani, A. “Equal Before
Allah?Women in Islamic Religious Tradition”.Retrieved from lecture notes,
October 30th 2012.
[2]Asani, “Equal Before Allah?Women
in Islamic Religious Tradition”.
[3]Asani, “Equal Before Allah?Women
in Islamic Religious Tradition”.
[4]Asani, “Equal Before Allah?Women
in Islamic Religious Tradition”.
[5]Public Broadcasting Service.Muhammad and Women.Public Broadcasting
Service. 2002. Retrieved from: http://www.pbs.org/muhammad/ma_women.shtml
[6]Badawi,
Jamal.Gender equity in Islam.World Assembly of Muslim Youth, 1995.
[7]Public Broadcasting Service.Muhammad and Women.
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