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WOMEN
IN THE QURAN AND THE SUNNA
Prof.
Abdur Rahman I. Doi
Professor and Director,
enter for Islamic Legal Studies,
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaire.
In
Islam there is absolutely no difference
between men and women as far as their
relationship to Allah is concerned,
as both are promised the same reward for
good conduct and the same punishment for
evil conduct. The Qur’an says:
And
for women are rights over men
similar to those of men over
women. (2:226)
The
Qur’an, in addressing the believers,
often uses the expression, “believing
men and women” to emphasize the
equality of men and women in regard to
their respective duties, rights, virtues
and merits. It says:
For
Muslim men and women, for
believing men and women, for
devout men and women, for true men
and women, for men and women who
are patient and constant, for men
and women who humble themselves,
for men and women who give in
charity, for men and women who
fast, for men and women who guard
their chastity, and for men and
women who engage much in Allah’s
praise, for them has Allah
prepared forgiveness and great
reward. (33:35)
This
clearly contradicts the assertion of the
Christian Fathers that women do not
possess souls and that they will exist
as sexless beings in the next life.
The Qur’an says that women have souls
in exactly the same way as men and will
enter Paradise if they do good :
Enter
into Paradise, you and your wives,
with delight. (43:70)
Who
so does that which is right, and
believes, whether male or female,
him or her will We quicken to
happy life. (16:97)
The
Qur’an admonishes those men who
oppress or ill-treat women:
O
you who believe! You are forbidden
to inherit women against their
will. Nor should you treat them
with harshness, that you may take
away part of the dowry you have
given them - except when they have
become guilty of open lewdness. On
the contrary live with them on a
footing of kindness and equity. If
you take a dislike to them, it may
be that you dislike something and
Allah will bring about through it
a great deal of good. (4:19)
Considering
the fact that before the advent of Islam
the pagan Arabs used to bury their
female children alive, make women dance
naked in the vicinity of the Ka‘ba
during their annual fairs, and treat
women as mere chattels and objects of
sexual pleasure possessing no rights or
position whatsoever, these teachings of
the Noble Qur’an were revolutionary.
Unlike other religions, which regarded
women as being possessed of inherent sin
and wickedness and men as being
possessed of inherent virtue and
nobility, Islam
regards men and women as being of the
same essence created from a single soul.
The Qur’an declares:
O
mankind! Reverence your
Guardian-Lord, Who created you
from a single person, created, of
like nature, his mate, and from
this pair scattered (like seeds)
countless men and women. Reverence
Allah, through Whom you demand
your mutual (rights), and
reverence the wombs (that bore
you); for Allah ever watches over
you. (4:1)
The
Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him)
said, “Women are the twin halves of
men.” The Qur’an emphasizes the
essential unity of men and women in a
most beautiful simile:
They
(your wives) are your garment and
you are a garment for them.
(2:187)
Just
as a garment hides our nakedness, so do
husband and wife, by entering into the
relationship of marriage, secure each
other’s chastity. The garment gives
comfort to the body; so does the husband
find comfort in his wife’s company and
she in his. “The garment is the grace,
the beauty, the embellishment of the
body, so too are wives to their husbands
as their husbands are to them.” Islam
does not consider woman “an instrument
of the Devil,” but rather the Qur’an
calls her muhsana - a fortress
against Satan because a good woman, by
marrying a man, helps him keep to the
path of rectitude in his life. It is for
this reason that marriage was considered
by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him) as a most virtuous act. He said:
“When a man marries, he has completed
one half of his religion.” He enjoined
matrimony on Muslims by saying: “Marriage
is part of my way and whoever keeps away
from my way is not from me (i.e. is not
my follower).” The Qur’an has given
the raison d’être of marriage in the
following words:
And
among His signs is this, that He
has created for you mates from
among yourselves, that you may
dwell in tranquillity with them;
and He has put love and mercy
between you. Verily in that are
signs for those who reflect.
(30:21)
The
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was
full of praise for virtuous and chaste
women. He said:
The
most precious thing in the world
is a virtuous woman. He once told
the future khalif, ‘Umar: “Shall
I not inform you about the best
treasure a man can hoard? It is a
virtuous wife who pleases him
whenever he looks towards her, and
who guards herself when he is
absent from her.”
On
other occasions the Prophet said:
The
best property a man can have is a
remembering tongue (about Allah),
a grateful heart and a believing
wife who helps him in his faith.
Before
the advent of Islam women were often
treated worse than animals. The Prophet
wanted to put a stop to all cruelties to
women. He preached kindness towards
them. He told the Muslims: “Fear Allah
in respect of women.” And: “The best
of you are they who behave best to their
wives.” And: “A Muslim must not hate
his wife, and if he be displeased with
one bad quality in her, let him be
pleased with one that is good.” And:
“ The more civil and kind a Muslim is
to his wife, the more perfect in faith
he is.”
The
Prophet (peace be upon him) was most
emphatic in enjoining upon Muslims to be
kind to their women when he delivered
his famous khutba on the Mount of
Mercy at Arafat in the presence of one
hundred and twenty-four thousand of his
Companions who had gathered there for
the Hajj al-Wada (Farewell Pilgrimage).
In it he ordered those present, and
through them all those Muslims who were
to come later, to be respectful and kind
towards women. He said:
Fear
Allah regarding women. Verily you
have married them with the trust
of Allah, and made their bodies
lawful with the word of Allah. You
have got (rights) over them, and
they have got (rights) over you in
respect of their food and clothing
according to your means.
In
Islam a woman is a completely
independent personality. She can make
any contract or bequest in her own name.
She is entitled to inherit in her
position as mother, as wife, as sister
and as daughter. She has perfect liberty
to choose her husband. The pagan society
of pre-Islamic Arabia had an irrational
prejudice against their female children
whom they used to bury alive. The
Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)
was totally opposed to this practice. He
showed them that supporting their female
children would act as a screen for them
against the fire of Hell:
It
is narrated by the Prophet’s
wife, ‘A’isha, that a woman
entered her house with two of her
daughters. She asked for charity
but ‘A’isha could not find
anything except a date, which was
given to her. The woman divided it
between her two daughters and did
not eat any herself. Then she got
up and left. When the Prophet
(peace be upon him) came to the
house, ‘A’isha told him about
what had happened and he declared
that when the woman was brought to
account (on the Day of Judgment)
about her two daughters they would
act as a screen for her from the
fires of Hell.
The
worst calamity for a woman is when her
husband passes away and, as a widow, the
responsibility of maintaining the
children falls upon her. In the Eastern
World, where a woman does not always go
out to earn her living, the problems of
widowhood are indescribable. The Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) upheld the
cause of widows. Most of his wives were
widows. In an age when widows were
rarely permitted to remarry, the Prophet
encouraged his followers to marry them.
He was always ready to help widows and
exhorted his followers to do the same.
Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet
said: “One who makes efforts (to help)
the widow or a poor person is like a mujahid
(warrior) in the path of Allah, or like
one who stands up for prayers in the
night and fasts in the day.”
Woman
as mother commands great respect in
Islam. The Noble Qur’an speaks of the
rights of the mother in a number of
verses. It enjoins Muslims to show
respect to their mothers and serve them
well even if they are still unbelievers.
The Prophet states emphatically that the
rights of the mother are paramount. Abu
Hurairah reported that a man came to the
Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)
and asked: “O Messenger of Allah, who
is the person who has the greatest right
on me with regards to kindness and
attention?” He replied, “Your
mother.” “Then who?” He replied,
“Your mother.” “Then who?” He
replied, “Your mother.” “Then who?”
He replied, “Your father.”
In
another tradition, the Prophet advised a
believer not to join the war against the
Quraish in defense of Islam, but to look
after his mother, saying that his
service to his mother would be a cause
of his salvation. Mu’awiyah, the son
of Jahimah, reported that Jahimah came
to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and
said, “Messenger of Allah! I want to
join the fighting (in the path of Allah)
and I have come to seek your advice.”
He said, “Then remain in your mother’s
service, because Paradise is under her
feet.”
The
Prophet’s followers accepted his
teachings and brought about a revolution
in their social attitude towards women.
They no longer considered women as a
mere chattels, but as an integral part
of society. For the first time women
were given the right to have a share in
inheritance. In the new social climate,
women rediscovered themselves and became
highly active members of society
rendering useful service during the wars
which the pagan Arabs forced on the
emerging Muslim umma. They carried
provisions for the soldiers, nursed
them, and even fought alongside them if
it was necessary. It became a common
sight to see women helping their
husbands in the fields, carrying on
trade and business independently, and
going out of their homes to satisfy
their needs.
The
predominant idea in the teachings of
Islam with regard to men and women is
that a husband and wife should be
full-fledged partners in making their
home a happy and prosperous place, that
they should be loyal and faithful to one
another, and genuinely interested in
each other’s welfare and the welfare
of their children. A woman is expected
to exercise a humanizing influence over
her husband and to soften the sternness
inherent in his nature. A man is
enjoined to educate the women in his
care so that they cultivate the
qualities in which they, by their very
nature, excel.
These
aspects were much emphasized by the
Prophet (peace be upon him). He exhorted
men to marry women of piety and women to
be faithful to their husbands and kind
to their children. He said:
Among
my followers the best of men are
those who are best to their wives,
and the best of women are those
who are best to their husbands. To
each of such women is set down a
reward equivalent to the reward of
a thousand martyrs. Among my
followers, again, the best of
women are those who assist their
husbands in their work, and love
them dearly for everything, save
what is a transgression of Allah’s
laws.
Once
Mu’awiyah asked the Prophet (peace be
upon him), “What are the rights that a
wife has over her husband?” The
Prophet replied, “Feed her when you
take your food, give her clothes to wear
when you wear clothes, refrain from
giving her a slap on the face or abusing
her, and do not separate from your wife,
except within the house.” Once he was
heard praising the women of the tribe of
Quraish, “...because they are the
kindest to their children while they are
infants and because they keep a careful
watch over the belongings of their
husbands.”
The
Shari’ah regards women as the
spiritual and intellectual equals of
men. The main distinction it makes
between them is in the physical realm
based on the equitable principle of fair
division of labor. It allots the more
strenuous work to the man and makes him
responsible for the maintenance of the
family. It allots the work of managing
the home and the upbringing and training
of children to the woman, work which has
the greatest importance in the task of
building a healthy and prosperous
society.
It
is a fact, however, that sound
administration within the domestic field
is impossible without a unified policy.
For this reason the Shari’ah requires
a man, as head of the family, to consult
with his family and then to have the
final say in decisions concerning it. In
doing so he must not abuse his
prerogative to cause any injury to his
wife. Any transgression of this
principle involves for him the risk of
losing the favor of Allah, because his
wife is not his subordinate but she is,
to use the words of the Prophet (peace
be upon him), “the queen of her house”,
and this is the position a true believer
is expected to give his wife. In
contrast to these enlightened teachings
of Islam in respect of women, Western
talk of women’s liberation or
emancipation is actually a disguised
form of exploitation of her body,
deprivation of her honor, and
degradation of her soul!
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