Q701 :Can a woman be the netmander of an army or a
group of Mujahideen?
A701 : Islam does not require women to fight in a
war or Jihad. The Prophet was asked whether women should take part in
any Jihad campaign. He answered: “Women are required to share in a
Jihad in which no fighting takes place, namely, pilgrimage and Umrah.”
This means that women are not required to take part in actual fighting
in any war. They can, however, play a supporting role in any war which
the Muslim netmunity fights. At the time of the Prophet, women took
such a part, bringing water to the fighters in battle and nursing those
who were injured or wounded. In other words, they remain behind the
fighting lines. At the time of the battle of Moat, when the Muslim
netmunity in Madinah was besieged by enemies who launched a pincer
attack on them, women did not take part in fighting. They remained in
their quarter, keeping a watchful eye, and ready to lend a hand of
support to the fighters. But that is all that they were required to do.
This is naturally in line with the division of roles and
responsibilities between man and woman as envisaged by Islam. The man
looks after the present generation. He is the breadwinner of the family
and he toils to provide a good standard of living for himself and his
dependents. The woman looks after the new generation ensuring that the
future of society is built on sound basis. This she does through
looking after the children and bringing them up in a proper manner.
While it is true that either of the two can fulfill much of the
responsibilities of the other when the need arises, this can be viewed
as a wise and precautionary measure to be used only in an emergency
situation. War, whatever may be its causes and objectives, has much to
do with the present rather than the future. It is natural, therefore,
that it should be a task for the man who is better equipped to look
after the present generation and all its affairs. It does not take much
thinking to realize that if women were to fight in a war alongside men
and be killed in equal numbers the effects would be far more damaging
to the very fabric of society than it actually is. There would be much
fewer women to look after the young who constitute the future strength
of the nation. It is, then, for the pressing need that the future of
the nation is established on solid foundations that women are not
required to fight in Islamic wars. In a situation of dire emergency,
however, such as the one which is created by an invasion of a Muslim
state by its enemies, women are allowed to take an active part in the
fighting which ensures repelling the enemy.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )