Q704 :What is the position of women in Islam. What
are the rights of women? What are the duties of a Muslim woman, as a
wife, mother and daughter?
A704 : Full size books have been written on this
subject, particularly in the last few decades, because scholars have
felt that it is their duty to clear prevailing misconceptions about the
status of women in Islam. If I were to treat this subject fully, I
would need to devote to it several pages of Arab News. One of the best
books that I have read on this subject is the one written by the late
Moustafa Al-Sibai, former professor of Islamic Law in the University of
Damascus. His book Women in Islamic Fiqh and Law, is a netparative
study of the status of women in Islam and their rights and obligations
under the law. I will summarize here his outline explaining the
principles on which the Islamic view of the status of women is based.
1. Men and women are absolutely equal with regard to their human
status. Allah says in the Qur’an: “Mankind, remain conscious of your
Lord, who has created you all out of a single soul, and out of it
created its mate.” (4;1) The Prophet says: “Women are the sisters of
men.” (Related by Ahmad, Abu Dawood and others) Needless to say that
brothers and sisters are equally treated. 2. Earlier religions used
to put all the blame for man’s fall from heaven on women. Islam
repudiates that and makes Adam and Eve equally responsible for that. On
the incident of their disobedience in heaven, Allah says in the Qur’an:
“Satan caused them both to stumble, and thus brought them out of what
they had been in.” (2;36) Indeed, in some verses, the sin is attributed
to Adam alone: “Adam disobeyed his Lord and thus he was astray.”
(20;12) Furthermore, Islam rejects outright the principle of the
original sin. It considers everyone responsible for his or her actions.
Thus, no woman is responsible in anyway for what Eve had done in
heaven, in the same way as no man is responsible for what Adam did
there. 3. A woman is susceptible to faith in the same way as a man
is. Thus she deserves admittance into heaven if she does well in her
life, and she is liable to punishment if she does badly. The same
standard applies here to both men and women. Allah says in the Qur’an:
“Whoever does well, whether male or female, having already accepted the
faith, shall be made by Us to enjoy a goodly living. We will also
administer to them their reward according to their best deeds.” (16;97)
He also says: “Their Lord answers their prayer: I shall not loose sight
of what any of you does, whether man or woman; each of you is an issue
of the other.” (3;195) 4. Islam denounces the practice of those who
feel sad or adopt a gloomy posture when a girl is born to them. This
used to be the case in Arabia prior to the advent of Islam, and it is
still so in many netmunities. According to Islam, the birth of a girl
should be celebrated in the same way as the birth of a son. 5.
Prior to Islam, several Arabian tribes used to bury newborn girls
alive. Islam has forbidden that practice and denounced it in clearest
of terms, threatening those who kill their children with utter ruin in
this life and in the life to nete. 6. Islam issues strict orders to
all Muslims to take good care of their women and look after them
properly, whether they are their daughters, wives or mothers. In
connection with looking after young girls, the Prophet says: “He who
looks after two young girls until they attain puberty will be on the
day of judgment with me like these two (and he pointed with his two
fingers).” The Qur’anic verse and the Hadith which says: “The best
blessing in this world is a good wife who pleases you when you look at
her and protects you when you are away.” (Related by Muslim and Ibn
Majah) The verses which emphasize the importance of being dutiful to
one’s parents often highlights the role of mothers in order to stress
the fact that a Muslim is always required to take particularly good
care of his mother. A man came to the Prophet and asked him: “Who
deserves my caring attention most?” The Prophet answered: “Your
mother”. The man asked: “Who netes next?” The Prophet answered again:
“Your mother”. He gave the same answer the third time, but when the man
asked him the same question again, the Prophet said: “Your father”.
(Related by Al-Bukhari). 7. Islam also encourages that girls be
educated as well as boys. The Prophet says: “To seek education is
mandatory on every Muslim.” All netmentators on Hadith emphasize that
this applies to both men and women in the same way. It is well known
that a general Islamic order applies to both sexes without distinction,
unless there is a specific indication to make it otherwise. 8.
Islam has made women entitled to shares in the inheritance of their
parents, children or husbands, and Allah has apportioned shares of
inheritance to women in all the situations. The right to inherit is
given to females whether they are young or old, and indeed to a female
embryo who has not been born. 9. Islam has regulated the rights and
duties of husband and wife, outlining the rights and obligations of
each. Allah says in the Qur’an: “In accordance with justice, the rights
of women (with regard to their husbands) are equal to the (husband’s)
rights with regard to them.” (2;238) 10. Islam has also regulated
divorce in a way which prevents its abuse by the man. No man can claim
any arbitrary authority in matters that relate to divorce. [It is only
when men or women overstep the Islamic regulations that injustices
occur.] 11. Islam has also regulated polygamy, allowing a man to
marry a maximum of four wives at any one time. In other netmunities
which allow polygamy, there is no maximum number of wives a man may
have. 12. When a girl is below the age of puberty, she is placed
under the care of her guardian who is required to take good care of
her, educate her and invest any property she has in a way which ensures
its growth. When she netes of age, she has the same legal status as a
man. She undertakes all financial and business transactions at the same
level as of any man. To sum up, Islam gives woman the same status as
man without any distinction. From the social point of view, it gives
her a dignified status throughout her life. Legally, she has the same
status as men and she does not need to defer to any authority to be
exercised by a man whether he is her father, husband or head of clan.
Having said that, I should point out that there are some minor
differences between men and women in certain aspects of Islamic law.
These differences relate to a woman’s position in her family and her
rights, duties and obligations in the Islamic system. They do not
reflect on human status. A woman in the Islamic system is not required
to work for her living. Her husband or her guardian is responsible to
look after her. If she has none to support her, the state is required
to undertake that task. At the same time, a woman is fully entitled to
work either as a free agent or an employee. From the Islamic point of
view, there is no decent job which is restricted to or made the
absolute reserve of men. Provided that the Islamic standard of
propriety and morality is maintained, a woman may have any respectable
job. In pre-Islamic days, women were generally ill-treated and given a
low status in society. In the Greek civilization, women started with a
very low status to the extent that they were considered impure, and
they were bought and sold in marketplaces. A woman could not refuse a
husband chosen by her guardian and she could not disobey her husband in
anyway. Later, they acquired a somewhat higher status, but they
remained inferior to men. The same applies to many other old
civilizations. Under the Roman Empire, women did not have the right to
own anything. If a woman had any property of her own, it was
automatically transferred to the ownership of the head of the family.
Later, in the reign of Justinian, women were given the right to retain
what they earned through their own work, but any money given to a woman
by the head of her family remained his. Christian Europe was
influenced by notions that prevailed in the days of paganism about the
status of women. As recently as 1805, the English law allowed the man
to sell his wife. In the year 586 AD. – that is when Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him) was still a young man – French elegies organized a
convention in which they discussed whether women were human or not.
They concluded that a woman was a human being created only to serve
men. Even after the French Revolution, in the late 18th century, the
French law continued to consider that an unmarried woman was totally
unqualified to enter into any contract without the consent of her
guardian. The French law of the time stipulated that those who did not
have legal status were “young boys, idiots and women.” You ask bout
the duties of Muslim woman. In brief I can say that it is the duty of a
wife to take good care of her husband and her family. Mothers must
always be kind to their children, and daughters must always be
respectful of, and dutiful to, their parents.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )