Following in the holistic way of life ordained by God is the natural way of human being. In every way it promotes the perfect balance of rights and responsibilities for all people be they adults or children, women or men.
Lo! men who surrender to God,
and women who surrender
And men who believe
and women who believe
And men who obey
and women who obey
And men who speak the truth
and women who speak the truth
And men who persevere
and women who persevere
And men who are humble
and women who are humble
And men who give alms
and women who give alms
And men who fast
and women who fast
And men who guard their modesty
and women who guard (their modesty)
And men who remember God much
and women who remember God much
God has prepared for them forgiveness and a vast reward.
(Surah Al-Azhab 35)
In
genuine Islam women and men are spiritually and socially equal but each
sex is assigned a specific set of rights and responsibilities that
enable individuals and societies to flourish and to live according to
their true natures.
The
oppression of women, domestic violence and corrupt male domination are
all totally contrary to genuine Islam. They are qualities of Jahilliyah
(these are sub-Muslim, pre-Muslim and/or ignorant) people and where such
practices are carried out it is because of ignorance and an absence of
genuine Islamic knowledge.
God
has honoured women in the highest ways and in the rightly guided
community of the Holy Prophet (may God bless him and give him peace)
women had the right to own property, to work, to choose who they
married, to divorce, to receive inheritance, to receive a gift of money
(Mahr) upon marriage, to vote during Shura (referendums) and much more
in an age where most ‘civilized’ cultures such as that of Roman
Christianity saw women as the property of their husbands whose were not
able to possess anything as their own.
In
the rightly guided community of the Holy Prophet (may God bless him and
give him peace) women filled some of the highest roles and some even
participated in military campaigns. God choose the wife of the Prophet
Muhammad, Sayyidah Aisha (raa), for the great role of the preservation
and transmission of many of the teachings of Islam after he (may God
bless him and give him peace) passed away, so much so that it has been
said that half of the Islamic knowledge was transmitted by her.
A
Hadith (record) in Ibn Maajah confirms that Islam encourages both women
and men to learn Islamic knowledge in particular, but also to learn
general knowledge and skills as well. This promotion of learning for men
and women is a key pillar of genuine Islamic life and amongst the early
Muslim communities literacy (the ability to read and write) became the
norm in an age when in most cultures only a tiny elite had these skills.
Anyone
who seeks to prevent Muslim women and girls from studying Islamic
knowledge is certainly not following the example of the Holy Prophet
(may God bless him and give him peace) in this matter.
In
Islam women and men avoid unhealthy social mixing, because it makes the
evils of adultery, fornication and rape less likely to occur, but this
does not mean that women are forbidden to work. On the contrary the
values of Islam create whole areas of work where women in particular are
needed, such as in medicine where women doctors and nurses are morally
superior for the treatment of female patients and female teachers are
likewise preferable for teaching young women, yet women should not work
to the detriment of their children or husbands and they should never get
into dubious and perilous situations with non-Mahram males.
Any
money that the married Muslim woman earns is her own and her husband
has no right to it and even if she is rich in her own right he must
provide her with the essentials. God honour s Children of Adam both
female and male, but he honour s mothers in particular.
The
Holy Prophet Muhammad (may God bless him and give him peace) stated
that paradise (for an offspring) lay at the feet of the mother. God has
reserved this right for the mothers and the same thing can never be said
about any man.
Some
people whose trade is lying have promoted fantasies about Muslim women,
claiming that they are the slaves of their husband and that she is a
drudge who has to cook and serve her husband like a servant and walk ten
steps behind him etc, but these are falsehoods and they certainly do
not represent the teaching of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (may God bless
him and give him peace). If they were to mix with real educated and
pious Muslims then no one would believe such calumnies.
In
the Tirmidhi collections of narrations, the Holy Prophet is recorded as
saying the best Muslims are they who are best to their wives. In
genuine Islam women are respected and held in high esteem. Deviation
from this is deviation from Islamic Adab (propriety).
The
Holy Prophet (may God bless him and give him peace) used to do much of
the housework and cooking for his wives and to mend his own clothes and
it is the practice of the genuine Muslims to emulate his Sunnah
(prophetic example). Whilst the wife has the Islamic right upon her
husband that he is duty bound to provide her with a home, security and
expenses for living, according to Jurists of the Maliki and Shafi’i
schools of thought she do not have a duty to do household chores. At
the same time in the Sunni majority Hanafi school of thought cooking is
not classed as one of the automatic duties of the wife.
Wherever
genuine Islam is practised women are empowered, nurtured and protected.
They receive their God -given rights and they are able to live
naturally according to the Sunnah (way of life) of the seal of the
Prophets h Muhammad (may God bless him and give him peace).
Wherever
men who claim to be following Islam are oppressing women or girls it is
they who are to blame and not Islam, they will one day have to meet
their Creator and explain their actions. It is recorded in Sahih Muslim
and Sahih Bukhari that the Holy Prophet (may God bless him and give him
peace) explained that the husband is the guardian or shepherd of his
family or household and that he is answerable to God over their
treatment, whilst the wife is the shepherd of the house of her husband
and his children and she is answerable over their treatment.
The
Holy Prophet (may God bless him and give him peace) taught husbands
that they must keep the secrets of their wives, they should consult them
and treat them well, accepting their nature and treat them well.
The
Holy Prophet (may God bless him and give him peace) is the example for
all true believers and he used to do housework for his wives. When asked
‘What do you advise us concerning our wives?’
The Holy Prophet replied;
Feed them as you (as well as you) feed yourselves
and clothe them as you (as well as you) clothe yourselves,
neither punish them nor revile them.
He is also reported to have explained;
Fear God in your treatment of women,
as you have taken them (as wives)
(only) through the trust of God…..
(Muslim, Sahih)
It isn’t proper for a believer to hate his wife,
If he dislikes her behaviour in one respect
he should be happy with her on some other account.
(Muslim, Sahih)
The most perfect in faith of the believers
is he most cordial in his disposition
and the best ones amongst you
are they who treat their wives most properly.
(Tirmidhi)
The
Holy Prophet Muhammad (may God bless him and give him peace) also
reminded the lady believers of the good way that they should treat their
husbands and children. It is recorded that he explained;
A woman who prays Salaat five times a day,
fasts in Ramadan, protects her decency
and follows her husband may enter
Paradise through any of its gates
she wishes to enter.
(Mishkat)
God
Almighty honour s human beings both female and male, but he honour s
mothers in particular and the Holy Prophet (may God bless him and give
him peace) stated that Paradise lies at the feet of the mother, this is
recorded in the authoritative Sahih Bukhari Hadith collection.
God
has reserved this right for the mothers. As well as the obvious meaning
it could be said that not only is the mercy and respect shown to the
mother a key to Paradise, but also the moral education that she has
instilled into her child. In every generation
God
entrusts the Muslim children to their mothers and it is up to them to
choose whether they raise their children according to the Sunnah of the
Prophet (may God bless him and give him peace) and Islamic ways or to
neglect their spiritual development and education and to instead allow
them to consume a poisonous diet of degenerate popular culture and
doubtful foods.
Abu Hurairah reported that a person came to the Holy Prophet (may God bless him and give him peace) and said;
‘Who amongst the people is most deserving of good treatment from me? He said; ‘Your mother’.
He asked; ‘Then who?’
The Prophet (may God bless him and give him peace) said; ‘Your mother’.
He asked ‘Then who?’
The Holy Prophet) said; ‘Your mother’.
He again said; ‘Then who?’
Thereupon the Holy Prophet
(may God bless him and give him peace)
said; ‘Your father.
(Sahih Muslim).
Abdur Raheem.
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