Women's Liberation

INTRODUCTION: Today people think that women are liberated in the West and that the women's liberation movement began in the 20th century although in actuality, the women's liberation movement was not begun by women but was revealed by God to a man in the seventh century by the name of Muhammad (peace be upon him), who is known as the last Prophet of Islam. The Qur'an and the Traditions of the Prophet (Hadith or Sunnah) are the sources from which every Muslim woman derives her rights and duties.
Introduction
A woman in Islam occupies a unique position, where she is ranked in a manner, which enables her to be respected in the fashion that she desires.
In our contemporary society Islam is considered an oppressive religion. In this society, women are viewed as objects: they are used, abused and victims of terrible crimes. In Islam, women are held high in esteem. Islam has liberated women from many things and has given them back their self-respect.
Through reading this booklet you can learn of the many benefits that a Muslim woman gains. You can also learn of the Shar’i view regarding women in certain situations, which gives you an insight of how to behave and practice in correct accordance to the Qur’an and Sunnah.
Allah Ta’aalaa states in the Qur’an:
"And they (women) have rights similar to those (of men) over them in kindness. " (2: 228)
This aayah of the Holy Qur’an shows that the status of men and women are equal in that their rights are mutually compulsive (obligatory).
However, these "rights" are slightly different, as extorted in the verse:
"Men are in charge of women because Allah hath made the one of them excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women)." (4: 34)
Over 1,400 years ago, Islam raised the status of women from a position of oppression to one of liberation and equality. In an era when women were considered possessions, Islam restored women to a position of dignity. A Muslim woman knows her place in society and knows her place in the family infrastructure. Her religion is her first priority; therefore, her role is clear-cut and defined. A Muslim woman, far from being oppressed, is a woman who is liberated in the true sense of the word. She is a slave to no man or to any economic system; rather, she is the slave of God. Islam clearly defines women’s rights and responsibilities spiritually, socially, and economically. Islam’s clear-cut guidelines are empowering; they raise women to a natural and revered position.
An expectant mother would silently pray that the child she would bear would be a boy. Backing her desire for a boy would be an inner fear created by the men of her clan. For, if a girl was born, the mother would be reprimanded, her honor diminished. The father instead of rejoicing would be overcome with a mixture of shame and embarrassment. To announce the birth of a girl would be an issue of degradation and dishonor. The father’s only solution would be to silently take the child away and bury her alive beneath the ground.
RIGHTS OF WOMEN

* Spiritual rights:
The spiritual and moral duties for men and women are essentially the same. In fact there are certain concessions given to women. Pregnant ladies and menstruating women need not fast during such days, but later compensate for the same.
The reward and punishment of Allah is in no way connected with the gender.

* Economical rights :
As I mentioned earlier, the job should be within the limits of Islamic Shariah and within modesty levels. Besides the professional jobs I mentioned, they can work in industries and small scale factories which are so made that they exclusively employ ladies or have separate sections for gents and ladies staff. She can also engage in business and when required, enter into transactions with gents through a Mehram such as her husband, son etc. The best example I can quote is that of Prophet Muhammad’s (Pbuh) wife, Bibi Khadija (R) who was a very successful businesswoman. She transacted through her husband Prophet Muhummad (Pbuh). Women can work in their own houses by taking up tailoring, embroidery, pottery, basket-making, etc.
Women do not have to give any dowry to men and men do not have any right to ask or demand dowry from women. The dower given by man to woman during marriage is known as Meher and is a compulsory requirement, but these days Muslims give a small token amount of Meher just for names’ sake, maybe Rs.200 to 500. Many Muslims have now-a-days adopted Hindu culture in this issue, they expect or rather demand that the woman’s family should get them a refrigerator, TV, Video, furniture, car, etc. The more educated and richer the man, the higher dowry he expects.

* Educational rights:
A woman has her right to religious education from her husband so that either her husband should teach her or allow her to go elsewhere to acquire it. If this matter is taken before a judge, he must compel the husband to fulfil her demands in the same way that he would in wordly matters.

* Legal rights:
Men and Women are treated equally in Islamic law.

The Shariah protects the life and safety of both men and women.
In Islam the punishment for committing a robbery is the same for men and women: that is cutting off the hands.
In Islamic law woman is accepted as a witness. This right was given to a woman 1,400 years back by Islam at a time when most of the societies rejected the evidence of a woman. * Political rights:
They are protectors and supporters to each other not only in social affairs but also in public affairs.
If the need arises, women may participate in the battle field: Muslim women took part in battle fields. There is a whole chapter in Sahih Bukhari regarding participation of women in battle field.

Many Muslim women helped in the battlefield by providing water and giving first aid to the soldiers.

* Social rights:

Status of women: Status of women in Islam should be judged according to authentic sources of the teachings of Islam on the subject and not by observing what individual Muslim do or what any Muslim society does.

1. Daughter:
In Islam the girl child is entitled to support, and upbringing and good treatment.
According to another hadith whoever brings up two daughters properly and treats them kindly and justly shall enter paradise.
Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) always spoke about justice and kindness towards a child whether it be a daughter or a son. Once a person in the presence of Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) kissed his son and put him on his lap and did not do the same for his daughter who was with him. The Prophet (Pbuh) objected and told the man that he was being unjust and that he should have also kissed his daughter and placed her on the other lap. The Prophet (Pbuh) not only preached about equal justice to sons and daughters but also practised it himself.

2. Wife:
Islam does not consider “Woman as an instrument of the devil” as considered by the Bible. But rather the Qur’an calls her “Mohsana” - a fortress against Satan, because a good woman by marrying a man helps him keep a straight path in life.
Woman in Islam is considered to be a home-maker and not a housewife because she is not married to the house. v. In Islam, when a woman is married to a man it is not that she is married to a master so that she should be treated like a slave but she is married to her equal and should be treated like a partner with love and dignity.

3. Mother:
In Islam, obedience, respect and love for parents is next to the worship of Allah. It is mentioned in several places in the Qur’an that one should to be kind to one’s parents.
In the last two quotations the mention of the word “mother” is specially referred to after the word “parents”.
According to several authentic hadith including the one narrated in Ahmed and Ibn-e-Majah, “Paradise lies at the feet of the mother”. It does not mean literally, for example that if a mother walks on the road and steps on filth and dirt, it becomes paradise. It means if you respect your mother, obey her, love her and take good care of her, you will Insha Allah enter paradise.

4. Sister:
The Prophet (Pbuh) said women are “shakaat” of men. Shakaat has two meanings, sisters or halves. Therefore women are sisters of men or women are halves of men, that is society is made of two halves, one half women and the other half men.

“be kind to your women”

CONCLUSION

As I mentioned earlier equality does not mean identicality. In Islam Women are over all equal but not identical in each and every aspect.

I would like to conclude my talk by giving an example:

In an examination, two students "A" and "B" both obtain the first rank by scoring 80 out of 100. The question paper contained 10 questions each carrying 10 marks.

In question No. 1 Student "A" obtained 9/10 and student “B” obtained 7/10.

Student "A" gets higher marks and is better off than student “B” in question No.1.

In Question No.2 Student "A" scores 7/10 and student "B" scores 9/10.

Therefore in question 2 student "B" gets higher marks and is better off than student "A".

In question 3 both "A" and "B" obtained 8/10 i.e. in Q.3. both are equal.

When you add up the grand total of all the ten questions, both obtained 80/100. Therefore both the students "A" and "B" are overall equal. In some questions "A" has higher marks than "B" and in some questions "B" has higher marks than "A", while in other questions both are equal.
In the same fashion men and women ln Islam are over all equal, but in some aspects men have a degree of advantage (and the related responsibility) and in some aspects women have a degree of advantage (and the related responsibility), while in other aspects both are equal.

B. This, in brief high lights Women’s Rights in Islam as based on the Qur’an and Sunnah.

However, in respect to these, whether Muslim societies in different parts of the world now and in the past have behaved or misbehaved is a different story. Many Muslim societies did not give woman the complete rights because of wrong interpretations of the Qur’an and Sunnah.

Western Society has done so much harm to women that some Muslim societies have become over-cautious, and deviated from the Qur’an and Sunnah by going to the other extreme; yet others have blindly imitated, aped and followed the western society without analysing the rights given to women in Islam.