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Divorce ls allowed but is regarded as the least desirable of all lawfulacts. lslam encourages adjustment and happiness but when living together isimpossible, Islamic low does not stand in the way of divorce.

STATUS OF WOMEN IN ISLAM

Women have a very important place in Islamic society. Unlike a number ofother religions, Islam holds a women in high esteem. Her importance as amother and a wife has been clearly stated by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).The prophet said, "Paradise lies at the feet of your mothers." Once aperson asked the Prophet, "Who deserves the best care from me?" The Prophetreplied, "Your mother (he repeated this three times), then your father and thenyour nearest relatives."

In his farewell speech at 'Arafat in the tenth year of the Hijrah, theProphet said,"O people, your wives have certain rights over you and you havecertain rights over them. Treat them well and be kind to them, for they areyour partners and committed helpers."

The Prophet also said, "Thebest among you is the one who is the best towards his wife."

These sayings clearly prove the important position given to women in Islam butthere are still people, especially in the West, who have misgivings about thestatus of women in Islam. To these people, the Muslim women is seen as 'Aprisonar in the four walls of the house', a non-person', and 'someone who hasno rights and is living always under the domination of a man'.These notions are totally wrong and are based on ignorance rather thanknowledge of Islam.

One of the rites of Hajj is the fast walk between As-Safa and Al-Marwah, whichis observed to remember the event of Hajar (Hagar), mother of Prophet Ismail, who ran between these two hills to find water. This is another proof of theimportance given to women by Islam.

In order to Judge these false ideas held by western people, it would be usefulto survey the attitudes to women in different societies in the past.

During the Roman civilization, for example, a woman was regarded as a slave. The Greeks considered her a commodity to be bought and sold. EarlyChristianity regarded women as temptresses, responsible for the fall ofAdam.

In India, the Hindus until recently, considered their women worse then death,pests, serpents or even Hell. A wife's life ended with thedeath of her husband. ln the past, a widow had to jump into the flames of herhusband's funeral pyre.

In the pre-lslamic state of Arabia, a woman was regarded is a cause for griefand unhappiness and baby girls were sometimes buried alive after birth.

In France, in 587 CE, a meeting was held to study the status of women and todetermine whether a woman could truly be considereda human being or not!. Henry VIII in England forbade the reading of the Bibleby women and throughout the middle ages the Catholic Church treated women assecond-class citizens. In the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford, male andfemale students were not given the same rights until 1964. Before 1850, women were not counted as citizens inEngland and English women had no personal rights until 1882'.

If we keep this picture in mind and look into the position of the women inIslam, we must conclude that lslam liberated women from the dark age ofobscurity fourteen hundred years ago!

Islam is a religion of common sense and is in line with human nature. Itrecognises the realities of life. This does not mean it has recognisedequality of man and woman in every respect. Rather, it has defined theirduties in keeping with their different biological make-up (2:228). Allah hasnot made man and woman identical, so it would be against nature to try to havetotal equality between a man and a woman.

That would destroy the social balance. Society would not prosper but wouldinstead have insoluble problems such as broken marriages, illegitimate childrenand the break-up of family life. These problems are already rife in westernsociety. Schoolgirl pregnancies, an increase in abortions, divorce and manyother problems have cropped up because of a permissive outlook and theso-called freedom of women.

Rights of Women in lslam

Allah has created every living being in pairs - male and female (51:49) -including mankind. Allah has honoured the children of Adam - both male andfemale (17:70). Men and women who believe are protectors of one another (9:71). Allah will reward both men and women in the life after death (3:195).

In lslam a woman has a distinct and separate identity. Islam has given her theright to own property. She is the owner of her earnings. No-one (father,husband or brother) has a right over them. She can dispose of her earnings andproperty as she wishes, within the bounds of Halal (lawful) and Haram(unlawful).

lslam has given women a right to inheritance. She has a claim on the propertyof her dead father, husband or childless brother (4:7, 32,176).

A woman has the right to choose her husband. No-one can impose a decision onher against her will. She has a right to seek separation (Khula') from herhusband if their marriage becomes impossible to sustain.

If any man falsely questions a woman's chastity, that man is declared unfit forgiving evidence (24:4). This shows how a woman's honour is safeguarded fromfalse accusations.

The Quran asks the Muslims to treat women kindly (4:19). It makes Muslimhusbands responsible for their wife's maintenance. The women in return, areexpected to remain obedient and chaste (4:34).

A woman has a right to develop her talents and to work within the Iimits oflslam. Islam allows a non-Muslim married woman to retain their religion andher husband cannot interfere in this freedom. This applies to Christian andJewish women with Muslim husbands.

Duties of a woman in lslam

lslam is a fair and balanced system of life. While it specifies the rights ofwomen it also lays down duties. A Muslim is expected to observe the following:

1. Belief in Tawhid and the practice of lslam come first. A Muslim women must perform her Salah, observe Sawm, pay Zakah on her own wealth (If it isapplicable) and go on Hajj if she can afford it. She is exempted from Salahand can defer Sawm during her period, but she must make up the days lostafterwards. Friday prayer (Jumu'ah) is optional for women.

2. She is required to maintain her chastity all the time. She must not haveany extra-marital relationships. The same is the case with men.

3. It is her duty to bring up children according to the needs of lslam. Shehas to look after the family and has almost absolute control over domesticaffairs, although the family is run by mutual consultation and co-operation. She is the queen of the family and in charge of domestic life.

4. She should dress modestly and should put on Hijab (covering cloak) whilegoing out and meeting adult males beyond her close relatives (33:59,24:30-31). She should not wear man's clothing.

5. She is her husband's help-mate. A faithful wife is like a garment, a Sourceof peace, happiness and contentment for her husband (30:21,2:187).

6. If she is asked to go against the commands of Allah, she must defy even herhusband, father or brother.

7. She is expected to protect her husband's property and belongings in hisabsence.

lslam views a husband and wife as complementary to each other.Neither dominates the other. Each has his or her own individual rights andduties - together they form a peaceful and happy family which is the basis fora sound and prosperous society.

Man and woman are not exactly equal in lslam. They have different physical andbiological features. lslam recognises the leadership of a man over a woman(4:34, 2:228) but that does not mean domination.

An average man is stronger, heavier, harder in muscles and taller than anaverage woman. Women can become pregnant and bear children but men cannot. Women tend to be sensitive, emotional and tender while man are comparativelyless emotional and more practical.

Throughout history, men and women have never been treated the same. lslam hasgiven women the right position and has notattempted to violate divine laws. Other religions and philosophies have been unable to visualise the exact and right role of women. In the West, women havebeen reduced almost to a commodity of enjoyment and fancy. Women have tendedto degrade themselves unwittingly in modern times for, in the name of equality,they have become the objects of exploitation by men and the slogans of libertyand equality have virtually reduced them to playful commodities. They haveneither gained liberty nor achieved equality; rather they have lost theirnatural place in the home.

POLYGAMY AND ISLAM

Islam is a practical religion. It can answer all humanproblems. Islam allows restricted polygamy --marriage to more then one women--with a maximum of four. The normal Muslim practice is monogamy --one manmarried to one wife; polygamy is the exception.

The Quran has imposed strict conditions for marrying several wives.
"And if you fear that you will not deal fairly by the orphans, marry of thewomen who seem good to you, two or three or four; and if you fear that youcannot be fair to so many, then one only or (the captives) that your righthands possess. Thus it is more likely that you will not do injustice."(4:3)
This verse sayes that in order to marry more than one women, a man must be ableto be fair and just to each of them. If he is not able to be so, he should marry only one wife.

Another verse of the Quran says,
"You will not be able to deal fairlybetween your wives, however much you wish. Yet do not turn completely aside(from one) so that you leave another in suspense, if you maintain properconduct and do your duty, Allah is ever Forgiving and Merciful."(4:129)
This further emphasises fair treatment. But, in special circumstances Islamallows polygamy. These situations are:

1. When a wife is barren and cannot bear children but the husband wantschildren. It is better to have a second wife than to divorce the barren one.However, a barren wife has the option to seek separation from her husband ifshe wishes, on the grounds of the second marriage of her husband.

2. If the first wife is chronically ill and she is unable to carry out hermarital and household duties, the husband may marry another woman and so helprestore family stability.p>3. polygamy may be the solution to the problems of a society which has morewomen then men. This happens esspecially after war. The verse in the Quranallowing more than one wife was revealed after the battle of Uhud in which manyMuslim men were martyred.

The proportion of women to men increased considerably in the countries whichtook part in the First and Second World Wars. A solution to such a situation ismarriage to more than one women by those men who are able to and can be fair toeach wife. This is better than leaving a large number of unmarriedwomen.

Islam stricly forbids any sexual relationships outside marriage. There is nosuch thing as a mistress in Islamic society. Islam has given dignity to womenby marriage and has protected them from the exploitation of greedy and selfishmen. Having more than one wife is better and more dignified than having anumber of mistresses. Islam holds you responsible for your actions. You cannotjust enjoy women and yet have no responsibilities of fatherhood. This isinhuman and unjust.

There can be no one-parent family or illegitimatechild in an Islamic society. It is only possible in a cultural climate ofirresponsible permissiveness. A women who is going to be a second wife canrefuse to marry the man on the grounds that he already has a wife. But if awoman happily consents to her husband marrying again and the second wifeagress, why should anyone else object to it?.

The overwhelming majority of Muslims are monogamous --they have only one wife.The fact that a few Muslims have more than one wife has become a matter forpropaganda against Islam and such propaganda can give a misleading impression of the Islamic way of life. This is especially so when it is non-practisingMuslims who are highlighted on the issue of being married to more than one wife.

As opposed to polygamy, the case of polyandry (a women having more than onehusband) may be raised. The case of polyandry is impractial and it createsproblems rather than solves them. How will paternity by decided?. Whichhusband would claim the fatherhood of the child?. How would inheritance be decided?. Such questions have no answer in polyandry.

Furthermore, it is possible for man to live with more than one wife and havechildren from all of them, but for a women to please more than one husbandseems almost impossible. A women can bear children from only one husband at atime. Polyandary is forbidden in Islam.

Islam is a practical way of life. It has responded to reality and necessity. Ithas also put a check on human tendencies and ensured balance. The system isfull of wisdom and is perfectly scientific, completely logical.

Allah, the All-knowing, has prescribed what is best for us. We should not beapologetic in our approuch. Islam provides the best answer to all problems. Wecannot blame Islam if we do not know it or fail to understand it. We need tolook at Islam as a whole, not only at a part of it. This is because Islam viewslife as a whole and does not divide it.

All areas of life are inter-related; the status of women, marriage and familylife are only single aspects of the whole Islamic system.

The numbers in brackets represents Reference in the qur'anfor example (4:1) means qur'an Chapter 4 Verse 1.
ref..ISLAM: Beliefs and Teachings --by.. GHULAM SARWAR --Director of the MuslimEducational Trust.

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Other pages..
Women in the Qur'an and Sunnah
Oppressed Women of the West and the Solution.
GENDER EQUITY IN ISLAM

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