"Womenfolk in Islam”
History is silent as to whether there was any distinction
in status between the male and the female sexes during the beginnings of human
civilization. In later days no doubt the female sex was regarded as inferior to
the male and the idea of inferiority developed to such an extent that the male
sex not only claimed a complete superiority over the female sex, but further arrogated
to himself the right to utilise and employ the female sex as he liked.
Surveying the history of the world on this point we find that
in pre-Christian Europe and Greece, which was the centre of light and learning
for a long time and which provided philosophical and scientific inspiration to
the Europe of later days, regarded woman as something definitely inferior to
man. She was a subservient creature who had come into existence solely for the
purpose of breeding citizens for the state and soldiers for the army. Their
opinion of women was that these creatures were deprived of any good and was
instead the sources of many evils. Such degrading conceptions led to a moral degeneration
which ultimately ruined the Greek society. The names of virtuous women scarcely
appear in Greek history.
In pre-lslamic Arabia, the general conception of womanhood
was of such a degraded type that her very existence was considered ignominious
for the family. Female infanticide was consequently practiced on a wide scale.
Those women who, however, escaped early death were allowed to live only on
sufferance. For, an Arab woman had no rights; she could not inherit property;
her person formed part of the inheritance which came to the heir of her
husband, and he was entitled to marry her against her will. Hence, there sprung
up the impious marriages of their sons with their stepmothers and others of an
even worse character. Polygamy was universal and quite unrestricted;
equally so was divorce at least as far as man was concerned.
Prophet Muhammad (sa) on Women's Rights
Such was the condition of the female sex in the world when the
Holy Prophet of Islam, the Perfect Man, Muhammad (pbuh) the Saviour of
womanhood, stood up in Arabia and, through the Divine Revelation of the Lord of
the Universe Who created both the male and the female and Who loves them
equally, preached to the world that females were just like males and that they have
equal rights, equal honour and an equal status in life.
They were on no account to be treated as
the property of the males. They have the right of ownership of property in the
same way that males have, though, not in the same percentage as the males, but
Islam provides a valid reason for the respective shares which both males and
females receive, especially on account of inheritance. The male receives 2/3 of
the assets and money left by one or both of his parents and the female receives
1/3.
Responsibility of men
Like I explained many times in the past,
this kind of repartition of shares in the wealth or property left by deceased
parents comes as a perfect repartition, mainly because of the grand or let us
say, double responsibility of the male to care for his spouse and family, and
also because if he gets 2/3, then when he gets married, then his wife brings in
1/3, and thus both husband and wife as one entity receives a full whole of
shares in inheritance.
Sometimes, there are such brothers who
after the death of their parents, they fool their sisters and promise them that
if they sign on documents to make them have the tangible properties left to
them all by their parents, then in return they would give those sisters their
part of the inheritance, their dues (shares/ rights) in money form, but
unfortunately there exist those kinds of brothers who after promising their
sisters do not respect their engagement and deprive them from their shares of
the inheritance. There are brothers who later can honour their word and give their
sisters their rights (shares), and thus such brothers (who honour their words)
must convince those who do not respect their words, for it can happen that a
misfortune fall upon them (whereby they leave this world) and they do not have
time to reimburse their sisters and thus this become a debt on that brother (or
those brothers) who die in this state.
Islam encourages Muslims to make their
will and take witnesses so that no trouble can befall the heirs after their
deaths. And the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) also encouraged Muslims,
especially the heirs to seek to know if their deceased parents had any debt,
and to reimburse those debts.
Sometimes, if the woman’s family is
affluent, her 1/3 share may even exceed the 2/3 share which her husband receive
from his parents! No doubt also, under the principle of the division, the
female sex has some specialised duties to perform in life, just as the male sex
has his own duties.
There are three stages through which the majority of the
womenfolk will pass in life, that is, their role as a daughter, a wife,
and a mother.
(1)
AS A DAUGHTER
Islam denounces in unequivocal terms the pre-Islamic
inhumane custom of female infanticide and commands people to love and cherish their
daughters even more than their sons.
The Holy Quran says that on the Day of Judgement, the
female infant who was buried alive will be questioned as for what crime was she
murdered. (81: 9-10). Thus before the Almighty, the victim herself will be
able to give evidence against those who killed her, the innocent creature of
Allah simply for the sake of satisfying their vanity.
What do we see nowadays? Daughters may not be buried alive
literally under the sand (or soil or
murdered by any other means), but parents let go of the rope of authority
on their children, especially the girls and give them such freedom that they
come to clothe themselves in unislamic clothing, and if those daughters go out to
work, and happen to meet boys from other religious backgrounds and fall for
them, then these girls drift away from the path of Allah, from the path of
righteousness (by marrying those boys/men).
Allah again commands humanity: “And do not kill your children for fear of poverty. We shall provide
for them and for you. Indeed, to kill them is a great sin.” (17:32)
Fatimah was the youngest daughter of the
Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). In dealing with her, he set an example of
fatherly love which is a model for mankind. He (pbuh) has declared on several
occasions: “Fatimah is a part of my
being; whosoever annoys her annoys me.” (Mishkat)
He also emphasized preferential treatment towards the
female sex and said: “When you bring
anything for your children for distribution, begin with the girls first because
the girls love their parents more than the boys.”
But I must say that unfortunately nowadays, there also
exist those daughters who have drifted so far away (from the Islamic teachings)
that they do not have any love for their parents and do not care for them and
place them in homes, neglected.
(2)
AS A WIFE
Marriage in Islamic law is really a contract just like
other civil contracts between two parties. As far as the conditions of the
contract are concerned, both the parties, the man and the woman, stand upon the
same level. Each party has certain rights and duties. Islam commands justice to
be observed in every contract, and so in the contract of marriage too justice
should be observed.
The Holy Quran says: “The
women have rights similar to the rights against them, according to what is
equitable.” (2: 229).
No doubt, under the principle of the
distribution of labour, work should be divided between the pair. The womenfolk
have to naturally take care of their offspring until they grow up. They have to
engage themselves in bringing them up and so are not in a position to pay
attention to securing their means of livelihood. The men, therefore, have naturally
been made responsible for maintaining the family, including the wife, and have
been given the duty of securing all the requirements of the home. Thus it is
not an obligation for a woman to contract a job outside her home, but if the
financial position of the household needs her contribution, then Islam does not
forbid her from doing so, provided she does not neglect her natural duties as a
wife and mother and cater for the well-being of her family members and
household activities. In a nutshell, we may say that in a Muslim home, the
husband is supposed to work as the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the wife as
the Minister of the Interior or Home Affairs.
The Holy Prophet (pbuh) is reported to have said: “A woman is the queen of her house.” The
Holy Quran describes the position of the wife in a beautiful verse: “He created for you mates from among yourselves that you
might find solace in them and He ordained between you love and mercy.” (30:
22).
The Holy Prophet (pbuh) said: “The most perfect of believers in faith is the best of them in morals
and the best of you are those who are kindest to your wives.”
In his
famous Sermon at the Farewell Pilgrimage, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) again
laid stress on the good treatment on womenfolk. He said: “O People, it is true that you have certain
rights with regard to your women, but they also have rights over you.
Remember that you have taken them as your wives only under a trust from God and
with His permission. If they abide by your right then to them belongs the
right to be fed and clothed in kindness. Do treat your women well and be
kind to them for they are your partners and committed helpers.”
Limits on male freedoms
Before this saviour of the womankind preached his Message,
there was no limit for the males in respect of the number of their wives.
Islam really imposed a limit and allowed plurality of marriage up to a limit of
four at a time with the idea of abolishing adultery. Polygamy is permitted in
place of illegal intercourse in cases where it becomes difficult or rather
impossible, in the interest of social health, to restrict marriage to strict
monogamy. There are two definite occasions in the lives of human beings when
polygamy becomes necessary. For example, if the marriage proves fruitless, the
husband can, in most cases, be kept on the path of virtue and uprightness only
by allowing a second marriage. Again, when there is a surplus of women, as
happens after men have died in wars, human society can be saved from corruption
and also extinction by the permission of marrying more than one wife.
The Holy Quran restricts the number of wives to four at a
time and also orders complete equality and justice between them: “And if you fear that you cannot act equitably towards
orphans, then marry such women as seem good to you, two and three and four; but
if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then (marry)
only one.” (4: 4)
The conditions of the marriage contract
are to be settled by the parties of the marriage. If, on the one hand according
to the Islamic teaching, the husbands are entitled to have the right of
divorce, the wives are also entitled to the right of fixing their dowry and maintenance
as they like, and they may also take the authority of separating themselves
from their husbands when they find it necessary to do so. If agreement at a
time of marriage is made with complete consideration and is sustained with trust
and piety, the parties stand practically at the same level and there remains no
possibility for the womenfolk to suffer.
Islam enjoins justice, equity and straightforwardness.
Therefore if those who claim to be Muslims do not observe Islamic principles,
then it is their fault and Islam can on no account be accused of that. If today
people misuse the permission for polygamy and try to hide their lustful actions
under the cloak of Islamic legality, it is their fault and they deserve the
most severe punishment at the Court of the All-Knowing Allah who knows what is
in their hearts. Indeed Allah favours uprightness and virtue for His servants
and has devised ways and means to keep them on His righteous path.
I stop here for now. I shall Insha-Allah continue on the same subject in my sermon next Friday.
May
Allah bless the womenfolk, without whom men are incomplete, without whom the
continuation of the human species is impossible, and may He make them real
assets for their parents, spouses and children but most importantly for the
Islamic cause, the cause of Allah, in humility, piety and generosity. Ameen.
--- Friday Sermon of 20 May 2016 ~(13 Shabaan 1437 Hijri) delivered by Hazrat Muhyi-ud-Din Al-Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (atba) of Mauritius.