Islam - Elevation of Women's Status
By: Shaikh Ali Al-Timimi
Assalaamu `Alaykum Wa Rahmatullaahi Wa Barakaatuhu
Al hamdu lillaah was salaatu was salaamu `alaa rasoolillaah, `amma ba`d:
The topic that I was asked to discuss here at McGill University is the elevation of the status of women in Islaam. Many, upon hearing the title of this
lecture, might assume it to be an oxymoron because the prevalent idea - at least in the West - is that Islaam does not elevate the status of women, but that
Islaam oppresses and suppresses women. So people might find the title in itself to be shocking or a curiosity at least.
In discussing this topic - since it appears to me that this is a mixed audience of Muslims and non-Muslims - I'd like to make my remarks and comments brief.
I will take no more than thirty to forty five minutes, and then allow you an opportunity to ask your questions. Perhaps the question and answer session might
be more fruitful in addressing specific accusations, understandings or misunderstandings regarding the status of women in Islaam.
As we all know, in the world today, there are - for the overwhelming majority of humanity - basically two world views. These two views are often in
conflict - not only on the personal level where individual human beings are making choices, but also on the international level in terms of the debate over the
authenticity and correctness of these two world views.
The first world view, which I am sure most of us are aware of, is the Western liberal view. A view which claims to draw its roots from the Judeo-Christian
tradition that probably, upon investigation, is more well rooted in the ideas that appeared after the reformation; ideas that are rooted in secularism and the
world view that appeared thereafter during the 'era of enlightenment'.
The second view is that of the Muslims - the Islamic world view, and this view says that its roots and ideas lie in the revelation given by God
(or Allah in Arabic) to the prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam). Those who proclaim this view say that it can be used by humanity during all ages
and times, and that its relevance and benefit is not restricted to a certain period of time, geographic area or certain race of human beings. Likewise, the
adherents of the first view, that of
Western secularism and the liberal tradition, believe that their world view, ideas, culture and civilization are the best for humanity. Some of you might
have read a book that came out a few years ago by an American author of Japanese decent (Francis Fukuyama) called "The End of Time". He basically put forth
the theory that human development in terms of its ideas has concluded with this final period of liberal secular thought and nothing more will come to humanity.
However in his book he adds that that the only part of the world which has not adopted this secular human view is the Islamic world and proposes that there
will be a conflict in terms of this ideology in the Islamic world.
With that brief introduction, one of the topics of contention between these two worlds views, that of the secular liberal humanist in the West and the
Islamic tradition, concerns women. What is the position and status of women? How are women looked to? Are women elevated in one culture and oppressed in another?
The Western view is that women are elevated only in the West and that they are getting more and more rights with the passage of time, while their
sisters - they say - in the Islamic world are still being suppressed. The Muslims who they encounter say that in actuality it is the Islamic system that
provides the true freedoms for men and women alike, and women in the West as well as men, are deceived into an idea of freedom which really doesn't exist.
What I'd like to discuss this evening is exactly how Islaam looks to women. And therefore my discussion will be more upon - what we might say for the lack
of a better term - the philosophical basis, rather than the individual practices which vary from one country to the other. How women are understood in
Islaam cannot be properly understood - and this is more significant, I feel - unless one understands exactly what we might call the philosophical basis
or ideological understanding - since this is really a theological concept.
First, let's review how exactly women were thought of and understood in the western tradition, to compare and contrast perspectives.
We know that the western tradition sees itself as the intellectual inheritors of the Greek tradition that existed before the prophet Jesus Christ
(peace be upon him), and so therefore many of the intellectual traditions of the West are found to some degree in the writings of the early Greek philosophers
like Aristotle, Plato and so forth.
How did they look towards women? What were the ideas of Aristotle and Plato towards women? When one reviews the works of these early Greek
philosophers, he finds that they had very disparaging views of women. Aristotle in his writings argued that women were not full human beings and that
the nature of woman was not that of a full human person. As a result, women were by nature deficient, not to be trusted and to be looked down upon.
In fact, writings describe that the free women in many aspects of the Greek society - except for the very few women of the elite classes - had
positions no better than animals and slaves.
This Aristotelian view of women was later carried on into the early Christian tradition of the Catholic church. Saint Thomas of Aquinas in his
writings proposed that women were the trap of Satan. The issue of Adam and Eve added a dimension to the earlier Greek ideas of Aristotle; women
were the cause of the downfall of man and therefore were Satan's trap and should be looked at with caution and weariness because they caused the
first downfall of humanity and all thus evil precedes from women. This type of thought was persistent within the writings of the Church fathers
throughout the Middle Ages. In their writings we find this theme proposed in one aspect or another. However, after the Protestant reformation
Europe decided to free itself from the shackles and chains of the Catholic church. Ideas which have been entitled as the Age of Enlightenment
or thought of as such, caused them to feel that they needed to free themselves from many of these ideas. Some of these ideas were scientific
in nature, that the earth goes around the sun, instead of the sun going around the earth; theological in nature, as in the writings of
Martin Luther; and also social in nature, like the position of women in society. However, the writers of the Enlightenment still carried this
basic theme that was not much of a switch - women where not full human beings. French writers during the revolution, like Rousseau, Voltaire and
others, looked at women as a burden that needed to be taken care of. This is why I believe it's Rousseau in his book "Emile", which he wrote
concerning the education of women, proposed a different form of education for women based upon the fact that women were unable to understand
what men were able to understand.
This is the tradition that the West inherited and thereafter we find in the 1800's the first writings appearing by women and some men
calling for the change of these ideas. And with this we have the origins of the first feminine movements. One of the first books written was
the "Vindication for the Rights of Women" by Mary Walsencraft which appeared in the 1800's. Thereafter the tradition of women receiving certain
rights came. The first of these were basically legal rights because until the 1800's women were not able to own property and were not able to
dispose of their wealth as men did. It is very well known that the first laws that allowed women to own property in the United States or in
Europe appeared only in the last couple of decades of the 1800's.
The Industrial Revolution caused another impetus, another search, to this feminist movement. Women in the Industrial Revolution, especially
England, were forced to labor for many hours in the coal mines and so forth, and would receive no pay whatsoever compared to men. So therefore
the first calling of the movement was that people who work the same amount of hours deserved the same amount of money or pay.
Finally a break occurred in this century of basically all which is understood from the Western tradition. Coming from the latter feminist
movement which appeared after World War II, a new movement called for the emancipation of women not only in terms of legal rights, but it also
questioned some of the morals of society and called for greater sexual freedoms for women and men alike. It contended that basically a lot of
problems were caused by the institution of marriage and the ideas of family and so forth. People wrote concerning the need to break from these.
And finally in the 1990's, the prevalent argument in the West is that we should discuss genders, not sexes. This idea was expressed
recently in a book which came out a year ago called "The Age of Extremes". The author discusses the idea that there is no difference between
male or female and that gender is so only due to environment. So therefore we can change the environment so that men could take the roles of
women and women take the roles of men by changing the education and climate. This is where it has ended up now. So we find in this 2500 year
old western tradition, we come from the first extreme which was expressed by the Greeks, where women were denied their essential humanity, to
this extreme expressed today where there is no differences between the sexes and it is an issue of gender, climate and environment. This is, of
course, a very brief summary of the first world view. I didn't do justice to those 2500 years in just those few minutes, but it just gives us an idea.
The other view which I would like to talk about in more detail is the Islamic view. How does Islaam look at the issue of women? Well, first
of all, we should understand that Muslims unlike, for instance, the Greek philosophers or the French writers after the French revolution, do
not feel that their concepts, ideas and beliefs are those of fellow men. But rather they believe that what they are taught, what they believe, what
they practice, and all that is tied to this, is part of a divine revelation given to them by God. And so, its truth and veracity is not
questionable because of it being revelation from God. The argument is that God knows best that which He created. He created human beings, He
is a God of wisdom, and a God of all knowledge and so therefore He knows what is best. And He decrees that which is best for humanity, His
creatures. Therefore, Muslims try to live by a code of law which is an expression of that belief.
Now I don't want to discuss the various details of the code of law because that, I feel, would not really benefit us in this lecture.
Although perhaps some of that might come out in the question and answer session and I'll be glad to entertain any questions you might have.
But what I would like to discuss is how does Islaam look at women, i.e. what is womanhood in Islaam? Did Muslims believe like the early Greek
writers or early church fathers that women were not full human begins? Did they feel that women where Satan's trap, so therefore should be
shunned and looked at as something evil and dangerous? How did they perceive women? Upon investigating into the traditions of Islaam which
is, as I said, based on revelation known as the Qur'aan, we find that it becomes very clear that Muslims are taught that men and women share
a single humanity - that they are equal in their humanity and that there is no difference in the amount of human nature in them. We might now
take that for granted, but as I explained, the initial western civilization was based on the fact that women were not full human beings.
So this being something that was taught 1400 years ago was a revolutionary idea in the sense that it is only within the last 100 years
or so that the issue of women being full human beings has come to be accepted in western intellectual circles. Initially, women were not
considered full human beings.
The Qur'aan in describing the origins of human beings tells them, the translation of which would be something like "O humanity! Verily
we have created you from a single male and a single female, and have made you into tribes and peoples so that you may know one another.
Verily the most honorable of you are those who are most pious with God." [49:13] This verse in the Qur'aan teaches that humans come
from a single male and a single female. The indication here is that the male and female in terms of their human nature are at an equal
level. Likewise another verse, from a chapter which is known in the Qur'aan as the chapter of Women - because most of the issues discussed
there are laws dealing with women - starts off with a verse which could be translated as "O humanity! Verily We have created you from
a single soul, and have made from it its mate," this is a reference to Adam and Eve, "and have made from both of them many people, men
and women, and scattered them throughout the earth." [4:1] So here again is the issue of men and women and all human beings coming from
a single source, a single family, a single set of parents. This shows that women share in full humanity with men.
Likewise in the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) - which is the second source of the Islaamic
religion - we find that the Prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) said in a Hadith that indeed verily women are the twin
halves of men. The Arabic word shaqaa'iq, which I translated as twin halves, means taking something and splitting it in half. The
understanding is that there is a single humanity, a single essence which is shared, and there are twin halves of that - one is man
and one is women. This is repeated often in the Qur'aan. The words of the Prophet Mohammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) also
emphasize this. As I said, this is a very important concept to understand when one reflects on how traditional western civilization
looked at women as not being full partners and not sharing in humanity. Although now, we might not find much surprise to that because
it is a given perhaps that men and women are full human beings. But this is something that is a late occurrence in western traditions.
Let us take it to another step, what is the aim of humanity? What is the purpose for which human beings exist on earth, to what
ends do they strive? What will occur to them if they strive to those ends and what will occur to them if they did not strive to
those ends? Since Islaam is a religion which sees itself as revelation from God and the truth, Muslims would feel that human beings
have a set purpose here on earth; that in everything of God's creation there is wisdom. There is nothing of God's creation that does
not have any wisdom. There is nothing for sport or play and so therefore human beings have a purpose, and that purpose has been
elucidated for them in the teaching of Islaam. They were created to worship God. A verse from the Qur'aan says that God says that
He has not created human beings except to worship Him. So therefore, the essence of humanity is the same between male and female, and
they also share the same aim and that is to worship God. And that is the most important issue in the Islamic culture and civilization.
You know that the Islamic culture and civilization is rooted in religious belief. American civilization is rooted in what? In the
writings of the founding fathers of the United States of America. It is rooted in the Declaration of Independence, the ideals which
were placed therein. It is rooted in the Constitution of the United States. It is rooted in some of the arguments between monarchy
or democracy which were written by some of the early writers or founding fathers. So it is rooted in a political thought. Yes, it
might have some traditions which go back further and extend to certain ideas like in parts of Christianity and so forth, but in its
essence it is a political thought, unlike Islaam which is a religion in its essence.
The civilization of Islaam - a civilization which is 1400 years old - is one which is rooted in religion. For a Muslim the
greatest aim is to serve God, to worship God alone, and that is what the word Muslim means.
Muslim is not a racial description, it is not an ethnic category, Muslim means one who submits. Islaam means submitting to
the will of God - the voluntary submission to God - so Islaam is a religion of submission. Therefore, in the most important
aspect of the Islamic religion, we find that men and women share in the same aim and are expected to have the same
responsibilities, in that men and women are both required or obligated to testify that there is none worthy of worship but
Allah alone - God alone - and that Muhammad is His Messenger. Men and women are both obligated to pray five times a day,
which is the second pillar of Islaam. They are obligated to fast the month of Ramadan. They are obligated to make pilgrimage
to Makkah. They are obligated to give charity. They are obligated to have the same beliefs. They are obligated to have the same
type of morality and the same type of code of conduct and behavior.
Men and women share these essential ingredients of Islamic behavior, which define a Muslim from a non-Muslim. And this
is of extreme importance because it breaks from the tradition of religions. For instance fifty years before the birth of the
prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) who was born around 560 CE we find that there was a gathering of bishops
in France to discuss whether women possessed souls or not, and that, if they do possess souls, what would be their purpose
on earth? Was it to worship God? And if they worshipped God, would they go to paradise? In the end it was decided that, yes, women
do possess souls - which was a break from previous tradition - but that their purpose was not just to worship God, but also to serve men.
In Islaam, however, the basis of submission is not that women are submitting to men, but that men and women together
submit to God. So therefore, when you read the passages of the Qur'aan, it becomes very clear that the obedient from among
both the believing men and women receive paradise, which is the greatest aim and objective in a Muslim's life, and the basis
of that civilization. Likewise, those who are disobedient and who are renegades, and who do not want to worship God also
receive the same punishment whether they are male or female. This is why throughout the Qur'aan you find the wording
addressed to both males and females. The Arabic language like French has two types of verbs, one representing the feminine
and one the masculine. So in the Qur'aan you'll find both categories of the human race, both sexes, being addressed. This
you find over and over and over. There is no need to now recite all these passages, but they are there if anyone wants to know.
In summary we found three bases: that they share the same humanity, that they have the same aim on this earth, and
also, they expect the same reward, which is the goal which they are working for collectively as human beings. And this is
a break as I said from the previous religious traditions and also political and social understanding prevalent among the
philosophers before the coming of Islaam. And as a result of that, we find that Islaam accorded women rights which perhaps
we take for granted now, but were given by God to men and women some 1400 years ago. These rights like the right to own
property, the right to dispose of property according to their own wishes as long as they follow the laws of the religion
of Islaam, which apply the same for men or women and the right to certain what we would call now political rights, like
the right to enter into a treaty with combatant, are something very recent relatively speaking in the West.
One of the rights given by Islaam in the time of the prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) was that
if a woman gives a treaty to a combatant from a non-Muslim attacking force - her treaty would be considered as was
the case with a female companion of the Prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam). In the Christian church these
companions would be called disciples for instance, the disciples of the Prophet Muhammad are the companions as they
are called. They were in the hundreds and thousands not just twelve as with Jesus Christ, and there are both men and
women amongst them. When the prophet Muhammad came to Mecca, one of the women companions by the name of Umm Hani, who
was an inhabitant of Mecca and a believer in the Prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam), accorded certain
relatives of hers protection that they would not be harmed. Her brother who was one of the main companions of the
Prophet Muhammad and married his daughter, Ali Bin Abi Talib, wanted to execute two of these men who were known for
harming the Muslims and fighting against them. So Umm Hani went to the Prophet Muhammad and complained that she had
accorded them protection and the Prophet recognized her giving protection to those two individuals.
This is what we might call, in the classification and terminology that we now use, a political right. In the
sense of according protection for another person during the state of war is something which is relatively new in
the West and was a known tradition in the Islamic world 1400 years ago. Likewise, in terms of what we might call
public participation, there are certain acts of worship which are public acts of worship in Islaam, and there are
certain acts of worship which are private. One of the public acts is the pilgrimage, when men and women all make
pilgrimage, and this is one of the pillars of Islaam. Likewise another public act of worship is the two `Eid prayers
which occur twice a year, once after the pilgrimage and once after the pass of Ramadan. Men and women both
participate in that publicly. Likewise, we have a verse which shows that the social contract between men and
women is the same in Islaam. This verse might be translated as the following: "And the believing men and women
are," what we might translate as, "awliyaa" - the word in Arabic for friends or allies or supporters of one
another, "they" - meaning men and women - "bid to that which is correct" i.e. they commend that which is
correct, "and they forbid that which is evil". And this is a corrective process in society, removing evil
and commending that which is good. And then "they perform the prayer", both men and women, "they pay the alms", or
the charity to the poor, "and they obey God and His Messenger." And then God shows them the reward and that
they are those upon whom God will have mercy and God is Almighty and All-Wise.
So in this verse, we find that the social contract between men and women, as individuals in the
society, is the same, that they both go for the highest goal of bidding or commanding that which is
correct, forbidding that which is evil, and that they share in the two major acts of worship, which
are the prayer and giving charity. They share in the beliefs and obedience to God and obedience to
the Prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) and likewise, they share in the reward in the
end of obtaining Allah's mercy. This is a very important concept, which is in contradiction with what
the western tradition is upon today, and that is as I said as a result of the initial extreme of the
Greek philosophers that women did not share in humanity. As the result of that extreme another extreme
occurred - at least the Muslims consider it extreme - that there is no difference between men and women.
So therefore, the idea of having genders - this is a term which is not used in a biological
sense, as we might use the word sex in a biological sense for male and female, but the understanding
today is that the traits that define maleness or femaleness, the social traits and so forth
are determined by upbringing, culture, and environment and that there is no inherent difference
in the way men and women think or act or what their make up is and so forth. And that is why they use the term gender.
This extreme resulted from the initial extreme that occurred 2000 years ago, when the Greek
thought that the women did not posses humanity. So as a result of this 2000 year processes we now
come to another extreme - at least this is what Muslims would say - this extreme now is that men
and women are the same, that there is no difference.
Islaam, although confirming that men and women do share in the same essence of humanity, also
confirms that men and women are different. But does this difference mean that men are inherently
good or women are inherently evil? No. And this is why when you look at one of the verses in the
Qur'aan that sheds light on this aspect, God says, recounting His creation, that He is the One
Who created the night, as it envelops, as it comes - if you look at the horizon, it comes like
a sheet enveloping the horizon - and He is the One Who created the day as it comes
bursting, shining, - that is how Sun rises and He is the One Who created male and female.
And then the next verse says, verily, what you strive for - human beings are into different
ends, diverse ends - some strive for God's pleasure, some strive for disobedience of God, some
strive to do good to humans, some strive to do harm, different ends. But what is the example
here? God mentions night and day and then mentions male and female. The understanding is, yes, night
has a purpose, and in the Qur'aan you always find verse after verse, describing that night has
a wisdom behind it. And also it tells humanity that had it been only night and no day human
beings could not live on earth. And this is now shown scientifically that if it was only night
and there was no sunlight, certain hormones of body would not be able to reproduce and human
beings would die. Life as we know it on earth would not exist. And likewise, day has its
wisdoms behind it. But can one argue and say, that night is good and day is evil? No, and
no Muslim would believe that. And can one argue and say that day is good and night is evil?
No. Likewise, male and female also have their roles to play. But can one say that the
role of men is inherently good and the role of women is inherently evil? No. And can
one say the opposite to that - the role of women is inherently good and the role of men
is inherently evil? No. But they both have a role.
This is the main contention now between western thought and Islamic belief. Western
thought has basically accepted, except for maybe some few corners perhaps in the Vatican
or so, that men and women share in their humanity and that they are the same. Muslims
have believed this for 1400 years. But the difference is that in western thought, as
a reaction to the initial thought that women did not share humanity fully, the argument
is that the roles of men and women in society are only defined by culture, environment
and upbringing, therefore there is really no true role for men and no true role for
women and that we can switch this, if we just teach the society correctly. But in
Islaam there is a defined role for men and a defined role for women. Who is the
one who defines this role for men and women? It's their creator. This is the
major, if you want to use the term philosophical, even though it is an inaccurate
term in that sense, but we can just use if for the lack of better term, philosophical, ideological
or theological difference between the two opposing arguments. Now with that said, it
is important to understand that when Islaam gave these roles to men and women alike, it
put responsibilities equal to obligations to both. I will give you an example for
that: Islaam senses that women have the nature of mother not by cultural tradition
or by sociological system but inherently are better in providing and taking care
of the offspring, that there is a bond there which goes beyond tradition.
A psychological bonding, a physical bonding, something which is more than
just traditions of human beings. As a result of that it has placed greater
responsibilities upon women towards their children are then those of men.
At the same time, the obligations that children have towards their mother
in Islaam is greater than they have towards their fathers, and this is why when
the prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) was asked by a man one was
his companions "Who should I befriend in this world?" The prophet Muhammad
(sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) replied "your mother." And then the man asked
a second time, and the prophet replied your mother, and then a third time, and
again he replied your mother, and on the fourth time, he said "your father".
Likewise in the Qur'aan we find that it tells human beings that your mother
bore you from one hardship to the other hardship, talking about the labors
and difficulties of pregnancy and childhood, and then fed you for two
years, suckled you, and tells us to be kind to our parents and reminds
us of our mother first before our fathers.
The point is that even though it has defined a role for women with the
children which is different than the role of the father, at the same time
it gives women honor and respect from their children which is greater than
that received by the fathers. The fathers do receive respect and their
honor, they are not just thrown out of the picture, but it is given to them
and according to the degree of their responsibility. And likewise, because
the mother inherently, not just because of cultural tradition, has something
inherent which makes that bond greater between her and her child then the male.
She receives a greater honor and respect from the child and at the same time she
is required to give a greater obligation.
I only gave that as an example to show you that while Islaam recognizes
differences between the sexes, it does not accept the concept that gender is
just an issue of upbringing or cultural traditions, for there are inherent
differences in males and females, and as a result of that the obligations
and responsibilities of each of the two sexes are together. Imported from
that is another matter that even though men and women are different, they
are not in opposition to one another, which is the basis of much of the
western thought and especially of feminist traditions. That there's a
struggle between men and women, "There is a battle of sexes", as it is
sometimes said in the popular sort of designation. This doesn't exist in
Islaam. Men and women work in tandem, just like day and night revolve, and
you live in day time and you live in night time. You cannot live only
in night, and you cannot live only in day, likewise, men and women are
not against one another, they are not pitted against one another but
rather they share in the same aim, the same purpose of being, the same
humanity. They have different roles, but these roles complement one
another and are needed by one another in order for the success of
humanity, not in this world, but also - of course since Muslims believe
in the hereafter- in the hereafter, which is the ultimate goal for Muslims.
Now, I would like to make one final comment and then I'll leave it open
for questions. Let's look at the applicabilities of both of these programs.
We discussed a lot of ideas, thoughts and beliefs and historical concepts, but
when they are actually applied, which of the two view points is more successful.
Which brings more bliss to humanity? Is it the secular western view or is
it the Islaamic view? And I have a concrete example which I'd like to share
with you. When I was in Beijing this last summer for the UN 4th world
conference on the women, there was a platform for action which was being
discussed by the different nations and organizations there. The aim of the
platform for action was to upraise, uplift, and to embetter the status
of women around the world, which are of course noble and correct aims, there
is no contention concerning that. The platform for action was divided into
different areas of concentrations, such as poverty, health, finances, conflicts
and violence and so forth, and one of it was the girl child. The 12th issue
of the 12 concerned areas for the platform for action, the girl child, the
status of girls - future women - in the world today. The country which was
hosting the conference, China is known for the practice of killing girls.
The reason why is because of their population. You can only have one child
per couple and Chinese by their tradition view males as fewer then females
and so as a result they will usually kill the female child, in hope that
the wife gives birth to a boy.
This is an issue which exists and because the hosts were the Chinese, the
United Nations didn't really want to get into this issue. They didn't want to
talk about it because it was not politically correct to address that issue in China.
Moreover, even though they might have passed certain regulations, platforms for
actions and certain commitments which they have required of citizens of the
world to follow, they at the end will see that perhaps in twenty-five to fifty
years the status of the world child will not have markedly improved.
We can see from other things, one of the major issues which the United
Nations was created for after World War II, was the slaughter of so many million
human beings, six million Jews in Europe, and yet fifty years later, in the
year of the fiftieth celebration of the UN, a genocide has taken place in
Europe of the Bosnians. All the human rights, all of the declarations in the
last fifty years has not been able to change anything on the ground. Now when
the prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) was sent to the Arabs, the
Arabs had the same practice. They used to kill their girl children. The Arabs
killed their girls for a number of reasons, most of the time due to poverty.
Being a desert people without industry or any sort of means of trade, existence
was very minimal. And as a result, out of fear of poverty they would kill
their girl children, and they would bury them alive. This is a fact which
is mentioned in the Quraan and was well known during the time of the prophet
Muhammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam). God condemns in the Quraan with
verses, the idea of killing of the girl child, the burying in the ground, and
also the attitudes of the Arabs towards girls. One verse in the Quraan says
that "when he is given the good news that his wife is given birth.
" God calls it a good news, " - to a female child, a girl - his face becomes
blackened and he becomes ashamed. Will he hide the fact "that he has given
birth to a girl and not tell the people, because he feels it as a shame.
"Or will he bury it in the ground", this is a condemnation of the practice
of the people. And likewise the companions of the prophet Muhammad
(sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) before they accepted Islaam, many of
them killed their girl children. One man came to prophet Muhammad
(sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) and said I killed ten of my daughters
in my lifetime, will I receive paradise? For will God accept my repentance
for this sin, now that I have left this pagan religion of before, worshipping
idols and killing girl children and so forth. Within one generation, within
23 years this was how long the prophet was amongst the Arabs, the
practice of killing girls ended. It no longer existed in Arabia.
And likewise, it didn't just stop like that, but a change in attitude
came towards women, in educating them and making morally upright people.
People receive no other reward, but paradise. Again that is the greatest
aim for the Muslim and that is their motivation and reason of being. So Islam
not only tried removing the negative aspect of murdering girls, but also
included the positive aspect of educating girls and raising them in society, and
this brings me to my final point. This is something of course which we can look
at the previous declarations of human rights or whatever, irrespective of whether
these being true or false, but they have not been able to achieve the aims which
they have stated. As the example of human rights and the UN in Bosnia shows.
Fifty years after the creation of the UN, there is no change in
Europe, the same land which killed six million Jews. The same genocide
of the Bosnians occurs fifty years later by the same people who
started the UN. They are unable to stop their own from this matter, and with
this I come to my final point, that I would like to leave you with. Islaamic
civilization unlike any other civilization is based, of course on revelation, but
it is in its essence supported and founded by women. The first person to believe
in Prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) was his wife Khadeejah, and
it was through her money and through her support of him, her financial
backing, and also her encouragement that the prophet was able to spread the
message of Islaam in his first year of prophecy. The pagans did not have
the ideas of freedom of religion, that you can take your own beliefs. This
was not practiced by the pagans of Arabia - they saw this as an insurrection, they
saw this as a changing of their ways, so they sought to stop it out by
torture, by killing and by all other means that they could. And likewise, they
tried to stop the Islaamic revelation, this tradition, when the
prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) converted only the people
of Arabia. But as you know there are about one billion Muslims in the world. They
are in every single continent of the world, even in Beijing where the UN was
convening. There was a mosque there which is over a thousand years old. And
the neighborhood that lives there is about forty to fifty thousands
Muslims. Now the king’s palace, the forbidden city in front of Tien Anh
Man square which many of you have heard of, is only 500 years old. This shows
how the growth of Islaam and the sprit of Islaam is not just a Middle
Eastern phenomenon or an Arabian phenomenon but extends to all people
and races throughout the world.
Where is this teaching from, of course when prophet Muhammad
(sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) died after twenty three years Islaam only
spread in Arabia. This religion of Islam was basically spread by four
or five individuals who had the most in teaching. One of them was the
prophet's wife `Aa’isha. She is among the most to have narrated his
statements and likewise she is amongst the three, four, five who have
mostly given religious pronouncements, who have given religious
verdicts, explained what these verses in the Quraan meant or what the words of the prophet meant.
Look at any other civilization in the history of
humanity, you will not find a women playing a role in its establishment where it
can be attributed to her efforts for its establishment. The Greeks - look at the
philosophers Plato, Aristotle and others - all were men. The early church fathers
writings were basically men and until today the idea of women scholarship is limited
in some areas of the church. The French writers at the French revolution and Voltaire
and the Russians were men. The founding fathers of the United States were men, and also
other civilizations are basically based upon men. Islam is the only civilization which
is known by humanity where a leading input in terms of its transmission and
establishment was based upon the efforts of women. Central - and this is an
historical matter which is not open to interpretation, it is a fact - these are
the people who transmitted these teachings these are the people who supported
it hereafter. Those are just some thoughts and impressions concerning how Islaam uplifted women.
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