Women
By: Bilal Philips
(taken from his books and tapes)
At a time when the rest of the world, from
Greece and Rome to India and China, considered women as no
better than children or even slaves, with no rights whatsoever,
Islam acknowledged women's equality with men in a great many
respects. The Qur'an states:
"And among His signs is this: that He
created mates for you form yourselves that you may find rest,
peace of mind in them, and He ordained between you love and
mercy. Lo, herein indeed are signs for people who reflect."
[30:21]
Prophet Muhammad said:
"The most perfect in faith amongst believers
is he who is best in manners and kindest to his wife." [Abu
Dawud]
Muslims believe that Adam and Eve were
created from the same soul. Both were equally guilty of their
sin and fall from grace, and both were forgiven by Allah. Many
women in Islam have had high status; consider the fact that the
first person to convert to Islam was Khadijah, the wife of
Muhammad, whom he both loved and respected. His favorite wife
after Khadijah's death, Aeisha, became renowned as a scholar
and one of the greatest sources of Hadith literature. Many of
the female Companions accomplished great deeds and achieved
fame, and throughout Islamic history there have been famous and
influential scholars, jurists and mystics.
With regard to education, both women and men
have the same rights and obligations. This is clear in Prophet
Muhammad's saying:
"Seeking knowledge is mandatory for every
believer." [Ibn Majah]
This implies men and women.
A woman is to be treated as God has endowed
her, with rights, such as to be treated as an individual, with
the right to own and dispose of her own property and earnings,
enter into contracts, even after marriage. She has the right to
be educated and to work outside the home if she so chooses. She
has the right to inherit from her father, mother, and husband.
A very interesting point to note is that in Islam, unlike any
other religion, a woman can be an imam, a leader of communal
prayer, for a group of women.
A Muslim woman also has obligations. All the
laws and regulations pertaining to prayer, fasting, charity,
pilgrimage, doing good deeds, etc., apply to women, albeit with
minor differences having mainly to do with female physiology.
Before marriage, a woman has the right to
choose her husband. Islamic law is very strict regarding the
necessity of having the woman's consent for marriage. A
marriage dowry (money) is given by the groom to the bride for
her own personal use. She keeps her own family name, rather
than taking her husband's. As a wife, a woman has the right to
be supported by her husband even if she is already rich. She
also has the right to seek divorce and custody of young
children. She does not return the dowry, except in a few
unusual situations.
Despite the fact that in many places and
times Muslim communities have not always adhered to all or even
many of the foregoing in practice, the ideal has been there for
1400 years, while virtually all other major civilizations did
not begin to address these issues or change their negative
attitudes until the 19th and 20th centuries, and there are
still many contemporary civilizations which have yet to do so.