Woman in Islam
    Spiritual Equality
    Diversity of Functions
    Marriage
    Duties and Obligations of Husband and Wife
    Divorce
    Polygamy
    Mother
    Economic Position of Woman
    Safeguarding of Men and Women
    Additional Traditions of the Holy Prophet
 
 WOMAN IN ISLAM,  by Muhammad Zafrullah Khan

WOMAN IN ISLAM

The Holy Quran emphasizes that God in His perfect wisdom has created all species in pairs,
and so men and women have been created of the same species; as is said:

Islam teaches that the faculties bestowed by God upon man are a divine bounty and must be
beneficently employed:

Some religious disciplines mistakenly esteem celibacy more exalted spiritually than conjugal
life. Islam disapproves of celibacy and condemns it. The Holy Quran says:

The whole concept of monasticism originated in the notion that woman was an inferior type of
creation and association with her was degrading and demoralizing. The Church Fathers laid
the responsibility of man's fall upon woman, and represented her as being without a soul and
an instrument of the devil.

Islam denounced this attitude, and raised woman to a position of spiritual equality with man. It
held that man and woman complemented each other and were a means of mutual fulfillment.
For instance it is said:

For men who submit themselves wholly to Allah,
and women who submit  themselves to Him and men who believe
and women who believe, and men who obey Allah
and women who obey Him, and men who are truthful
and women  who are truthful, and men who are steadfast
and women who are steadfast, and men who are humble
and women who are humble, and men who give alms
and women who give alms, and men who fast
and women who fast, and men who guard their chastity
and women who guard their chastity, and men who  remember Allah
and women who remember Him,
Allah has prepared forgiveness and a great reward. (33:36)

Allah will turn in mercy to believing men and believing women;
Allah is Forgiving, Ever Merciful. (33:74)

Men and women are afforded equal protection. For instance:

Concerning the situation that developed at Hudaibiyyah, it is said:

Women, being more vulnerable than men, are accorded special protection:

Men and women will be equally rewarded in the hereafter:

---

DIVERSITY OF FUNCTIONS

Vain and ruinous are all attempts to convert men into women and to convert women into men.
Each has his appropriate function, the due discharge of which constitutes the dignity,
enjoyment, fulfillment and beauty of life.

A contemplation of the diversity of the faculties of males and females reveals the diversity of
their functions as designed by nature. For instance, woman is well equipped for child bearing,
while man is incapable of it. On the other hand, man is well fitted to command in the field; to
appoint a woman to military command in the field would be an invitation to disaster. This is
not a question of superiority or inferiority; it is a question of natural capacity and proper
functioning.

The proper discharge of the function of child-bearing imposes certain handicaps upon women,
from which man is free; but the glorious honor of the crown of motherhood is reserved for
woman, man can not aspire of it. The upbringing of children during their early years is
primarily the responsibility of the mother; the father's role at that stage is supplementary to
that of the mother. At that stage the child turns instinctively to the mother rather than to the
father for nurture, comfort or security. When a child is rebuked or disciplined by the mother, it
feels no resentment towards her; while it resents being punished by the father. The bond that
nature forges between mother and child is characterized by far greater tenderness than that
which is developed between father and child.

Woman is vulnerable and is in need of man's strength for support and protection. A woman
may be forced against her will; a man can not be forced against his inclination.

As wife and mother the primary and normal sphere of woman's activities is the home; as
breadwinner the normal sphere of man's activities and operations is the outdoors. A social
system which is based on wisdom and beneficence brings about and helps to maintain an
accord and balance between the two. Islam claims to do that.
 

MARRIAGE

  These are the true heirs who will inherit Paradise, wherein they shall abide. (23:11-12)

Then there is the direction:

The Holy Prophet has said: 'Conjugal life is our way, he who turns aside from our way is not
of us.'

Unfortunately, the West no longer considers chastity a virtue, indeed it has become a
reproach. Experimental living together and promiscuity have become the norm. Perversion
and sensuality, inside and outside wedlock, are deemed the true purpose and object of sex.
Woman has been degraded into a mere instrument of sexual indulgence.

According to Islam, the relationship between husband and wife should be characterized by
grace. The Holy Quran directs:

The character of the conjugal relationship may be judged from the direction of the Holy
Prophet: 'When you come together, supplicate: 'O Allah, safeguard us against Satan, and keep Satan away from such issue as Thou might bestow upon us.'

As has been mentioned, the Holy Quran describes husband and wife as garments for each
other (2:188); that is to say, a means of security, dignity and ornament.

The whole subject of conjugal relationship is treated in Islam as the elevated level of moral
and spiritual consciousness which excludes all ideas of mere carnal indulgence. This is well
illustrated by the following set of directions and exhortations:

Any attitude that is likely to affect adversely the capacity and chances of child-bearing of the
wife is thus disapproved. Purity and promotion of righteousness (Taqwa) must always be kept
in mind. One of the prayers of the righteous taught by the Holy Quran is:

DUTIES AND OBLIGATIONS OF HUSBAND AND WIFE

Prohibitions to marriage are clearly set out, and this is followed by:

Husbands and wives have reciprocal obligations towards each other but as man is the
breadwinner and has the responsibility of providing for wife and family, in case of a
difference in the matter of running the household he has the final word, lest things should get
out of hand and the family should be faced with ruin:

On account of the physical weakness and delicacy of women and their vulnerability, men are
appointed guardians over women:

Should reconciliation through mutual consultation prove difficult, recourse should be had to
counselors; as is said:

DIVORCE

Divorce may be initiated by the husband or the wife; in the latter case the matter must proceed
judicially, so that the rights of the wife may be fully safeguarded.

If differences arise and, failing reconciliation, the husband vows abstinence from his wife, the
situation must be resolved within four months:

There is a whole set of regulations concerning divorce. These are designed to ensure, inter
alia, that divorce should not be resorted to light-heartedly, or in a fit of passion or resentment.
It should be a deliberate act resolved upon after a careful consideration of the consequences
both for the parties and the children, if there are any, of the marriage. With this end in view
the procedure is somewhat drawn out, so that the parties may have opportunities for cool
reflection and for reconciliation, before the divorce becomes irrevocable:

A further check on hasty divorce is:

Should the husband and wife consort together after the pronouncement of a revocable divorce,
the pronouncement would be voided altogether.

All this is summarized as follows:

POLYGAMY

Just treatment of wives, when there are more of them than one, means keeping an equality
between them in the matter of maintenance, provision and companionship, that is to say, in
such respects as are susceptible of equal apportionment. Equality is not prescribed in respect
of such matters over which a person has no control, for instance, the degree of emotional
attachment and inclination. This is excluded by the general principle:

But there is also a specific exposition:

Some modern Muslim writers, in their anxiety and eagerness to curry favor with the West,
have sought to argue that as polygamy was permitted on condition of equal treatment of wives
(4:4) and equality was declared impossible of achievement (4:130), it follows that the
permission was in effect revoked. This line of exegesis is entirely mistaken and is utterly
untenable. The text of 4:130 itself clearly contemplates continuation of a system of plurality of
wives. Besides, 4:130 was not interpreted by the Holy Prophet or his companions as revoking
the permission granted by 4:4; nor was such interpretation ever commended by Muslim Jurists
through the centuries.

The truth is that polygamy as defined and restricted by Islam is a device designed by the
highest wisdom for the fostering of high moral values and the safeguarding of chastity both of
males and females. It may be described as a beneficent moral and cultural safety valve. For
lack of such a safety valve, societies that have sought to enforce a rigid system of monogamy
have been ripped apart by promiscuity, homosexuality, lesbianism and bestiality. Unrestricted
sexual indulgence has become the norm between them, and does not even attract moral
disapprobation.

The moral line is to be drawn not between monogamy and polygamy, but between regulation
and license. In the absence of moral restraint, both monogamy and polygamy may be abused. It
is the character of the relationship that exalts or debases it. As already mentioned, the ultimate
purpose of marriage in Islam is winning the pleasure of Allah.

Then Islam inculcates the beneficent development of all faculties and capacities through wise
regulation and exercise, and disapproves of and condemns their suppression or stultification.
In the early years of Islam, responding to the divine call, particularly in the case of a male,
spelt the forfeiture of life. Many paid the forfeit in Mecca; many more had to pay it in Medina
and other places on the field of battle. Though women were not altogether exempt, yet
comparatively few of them were called upon to make the extreme sacrifice. In consequence
the number of women among the Muslims rapidly increased in proportion to men. Widows
and orphans, male and female, had to be provided for. The safeguarding of moral and spiritual
values, in these conditions, made polygamy an obligation, a sacrifice and certainly not an
indulgence.

There were other considerations of a personal, social, politico-religious character, which
called for polygamy. In modern times conditions have changed and monogamy, outside Africa,
is becoming more and more the rule; but everywhere in individual cases moral considerations
still call for a plurality of wives. Islam makes provision for such cases.

Among Muslims no stigma attaches to polygamy; it is as honorable as monogamy, and
involves no discrimination between the wives or their children.
 

MOTHER

    We have enjoined on man benevolence towards his parents. (29:9)

The Holy Prophet has admonished:

    The best of you is he who behaves best towards the members of his family.

    Paradise lies at the feet of your mothers.

    He who brings up his daughters well, and makes no distinction between them
    and his sons, will be close to me in Paradise.
 
 

ECONOMIC POSITION OF WOMAN

In Islam the independent economic position of woman has been established since the very
beginning. Mention has been made of the obligation of the husband to make a settlement on the
wife, in proportion to his means, at the time of marriage. This settlement is called dower
(mehr). If at the time of the death of the husband the wife's dower should be still unpaid, it
ranks as a debt to be discharged out of his estate, in priority to all his other debts. In addition,
the widow is entitled to her share in the husband's estate, which is determined by law.

Any property that a woman might acquire by her own effort, or might inherit as an heir or
receive as a legacy or gift, belongs to her independently of her husband. She may ask her
husband to manage it, but if she chooses to manage or administer it herself, he cannot interfere
in her management or administration of it.

A married woman who possesses means of her own may, and in most cases does, contribute a
portion or the whole of her independent means towards the upkeep of the household, but is
under no obligation to do so. The upkeep of the household is the entire responsibility of the
husband, even when the wife is in her own right better off than her husband.

This is well illustrated by the following incident. The Holy Prophet, peace be on him, on one
occasion admonished women to spend in charity out of their own means also. Thereafter two
women, both bearing the name of Zainab, one of them the wife of the well known companion
Abdullah bin Masood, came to him and told him that their respective husbands were men of
straitened means, but that they in their own rights were comparatively better off. Would it be
an act of spiritual merit if they were to assist their husbands out of their own means? The Holy
Prophet assured them their spending on their husbands would be doubly meritorious, as it
would rank both as charity and as graciousness towards kindred.

The Holy Quran admonishes:

The Islamic system of succession and inheritance, set out in 4:12-13 and 177, aims at a wide
distribution of property. If a person should die leaving his or her surviving parents, wife or
husband, sons and daughters, they all share in the inheritance; the general rule being that the
share of a male is double that of a female in the same degree of relationship. In this there is no
discrimination against female heirs in view of the obligation of the male to provide for his
family, while the female has no such obligation. In practice the rule works out favorably for
female heirs.

A Muslim may not dispose of more than one-third of his assets by testamentary directions.
Legacies, whether for charity or in favor of non-heirs, must not exceed one-third of net assets;
nor may the share of an heir be augmented or diminished by testamentary direction. There is
no room for discrimination between the heirs under the Islamic system of inheritance, like, for
instance, primogeniture, or exclusion of females.

A direction designed to secure the preservation of testimony relating to civil transactions,
which requires that they must be reduced to writing, is sometime mistakenly seized upon as
evidence of discrimination against females. The direction is as follows:

There is here not the slightest trace of discrimination. The normal rule is that women should
be safeguarded against the contingency of having to appear as witnesses in judicial
proceedings. Therefore, normally a woman should not be called upon to attest a document
recording a transaction. This rule may be relaxed in an emergency. But then another difficulty
would arise. In the case of male witnesses their memory of a transaction that they attest as
witnesses would be refreshed when they met socially and the transaction was recalled for one
reason or another. In the case of a document recording a transaction, which is attested by one
male and one female witness, the female witness, under the Islamic social system, as will
presently be appreciated, would not normally have frequent occasion to meet the male witness
and talk to him, so that there would be little chance of her memory of the transaction being
refreshed. To overcome this lack of opportunity of refreshing the memory, it is wisely
provided that where only one male witness is available two female witnesses may be called
upon so that, in the very words of the text, one may refresh the memory of the other.

This provision is concerned only with the preservation of evidence, and does not deal with
the weight to be attached to the testimony of a male or female witness. An illustration may
help to clear up any doubt on the matter. Assume that a transaction recorded in a document
attested by one male and two female witnesses becomes the subject of a dispute which comes
up for judicial determination. It is then discovered that one of the two female witnesses has in
the meantime died. The male witness and the surviving female witness are examined in court
and the judge finds that their respective accounts of the terms of the transaction are not entirely
in harmony; but he feels very strongly that taking every relevant factor into consideration the
testimony of the female witness is more reliable than that of the male witness. In such a case it
would be his plain duty to rely on the testimony of the female witness in preference to that of
the male witness. There could be no question of discrimination in favor of or against a
woman.
 

SAFEGUARDING OF MEN AND WOMEN

The Holy Quran affirms:

    Assuredly, We have created man and We know well what assails his mind. (50:17)

    We created man from a sperm-drop possessing diverse qualities, that We might
    try him; so We made him hearing and seeing, and We showed him the Way. He
    is either appreciative and follows it, or is ungrateful and rejects it. (76:34)

Man's mind receives impressions through hearing, sight and other senses, and incites him to
virtue or to vice. He is, therefore, cautioned:

Thus the restraint of the senses and constant watchfulness over them is the essence of
righteousness. The Holy Prophet was commanded:

The directions set out above are designed to secure the highest standards of good behavior for
men and women, and that they should comport themselves with dignity and self restraint in all
situations, Sobriety, modesty and purity are to be the hall-marks of Islamic society. Free and
unrestrained intermixing of the sexes is barred. A certain degree of decorum is required both
of men and women. The fair sex is to be shielded against all risks of molestation; as is
ordained:

Unrestricted and unregulated association of men and women, and the women's decking
themselves out for the set purpose of attracting men has become the bane of Western society,
so that all considerations of modesty and decent deportment have been cast aside and all the
old, prized values have fallen into contempt and are ridiculed. It is a matter of great concern
that a section of Western oriented Muslims have not been able to resist this suicidal trend that
prevails in the West. It is devoutly to be hoped that the dangers inherent in this line of thinking
and conduct will soon be recognized, and the beneficence of Islamic values being appreciated
will be more strictly adhered to.
 

    Mu'awiah ibn Haidah relates: I asked the Holy Prophet: What is the right of a wife
    against her husband? He said: Feed her when you feed yourself, clothe her when you
    clothe yourself, do not strike her on her face, do not revile her and do not separate
    yourself from her except inside the house. (Abu Daud)
    Abu Hurairah relates that the Holy Prophet said: The most perfect of believers in the
    matter of faith is he whose behavior is best, and the best of you are those who behave
    best towards their wives. (Tirmidhi)
    Abdullah ibn Amr ibn 'As relates that the Holy Prophet said: The world is but a
    provision and the best provision of the world is a good woman. (Muslim)
    Ayesha relates: A woman came to me begging with her two daughters; I could not find
    anything except a single date which I gave her. She divided it between her daughters and
    did not herself eat any of it. Then she got up and left. When the Holy Prophet came, I told
    him of it. He said: one who is tried with daughters and treats them well will find that
    they will become his shield from the Fire. (Bokhari and Muslim)
    Abu Shuraih Khuwailad ibn Amr Khuzai relates that the Holy Prophet said: Allah, I
    declare sinful any failure to safeguard the rights of two weak ones: orphans and women.
    (Nisai)
    Abu Hurairah relates that the Holy Prophet said: Treat women kindly. Woman has been
    created from a rib and the most crooked part of the rib is the uppermost. If you try to
    straighten it you will break it and if you leave it alone it will remain crooked. So treat
    women kindly. (Bokhari and Muslim)
    Abu Hurairah relates that the Holy Prophet said: Let no Muslim man entertain any rancor
    against a Muslim woman. Should he dislike one quality in her, he would find another
    which is pleasing. (Muslim)
    Abu Hurairah relates that the Holy Prophet said: When the husband calls his wife to his
    bed and she does not come and he spends the night offended with her, the angels keep
    cursing her through the night. (Bokhari)
    Abu Hurairah relates that the Holy Prophet said: Had I ordained that a person should
    prostrate himself before another, I would have commanded that a wife should prostrate
    herself before her husband. (Tirmidhi)
    Umm Salamah relates that the Holy Prophet said: If a woman dies and her husband is
    pleased with her, she will enter Paradise. (Tirmidhi)
    Usamah ibn Zaid relates that the Holy Prophet said: I am not leaving a more harmful trial
    for men than women. (Bokhari and Muslim)
    Abu Hurairah relates that the Holy Prophet said: Of the dinar you spend in the cause of
    Allah; the dinar you spend in procuring the freedom of a slave; the dinar you give away
    in charity to the poor and the dinar you spend on your wife and children, the highest in
    respect of reward is the one you spend on your wife and children. (Muslim)
    Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqqas relates in the course of a long hadith that the Holy Prophet said:
    Whatever you might spend seeking thereby the pleasure of Allah will have its reward,
    even that which you put in the mouth of your wife. (Bokhari and Muslim)
    Ayesha relates: I did not envy any of the wives of the Holy Prophet so much as I envied
    Khadijah (the first wife of the Holy Prophet), though I had never seen her. The Holy
    Prophet mentioned her often. When a goat was slaughtered, he would cut it into pieces
    and send them to Khadijah's friends. Sometimes I would say to him: You talk of her as if
    there never was any woman in the world beside Khadijah; and he would say: She was
    such and such, and I had children from her. (Bokhari and Muslim)
 

WOMAN IN ISLAM by Muhammad Zafrullah Khan.
HTML document by Salman Ahmad, [email protected].
 
 

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