Pearls Of Deen

Superiority of men or gender equality?

IhyaaudDeen

Q: Muslim women are told that they should not leave their homes in order to work and that they are not allowed to interact freely with the opposite gender. Likewise, they are told that they should be obedient to their husbands. Does Islam not afford men and women equal rights, or are men superior to women in Islam?

A:  Before discussing the issue in question, it is necessary to refresh some fundamental beliefs and facts which are extremely important to understand the Islamic perspective. The following are among our fundamental beliefs:

Allah Ta'ala is our Creator and Sustainer. We belong to Him alone and to Him we shall return.

Allah Ta'ala, being our Creator and Master, has the right to command us as He wills, and we, being His creation and slaves, have the duty to obey His command. A slave does not have the right to question the authority of his Master. Rather, he will have to obey the Master's command at all times and under all circumstances.

Allah Ta'ala is most loving and compassionate towards His servants. Every command of His is full of justice and wisdom, and is for the betterment of humanity at large.

A believer accepts every word of the Qur'aan Majeed as the Divine word of Allah Ta'ala and wholeheartedly submits to every command of the Qur'aan Majeed, whether his puny logic can fathom the wisdom of the command or not.

After having understood these fundamental beliefs of Islam, the question then is, "What is the position of women in Islam, and what are the commands of Allah Ta'ala and His Rasul (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam) which are directed towards women?" In order to understand the position which Islam has afforded to women, it is imperative to first reflect over the position of women before the advent of Islam.

The Position of Women before the Advent of Islam

The advent of Islam occurred at a time when the world was engulfed in sin and was steeped in the lowest ebb of darkness. This era was regarded as the darkest age in the history of mankind. Cheating, robbing, killing, gambling, usurping the rights of orphans and widows and even burying female infants alive was the order of the day.

Women were degraded to such an extent that the European countries did not even accept women to be human beings! Women had no place in religion and were considered unfit for engaging in worship. In some councils of Rome, it was decided, after much discussion, that a woman is a dirty animal. Among the Arabs, it was considered permissible for a father to kill or even bury his daughter alive. In fact, this heinous crime was deemed to be a mark of honour and a standard of nobility. There were some who held the opinion that a woman's life had no value. Hence, if a person killed a woman, he did not have to pay blood-money or be charged with retaliatory action. As far as the Hindus were concerned, when the husband died, his wife too was burnt alive with his dead body. In the year 586 AC, France showed its 'compassion' for women by passing a resolution – after great deliberation and controversy – that a woman is actually a human being, but she has been created for the sole purpose of serving man!

In essence, immorality and indecency had reached its pinnacle, where women had no social recognition and were openly ill-treated and physically abused. It was in this age of ignorance and oppression that Rasulullah (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam) – may our lives be sacrificed for him – was sent to rescue mankind from the darkness of kufr and usher them into the light of Imaan.

The Position of Women after the Advent of Islam

Rasulullah (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam) strove to rescue the Arabs from the wrong practices they were immersed in and instil within them the true values of Islam. The light of Islam began to spread until the golden era eventually dawned upon the world, where the nation that was once accustomed to physically and emotionally ill-treating their women became the greatest benefactors of mankind and the greatest protectors of women's rights the world had ever seen! The men of such a nation, who at one time would deprive their women of all rights and degrade them to being inherited among the belongings of the deceased, were now upholding the honour of their women and fulfilling their rights. They now treated their women with the greatest compassion and mercy and safeguarded them against every type of worldly and Deeni harm. All this was purely on account of them upholding the Mubaarak Sunnah of Rasulullah (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam) and the teachings of Islam in their lives.