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With
regards to the man and woman being equal. Let us understand
this logically.
A car is made in
India
and another car is made in Japan.
The Indian car is no match to the one made in Japan.
Why? Because the manufacturers have different capabilities.
The Indian manufacturer is not that advanced technologically
as the Japanese therefore the end result is different. Both
are manufacturing cars but one is superior than the other.
One
Creator
But here we have ONE manufacturer, one Creator Allah swt, so
how and why would he make one product i.e. man superior and
the other i.e. woman inferior.
To this end some have argued that sometimes the same
manufacturer produces "A" grade products
which are more expensive and then a "B" or "C"
grade by using cheaper ingredients . There is a riwayat
in the Sahih Bukhari which says that Hazrat Adam ('a) was
created of clay and then his rib was used to create Bibi Hawa,
and because the rib is a crooked bone that is why the woman
can not be straight and if you try to straighten her she will
break.
Inna lilahe wa inna ilaihe
rajaoon.
How do you respond to such absurd statements? With due respect
I would like to ask Imam Bukhari that if the mould is crooked
then everything coming out of that mould will be the same,
then this same woman produces men so what do we say?
Imam Jafer e Sadiq ('a). was asked: "Did Allah swt use
the rib of Adam ('a) to create Hawa" and the Imam
replied "NO".
If there are ahadith that go against the Qur'an then what are
you going to accept? Obviously the Qur'an will always take
precedence.
Qur'an is the word of Allah swt and Riwayaats are man made.
The Arabic word for rib is " za laam ain (zila')"
you will not find this word in the entire Qur'an.
On the contrary, you will find Allah swt saying in the Holy
Qur'an 4:1
"O
mankind be conscious of your Sustainer who has created you out
of one living entity...."
"
And we created women from the nature of man and from an
essence the same as the essence of man."
And in 2:187
"They
are a vestment for you (man) and you are a vestment for them."
And
in Surah Rum 30:21
"
and among His wonders is this: He creates for you mates out of
your own kind, so that you might incline towards them, and He
engenders love and tenderness between you: in this, behold,
there are messages indeed for people who think!"
So the Creator is one, the essence is the same and they are
both here on a joint mission.
Allah swt has created the husband and wife so that they can
have deep love, affection and mercy for each other because if
these things are absent, then the future generations are
destroyed.
Both men and women are created equal and are equal before
Allah swt. The only thing that makes one superior to the other
is their Iman and good deeds.
In Sura 33:35 Allah swt says
"Verily
for all men and women who have surrendered themselves unto
Allah, and all believing men and believing women, And all
truly devout men and truly devout women, And all truthful men
and truthful women, And all patient men and all patient women
And all humble men & all humble women,
And all men who give charity and all women who give
charity,
And all self denying man and all self denying women,
And all men who are mindful of their chastity and all women
who are mindful of their chastity,
And all men and women who remember Allah unceasingly
For [all of] them has Allah readied forgiveness of sins and a
mighty reward."
WHERE IS THE DISCRIMINATION?
It is also said that in Islam man and woman do not have equal
rights.
Equal Rights but Not Identical Rights
It is very important to know that Islam has given both man and
woman equal rights but not identical rights. Because both men
and women are equal but not created identical.
In Islam divorce as a natural right is particular to the
husband, but, as a conventional right, the wife can also
benefit from it. The right to marry (enter into Nikah)
lies with the woman. It is the woman who initiates the
marriage contract.
But Islam forbids the husband from misusing this right, for
instance a man is diagnosed with liver cancer and is told that
he has a year to live. This man, in order to deprive his wife
from his inheritance divorces the wife. Such a divorce will be
considered null and void because Islam has given this right to
man to establish justice and not to do injustice by misusing
this right.
Polygamy in Islam
Another thing which is very commonly criticised is this notion
of polygamy in Islam (a man being allowed 4 wives.)
We should not take things out of context. Ayah 3 of Sura Nisa
which talks about this was revealed after the battle of Uhad.
The aftermath of the war resulted in lots of widows and
orphans and the ayah starts by saying "and if you have
reasons to fear that you might not act equitably towards
orphans, then marry from... and then goes on to say but
if you have reason to fear
that you might not be able to treat them with equal fairness
then have only one.." Just observe the emphasis on
fairness and justice in Islam.
Some men with the full knowledge that it is very difficult to
behave with justice, marry several wives, and do it in the
name of Islam and under the cover of Islam. These are people
who misrepresent and discredit Islam by their mischievous
deeds.
Another objection that is raised is that the share of a woman
in inheritance according to Islam is half the share of a man.
This is due to a special state of affairs. Because a woman is
entitled to dower and maintenance, and the wife is exempted
from providing for the family budget which is the
responsibility of the husband, Islam seeks this responsibility
be recompensed by inheritance, and so twice as much of the
share of inheritance has been allocated to man as that of a
woman
Another argument that is presented to prove that Islam
considers woman inferior to man is that of 2 woman witnesses
as opposed to one.
If you find a command (hukm) of Allah swt in the Qura'n
but the reasons are not clear to you then you have NO right to
assume, for example take the case of Kasr Namaz. People
argue that Kasr namaz was for the olden days because in
those days travelling conditions were difficult etc but you
cannot say for sure why Allah swt has invoked this law. Maybe
the kasr namaz is to help identify the traveller (the
musafir) suppose you are in the masjid and you see someone
praying Kasr then you immediately know that this is a musafir
and so you try to find out if there is anything that you can
do to help make his stay in your town easier. Who knows what
the reasoning is, but we do not have the capacity to assume
the reasons behind a command of Allah swt. Similarly, the
reasoning behind the 2:1 witness rule cannot be assumed to be
that the woman are intellectually inferior to man. And this is
not a general rule so we should not generalise.
First of all bear this in mind that to give shahada
(become a witness) is Wajib. For a woman her home is
her base, she should be concentrating on the harmony of the
home, on the upbringing of her children, perhaps this rule is
to save her from appearing in courts.
You want to know of the azmath of a lady. There can be
a situation where one lady could be on one side and 6 billion
people on the other and this ladies' witness will be upheld
against those 6 billion. How ? Suppose Bibi Fatema tu Zehra
were to arrive and if she was the witness on one side as
opposed to 6 billion on the other, whose word would hold
weight ?
In sura 66:11-12 Allah gives us two models to look up to and
both being women, Bibi Aasiya and Bibi Maryam binte Imran.
There can be few men who are able to reach the high status of
Khadijah.
You will appreciate the position that Islam has accorded to
woman when you compare this matter to Hinduism or
Christianity.
In Hinduism the daughter has no right of inheritance.
Not only that, do you know what the husband is called,
he is known as "pati parmeshwar" or "Pati
dewta". So if you accept the husband the pati as
parmeshwar meaning God then you have no rights you have
to surrender unconditionally, not only that if he dies then
the true Hindu wife becomes "sati" and burns
with him. What happens if the wife dies ? How come there
is no "sata"?
In Christianity there is no question of divorce.
The Bible that we have today is not the original word of God.
However, one thing that you should remember, my sisters, my
daughters that whoever has more rights also has to bear more
responsibilities.
Please read the decline and fall of the Roman Civilization the
Greek Civilization you will find one common thread running,
that whenever in a civilization the women become morally
corrupt the civilization is headed for a fall. So look
around you will you not agree that the Western Civilization is
headed for a fall ?
Islam uses one single word for spouse "Zawj"
the plural of which is "azwaj" there is no "zawja"
mentioned in the Holy Qur'an.
By using the word "zawj" Allah swt has made
it clear to us that both husband and wife are equal.
In Islam what is the purpose of marriage?
Marriage is a mission, where two people are joined to
complement each other, to live in love and harmony . Where
they produce children and then raise these children in the
best possible manner. Give the children the best possible
modern education but not forgetting the Islamic teachings.
Life is not about enjoyment. With "maza" comes
"qaza".
Life is about maintaining balance, you should eat to live and
not live to eat.
Look at nature, if there was no hunger people would not eat,
but do not forget that you have to eat to live do not
concentrate on the taste and then eat too much. Food is
a source of enjoyment but that is not the purpose of food.
Also when you eat you have to worry not only of your physical
being but also your spiritual being. Suppose you go and buy an
apple and eat it that is fine, but suppose you go and steal an
apple and eat it, both apples will provide you with the
physical nutrition but as far as your spirit is concerned the
stolen apple is like a disease inflicted upon your spirit.
Similarly Allah swt put sexual urge in human beings and this
provides a sense of enjoyment too, but the purpose of sexual
urge is to produce better generations.
Islam says when you choose a spouse do not make wealth and
beauty your criteria, do not marry for the Hasb o nasb
(important family) but look for education and pious character.
Bernard Shaw was not a good looking man, a beautiful actress
proposed marriage to him and said, "lets get married,
can you imagine how wonderful our child will be with my looks
and your brain", Bernard Shaw replied," and
what will happen if the child looks like me and has your
brain?"
Islam considers marriage to be an Ibadat. Look at all
the other Ibadaats, Namaz is for few minutes, Roza
is for few hours, Haj is for few days but Marriage
is for a life time.
So if you consider Marriage an Ibadat and an act that
pleases Allah swt then how can you get married in hotels etc
If it is an Ibadat then it should be carried out like an
Ibadat in the Centre in the Masjid with the utmost simplicity.
Keeping the marriages of our Ahlul Bait in view.
Imam Ali a.s. says that take great care of the feelings of
your wife as she is like a delicate bud. This is the teachings
of Islam, how can a religion whose teachings is based on justice,
mercy and kindness allow a husband to beat his wife? These are
the mischief makers who take one word out of context and use
it to justify their misdeeds.
Hazrat Abu Hurairah
And now let us see Sahih Bukhari, it quotes Hazrat Abu
Hurairah "that the Prophet (pbuh) said that if you are
praying and these three things come in front of you then your
namaz is batil. The three things being a dog, donkey and a
woman."
The same Abu Huraira said that the Prophet considered three
things being munhoos, house, horse and a woman. People
went to Ummul momeneen and asked her about this Hadith and she
remarked that Abu Huraira was not a good listener. She said
that I was present and the Prophet was talking about the
Yahudis and said that "what absurd things the yahudis
are saying that the house, horse and woman are munhoos."
Abu Huraira happened to walk in and heard only the latter part
of the sentence.
This is what happens when you leave the Ahlul Bait.
The decline of Muslims their irrational behaviour is due to
their deviation from the social teachings of Islam and not
Islam itself.
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![Allah [swt]](images/AllahM.jpg)
