Equality between men and women - I

02/01/2014| IslamWeb

Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And due to the wives is similar to what is expected of them, according to what is reasonable. But the men have a degree over them [in responsibility and authority]. And Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.} [Quran 2: 228].

Equality between men and women in rights and performing duties is a lofty value and noble aim sought by everyone, male or female. However, it became a double-edged sword used by domestic and foreign enemies of women. They use equality as a tool to serve their demoralizing goals by making their voices heard demanding:

1- Emancipation of women from all religious and social restrictions and granting them absolute freedom to do whatever, whenever and however they wish! This is not what women were created for and it is not their role in society!

2- Educating women equally as men without distinction in any field they wish regardless of what benefits them as women who bear a special message in life and great importance for which they should prepare themselves.

3- That women should work just as men under any circumstances and in any field regardless of what suits their feminine nature and physical and psychological structure.

4- Equality with men in financial rights. They demanded that a woman's portion in inheritance should be equal to that of a man in spite of the fact that this bluntly contradicts the Sharee'ah of Allah The Almighty without taking into consideration the financial responsibilities of men such as financial maintenance and such which is compatible with his additional portion of inheritance.

The basic rule is to consider inheritance as Allah The Almighty divided and decreed, because it is He the Exalted Who Sets its legislation and Knows with His Wisdom what He Ordained and Decreed without the least injustice to anyone. Those who raise the previous claims did not bother to consider equality in the inheritance between siblings who share the same mother (but different fathers). In this case, the portion of the male is equal to that of the female. Moreover, in some cases the portion of a woman may exceed that of a man.

These are some examples of their claims which appear to be merciful but actually entail suffering because they are not aware of the actual meaning of the equality they are calling for. They are not aware of the unnecessary suffering that women may experience due to their calls. Furthermore, nor are they aware of the rights and privileges Islam granted to women. They are either ignorant or pretend to be ignorant of the status of women before Islam in different doctrines and societies and how her status changed in the shade of Islam.

The Status of Women in ancient Greece:

If we take a look at ancient Greece, we find that in spite of their culture and science, women were no more than servants or, in the best case scenario, housewives. Furthermore, the Greeks – owners of the philosophical crown – made their wives live in rooms with few windows and prevented them from going out to the market or elsewhere.

Moreover, despite Plato's philosophical theory related to the military and political duties of women, they remained isolated from public life due to Greek customs and laws.

The common concept of the Greek image was that "the shackles of women shall not be removed". This is why, after the collapse of Greek civilization, voices were raised demanding liberation from the bodies and impurity of women which was the reason behind corruption. Thus, Greek women were showered with curses and horrible accusations.

The Status of Women in India:
In India, women were burnt alive in the coffin of their deceased husbands.

The Status of Women in Judaism:

In Judaism, Jews acknowledged women as dangerous and an evil that exceeds that of serpents. They viewed women with humiliation and contempt and appointed girls to the level of servants. Furthermore, there were some traditions that prohibited the marriage of girls in order to remain serving their families along with the right of their guardians to sell them as slaves.

Status of Women in Some Christian Doctrines:

In some Christian doctrines, a woman is considered no more than a body void of any soul. This applied to all women except for the Virgin Mary.

Status of Women in the Pre-Islamic Arab Culture:

In the Pre-Islamic Arab culture, a woman was simply a piece of property. She was considered an inheritance to the son of the deceased.

The pre-Islamic view of girls was based upon pessimism. This is why their corrupt habit of female infanticide (i.e. burying infant girls alive) became common.
 

To be continued...