Since the days of old, women have been the target of a lot of attention in the lives of societies. In old Greek, Roman, and Indian societies, the status of women was poor. They did not enjoy the same legal rights as men. They were outcast and looked at with contempt. The famous Indian leader Jawaharlal Nehru says in his book The Discovery of India:
The legal status of women in
the Laws of Manu was poor and doubtful.
In Medieval times the humanness and
constitution of women was subject of doubt; it was questionable whether they
had souls like men or not? Or whether theirs were like animal souls. Some
philosophers of Rome went even further and declared that women had no souls and
will not be resurrected in the Hereafter with men.
As for Arabs before Islam,
their attitude was something else; they thought of women as a potential source
of disgrace. A man hated to beget a female. Some men even went so
far as to get rid of a newly born female by burying her alive at birth.
The French Revolution,
considered by many world thinkers as a positive historical turning point in the
stream of human life and seen as a cultural lighthouse in contemporary history,
gave freedom to men, but not to women. Article 1 of its Declaration of
Human Rights says, “Men are born and remain free.” Thus, it is quite
clear that a woman had no place in the world of freedom. When some French
intellectuals tried to rectify this serious flaw, the majority reacted with
contempt and scorn. When a French lady called Discourage submitted to the
French national assembly a draft resolution that holds women equal to men, her
proposal was rejected and she was tried and beheaded, according to Dr. George
Jabour in his book Al 'Arab wa Humor Al-Insaan (Arabs and Human Rights).
French scholar Gustave Le
Bon declares in his book the Spirit of Sociality in response
to advocates of equality between men and women:
“Women were equal to men
only in times of decadence”
The U.N. Charter, which was
meant to correct the injustice and contempt towards women committed by the
French Revolution, certainly represented a turning point in human history and a
bright dawn in the horizon, giving hope to successive generations in human
communities. Yet, the share of women in that charter was scant and did
not meet their ambitions or fit their status. It did not accord women the
same degree of attention and honor that it gave to men. It makes no more
than two references to women, both casual, and in subordinate clauses which
display no special concern for women and their status.
The first reference is in
the Charter’s preamble, which expresses the determination of the peoples of the
United Nations “to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the
dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and
of nations large and small.” The second reference is in paragraph c
of Article 76, which says that “the basic objectives of the trusteeship system
… shall be … to encourage respect for human rights and for fundamental
freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.”
Later, explanatory bylaws
of the Charter emptied even these modest statements of their content as regards
the dignity and social status of women, and turned them into a source of misery
and harm for women, reducing their rights and dignity. These bylaws
1. Declare
equality between man and woman in rights and duties, without consideration of
any distinction or of the distinctive characteristics of the latter;
2. Burden
women with heavy and numerous tasks that are incompatible with feminine nature
and contrary to the great human mission of women;
3. Adopt
disgraceful concepts of the family, the values of family ties, and the
responsibilities of family performance, which weakens the role of women in the
family structure and cancel their noble mission in the stable social structure;
4. endorse
the principle of multiple family types and cancel the values and controls of
joint man and woman responsibility in building a stable interactive family,
thus creating chaos and disorder in the family with consequent, uncountable
social problems, one of the most serious of which is the creation of a
generation with no sense of belonging or responsibility, with a resulting
increase in the rates of crime and serious diseases, which threaten the
security and civilized future of human communities;
5. Permits
all types of sexual relations, which amounts to a repulsive aggression against
the dignity of women, contempt of their femininity and humanness, and a stark
and audacious ravishment of their rights.
This, in short, is the
tragic and horrifying position of women in the standards of ancient and
contemporary cultures and civilizations. Unfortunately, women are still
abused and marginalized in most human societies, although divine religions,
particularly Islam, emphasize women’s dignity and basic role in the walks of
life.
Islam in particular has
laid firm foundations for the dignity and social status of women within the
context of its view of the universe, mankind, and life. Islam’s profound
view of the relationship of the three worlds – the universe, mankind, and life
– is based on a belief that the wisdom of God, the Most Sublime, dictates that
the whole universe be structured in accordance with the principle of the mating
of pairs, each of which is complementary rather than identical.
Exalted is He who created
all pairs from what the earth grows, from themselves, and from what you do not
know (Yaseen XXXVI:
36).
God, the Most Exalted, made
the trait of immortal singleness that has no need to be complemented by anything
else an exclusive quality of His.
Say:
“He is God, the One and only, ◘ God,
the Eternal; ◘ He begets none, nor is He begotten, ◘ and there is nothing that could be compared to
Him (Al-Ikhlas CXII: 1 – 4).
He, the Most Exalted, has no need for a
partner, whether equal or inferior to Him. He, the Most Glorious, is
Self-Sufficient and Most-Exalted and has no one that is similar or equal to
Him,
God: there is no deity but
Him, the Ever-Living, the Eternal Master of all. (Al-Baqarah II:
255).
There is nothing like Him,
and He hears all and sees all (Al-Shoora XLII: 11).
When I speak of
complementarity rather than similarity in reference to the principle of mating,
I should point out that God’s wisdom dictates this complementarity and
scientific laws, and applications support and confirm it. There is no
mating of identical things; they rather stand in opposition and repulsion of
each other. This can be seen in the smallest structured unit in the
universe, which is the atom. Recent scientific discoveries indicate that
even a neutron, a particle within an atom, is made of two opposite, disparate
poles, which confirms the inimitability of the Creation, which is based on the
mating of complementary, rather than identical, elements. Full similarity
is a cause of opposition and repulsion.
Had there been deities in
them [heaven or on earth] other than God, they would have fallen into
ruin! Exalted is God, Lord of the Throne, above what they attribute to
Him!
(Al-Anbiya XXI: 22).
God said, “Do not take [for
worship] two deities, for He is but one God. Hence, of Me alone stand in awe” (Al-Nahl XVI:
51).
I believe that the issue of complementarity
and identicalness and the difference between them is an essential turning point
in understanding the spirit of man/woman relationship. It is also an
objective and equitable approach to understand the complementarity of their
responsibilities in the fields of life.
Moreover, the principle of
complementarity explains and clarifies the question of differentiation between
woman and man. Each of them has superior points and inferior points, and
neither of them is definitely superior to the other. Each is superior in
what God prefers him or her over the other.
Men are guardians of women,
because of the advantage He has given some of them over the others and because
of what they spend of their wealth (Al-Nisaa IV: 34).
Do not covet the things by
which God has favored some of you over others. Men are entitled to a
share of what they earn, and women are similarly entitled. Therefore, ask
God to give you out of His bounty. God is a witness of everything (Ibid: 32).
The question guardianship,
which some use as an excuse to abuse the dignity of women and reduce their
humanness and their status, is, the way I understand it, by no means an
advantage for men and cannot be included in the standards of definite
superiority. It is merely an administrative, conditional arrangement.
Each of the two, the woman and the man, is superior to the other by what God,
the Most Sublime, has favored him or her over the other and by the abilities
God has given him or her and not the other. Each of the two is a guardian
within the framework of his specialization and responsibilities, within the
context of the general approach of Islam and the context of the values, rules,
and controls of Islamic Law. I can say here that there are two types of
guardianship, a particular type and a general one. Each of the two, man
and woman, has a guardianship within the advantage and abilities that God, the
Most Sublime, has favored him or her with. As for general guardianship,
it has to go to one of the two in order for their relationship and cooperation
to be smooth. “Had there been deities in them other than God, they
would have fallen into ruin!” The noble Messenger, peace and
blessings be upon him, commands: “If you are three, choose one of you as a
leader.” All this falls within the framework of the general divine
principle of mutual support between them, which is expressed in the words of
God, the Most Sublime:
Male and female believers
are supporters of each other; they enjoin what is good and forbid what is
wrong. They perform prayers, give out zakat, and obey God and His
Messenger. Those are the ones who will receive God’s mercy. God is
Almighty and Wise (Al-Tawbah IX:
71).
Ibn Omar, may God be pleased with him and his
father says:
I have heard God’s
Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, say, “Indeed each of you is a
shepherd, and each is responsible for his flock. The ruler of people is a
shepherd, responsible for his flock. A man in his house is a shepherd,
responsible for his flock. A woman in her husband’s house is a shepherd,
responsible for her flock. A servant in his/her master’s house is a
shepherd, responsible for his/her flock. Indeed each of you is a
shepherd, and each is responsible for his flock.”[1]
I find that these two
quotations, the verse from the Noble Qur'an and the Prophet’s tradition,
amount, combined, to a clear view of the complementarity of man and woman, each
to the extent of his/her abilities and responsibilities. There is no
trace of and no reference to any sense of moral differentiation between
them. Each of them supports the other with the qualifications, qualities,
and skills God has given him/her or he/she has acquired.
God will raise in position
those of you who believe and are given knowledge. God knows what you do (Al-Mujaadilah LVIII:
11).
Say, “Are they equal, those
who know and those who do not?” It is only those with understanding that
remember (Al-Zumar XXXIX,
9).
All this has to be in accordance with the rules,
values, and controls legislated by God, the Most Sublime, and His
Messenger. These rules, values, and controls govern the man-woman
relationship and manage it in accordance with God’s Will and His pleasure,
blessed are His names.
”
In conclusion, I say the
controversy over women and the family in the cultural circles of our Islamic
societies is promoted by many factors, among the most prominent of which are
1. the
lack of a comprehensive and clear view of the jurisprudence (Fiqh) of
the family and its role in building society and meeting its responsibilities;
2. the
lack of a clearly defined methodology that organizes the man and woman
responsibilities in the family and society, and the failure to strike a
delicate balance between the responsibilities of each in the family and in
society;
3. the
faulty overlapping between the rules, values, and principles of the mission of
women and the family on the one hand, and the mechanisms, controls, and ethics
of practice and performance on the other;
4. the
unfortunate fact that many male and female Muslims are influenced by the ideas
put forth by the other concerning women, the family, and society, without
considering our cultural identity and distinctive characteristics;
5. the
dominant influence of customs and traditions in the way we deal with the
questions of women, the family, and society, at the expense of our commitment
to the values, principles, and ethics of our religion and its immortal divine
mission;
6. The
expansion of the tenet of precautious measures to an unreasonable extent, at
the expense of the application of Islamic values, principles, and controls.
The crucial question in all
this is the lack of a practical approach to introduce the family as a basic
unit of the institutions of society and to allow it its official position in
the structure of the state and its public institutions, so that it may enjoy
its rights and perform its duties like any other institution of the
state. With such an approach, man and woman would be responsible
employees of the state within their house, in accordance with a comprehensive
project and a strategy drawn by the state through a special ministry for family
and social affairs. This would allow man and woman responsibilities in
the family and in society to be regulated and would put into practice the great
and noble divine rule:
Male and female believers
are supporters of each other; they enjoin what is good and forbid what is
wrong. They perform prayers, give out zakat, and obey God and His
Messenger. Those are the ones who will receive God’s mercy. God is
Almighty and Wise (Al-Tawbah IX:
71).