Articles

Women`s Rights
Author : Dr. Ibrahim Ejjo
Date Added : 16-10-2022

 

 

All perfect praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds. May Allah`s peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.

Unlike any pre-Islamic or post-Islamic legislation, Islam has given women a great deal of attention. It has been the beginning of the turning point for women. Rather, it is the actual turning point. In pre-Islamic times, women were given no consideration whatsoever: They were buried alive, deprived, enslaved, humiliated, and degraded. The attention Islam has given to women emanates from realizing their significant role in educating and upbringing future generations since the mother is a school. 

 

However, the enemies of Islam seize every opportunity to corrupt women. They do this in cold blood through pretending to cry for women and their rights; as if these are lost or wasted. They incite women against the religion of Allah under the pretext of reform, but Allah knows their evil intentions. They want Muslim women to abandon their modesty and get off their chastity. They launch slogans for women and give them hope for freedom and happiness. This is in a bid to entrap Muslims and destroy their last fortress. Had they been fair-No way they are-they would have recognized what Islam, compared to any other legislation, has achieved for women. Islam has guaranteed her full humanity at the time when the philosophers and the rational people were arguing whether women are human beings or not? Do they have souls? If they have souls, then are they human or animal? This is at a time when women were looked at as an extra burden and were inherited as if they were property.

 

Islam came to decide that women are equal to men in being created from a single person and having the same fate. Allah Says {What means}: "O mankind! reverence your Guardian-Lord, who created you from a single person, created, of like nature, His mate, and from them twain scattered (like seeds) countless men and women;-" [An-Nisa`/1]. He also Says (What means): "O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise (each other). Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of God is (he who is) the most righteous of you." [Al-Hujurat/13].

 

Women and men come from the same origin and have the same fate before Almighty Allah. Men and women are the two halves of humanity and the same soul. The Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) has spoken the truth when he said: "Women are counterpart of men or women are of the same nature as men." [Transmitted by Abu Dawood].

 

In principle, this equality doesn`t mean that women are like men in all aspects since assuming this ignores human nature and changes the nature of things. Of course, the male isn`t similar to the female in terms of nature, creation, and function. Almighty Allah has given men physical strength to work and seek provisions while women are kind and compassionate to raise their children to be pious and righteous. In this regard, a poet once said {What means}: "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world."

This difference doesn`t mean preferring women over men or vice versa. Rather, men and women are like day and night; they differ but each complements the other.

 

Life can`t be endured if it is only daytime or nighttime and the same goes for men and women. From an Islamic angle, women`s blood, honour, property, and dignity are inviolable. Allah has spoken the truth when He said: "And women shall have rights similar to the rights against them," {Al-Baqarah,228}. This verse indicates that women and men are peers in terms of rights and obligations, but not Qiwama (men are the protectors and maintainers of women). Necessity dictates that men have the Qiwama over women for there has to be a caretaker for every household. Allah Says (What means): "If there were, in the heavens and the earth, other gods besides God, there would have been confusion in both! but glory to God, the Lord of the Throne: (High is He) above what they attribute to Him!" [Al-Anbiyaa`/22]. He The Exalted Adds: "behold, each god would have taken away what he had created, and some would have lorded it over others!" [Al-Mu`minon/ 91]. Accordingly, reason and logic dictate that the man is more capable of shouldering this responsibility because he can handle things without emotional excitement. Man`s nature and ability to endure makes him more fit for Qiwama.

 

Article Number [ Previous | Next ]

Read for Author




Comments


Captcha


Warning: this window is not dedicated to receive religious questions, but to comment on topics published for the benefit of the site administrators—and not for publication. We are pleased to receive religious questions in the section "Send Your Question". So we apologize to readers for not answering any questions through this window of "Comments" for the sake of work organization. Thank you.




Summarized Fatawaa

Is it permissible for a woman to go out wearing bright colors?

Bright colors are part of a woman`s adornment, and it is impermissible for her to show it to people other than her husband, or one of her Mahrams(Unmarriageable kin).

A man donated a burial plot, but before registering it in favor of the Ministry of Awqaf and before burying anybody there he said that he didn`t want to donate it and planted it. What is the ruling of Sharia on this?

All perfect praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds. May His peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.

If he had endowed it as a cemetery, then he can`t take it back, even if he didn`t register it in favor of the Ministry of Awqaf. If he said: "I have endowed this plot as a cemetery, then it becomes an endowment." However, if he didn`t endow that plot-but it was his intention to do so-then he is allowed to back down. And Allah The Almighty Knows Best.

Should the Zakah(obligatory charity) giver tell the poor recipient that this is the Zakah of his money?

No, he shouldn`t. But, the Zakah giver should make an intention in his heart that it is the Zakah of his money when he gives it to the poor.

I have a question regarding the deferred portion of the dowry (Mahr)*. Is the wife entitled to it only upon divorce or she can claim it even if divorce hasn`t taken place? Moreover, does she have the right to claim this portion after death of husband, even if he didn`t divorce her before that?

All perfect praise be to Allah the Lord of The Worlds. May His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.
In the marriage contract, it is recorded that the deferred portion of the dowry is due upon divorce or death, whatever comes first. If divorce took place first then the woman is entitled to it and if the husband died this amount must be paid from his estate. On the other hand, if the woman died then the husband becomes liable for this portion and it becomes part of the woman`s estate. We advise every husband to give this portion to his wife while alive because it is a right of hers. And Allah The Almighty Knows Best.
* In Islam, a Mahr is the obligation, in the form of money or possessions paid by the groom, to the bride at the time of Islamic marriage (payment also has circumstances on when and how to pay). While the mahr is often money, it can also be anything agreed upon by the bride such as jewelry, home goods, furniture, a dwelling or some land. Mahr is typically specified in the marriage contract signed upon marriage.