By Ghulam Mustafa
Assalaamu `Alaykum Wa Rahmatullaahi Wa Barakaatuhu
Al hamdu lillaah was salaatu was salaamu `alaa rasoolillaah, `amma ba`d:
The topic that I was asked to discuss
here at McGill University is the elevation of the status of women in
Islam. Many, upon hearing the title of this lecture, might assume it to
be an oxymoron because the prevalent idea - at least in the West - is
that Islam. does not elevate the status of women, but that Islam.
oppresses and suppresses women. So people might find the title in
itself to be shocking or a curiosity at least.
In discussing this topic - since it
appears to me that this is a mixed audience of Muslims and non-Muslims -
I'd like to make my remarks and comments brief. I will take no more
than thirty to forty five minutes, and then allow you an opportunity to
ask your questions. Perhaps the question and answer session might be
more fruitful in addressing specific accusations, understandings or
misunderstandings regarding the status of women in Islam.
As we all know, in the world today,
there are - for the overwhelming majority of humanity - basically two
world views. These two views are often in conflict - not only on the
personal level where individual human beings are making choices, but
also on the international level in terms of the debate over the
authenticity and correctness of these two world views.
The first world view, which I am sure
most of us are aware of, is the Western liberal view. A view which
claims to draw its roots from the Judeo-Christian tradition that
probably, upon investigation, is more well rooted in the ideas that
appeared after the reformation; ideas that are rooted in secularism and
the world view that appeared thereafter during the 'era of
enlightenment'.
The second view is that of the Muslims -
the Islamic world view, and this view says that its roots and ideas
lie in the revelation given by God (or Allah in Arabic) to the prophet
Muhammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam). Those who proclaim this view
say that it can be used by humanity during all ages and times, and that
its relevance and benefit is not restricted to a certain period of
time, geographic area or certain race of human beings. Likewise, the
adherents of the first view, that of
Western secularism and the liberal
tradition, believe that their world view, ideas, culture and
civilization are the best for humanity. Some of you might have read a
book that came out a few years ago by an American author of Japanese
decent (Francis Fukuyama) called "The End of Time". He basically put
forth the theory that human development in terms of its ideas has
concluded with this final period of liberal secular thought and nothing
more will come to humanity. However in his book he adds that that the
only part of the world which has not adopted this secular human view is
the Islamic world and proposes that there will be a conflict in terms
of this ideology in the Islamic world.
With that brief introduction, one of the
topics of contention between these two worlds views, that of the
secular liberal humanist in the West and the Islamic tradition,
concerns women. What is the position and status of women? How are women
looked to? Are women elevated in one culture and oppressed in another?
The Western view is that women are
elevated only in the West and that they are getting more and more
rights with the passage of time, while their sisters - they say - in
the Islamic world are still being suppressed. The Muslims who they
encounter say that in actuality it is the Islamic system that provides
the true freedoms for men and women alike, and women in the West as
well as men, are deceived into an idea of freedom which really doesn't
exist. What I'd like to discuss this evening is exactly how Islam.
looks to women. And therefore my discussion will be more upon - what we
might say for the lack of a better term - the philosophical basis,
rather than the individual practices which vary from one country to the
other. How women are understood in Islam. cannot be properly
understood - and this is more significant, I feel - unless one
understands exactly what we might call the philosophical basis or
ideological understanding - since this is really a theological concept.
First, let's review how exactly women
were thought of and understood in the western tradition, to compare and
contrast perspectives. We know that the western tradition sees itself
as the intellectual inheritors of the Greek tradition that existed
before the prophet Jesus Christ (peace be upon him), and so therefore
many of the intellectual traditions of the West are found to some
degree in the writings of the early Greek philosophers like Aristotle,
Plato and so forth.
How did they look towards women? What
were the ideas of Aristotle and Plato towards women? When one reviews
the works of these early Greek philosophers, he finds that they had
very disparaging views of women. Aristotle in his writings argued that
women were not full human beings and that the nature of woman was not
that of a full human person. As a result, women were by nature
deficient, not to be trusted and to be looked down upon. In fact,
writings describe that the free women in many aspects of the Greek
society - except for the very few women of the elite classes - had
positions no better than animals and slaves.
This Aristotelian view of women was
later carried on into the early Christian tradition of the Catholic
church. Saint Thomas of Aquinas in his writings proposed that women
were the trap of Satan. The issue of Adam and Eve added a dimension to
the earlier Greek ideas of Aristotle; women were the cause of the
downfall of man and therefore were Satan's trap and should be looked at
with caution and weariness because they caused the first downfall of
humanity and all thus evil precedes from women. This type of thought
was persistent within the writings of the Church fathers throughout the
Middle Ages. In their writings we find this theme proposed in one
aspect or another. However, after the Protestant reformation Europe
decided to free itself from the shackles and chains of the Catholic
church. Ideas which have been entitled as the Age of Enlightenment or
thought of as such, caused them to feel that they needed to free
themselves from many of these ideas. Some of these ideas were
scientific in nature, that the earth goes around the sun, instead of
the sun going around the earth; theological in nature, as in the
writings of Martin Luther; and also social in nature, like the position
of women in society. However, the writers of the Enlightenment still
carried this basic theme that was not much of a switch - women where
not full human beings. French writers during the revolution, like
Rousseau, Voltaire and others, looked at women as a burden that needed
to be taken care of. This is why I believe it's Rousseau in his book
"Emile", which he wrote concerning the education of women, proposed a
different form of education for women based upon the fact that women
were unable to understand what men were able to understand.
This is the tradition that the West
inherited and thereafter we find in the 1800's the first writings
appearing by women and some men calling for the change of these ideas.
And with this we have the origins of the first feminine movements. One
of the first books written was the "Vindication for the Rights of
Women" by Mary Walsencraft which appeared in the 1800's. Thereafter the
tradition of women receiving certain rights came. The first of these
were basically legal rights because until the 1800's women were not
able to own property and were not able to dispose of their wealth as
men did. It is very well known that the first laws that allowed women
to own property in the United States or in Europe appeared only in the
last couple of decades of the 1800's.
The Industrial Revolution caused another
impetus, another search, to this feminist movement. Women in the
Industrial Revolution, especially England, were forced to labor for
many hours in the coal mines and so forth, and would receive no pay
whatsoever compared to men. So therefore the first calling of the
movement was that people who work the same amount of hours deserved the
same amount of money or pay.
Finally a break occurred in this century
of basically all which is understood from the Western tradition.
Coming from the latter feminist movement which appeared after World War
II, a new movement called for the emancipation of women not only in
terms of legal rights, but it also questioned some of the morals of
society and called for greater sexual freedoms for women and men alike.
It contended that basically a lot of problems were caused by the
institution of marriage and the ideas of family and so forth. People
wrote concerning the need to break from these.
And finally in the 1990's, the prevalent
argument in the West is that we should discuss genders, not sexes.
This idea was expressed recently in a book which came out a year ago
called "The Age of Extremes". The author discusses the idea that there
is no difference between male or female and that gender is so only due
to environment. So therefore we can change the environment so that men
could take the roles of women and women take the roles of men by
changing the education and climate. This is where it has ended up now.
So we find in this 2500 year old western tradition, we come from the
first extreme which was expressed by the Greeks, where women were
denied their essential humanity, to this extreme expressed today where
there is no differences between the sexes and it is an issue of gender,
climate and environment. This is, of course, a very brief summary of
the first world view. I didn't do justice to those 2500 years in just
those few minutes, but it just gives us an idea.
The other view which I would like to
talk about in more detail is the Islamic view. How does Islam. look at
the issue of women? Well, first of all, we should understand that
Muslims unlike, for instance, the Greek philosophers or the French
writers after the French revolution, do not feel that their concepts,
ideas and beliefs are those of fellow men. But rather they believe that
what they are taught, what they believe, what they practice, and all
that is tied to this, is part of a divine revelation given to them by
God. And so, its truth and veracity is not questionable because of it
being revelation from God. The argument is that God knows best that
which He created. He created human beings, He is a God of wisdom, and a
God of all knowledge and so therefore He knows what is best. And He
decrees that which is best for humanity, His creatures. Therefore,
Muslims try to live by a code of law which is an expression of that
belief.
Now I don't want to discuss the various
details of the code of law because that, I feel, would not really
benefit us in this lecture. Although perhaps some of that might come
out in the question and answer session and I'll be glad to entertain
any questions you might have. But what I would like to discuss is how
does Islam. look at women, i.e. what is womanhood in Islam.? Did
Muslims believe like the early Greek writers or early church fathers
that women were not full human begins? Did they feel that women where
Satan's trap, so therefore should be shunned and looked at as something
evil and dangerous? How did they perceive women? Upon investigating
into the traditions of Islam. which is, as I said, based on revelation
known as the Qur'an, we find that it becomes very clear that Muslims
are taught that men and women share a single humanity - that they are
equal in their humanity and that there is no difference in the amount
of human nature in them. We might now take that for granted, but as I
explained, the initial western civilization was based on the fact that
women were not full human beings.
So this being something that was taught
1400 years ago was a revolutionary idea in the sense that it is only
within the last 100 years or so that the issue of women being full
human beings has come to be accepted in western intellectual circles.
Initially, women were not considered full human beings.
The Qur'an in describing the origins of
human beings tells them, the translation of which would be something
like "O humanity! Verily we have created you from a single male and a
single female, and have made you into tribes and peoples so that you
may know one another. Verily the most honorable of you are those who
are most pious with God." [49:13] This verse in the Qur'an teaches that
humans come from a single male and a single female. The indication
here is that the male and female in terms of their human nature are at
an equal level. Likewise another verse, from a chapter which is known
in the Qur'an as the chapter of Women - because most of the issues
discussed there are laws dealing with women - starts off with a verse
which could be translated as "O humanity! Verily We have created you
from a single soul, and have made from it its mate," this is a
reference to Adam and Eve, "and have made from both of them many
people, men and women, and scattered them throughout the earth." [4:1]
So here again is the issue of men and women and all human beings coming
from a single source, a single family, a single set of parents. This
shows that women share in full humanity with men.
Likewise in the traditions of the
Prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) - which is the second
source of the Islamic religion - we find that the Prophet Muhammad
(sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) said in a Hadith that indeed verily
women are the twin halves of men. The Arabic word shaqaa'iq, which I
translated as twin halves, means taking something and splitting it in
half. The understanding is that there is a single humanity, a single
essence which is shared, and there are twin halves of that - one is man
and one is women. This is repeated often in the Qur'an The words of
the Prophet Mohammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) also emphasize
this. As I said, this is a very important concept to understand when
one reflects on how traditional western civilization looked at women
as not being full partners and not sharing in humanity. Although now,
we might not find much surprise to that because it is a given perhaps
that men and women are full human beings. But this is something that is
a late occurrence in western traditions.
Let us take it to another step, what is
the aim of humanity? What is the purpose for which human beings exist
on earth, to what ends do they strive? What will occur to them if they
strive to those ends and what will occur to them if they did not strive
to those ends? Since Islam. is a religion which sees itself as
revelation from God and the truth, Muslims would feel that human beings
have a set purpose here on earth; that in everything of God's creation
there is wisdom. There is nothing of God's creation that does not have
any wisdom. There is nothing for sport or play and so therefore human
beings have a purpose, and that purpose has been elucidated for them in
the teaching of Islam. They were created to worship God. A verse from
the Qur'an says that God says that He has not created human beings
except to worship Him. So therefore, the essence of humanity is the
same between male and female, and they also share the same aim and that
is to worship God. And that is the most important issue in the Islamic
culture and civilization. You know that the Islamic culture and
civilization is rooted in religious belief. American civilization is
rooted in what? In the writings of the founding fathers of the United
States of America. It is rooted in the Declaration of Independence, the
ideals which were placed therein. It is rooted in the Constitution of
the United States. It is rooted in some of the arguments between
monarchy or democracy which were written by some of the early writers
or founding fathers. So it is rooted in a political thought. Yes, it
might have some traditions which go back further and extend to certain
ideas like in parts of Christianity and so forth, but in its essence it
is a political thought, unlike Islam. which is a religion in its
essence.
The civilization of Islam. - a
civilization which is 1400 years old - is one which is rooted in
religion. For a Muslim the greatest aim is to serve God, to worship God
alone, and that is what the word Muslim means.
Muslim is not a racial description, it
is not an ethnic category, Muslim means one who submits. Islam. means
submitting to the will of God - the voluntary submission to God - so
Islam. is a religion of submission. Therefore, in the most important
aspect of the Islamic religion, we find that men and women share in the
same aim and are expected to have the same responsibilities, in that
men and women are both required or obligated to testify that there is
none worthy of worship but Allah alone - God alone - and that Muhammad
is His Messenger. Men and women are both obligated to pray five times a
day, which is the second pillar of Islam. They are obligated to fast
the month of Ramadan. They are obligated to make pilgrimage to Makkah.
They are obligated to give charity. They are obligated to have the same
beliefs. They are obligated to have the same type of morality and the
same type of code of conduct and behavior.
Men and women share these essential
ingredients of Islamic behavior, which define a Muslim from a
non-Muslim. And this is of extreme importance because it breaks from
the tradition of religions. For instance fifty years before the birth
of the prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) who was born
around 560 CE we find that there was a gathering of bishops in France
to discuss whether women possessed souls or not, and that, if they do
possess souls, what would be their purpose on earth? Was it to worship
God? And if they worshipped God, would they go to paradise? In the end
it was decided that, yes, women do possess souls - which was a break
from previous tradition - but that their purpose was not just to
worship God, but also to serve men.
In Islam., however, the basis of
submission is not that women are submitting to men, but that men and
women together submit to God. So therefore, when you read the passages
of the Qur'an, it becomes very clear that the obedient from among both
the believing men and women receive paradise, which is the greatest aim
and objective in a Muslim's life, and the basis of that civilization.
Likewise, those who are disobedient and who are renegades, and who do
not want to worship God also receive the same punishment whether they
are male or female. This is why throughout the Qur'an you find the
wording addressed to both males and females. The Arabic language like
French has two types of verbs, one representing the feminine and one
the masculine. So in the Qur'an you'll find both categories of the
human race, both sexes, being addressed. This you find over and over
and over. There is no need to now recite all these passages, but they
are there if anyone wants to know.
In summary we found three bases: that
they share the same humanity, that they have the same aim on this
earth, and also, they expect the same reward, which is the goal which
they are working for collectively as human beings. And this is a break
as I said from the previous religious traditions and also political and
social understanding prevalent among the philosophers before the
coming of Islam. And as a result of that, we find that Islam. accorded
women rights which perhaps we take for granted now, but were given by
God to men and women some 1400 years ago. These rights like the right
to own property, the right to dispose of property according to their
own wishes as long as they follow the laws of the religion of Islam.,
which apply the same for men or women and the right to certain what we
would call now political rights, like the right to enter into a treaty
with combatant, are something very recent relatively speaking in the
West.
One of the rights given by Islam. in the
time of the prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) was that
if a woman gives a treaty to a combatant from a non-Muslim attacking
force - her treaty would be considered as was the case with a female
companion of the Prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam). In
the Christian church these companions would be called disciples for
instance, the disciples of the Prophet Muhammad are the companions as
they are called. They were in the hundreds and thousands not just
twelve as with Jesus Christ, and there are both men and women amongst
them. When the prophet Muhammad came to Mecca, one of the women
companions by the name of Umm Hani, who was an inhabitant of Mecca and a
believer in the Prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam),
accorded certain relatives of hers protection that they would not be
harmed. Her brother who was one of the main companions of the Prophet
Muhammad and married his daughter, Ali Bin Abi Talib, wanted to execute
two of these men who were known for harming the Muslims and fighting
against them. So Umm Hani went to the Prophet Muhammad and complained
that she had accorded them protection and the Prophet recognized her
giving protection to those two individuals.
This is what we might call, in the
classification and terminology that we now use, a political right. In
the sense of according protection for another person during the state
of war is something which is relatively new in the West and was a known
tradition in the Islamic world 1400 years ago. Likewise, in terms of
what we might call public participation, there are certain acts of
worship which are public acts of worship in Islam., and there are
certain acts of worship which are private. One of the public acts is
the pilgrimage, when men and women all make pilgrimage, and this is one
of the pillars of Islam. Likewise another public act of worship is the
two `Eid prayers which occur twice a year, once after the pilgrimage
and once after the pass of Ramadan. Men and women both participate in
that publicly. Likewise, we have a verse which shows that the social
contract between men and women is the same in Islam. This verse might
be translated as the following: "And the believing men and women are,"
what we might translate as, "awliyaa" - the word in Arabic for friends
or allies or supporters of one another, "they" - meaning men and women
- "bid to that which is correct" i.e. they commend that which is
correct, "and they forbid that which is evil". And this is a corrective
process in society, removing evil and commending that which is good.
And then "they perform the prayer", both men and women, "they pay the
alms", or the charity to the poor, "and they obey God and His
Messenger." And then God shows them the reward and that they are those
upon whom God will have mercy and God is Almighty and All-Wise.
So in this verse, we find that the
social contract between men and women, as individuals in the society,
is the same, that they both go for the highest goal of bidding or
commanding that which is correct, forbidding that which is evil, and
that they share in the two major acts of worship, which are the prayer
and giving charity. They share in the beliefs and obedience to God and
obedience to the Prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) and
likewise, they share in the reward in the end of obtaining Allah's
mercy. This is a very important concept, which is in contradiction with
what the western tradition is upon today, and that is as I said as a
result of the initial extreme of the Greek philosophers that women did
not share in humanity. As the result of that extreme another extreme
occurred - at least the Muslims consider it extreme - that there is no
difference between men and women.
So therefore, the idea of having genders
- this is a term which is not used in a biological sense, as we might
use the word sex in a biological sense for male and female, but the
understanding today is that the traits that define maleness or
femaleness, the social traits and so forth are determined by
upbringing, culture, and environment and that there is no inherent
difference in the way men and women think or act or what their make up
is and so forth. And that is why they use the term gender.
This extreme resulted from the initial
extreme that occurred 2000 years ago, when the Greek thought that the
women did not posses humanity. So as a result of this 2000 year
processes we now come to another extreme - at least this is what
Muslims would say - this extreme now is that men and women are the
same, that there is no difference.
Islam., although confirming that men and
women do share in the same essence of humanity, also confirms that men
and women are different. But does this difference mean that men are
inherently good or women are inherently evil? No. And this is why when
you look at one of the verses in the Qur'an that sheds light on this
aspect, God says, recounting His creation, that He is the One Who
created the night, as it envelops, as it comes - if you look at the
horizon, it comes like a sheet enveloping the horizon - and He is the
One Who created the day as it comes bursting, shining, - that is how
Sun rises and He is the One Who created male and female. And then the
next verse says, verily, what you strive for - human beings are into
different ends, diverse ends - some strive for God's pleasure, some
strive for disobedience of God, some strive to do good to humans, some
strive to do harm, different ends. But what is the example here? God
mentions night and day and then mentions male and female. The
understanding is, yes, night has a purpose, and in the Qur'an you
always find verse after verse, describing that night has a wisdom
behind it. And also it tells humanity that had it been only night and
no day human beings could not live on earth. And this is now shown
scientifically that if it was only night and there was no sunlight,
certain hormones of body would not be able to reproduce and human
beings would die. Life as we know it on earth would not exist. And
likewise, day has its wisdoms behind it. But can one argue and say,
that night is good and day is evil? No, and no Muslim would believe
that. And can one argue and say that day is good and night is evil? No.
Likewise, male and female also have their roles to play. But can one
say that the role of men is inherently good and the role of women is
inherently evil? No. And can one say the opposite to that - the role of
women is inherently good and the role of men is inherently evil? No.
But they both have a role.
This is the main contention now between
western thought and Islamic belief. Western thought has basically
accepted, except for maybe some few corners perhaps in the Vatican or
so, that men and women share in their humanity and that they are the
same. Muslims have believed this for 1400 years. But the difference is
that in western thought, as a reaction to the initial thought that
women did not share humanity fully, the argument is that the roles of
men and women in society are only defined by culture, environment and
upbringing, therefore there is really no true role for men and no true
role for women and that we can switch this, if we just teach the
society correctly. But in Islam. there is a defined role for men and a
defined role for women. Who is the one who defines this role for men
and women? It's their creator. This is the major, if you want to use
the term philosophical, even though it is an inaccurate term in that
sense, but we can just use if for the lack of
better term, philosophical, ideological
or theological difference between the two opposing arguments. Now with
that said, it is important to understand that when Islam. gave these
roles to men and women alike, it put responsibilities equal to
obligations to both. I will give you an example for that: Islam. senses
that women have the nature of mother not by cultural tradition or by
sociological system but inherently are better in providing and taking
care of the offspring, that there is a bond there which goes beyond
tradition. A psychological bonding, a physical bonding, something which
is more than just traditions of human beings. As a result of that it
has placed greater responsibilities upon women towards their children
are then those of men.
At the same time, the obligations that
children have towards their mother in Islam. is greater than they have
towards their fathers, and this is why when the prophet Muhammad
(sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) was asked by a man one was his
companions "Who should I befriend in this world?" The prophet Muhammad
(sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) replied "your mother." And then the man
asked a second time, and the prophet replied your mother, and then a
third time, and again he replied your mother, and on the fourth time,
he said "your father". Likewise in the Qur'an we find that it tells
human beings that your mother bore you from one hardship to the other
hardship, talking about the labors and difficulties of pregnancy and
childhood, and then fed you for two years, suckled you, and tells us to
be kind to our parents and reminds us of our mother first before our
fathers.
The point is that even though it has
defined a role for women with the children which is different than the
role of the father, at the same time it gives women honor and respect
from their children which is greater than that received by the fathers.
The fathers do receive respect and their honor, they are not just
thrown out of the picture, but it is given to them and according to the
degree of their responsibility. And likewise, because the mother
inherently, not just because of cultural tradition, has something
inherent which makes that bond greater between her and her child then
the male. She receives a greater honor and respect from the child and
at the same time she is required to give a greater obligation.
I only gave that as an example to show
you that while Islam. recognizes differences between the sexes, it does
not accept the concept that gender is just an issue of upbringing or
cultural traditions, for there are inherent differences in males and
females, and as a result of that the obligations and responsibilities
of each of the two sexes are together. Imported from that is another
matter that even though men and women are different, they are not in
opposition to one another, which is the basis of much of the western
thought and especially of feminist traditions. That there's a struggle
between men and women, "There is a battle of sexes", as it is sometimes
said in the popular sort of designation. This doesn't exist in Islam.
Men and women work in tandem, just like day and night revolve, and you
live in day time and you live in night time. You cannot live only in
night, and you cannot live only in day, likewise, men and women are not
against one another, they are not pitted against one another but
rather they share in the same aim, the same purpose of being, the same
humanity. They have different roles, but these roles complement one
another and are needed by one another in order for the success of
humanity, not in this world, but also - of course since Muslims believe
in the hereafter- in the hereafter, which is the ultimate goal for
Muslims.
Now, I would like to make one final
comment and then I'll leave it open for questions. Let's look at the
applicabilities of both of these programs. We discussed a lot of ideas,
thoughts and beliefs and historical concepts, but when they are
actually applied, which of the two view points is more successful.
Which brings more bliss to humanity? Is it the secular western view or
is it the Islamic view? And I have a concrete example which I'd like to
share with you. When I was in Beijing this last summer for the UN 4th
world conference on the women, there was a platform for action which
was being discussed by the different nations and organizations there.
The aim of the platform for action was to upraise, uplift, and to
embetter the status of women around the world, which are of course
noble and correct aims, there is no contention concerning that. The
platform for action was divided into different areas of concentrations,
such as poverty, health, finances, conflicts and violence and so
forth, and one of it was the girl child. The 12th issue of the 12
concerned areas for the platform for action, the girl child, the status
of girls - future women - in the world today. The country which was
hosting the conference, China is known for the practice of killing
girls. The reason why is because of their population. You can only have
one child per couple and Chinese by their tradition view males as
fewer then females and so as a result they will usually kill the female
child, in hope that the wife gives birth to a boy.
This is an issue which exists and
because the hosts were the Chinese, the United Nations didn't really
want to get into this issue. They didn't want to talk about it because
it was not politically correct to address that issue in China.
Moreover, even though they might have passed certain regulations,
platforms for actions and certain commitments which they have required
of citizens of the world to follow, they at the end will see that
perhaps in twenty-five to fifty years the status of the world child
will not have markedly improved.
We can see from other things, one of the
major issues which the United Nations was created for after World War
II, was the slaughter of so many million human beings, six million Jews
in Europe, and yet fifty years later, in the year of the fiftieth
celebration of the UN, a genocide has taken place in Europe of the
Bosnians. All the human rights, all of the declarations in the last
fifty years has not been able to change anything on the ground. Now
when the prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) was sent to
the Arabs, the Arabs had the same practice. They used to kill their
girl children. The Arabs killed their girls for a number of reasons,
most of the time due to poverty. Being a desert people without industry
or any sort of means of trade, existence was very minimal. And as a
result, out of fear of poverty they would kill their girl children, and
they would bury them alive. This is a fact which is mentioned in the
Qur'an and was well known during the time of the prophet Muhammad
(sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam). God condemns in the Qur'an with
verses, the idea of killing of the girl child, the burying in the
ground, and also the attitudes of the Arabs towards girls. One verse in
the Qur'an says that "when he is given the good news that his wife is
given birth." God calls it a good news, " - to a female child, a girl -
his face becomes blackened and he becomes ashamed. Will he hide the
fact "that he has given birth to a girl and not tell the people,
because he feels it as a shame. "Or will he bury it in the ground",
this is a condemnation of the practice of the people. And likewise the
companions of the prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam)
before they accepted Islam., many of them killed their girl children.
One man came to prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) and
said I killed ten of my daughters in my lifetime, will I receive
paradise? For will God accept my repentance for this sin, now that I
have left this pagan religion of before, worshipping idols and killing
girl children and so forth. Within one generation, within 23 years
this was how long the prophet was amongst the Arabs, the practice of
killing girls ended. It no longer existed in Arabia. And likewise, it
didn't just stop like that, but a change in attitude came towards
women, in educating them and making morally upright people.
People receive no other reward, but
paradise. Again that is the greatest aim for the Muslim and that is
their motivation and reason of being. So Islam not only tried removing
the negative aspect of murdering girls, but also included the positive
aspect of educating girls and raising them in society, and this brings
me to my final point. This is something of course which we can look at
the previous declarations of human rights or whatever, irrespective of
whether these being true or false, but they have not been able to
achieve the aims which they have stated. As the example of human rights
and the UN in Bosnia shows.
Fifty years after the creation of the
UN, there is no change in Europe, the same land which killed six
million Jews. The same genocide of the Bosnians occurs fifty years
later by the same people who started the UN. They are unable to stop
their own from this matter, and with this I come to my final point,
that I would like to leave you with. Islamic civilization unlike any
other civilization is based, of course on revelation, but it is in its
essence supported and founded by women. The first person to believe in
Prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) was his wife
Khadeejah, and it was through her money and through her support of him,
her financial backing, and also her encouragement that the prophet
was able to spread the message of Islam. in his first year of prophecy.
The pagans did not have the ideas of freedom of religion, that you can
take your own beliefs. This was not practiced by the pagans of Arabia -
they saw this as an insurrection, they saw this as a changing of their
ways, so they sought to stop it out by torture, by killing and by all
other means that they could. And likewise, they tried to stop the
Islamic revelation, this tradition, when the prophet Muhammad
(sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) converted only the people of Arabia.
But as you know there are about one billion Muslims in the world. They
are in every single continent of the world, even in Beijing where the
UN was convening. There was a mosque there which is over a thousand
years old. And the neighborhood that lives there is about forty to
fifty thousands Muslims. Now the king’s palace, the forbidden city in
front of Tien Anh Man square which many of you have heard of, is only
500 years old. This shows how the growth of Islam. and the sprit of
Islam. is not just a Middle Eastern phenomenon or an Arabian phenomenon
but extends to all people and races throughout the world.
Where is this teaching from, of course
when prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam) died after twenty
three years Islam. only spread in Arabia. This religion of Islam was
basically spread by four or five individuals who had the most in
teaching. One of them was the prophet's wife `Aa’isha. She is among the
most to have narrated his statements and likewise she is amongst the
three, four, five who have mostly given religious pronouncements, who
have given religious verdicts, explained what these verses in the
Qur'an meant or what the words of the prophet meant.
Look at any other civilization in the
history of humanity, you will not find a women playing a role in its
establishment where it can be attributed to her efforts for its
establishment. The Greeks - look at the philosophers Plato, Aristotle
and others - all were men. The early church fathers writings were
basically men and until today the idea of women scholarship is limited
in some areas of the church. The French writers at the French
revolution and Voltaire and the Russians were men. The founding fathers
of the United States were men, and also other civilizations are
basically based upon men. Islam is the only civilization which is known
by humanity where a leading input in terms of its transmission and
establishment was based upon the efforts of women. Central - and this
is an historical matter which is not open to interpretation, it is a
fact - these are the people who transmitted these teachings these are
the people who supported it hereafter. Those are just some thoughts and
impressions concerning how Islam. uplifted women.
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