The image of Muslim women is often misrepresented in the West. The portrayal is one of oppression and withholding of rights. The reality is in stark contrast.

THE HISTORY

If we examine the Western tradition we see a quite disturbing portrayal of women. The Aristotelian view, whereby women were not full human beings, was carried on into the early Christian tradition of the Catholic Church. A mere fifty years before the advent of Islam there was a gathering of bishops in France to discuss whether women possessed souls or not, and, if so, what was their purpose on earth? The conclusion: women do possess souls but that their purpose was not just to worship God, but also to serve men.

A millennium or so on and Saint Thomas Aquinas proposed that women were the cause of the downfall of humanity. The writers of the Enlightenment, breaking away in many respects from the shackles of the Catholic Church, still carried the basic theme that women where not full human beings. French writers during the revolution looked at women as a burden that needed to be taken care of. In his book “Emile”, Rousseau proposed a different form of education for women based upon the ‘fact’ that women were unable to understand what men were.Finally in the 1800’s we find the first writings appearing calling for the change of these ideas, resulting in the first feminist movements. The first laws that allowed women to own property in the United States or in Europe emerged only in the last decades of the 1800's. It took almost another century for women to achieve equal pay, voting rights and the like. From the 1990’s onwards however, the issue had gone to the other extreme where the prevalent argument is that we should discuss genders, not sexes. Now it is proposed that there is no inherent difference between the sexes, that the traits that define ‘maleness’ or ‘femaleness’, are determined by such things as upbringing, culture and the environment.

THE ISLAMIC CONCEPT

Islam does not jump from one extreme to another. It is based on Divine revelation. It principles and ideals are constant. God knows best that which He created and He decrees that which is best for humanity. As far as Islam is concerned, the only thing that distinguishes people in the sight of God is their level of God-consciousness or piety. Men and women share a single humanity and the same human nature. Gods says: "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 the most God-conscious of you." (Qur’an, 49:13)

Thus a woman is an independent entity and a fully responsible human being. Islam addresses her directly and does not approach her through the agency of males. A woman assumes full capacity and liability once she has attained maturity and has received the message of Islam. Further, all the obligations and duties which Islam enjoins on her are hers as an individual. She performs her acts of worship purely on the basis of her own intention; and as such these are treated in Islam as her personal achievements. "I do not allow the achievement of a worker, from amongst you, whether he be male or female, to go to waste. You all belong to one another". (Qur’an, 3:195)

THE LAW

The verdict of Islamic jurisprudence is a practical expression of the dictates of the faith. Women are counterparts of men. God addresses humanity, not only males or females. The basis of submission is not that women submit to, or serve, men, but that men and women together submit to God.

More specifically a Muslim woman enjoys the same capacity and freedom enjoyed by a man. She too can propose to a man for marriage, freely choose her spouse, reject a suitor or obtain divorce from an estranged husband. She can own property and dispose of it in any manner.

Notwithstanding the equality of the two sexes, there are some regulations where a distinction is drawn between them. Yet this is to be expected. The male and the female, although equal, are not identical. They are physically and psychologically different. Hence the Divine Law makes note of these differences and through such a recognition enables both males and females to give a genuine expression of their faith in accordance with their respective human nature. In some areas, which are not gender specific, men and women follow the same rules, as in the prayer, the giving of oaths or the fasting. In others, which are gender specific, men and women have different roles to play and rules to follow. Who defines these roles? Their Creator. As a result they perfectly accord with human nature.

THE SENSE OF PERSPECTIVE

The advent of Islam occurred 1400 years ago. This is an extremely important fact that most people tend to overlook. At a time when Europe was discussing whether or not the female is a human and whether she has a soul or not, Islam unequivocally gave women rights which in the West have only been given in modern times.

If women in the Muslim World today don't get their rights, it is not because Islam did not grant them their rights, but because alien traditions prevailing in many places that have come to overshadow the teachings of Islam, through ignorance on the one hand and through the impact of colonisation on the other. Islam is not applied in any of these lands and so it can hardly be blamed.

THE CONTRIBUTION

The first person to believe in Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was his wife Khadijah. She, being the wealthier of the two, supported him in his efforts financially and morally. One of the first martyrs in Islam was Sumaya, a female. She gave her life for the cause. After the demise of the Prophet, Islam was spread, in terms of knowledge, by four or five individuals who were the most learned in it. One of them was the Aa’isha, another female. The Prophet explicitly advised his followers to take the knowledge of Islam from A’isha.

Compare this with any other civilization in the history of humanity, you will not find a women playing a role in its establishment. The Greeks, their philosophers - Plato, Aristotle and others - were all men. The early church fathers, the French writers in the revolution, the founding fathers of the United States, all men. Islam is the only civilization where a leading input in terms of its transmission and establishment was based upon the efforts of women.

THE HIJAB

God ordered Muslim women to wear the veil as a means of recognition and protection. So the very basic answer to ‘why Muslim women wear the veil’ is that they are instructed to do so from their Lord not because their husbands force them, or want them, to wear it. But as we’ve said, God decrees that which is in the best interests of humanity and the hijab is no exception.

The hijab does not apply only to clothes. It is a state of mind, a behaviour and a lifestyle. It celebrates the desirable quality of modesty, a deep concern for preserving one’s dignity. The hijab is a means of protection. It identifies a Muslim woman as a person of high moral standards to reduce her chances of being harassed. It liberates women from slavery to ‘physical perfection’. The Muslim woman is not to be judged by her looks or bodies. The hijab forces society to judge women for their value as human beings, with intellect, principles, and feelings, not as objects of desire.

Further, and this may come as a surprise, Muslim men too have a hijab, a certain dress code to follow. They must wear modest clothing and cover the part between the navel and the knee at all time in public. Indeed, the hijab is merely one part of the Islamic social system which works, as to all the other Islamic systems, to assist society in attaining the outmost for humanity as they work to improve life for everyone in service of their Lord.

THE REALITY

Perhaps it is high time for us in the West to reconsider our conception of women.  Our societies pressures women to conform to certain roles, which by their nature destroy their honour and dignity. ‘Fashion’ dictates that they must undress themselves to be acceptably attired. Their bodies are used like commodities to sell cars and chocolate bars. Pornography is commonly seen as a right, rather than exploitation. Women find themselves competing with men, and struggling to fulfill the same roles. Discrimination against, and oppression of, women is on the rise every day. The list of the consequences of an ill-defined social system is almost endless: it leads to exploitation of men and women in all areas of society. Social problems are rife, such as family breakdown, prostitution, widespread abortion, sexual harassment, sexually transmitted diseases, rape, adultery, pornography - where both men and women lose all dignity and honour.

Islam gives women honour, dignity and protection. Muslim women never had to fight for their rights - these are guaranteed by their belief. Nor do they have to compete with men. Instead, the rights and duties of men and women to each other complement them perfectly. Relationships are regulated by marriage, responsibility and a stable family structure.

THE REAL ISSUE

We have seen the confusion in the Western tradition with regards to the role and purpose of women, going from one extreme to the other.  The question of why this is the case takes to the crux of the issue. When things like the nature and role of men and women is left to human reason one cannot expect anything but problems. It is impossible for limited human minds to understand fully the intricate nature of men and women, and their different emotions and characteristics.

Humanity must appreciate its own limitations and stop taking on roles it cannot fulfill with any degree of competence. Legislating for and organising human life on Earth is the sole prerogative of God. Until this point is accepted and acted upon the plight of humanity is only to get worse.

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