CONTRARY to what Western media and academics would have us believe, it was Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and Islamic teachings that transformed the status of women from being a non-entity and ‘property’ to someone who plays a central role in grooming and holding a family together.
The pre-Islamic Arab world saw girl child as a burden and a curse which was to be eliminated as early as possible. Islam and its Messenger (peace be upon him) changed all this by restoring her respect and her rights. Commenting on the pre-Islamic conditions of women in Arab society,
Holy Quran says:
‘And when the news of (the birth of) a female (child) is brought to any of them, his face becomes dark, and he is filled with inward grief! He hides himself from the people because of the evil of that whereof he has been informed. Shall he keep her with dishonor or bury her in the earth? Certainly, evil is their decision.’ (Quran, 16:58-59)
Women
Equality in Quran and Hadith
The
Qur’an and Sunnah repeat over and over again that Allah only favors one person
over another based on that person’s awareness, consciousness, fear, love, and
hope of Allah (the Arabic word is difficult to translate: Taqwa). All other
criteria are excluded: gender, ethnic group, country, ancestry,
etc.
Given
that Allah does not favor one gender over the other in His attention to us (and
it helps to remember that Allah is neither male nor female), we can now address
the differences between the genders in Islam. First, men and women are not the
same as we know. The Creator states in the Qur’an
(translation),
[3:36]…and
the male is not like the female…
Men
and women are different in their composition, and in their responsibilities
under Islam. However, both are bound by obligations to one another, especially
the following important one which must be understood in any discussion on men
and women. From the Qur’an (translation),
[24:32]
And marry those among you who are single and those who are fit among your male
slaves and your female slaves; if they are needy, Allah will make them free from
want out of His grace; and Allah is Ample-giving, Knowing.
In
this verse, the Creator emphasizes that marriage is to be vigorously pursued by
the Muslims: the state of being single is not to be maintained. With this in
mind, we can begin to understand the four reasons cited above for the
nonetheless erroneous conclusion.
Men
and women are different in their responsibilities towards the families that they
are strongly encouraged to set up. Women are not obligated to work, whereas men
are obligated. The man must provide for the family, but the woman does not have
to spend out of her money for it, though she gets a reward for doing
so.