Social Concerns, - Women's Liberation Movement: A Critical Look- I

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The call for women's liberation differs in its implicit sense from its outward form. On the surface, it is characterized by magnanimity and freedom of opinion; however, it intrinsically entails spreading corruption and vice. The calls of the people who want to westernize our societies keep changing constantly, their premises differ, their methods renew, and they insist on contradicting the Shari'ah )Islamic legislation(. They mix the truth with falsehood, but their slogans deceive only those who do not have discerning insight and a wise mind. Their slogans are sometimes under the title of women's liberation, at other times in the name of making use of women's capabilities, and at other times under the name of 'justice for women'.
These are various calls with different titles, but they embody only one aim, which is taking women away from the path of Islam, making her subject to contempt and humiliation. Woe to the people who think that Islam subjugates women and does not liberate them! If Islam did not give the woman her rights and was not just with her, then what is the criterion of judging women? Is it my mind, your mind, or the mind of some engineer, teacher, thinker? These minds will surely disagree, but Allaah The Almighty is the one who created all these minds, and He, The Almighty, is the one who ordered women to wear the Hijab )Islamic covering(, and legislated the rules that give them their rights in marriage, inheritance and as witnesses. So why do they challenge the rules of Allaah The Almighty? What liberation do they claim? Do they want to liberate the woman from the rules of Islam? Or do they want to liberate her honor? Or exploit her in advertising or for other purposes?
In order to see how Islam honors women, let us take a look at the status of women in the pre-Islamic ages. In the times of Romans, the husband had the right to sentence his wife to death whenever he wanted. For the Greeks, the woman had no value and for the Jews, the woman was a despised and dirty creature. In the early days of Christianity, its followers were confused whether the woman has a spirit or she is just a body without spirit. In the Arab Period of Ignorance, women were regarded with extreme pessimism, to the extent that baby girls were buried alive.
Islam came to esteem woman and put her in her appropriate place. Islam forbids directing any insult to women and gazing at them, in order to preserve their dignity. Islam made gold, silver and silk lawful to women, in order to look beautiful, taking into consideration that women like beautification. Spending on her is an obligation either on her husband, or, if she is unmarried, her father. She has a share in inheritance of which she was deprived in the laws of the previous nations.
Moreover, the Companions of the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, asked him, "O Messenger of Allaah, the Jews keep away from wives during menstruation,' whereupon he said:"Do everything with them except having sexual intercourse."The Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, was the best example of honoring women. Once, he raced with `Aaishah, may Allaah be pleased with her, who outran him. Afterwards, he raced with her again and outran her. He, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, then smiled and said to her:"You won once and I won once."He, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, also said:"Take good care of women."
To summarize, Islam came, raised women from rock bottom, to a secure life, making her strong and honored after she was despised and humiliated by many others.
Despite all this, there are still some people who have joined the ranks of the West; who speak their language and adopt their ideas, under the claim of liberating women. They want Western women to be role models for Muslims. This is because their view originates either from a narrow viewpoint or from emotions that overcome reasoning. The following statistics about Western women are an index of the disasters threatening human life in major cities in the West: in the U.S., the Ministry of Justice mentioned that 1900 women are raped everyday. In Austria, it was discovered that four children out of every ten are illegitimate.
Ask those who join their voices with that of the West, about the ill effects of the breakdown of families that are living through now, about the fate of boys and girls after they reach the age of fifteen, and about the dangers that threaten young women. Ask them about the misery of elderly women, whose husbands enter into relationships with their mistresses, whose sons and daughters are busy with their own partners, and ask them why nursing homes are overcrowded with the elderly.
)To be continued(

- PUBLISHERNajimudeeN M

Social Concerns, - Women's Liberation Movement: A Critical Look- II

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The women's liberation movement has a long history. Since its early stages until today, it looks at the individual, not the family, as the constituent unit of the society, which leads to a decreasing affiliation to the familial structure. Due to this social perspective, the woman loses her role as a wife, mother, sister, or daughter, and the man loses his role in the family as a father, brother or son. Both men and women see each other as classmates, work mates, intimate friends, or secret lovers. Moreover, they no longer take into consideration the issues of marriage and building families, as their lustful desires are freely met without shouldering any responsibility.
Women's liberation movements have many powerful plans to demoralize women and bring them out of their houses. They have even managed to carry out their vicious plans in many Muslim countries, some of which are:
The first plan is to fabricate a problematic issue:
Many people will not react unless there is a problem that disturbs and troubles them personally. The callers for women's liberation are keen on manufacturing issues concerning women that need discussion. Hence, the mass media focuses on the extent to which women suffer, how oppressed they are, how one-half of the society is neglected, and how they are not getting all their rights. They carry on this idle propaganda until they have deceived people by giving them a false impression of the existence of an issue for women, which may actually be quite insignificant.
On the one hand, it is an undeniable fact that there are some transgressions against some women, on their fathers' or their husbands' part. Such transgressions are undoubtedly grave mistakes, and are a normal outcome of neglecting the true teachings of Islam. This is because if such a father or husband fears Allaah The Almighty and adheres to the Islamic law, they would never do that and such occurrences would be unheard-of in our society.
The second plan is to weaken the religious immunity of Muslim societies gradually:
This plan is put in effect until the society loses zeal for its religion and beliefs. When they manage to do so, they start spreading various types of immoral practies amongst people. Here are some examples of their methods to weaken the religious immunity in Muslim societies:
• Promoting lewd magazines and newspapers that publish disgraceful pictures of women.
• Spreading deviant thoughts through the media and the newspapers, so people get used to hearing and reading such things.
The third plan is their call for equality with men:
This call is logically rejected by common sense and reason, and by Islamic law. For instance, a sensible person cannot be expected to say that men should work in taking care of children in the hospitals. Likewise, it is unreasonable to say that women should be allowed to join the army, work in large industries like automobiles and construction, or participate in drilling wells.
The fourth plan is the call for women's liberation:
Of course, there is no one who hates the freedom, and no one who loves to be restrained. In this sense, the advocates for what is called 'women's liberation' rely excessively on the theme of freedom, as if women were slaves and they seek to set them free. Moreover, the use of this term also presents these callers for the corruption of women as saviors and merciful people, after they were regarded as aggressors and corrupters.
Those who have been deceived with their villainous thoughts should be aware of the fact that there is no absolute freedom without restrictions. The limitations of human abilities are enough to eliminate the concept of 'absolute freedom'. Additionally, it is necessary for society to legislate laws and regulations in order for their lives to go on smoothly. For example, no one in possession of their senses would consider putting the traffic lights in the streets as a kind of suppression of the freedom of people, as it is a necessary obligation that helps in traffic management. It is true that this traffic light may force you to stop for a minute or two. However, the benefit of putting these traffic lights with restraining the people's freedom for a while is much better than if they were removed. This is because these traffic lights are the main reason behind protecting people from terrifying accidents. Similarly, the adherence of women to the restrictions of the Islamic Shari'ah will definitely keep them from falling into vices, indecency, kidnapping, rape and killing, and any wise person would know this.

- PUBLISHERNajimudeeN M

Dought & clear, - Is the child obliged to obey the parents and give up his or her share of the inheritance?

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My wife is asking about a threat and warning that her mother made to her, that she would not be pleased with her or forgive her if she did not give up to her her share in a farm that was part of her father’s estate. She claimed that this share should come back to her as she had bought it with her own wealth, not with the wealth of my wife’s father. But there is no proof for that.
Will she be sinning if she refuses to give up her right? Will she be disobeying her mother if she does not respond to her demand?
Praise be to Allah
The basic principle is that whatever is in a person’s possession when he is alive belongs to his heirs after he dies. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“There is a share for men and a share for women from what is left by parents and those nearest related, whether, the property be small or large - a legal share”
[an-Nisa’ 4:7].
Hence it is not permissible for anyone to take the share of one of the heirs or to demand that he should give up his share of the inheritance unless he agrees willingly to do that, because that comes under the heading of wrongdoing and transgression, and the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “It is not permissible to take the wealth of a person except with his willing consent.” Narrated by Ahmad, 20172; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami‘, no. 2780
With regard to your wife’s mother’s claim that she owns that part of your wife’s share, if she does not have any proof of the validity of her claim, then your wife does not have to give up her rightful share of the inheritance. Not giving up that share is not regarded as disobedience to parents at all.
Saying that the mother is not entitled to that part of the inheritance does not imply that she should not honour her mother and treat her kindly; rather your wife should speak kindly to her mother and ask good and righteous people to intervene in order to solve this problem, in the hope that Allah may guide the mother to truth and right guidance.
If your wife willingly gives up that part (of the inheritance), or some of it, to her mother, seeking reward from Allah, then this is good and an act of kindness, in sha Allah. But, as stated above, she is not obliged to do so and she is not sinning if she does not agree to her mother’s request.And Allah knows best.

- PUBLISHERNajimudeeN M