Social Concerns, - A glimpse of Islam's greatconcern for women

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1- When the religion of Islam was revealed to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, it was the custom of the people of the pre-Islamic era to hate and detest women. Allaah The Exalted Says )what means(:}And when one of them is informed of ]the birth of[ a female, his face becomes dark, and he suppresses grief.{]Quran 16: 58[
They disdained the infant girl and would bury her alive. Islam prohibited this and insisted that she be exalted and maintained with dignity. Allaah The Almighty Says )what means(:}And when the girl ]who was[ buried alive is asked, for what sin she was killed.{]Quran 81: 8-9[
In some Hadeeths, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said:
•"Whoever maintains two daughters until they become independent will come on the Day of Resurrection along with me )close to each other( like these two )and he joined his two fingers(."]Muslim[
•"Whoever is put to trial by these daughters and he treats them kindly, these daughters will act as a shield for him from Hell."]Al-Bukhaari and Muslim[
2- When the religion of Islam was revealed to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, it had been the habit of the people of the pre-Islamic era to prevent the woman from her share of the inheritance. Islam gave her this right, whether little or large; Allaah The Exalted Says )what means(:}For men is a share of what the parents and close relatives leave, and for women is a share of what the parents and close relatives leave, be it little or much - an obligatory share.{]Quran 4: 7[
3- When the religion of Islam was revealed to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, it had been the habit of the people of the pre-Islamic era to inherit women against their will. When a woman's husband died, one of the heirs would come, throw a garment over her and say, "I have inherited her just as I have inherited his wealth." This would entitle him to have more control over her than herself. Islam prohibited this. Allaah The Exalted Says )what means(:}O you who have believed, it is not lawful for you to inherit women by compulsion.{]Quran 4: 9[
4- When the religion of Islam was revealed to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, it had been the habit of the people of the pre-Islamic era to make difficulties for their women in order to prevent them from receiving their rights. A man would prevent his divorcee from remarrying until she had returned everything he had spent on her. A father would prevent his daughter from marriage and likewise the brother would prevent his sister if he so willed. A man would mistreat his wife and refuse to divorce her unless she ransomed herself. Islam prevented all this and eradicated such behavior. Allaah The Exalted Says )what means(:
•}And do not make difficulties for them in order to take ]back[ part of what you gave them unless they commit a clear immorality.{]Quran 4: 19[
•}Do not prevent them from remarrying their ]former[ husbands if they agree among themselves on an acceptable basis.{]Quran 2: 232[
5- When the religion of Islam was revealed to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, the woman was suffering from her husband's oppression, bad morals and ill treatment. Islam prohibited this and commanded the husband to treat her just as he would like her to treat him. Allaah The Exalted Says )what means(:
•}And live with them in kindness.{]Quran 4: 19[
•}And due to the wives is similar to what is expected of them, according to what is reasonable.{]Quran 2: 228[
6- When the religion of Islam was revealed to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, the widow's ‘Iddah )post-marriage waiting period( was a complete year. Islam lessened it to just a third. Allaah The Exalted Says )what means(:}And those who are taken in death among you and leave wives behind - they, ]the wives, shall[ wait four months and ten ]days[.{]Quran 2: 234[
7- Islam instructed that women should be treated with kindness. In a Hadeeth, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said:"Be kind to women."]Al-Bukhaari and Muslim[
It also forbade one to hate his believing wife. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said:
•"A believing man should not hate a believing woman; if he dislikes one of her characteristics, he would like another one."]Muslim[
•"The best of you are those who are the kindest to their wives."]At-Tirmithi[
•"This life is enjoyment, and the best of its enjoyment is a righteous wife."]Muslim[
Indicating the characteristics of the righteous wife, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said:"She is the wife who pleases her husband when he looks at her, obeys him when he commands her and safeguards his honor and wealth when he is not present."]Ahmad and An-Nasaa’i[

- PUBLISHERNajimudeeN M

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