The Role of Women in Traditional Islam - Research Paper Example

 The religion of Islam is linked with peace all round. The followers of this religion are known as Muslims and they are spread all over the world. They believe that God exists and is invisible to the naked eye. He has brought into action each and everything on this earth and the believers are of the view that it is God that can indeed change and alter anything anywhere. Thus the religion of Islam puts a lot of emphasis on maintaining that there is one God alone and none other. Muslims detest from talking sinfully about their God and the prophets as they hold them in the highest of esteem. Their beliefs are of the utmost significance when they weigh the same in accordance with the teachings of Islam. Islam says that thinking of having more than one God by the Muslims is a forbidden act and is indeed regarded as a sin, known as ‘Shirk’. The Quran is the holy book of the Muslims and it has taught the Muslims that their God loves them 70 times more than a mother would to her child. There is a lot of importance of God’s sayings in his book, which is considered as the most sacred piece of writing present on the face of the earth. It is believed that this book is read more than any other book in the world at any given time. Speaking from a truly Islamic point of view, the Muslims are asked to pray five times a day, fast for 30 days, perform the ritual of Hajj, pay alms to the poor and believe on Tauheed – that God is one and Mohammad is his last messenger. Prayer is one of the five pillars of Islam and is very important on the part of a Muslim. Within Islam, praying regularly for five times forms up the essence of following the religion in the truest spirit that there could possibly be. For Muslims, prayer is very important as it will eventually decide as to whether one goes to Heaven on the Day of Judgment or lands up in Hell. Faith and reason are close to each other. Faith is very important as it basically provides the basis for the belief of God, his Prophet Mohammad, Sunnah as well as the different tenets of Islam. Without believing on these things which are fundamental to Islam, one cannot rationalize the other aspects linked up with it. Islam has an inspired text in the form of the Quran. Its nazool took place on the last prophet Mohammad and since then it has formed the real text behind any instruction or deed that is practiced under the umbrella of this religion. The other inspired texts have included the Hadith, which are books penned down by different scholars of the past after the same had sayings from the prophet Mohammad. The Fatwah (consensus) was done on these sayings so as to check for their authenticity and genuineness. The Kaalima of Islam also suggests that there is a solitary God and his last messenger is the prophet Mohammad alone. Islam is a religion that teaches fair and equal treatment to all its men and women alike. It allows for freedom to a certain limit for both these genders, which is mostly governed by a certain set of laws and regulations basically known as the ‘Shariah’.1 The Muslims need to obey this Shariah in order to spend their lives and in accordance with the same, they carry out clean activities and good deeds to please the Lord Almighty Allah Hence the opinion put forth by the Holy Book Quran is that women within Islam or even outside it, should not be oppressed under any circumstances whatsoever as they serve as mother, wife, sister or daughter and thus contribute towards half of the whole make up of the family.2 A stance outlined here suggests that women have an equal right in nearly all the day to day activities of Islamic life and thus they stand shoulder to shoulder with their men, be them their husbands, sons, fathers or brothers. Thus this view is totally backed on the liberal stance, which is also very rightly followed by different religions all over the world. However, one needs to understand that this liberalism and a sense of freedom does not guarantee that she can roam around with any and everybody and go out without having a veil over her body. This is the point where the real liberty seems to crop up when we compare Islamic point of view with that of the West. People in the Christian communities and western circles believe that going out and dating, meeting new people for their women is an open and common thing yet Islam does not allow the same. It has certain restrictions, which need to be followed in order to have a society, which can be easily remarked as being close to that of a welfare one. Thus the term was coined as the ‘Welfare State’ that takes all these points in to consideration. It is accepted by nearly all religions of the world that women have been given the utmost respect and dignity within the reigns of Islam and there is absolutely no denying this fact at all. Women have been the cornerstone of a happy and satisfied family and they have been given rights which other religions have not been able to provide to their women. Another interpretation of status of women in Islam within the Middle East specifically, takes rise from the fact that these Muslim scholars are not willing to give the women equal rights in entirety. These people are the ones whom the world stigmatizes as the ‘fanatics’ or the ‘terrorists’ as they have been carrying out their extremist acts of violence be the same in the United States, Kenya or any other nation of the world. These people think that women are there just to serve their children and they must feed those at all odd times of the day while sitting at home, without even taking a step out of their homes at all. These people believe in oppression of women and call it their due right when they think the latter have crossed their pre-set limits and boundaries. A classic case in point here is that of Taliban-led government in Afghanistan that used to treat its women in the most inhumane of situations and also chalked up quite a few penalties on women like stoning until death for committing a heinous act and similar other ones as well. This interpretation takes its seeds from the fact that the Muslim scholars who are teaching the same do not have the real Islamic manifestations within their hearts and souls. The reason is due to their ignorance and illiteracy levels, which have really crossed all boundaries possible. These scholars think that the best way to treat women is to have a stick in their hands and beat them any and every time they think the women has committed a mistake, not even thinking for a slight second that men and women both are puppets when committing mistakes is concerned as no one in this big world is error free or one who does not undertake mistakes day in day out.3 The Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) was against similar practices that were there before he spread the word of Islam 1400 years back. He brought about a fresh lease of life within the hearts and souls of women when he announced that all men and women, within the eyes of the God are equal and men do not have the right to be unfair or unequal to their women under any circumstances whatsoever as after all these women are created by Allah only and He knows what is right for Him and what is not, thus Allah Almighty would be the best judge as to how He can penalize those women who go overboard and displease their male counterparts. Thus it is very clear that the Muslim scholars who are sowing the seeds of hatred within the men and women of Islam are doing no good to the religion and more than that to the fairer sex. They are not letting the right message of Islam reach to the masses so that more and more people could accept Islam rather they are doing something very bad, which is not liked by Allah Almighty at all. Similarly, an understanding that is raised by Muslim scholars in the past as well as of today is somewhat lenient that allows for anything to go underneath their eyes without them even saying a word about the same. This society is the one that allows for everything in a fair and equal manner without any prejudice for any woman and does not believe in oppressing women just for the sake of it. It rather aims at having a close knit relationship with the women of the society as it allows for them to be liberal and open to all kinds of situations and conditions and that these women should not care about day to day activities, whether or not they are in line with the preaching of Islam or somewhat quite far away from it. This interpretation is a cold one as it does not ask for oppression on women but at times, there is a kind of hue and cry whenever something terrible happens with the women of the society. This is the situation when everyone gets up and starts taking notice as to what really needs to be done in order to come back to the same mode the people were in, when the mentioned situation had not taken place. Thus it is clear from this interpretation that is raised here in this paper that women within such a society are not under any kind of pressure whatsoever and they are open to exercise their activities and whatever they need to do in order to be equal to the men of the society.4 However, this interpretation is somewhat confusing as it says in an indirect manner that it has got nothing to do with Islam at all and women within this kind of situation are not really bound under the tenets that are preached by the religion, however the same is not true as one should take into consideration that after all these women are being given their equal rights and they can wrest control within the society which is so very different from what Taliban-led approach used to do, as mentioned in the above paragraphs. There are a number of contrasting differences when the comparisons are made between women of the West and those who are born as Muslims or converts into this religion. The ones within the Middle East are specifically outlined here. These differences come about from their religious and cultural point of views as well as their complete dependence on the angle which they have chosen for their own liking. It is a case in point that a Muslim woman might be Western in her dressing and sexuality while turns into a completely religious being when she is with her family or offering her prayers. Thus the mixed point of views is seen by one and all within such understandings. Muslim women of past used to exercise the basic tenets of Islam more than their male counterparts. Women like Hazrat Ayesha (R.A), Hazrat Khadija (R.A) and Hazrat Fatima (R.A) were symbols of educated women 1400 years back. They exercised what they preached and their teachings were related to what their family member, the last Prophet of Allah, Hazrat Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him) had to say. These women are still taken as examples of courage when it comes to women and people, not only Muslims but also the ones hailing from different religions speak of them highly and in a positive sense. These women used to take active part in wars and Ghazwaas (wars in which Hazrat Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him) took part) and showed to men and women alike the kind of role models they can be in real life. These leading ladies always had a point in the basic teachings of Islam and made their mark at understanding the beautiful religion of Islam. The position of women in Islam is such that they have a definitive share in the will of their father and they are given somewhat close to their brothers’ share if not equal. They are also given share in all other possessions that are in the name of the deceased and the legal rights suggest that usurping the female’s share is close to a big sin on the part of the evil doers. In the Middle Eastern societies, the women prefer to remain behind closed doors yet come out whenever the need so arises. They prefer to wear headscarves and are beautifully clad in veils which might be white, gray or black in color. Also there is an element of conservatism behind the thinking regimes of the women who hail from this region. They believe that it is in their own interest to remain indoors and cover their bodies in a veil so that na-mehrums (people who are not related to them) do not get to see them and the aspect of privacy exists. The same philosophy is also linked with the women who live within Afghanistan, Iran and some parts of Pakistan and Indian sub-continent.5 The Muslim men like their women to cover themselves from all angles so that their privacy is guaranteed and their dignity does not come down as a result of their liberal actions. Thus liberalism is a tangent which remains avoided in the wake of conservatism and therefore Muslim women are behind the Western women in a number of different fields all over the world. The thinking has changed and this has brought about issues which outline the negativities attached with getting to work and remaining outdoors for longer periods of time. The men fear for their women and thus instruct them to remain within the four walls of their homes and believe in modesty and restraint for not only their own good but also for their near and dear ones. The Western society has quite a lot of reservations when it comes to the dressing of Muslim women. What the west does not understand is that these women are just following the teachings of their own religion and are not doing something to displease any community or any elected form of government yet these end up more or less at the mercy of the non-Muslims. The issues of headscarf and veil wearing within France and even in the United States are nothing but a story of shambles. Every man or woman, no matter who he or she belongs from, must have the right to do what he or she wants to and on this very teaching, Muslim women have all the right in the world which has been given to them by their religion to exercise the same in the best manner possible.6 The historical analysis is pretty clear for one and all to understand the significance of the headscarf and veils since women in Islam are asked to cover their body from people they do not know, effectively known as the na-mehrums. West has voiced its concerns regarding the Muslim women and has also outlined policies which go against the Muslim women from adapting headscarves and veils at their respective office environments. This has sparked controversy left, right and center since the women demand human rights committees to play their role and give them relaxation as far as wearing headscarves and veils are concerned. This issue is under debate even to this day and some countries have provided for relaxation to Muslim women in the light of the following of teachings as laid down in the Holy Book of Muslims, the Quran and the Sunnah (the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)).7 Then again, there are some countries which demand strict removal of the headscarves and veils from one’s working environments as these organizations and societies believe that wearing such clothing will have a negative influence on the rest of the workers and especially the non-Muslim women. Plants and offices have of late been filled by women who were reckoned by the authorities as of less efficiency as compared to their male counterparts some years back. This has changed for the better and more and more companies in the world of today are recruiting female candidates for suitable positions within their staff. Apart from this positive change in mindset of the companies and businesses, there have been some pretty negative points attached to the same notion moreover. The top one of these aspects is the indiscriminate attitude of the staff towards the women working in the offices which has given birth to gender issues like the sexual harassment and racial vilification ones. In the present day workplace situation, white men have encouraged the selection of white women as well as minority group members but there is a totally different posture when the selection of black community staffing within these companies starts making waves. This must be discouraged within the companies if a fair and impartial selection policy has to be devised – one that is evenhanded for both the sexes and bears no prejudices for a particular black or white community or nationality, for that matter.8 Of late, there has been noticed a number of problems for women working in the American workplaces which have really distracted the potential array of the females in the job openings and ultimately their process of recruitment. Companies must encourage mixed communities to interact and collaborate with each other as well as bolster the selection of deserving (on merit-basis) women so that all of them in their own particular areas of output give their best and eventually produce the required results and pre-determined targets for the company or the business in unison. It is also a sad fact that working men often view their female co-workers as a threat to their secured jobs and opportunities that destiny holds for them. With the advent of advanced and new machines and sets of skills within different products that are being introduced into the workplace, which basically limit the amount of work a particular employee has to do, men have started to feel somewhat envy of the presence of women in their vicinity. They feel that their seniors would rather take some extreme measures, which would result in their transfer or eventual firing from the said business/company. Moving on, Muslims base their beliefs on the Holy Book Quran. Both Christianity and Islam are classified as the religions classified as Abrahamic. This is because both the religions revere Abraham and thus the term was coined. The former spread initially in the Middle East, Europe and parts of North Africa after which it entered India and then through the whole world. Islam started from Saudi Arabia and then towards Africa, Asia and Europe at later stages. The religion of Islam is linked with peace all round. The followers of this religion are known as Muslims and they are spread all over the world. They believe that God exists and is invisible to the naked eye. He has brought into action each and everything on this earth and the believers are of the view that it is God that can indeed change and alter anything anywhere.9 Thus the religion of Islam puts a lot of emphasis on maintaining that there is one God alone and none other. Muslims detest from talking sinfully about their God and the prophets as they hold them in the highest of esteem. Their beliefs are of the utmost significance when they weigh the same in accordance with the teachings of Islam. Muslims have sects, namely Sunnis, Shias, Sufis and so on. The worldwide growth rate of Islam is the highest, standing at 2.9 percent per annum. So it must be understood here that Islam is indeed growing at a phenomenal rate and this is the reason that it is believed it will take over any other religion of the world and become the most followed religion by the year 2023. The need of the hour is to find out which society a particular Islamic nation is actually following and what it needs to do in order to get along the lines of the ideal (welfare) state that Islam has really talked about. One can be cent percent sure and even more than that, that the Islam taught by the Muslim Scholars hailing from the ideology that women should be oppressed beyond any due limits, is not the right one and must not be given any heed by the people who want to study this subject and have a know-how about the different ways and means under which the religion Islam has to offer to its women. Islam does not teach that its men and women are treated by each other in an unequal and unfair manner rather it looks at restoring the balance between the two, which was quite missing before the religion was brought to the fore 1400 years ago.10 The three different positions that have been mentioned here are existent in different nations of the world and it might even be possible that a single country could even see the three different positions of women been executed in it. The same owes to a lack of understanding (of the religion), sheer shortcoming on the part of the believers of Islam in relevance with knowledge and information and more than following what has been going on for centuries now, which can be rightly called as the customs or traditions of an area or society. In the end, what is true from the Creator’s stance is the one that is taught by his Messenger Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) and no one else can detract from the same course of teachings and course of action as has been laid down in the Holy Book Quran. Just to quote an example of the respect and dignity that a mother has for a son that she is thrice been asked to cater to as concerns her needs and wishes and only once does the father come in the equation when asked by a son. If only all Muslims can follow the Holy Quran, they can gain so much insight into their dealings with the women of their religion and start respecting them on all accounts. References Ambah, Faiza Saleh. “Saudi Women Rise in Defense of the Veil; Some Conservatives Fear U.S.-Led Erosion of Traditional Islamic Values” The Washington Post. Washington, 2006 Ansari, M. Women's Woes under Islam. World and I 13, February 1998 Esposito, J. Islam - The Straight Path. Oxford University Press, 2005 Hekmat, A. Women and the Koran: The Status of Women in Islam. Prometheus Books, p. 181, 1997 Iqbal, M. Islam and Science: Responding to a False Approach. Islam & Science 1, 2003 Ruthven, M. Islam in the World. Oxford University Press, 2000 Sechzer, Jeri. "Islam and Woman: Where Tradition Meets Modernity": History and Interpretations of Islamic Women's Status. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research 51 82, 2004 Smith, Jane I. “Women in Islam”. The Christian Century 119, 2002 Stowasser, B. Women in the Qur'an, Traditions and Interpretation. Oxford University Press, 1994 Zoepf, K. “Women Lead an Islamic Revival in Syria, Testing Its Secularism”. New York Times, 2006 Word Count: 3,786 Read More