Status of Women in Islam - Essay Example

6 November 2008 Status of Women in Islam One of the most misunderstood concepts today is that of women in Islam. Thanks to a few misguided Muslims, and extremists many believe that Islam oppresses women, and treats her as a second class citizen. Many would cite the Taliban in Afghanistan as to prove this point, where under their rule women were forced to stay hidden in houses, not allowed to go to schools, drive and what not, all in the name of Islam. In short, Islam was used by the Taliban to make women seem inferior to men. Sadly the Islam preached by the Talibans was a perverted version of Islam that had come about due to the integration of Islam with the cultural and social norms of that region. In this article we will show that Islam in its true form does not discriminate against gender, and does in fact hold women in the highest regard. According to Islam, in the eyes of Allah both men and women are equal. Before we can even begin to argue whether men and women are equal or not, we must define what we mean by equality. For depending on how one looks at it, one can easily argue that equality between men and women does not exist, or vice versa that it does. For instance from a physical and psychological point of view we can claim that the two are not equal. Due to their physical make up, women tend to experience more pain, especially during their menstrual cycles; a kind of pain that a man can never experience. Then generally men tend to be physically stronger then women, and as they grow old are faced with the prospect of balding, something that women rarely have to worry about. Thus if we were to look from this perspective we can claim that men and women cannot considered to be equal. That, "from the Islamic point of view, the question of the equality of men and women is meaningless. It is like discussing the equality of a rose and a jasmine. Each has its own perfume, color, shape and beauty. Men and women are not the same" (Jameelah, 5). However, such a view is ambiguous and misleading, and can be easily taken out of context to make the claim that men are superior to women. In general when we talk about equality, we refer to the rights of the individual, and in that sense Islam does states that both men and women are equal. To elaborate a bit further, "Islam adopts the perspective of gender equality, but it does not endorse the idea of gender equivalency. Islam affirms the difference between the natural dispositions and constitutions of men and women. Women have the ability to bear and nurse children, whereas men do not, so there is a lack of equivalency in regards to the physical and psychological make-up of men and women, but both enjoy rights and bear responsibilities, in which respect they are equal" (Gomaa, 1). The claim that Islam teaches all to treat women with respect and dignity and not to discriminate on the basis of gender, is made by both Gomaa and Jameelah in their articles. However, this point is more clear and more easily understood in 'Gender Equality in Islam', by Gomaa, when compared to 'The Feminist Movement and the Muslim Woman', by Jameelah. The reason for this is not because the topic of Gomaa's piece is about gender equality in Islam, it is because it is more focused, well thought out, when compared to Jamleeah's work. Furthermore, Gomaa provides more credibility to his article by using the Quran as his sole reference. It is common knowledge that the Quran is the most revered book in Islam, since that contains all the teachings of Islam in it. Furthermore, since Muslims also believe that the Quran was written by God himself, and hence a true devout Muslim cannot go against its teaching. If they do then they are not practicing Islam as it was meant to be. It is simply due to this fact that Gomaa has been able to add credibility to his article by using the Quran as his reference. Jameelah on the other hand, does not cite any references at all when she talks about women in Islam. She simply states either Islam says this, or that according to the Shariah it should be like this. Since no reference is cited in such cases a reader could simply question the credibility of her source. One similarity between Gomaa's and Jameelah's article is that they both, in their own ways state that in Islam it is the man's responsibility to earn while it is the woman's job to take care of the house and the children, and that this does not mean that because of this Islam considers women to be inferior to men. However, the difference arises in the fact that Jameelah uses the above statement to say that "Women are not equal to men. But neither are men equal to women. Islam envisages their roles in society not as competing but as complimentary. Each has certain duties and functions in accordance with his or her nature and constitution. Man possesses certain privileges such as social authority and mobility against which he has to perform many heavy duties" (Jameelah 5). "In return for these privileges which the woman receives, she has also certain responsibilities of which the most important is to provide a home for her family and to bring up her children properly" (Jameelah, 6). Whereas Gomaa uses this statement to state that Islam gives the women as a mother a higher status, and thus having to stay at home should not be looked upon as being degrading. "When asked whom one should love and respect the most, the Prophet said, "Your mother, then your mother, then your mother, then your father" (Gomaa, 1). Jameelah throughout her article focuses on women and Islam in relation to the family structure. Claiming that "A uni-sexual society proposed by the feminists - that is, a society which makes no cultural or social distinction between the sexes, a society without marriage, home and family, where modesty, chastity and motherhood are scorned, does not represent "progress" or "liberation" but degradation at its worst"(Jameelah, 7). In this way Jameelah is indirectly evaluating the status of women in Islam, by discrediting the feminist movement, a moment famous in the West for liberating women and ensuring that they are able to enjoy the same rights as men. Gomaa, however, takes a more direct approach. According to him "there is a disparity between men and women, but there is no discrimination. Gender discrimination is something that came from outside of Islam, from pre-Islamic concepts that were passed down. This is a perspective that claims women are to blame for humanity's being dispelled from the Garden, but this is not the Quranic version of the story, the Quran states, 'Satan caused them both to stumble therein, and thus brought about the loss of their erstwhile state,' [Quran, 2:36]. The non-Quranic perspective views women as the cause of sin, a seductress, and a devil, however Islam rejects this. The Quran speaks of, 'And the righteous women are the truly devout ones, who guard the intimacy which God has [ordained to be] guarded,' [Quran, 4:34]. These are words that view women as human beings equal to men and sharing responsibilities side by side" (Gomaa, 2). So as we can clearly see from the works of Jameelah and Gomaa, in Islam women and men enjoy the same status as individuals. However, Islam does create awareness between the physical and psychological differences between men and women, and keeping those in view aims to create a society based on each individual's strengths. The woman's position as a housewife for example comes as a byproduct of her ability to give birth and nurse a child through breast feeding. Here her strength as a mother and a nurturer is being leveraged and because of that she is being asked to stay and home and look after the kids and cook dinner. Whereas the man's stronger physical ability is being considered when he is given the responsibility of providing for his family. One must remember that unlike today, in the past the only way to feed oneself was either through hunting, and/or through hard labor. Thus men, due to their greater physical strength were better suited for such kind of work. So we see that when Islam assigned women to house work and raising children it was on the basis of her strength in that area, and not because she was considered to be inferior to man. Thus in conclusion we can say that the stereotype of Islam oppressing came about due to the perversion of Islam from the influence and integration of the prevailing norms and traditions of various societies that had embraced it as its religion; and that, "Islam, when unadulterated by social customs and inherited cultural traditions, views men and women equitably without recourse to bias or discrimination" (Gomaa, 2). Works Cited Gomaa, Ali. Gender Equality in Islam. Jameelah, Maryam. The Feminist Movement and the Muslim Woman. Read More