Islamic Teachings about Women
The status of woman in
Islamic society is a topic that stirs much debate. It is important to note
that Islam includes very positive and liberating teaching about women as well as negative and oppressive
teaching.
Positive Teaching about Women
In seventh-century Arabia, Islam undoubtedly
accorded much more value and
honour to women than the
rest of
society did. The Qur’¯an speaks of men and women as being created from ‘a single soul’, as
a consequence of which men should treat them kindly:
Be careful of your duty to your Lord Who created you from a single
soul and from it created
its mate and from them twain
hath spread abroad a multitude of men and women (4:1).
Muhammad preached against female infanticide,
the cruel treatment of women and
female prostitution. He also condemned the forceful inheritance of widows by relatives of deceased husbands:
O ye who believe! It is not lawful for you forcibly to inherit
the women (of your deceased
kinsmen), nor (that)
ye should put constraint upon them that
ye may take away a part of that
which ye have given them unless they are guilty of flagrant lewdness. But
consort with them in kindness, for if ye hate
them it may happen that ye hate a thing wherein Allah hath placed
much good (4:19).
The Qur’¯an also
decrees those women are legally entitled to
a share of any inheritance from
their deceased parents:
Unto the men (of a family) belongeth a share of that which parents and near kindred
leave, and unto
the women a share of that which
parents and near
kindred leave, whether
it be little or much a
legal share (4:7).
Both Muslim men and women will be rewarded by
God in the hereafter:
And their Lord hath heard them (and He saith): Lo! I suffer not
the work of any worker, male or female, to be lost. Ye proceed one from
another. So those
who fled and
were driven forth from their homes
and suffered damage
for My cause, and fought and were slain,
verily I shall
remit their evil
deeds from them and verily I shall bring them into Gardens underneath which rivers flow. A reward
from Allah. And with Allah
is the fairest of rewards (3:195).
Respect and kindness towards parents in
general, and mothers in particular,
is emphasised
in the
Qur’¯an. In 4:15–17,
those who
show kindness
to their parents,
and especially to their mothers,
are promised paradise, while woe is pronounced on those who mistreat their
parents.
One famous saying attributed to Muhammad declares
that ‘Paradise lies at the feet of the mother’.
The Muslim
woman’s role in the home
is to seek the happiness of her husband, nurture
the physical and spiritual development of her children, and maintain
the honour of the family. Abdullah
bin Omar related
that, ‘The Apostle
of God said, “The whole world is valuable; but the most valuable thing
in the world
is a good woman.
The well-known Arabic
saying al-ummu madrasatun (‘the
mother is a school’), conveys the importance
of her role.
Husbands and
wives are intended to be bound
to one another
in love and mercy (30:21)
They are to be like garments for each other
(2:187), meaning that each is to give the other warmth, protection,
comfort, and joy.
Husbands are called upon to provide
for their wives and treat
them kindly. ‘Men
are maintainers
of women’,
declares the
Qur’¯an (4:34).
The best among
you is the one who is best towards his wife’, says one
tradition. Another adds,
‘O people, your wives have certain rights
over you and
you have certain
rights over them.
Treat them well
and be kind to them, for they are your partners
and committed helpers.’
In Muhammad’s last sermon, he is reported
to have told his followers: ‘You have a claim on your wives,
and your wives
have a claim on you.’ He
did not merely
preach this but
practised it, for there are
many stories relating how
Muhammad helped his wives at home.
