لطفا منتظر باشید ...
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE RIGHTS GIVEN TO WOMEN IN ISLAM?
ANSWER:
THE QURAN PLACES MEN AND WOMEN ON A SIMILAR
RELATIONSHIP BEFORE GOD, AND PROMISES BOTH THE FINAL GOAL OF PARADISE FOR
THOSE WHO BELIEVE AND DO RIGHT, REFER TO QURAN 3:195, 4:124, 16:19, 40:40.
THE QURAN ALSO SPEAKS OF SIMILARITY IN TERMS
OF CREATION. GOD TELLS US THAT HE CREATED A SINGLE SOUL AND FROM IT ITS
MATE, THEN HE MADE COUNTLESS MEN AND WOMEN FROM THOSES TWO, REFER TO QURAN
4:1. THE QURAN DOES NOT CONTAIN THE BELIEF THAT THE MAN ALONE IS CREATED
IN THE IMAGE OF GOD.
BECAUSE OF THIS FUNDAMENTAL SIMILARITY BETWEEN
MEN AND WOMEN, THE QURAN DECLARES THAT WOMEN HAVE RIGHTS SIMILAR TO THE
RIGHTS AGAINST THEM ACCORDING TO WHAT IS EQUITABLE (SEE QURAN 2:228).
IN A TIME WHEN WOMEN WERE DEVALUED AND FEMALE
INFANTS WERE BURIED ALIVE, THE QURAN RAISED THE VALUE OF WOMEN AND PROHIBITED
FEMALE INFANTICIDE (VIOLENT DEATH).
THE QURAN AND ISLAM ALSO ABOLISHED THE PRACTICE
WHEREBY INHERITANCE WENT TO ONLY THE OLDEST MALE HEIR. INSTEAD, A WOMAN
CAN INHERIT FROM HER FATHER , HER HUSBAND, AND HER CHILDLESS BROTHER (
SEE QURAN 4:7, 32, 176).
IN ISLAM WHEN A WOMAN GETS MARRIED SHE DOES
NOT SURRENDER HER MAIDEN NAME, BUT MAINTAINS HER DISTINCT IDENTITY. SOME
MUSLIM WOMEN HAVE ADOPTED THE SURNAMES OF THEIR HUSBANDS, BUT THIS IS DUE
TO CULTURAL INFLUENCE, NOT ISLAM.
IN A MUSLIM MARRIAGE THE GROOM GIVES A DOWERY
TO THE BRIDE, NOT TO HER FATHER. THIS BECOMES HER PRIVATE PROPERTY TO KEEP
OR SPEND, AND IS NOT SUBJECT TO THE DICTATES OF HER MALE RELATIVES. ANY
MONEY SHE EARNS OR RECIEVES IS SIMILARLY HER VERY OWN.
UNDER ISLAMIC LAW A WOMAN CANNOT BE MARRIED
WITHOUT HER CONSENT. SHE HAS FINAL APPROVAL ON A MARRIAGE PARTNER AND SHE
CAN REJECT A MARRIAGE ARRANGED WITHOUT HER CONSENT. SHE ALSO HAS THE RIGHT
TO INITIATE A SEPARATION FROM MARRIAGE IF HER RIGHTS UNDER MARRIAGE ARE
NOT BEING GRANTED.
WIDOWS HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMARRY, AND THEY
ARE IN FACT ENCOURAGED TO DO SO. THE QURAN PLACES ON MEN THE RESPONSIBILITY
OF PROTECTING AND MAINTAINING THEIR FEMALE RELATIVES. THIS RELIEVES
WOMEN OF THE NEED TO EARN THEIR OWN LIVING. IT ALSO MEANS THAT A MAN MUST
PROVIDE FOR HIS WIFE EVEN IF SHE HAS MONEY OF HER OWN. SHE IS NOT OBLIGATED
TO SPEND HER MONEY IN THE MAINTENANCE OF HER FAMILY. INCIDENTLY, A WOMAN
IS NOT REQUIRED TO COOK FOR HER FAMILY, ALTHOUGH SHE MAY DO SO OUT OF LOVE
AND COMPASSION. THE EXAMPLE OF OUR NOBLE PROPHET , ON WHOM BE PEACE , IS
THAT ALTHOUGH HE WAS SUCH A GREAT LEADER, HE ASSISTED IN THE HOUSECLEANING
AND MENDED HIS OWN CLOTHES, LIKEWISE WAS OUR IMAM ALI BIN ABI TALEB AND
HIS WIFE FATIMA AL-ZAHRA, WHO ARE BOTH ROLE MODELS FOR ALL MARRIED COUPLES.
IN RETURN FOR THE ADDED RESPONSIBILTY, THE
QURAN GIVES MEN THE DEGREE OF LEADERSHIP (SEE QURAN 2:228, 4:34 ). THIS
DOES NOT MEAN THAT MEN SHOULD DOMINATE WOMEN, BUT RATHER THAT THEY SHOULD
DEAL WITH THEM IN KINDNESS , MERCY, AND LOVE. (QURAN 4:19, 30:21 )
