Woman and Society [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

to those who have intense enmity towards Islam. Meanwhile, it summons them to
leave despair and to open a door to hold intellectual talks. That is because
the conditions of talks differ from time to time. In other words, the talks may
be rejected today but are accepted tomorrow. What is rejected through one way
is accepted through another way.

3. Lust and Sexual
Deviation:

Perhaps, among the most prominent
motives of those who demand the freedom of woman or sexual dessolateness is the
motive of lust or sexual deviation. The Holy Qur'an talks about these motives
and their danger and denotes their destructive effects. Allah, the Most High,
says:

"But followed after
them a succession who neglected prayers and they followed lust, so they shall
soon meet perdition,." Holy Qur'an (Maryam, 19:59)

He said: "(It has
been) made to seem attractively fair unto men, the love of the lust for women
and sons and the hoarded treasures of gold and silver..."

Holy
Qur'an (Aali-Imran 3: 13)

He said: "...but
desire those who follow their own lusts that you should deviate a great
deviation."

Holy
Qur'an (Nisa'4: 27)

In these verses, the Holy Qur'an
explains the danger of lust and that it represents ghay', which means (the ignorance that arises from a corrupt
belief) and mayl', which means (turning away from
righteousness and moderation), which has been mentioned in another verse:

"Those who hinder
(others) from the path of Allah and seek to make it crooked; and they in the
hereafter, they are the disbelievers." Holy
Qur'an (Hud 11:19)

There is a practical proof in the
reports and figures which we have mentioned about sexual deviation. The Qur'an
has explained it to people and warned them against it.

4. Inherited
Malice and Fear of Islam:

Among the motives of the campaign
against Islam and distorting its attitude towards woman is the inherited malice
against Islam and distorting its principles and high values. This malice began
from the day when the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) made public his mission. Then
it increased during the Crusades and after them. Through blind imitation,
Europe has inherited spite and hatred towards Islam. It has spared no effort to
distort the plain principles of Islam and to mislead public opinion, because
Islam is a civilizational mission that will destroy their interests, end their
oppression and domination over the world in general and the Muslim world in private.
The fears of Europe of Islam have increased since the beginning of Islamic
awareness and the appearance of Islam as a plan which the Islamic movements
have adopted, and which a live experience has embodied through establishing
Islamic states, such as the Islamic Republic in Iran.

The super powers have gathered
their hirelings everywhere to resist Islamic awareness and to destroy the
Islamic plan and its propagators and the
holders of its banner.

Woman During the Lifetimes of the
Prophets (a.s.)

Woman had a prominent and
important role during the course of divine summons and the movements of the
prophets and messengers (a.s.). Woman took part in the intellectual and
political struggle, and suffered from torture, murder, emigration, persecution,
oppression, and mental and political terrorism. She made public her view freely
and joined the divine mission inspite of her loss of authority and property.
For instance, Mary, the mother of Jesus (a.s.) who was praised by the Holy
Qur'an and the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (s.a.w.) too. In many verses, the
Qur'an has lauded this lady and offered her as an example to men and women to
follow her behavior and the righteousness of her thinking and character.

Whoever studies the history of
woman finds that the divine message addresses both the man and the woman. In
other words, the divine message does not make any distinction between them
because of their gender.

When we study some historical
examples of the life of women in the course of the divine message, we will
understand the important and active position which woman occupied during the
lives of the prophets and their messages. Thus, the value of woman, her
intellectual and political participation, and her lawful and humane rights
appear in Islamic society. We can understand this important and active
participation of woman when we read the story of the struggle of the father of
the prophets, Abraham (a.s.), against his people in Bablon, in the land of
Iraq, and his struggle against Nimrud. That struggle ended for Abraham (a.s.)
when he was saved from the fire through a divine miracle that exceeded all the
imaginations of material intellect. So, he emigrated to Syria. Sarah, his wife,
was the first to believe him and to accompany him during his flight to Syria.
Then they emigrated to Egypt. Then they returned to Syria to live there.
Abraham (a.s.) started the most important period in the history of man.
Meanwhile, his wife, Sarah, supported him and stood beside him throughout his
struggle, sufferings, and emigration.

The Qur'an talks about the story
of this emigration and the family life. It also talks about the role of Hajar
(Hagar), the second wife of Abraham (a.s.), and her participation in creating
the brightest period in history at Holy Mecca in Saudi Arabia. That was when
Abraham (a.s.) brought her from Egypt.

The story of Hajar is one of the
most famous of all the stories in history. Thus, she became very famous in
history when she took care of her son, Prophet Ismael (a.s.), in a valley
unproductive of fruit near the Sacred House. Then Ismael (a.s.) became the
grandfather of the greatest Prophet in the history of mankind, Muhammad
(s.a.w.). The Qur'an has recorded these events when it says:

"O Our Lord! Verily I
have housed a part of my offspring in a valley uncultivable, nigh unto Your
Holy House..." Holy Qur'an (Abraham, 14:37)

Moreover, the Qur'an talks about
the mother of Moses (a.s.) when Allah inspired her to save Moses (a.s.) from
Pharaoh. The Qur'an notes that Allah honored her when he returned Moses to her
to raise for the wife of Pharoah. Later, Moses saved his people from oppression
and destroyed the greatest tyrant in the history of mankind. The Qur'an has
mentioned this woman as a basic axle in creating these events. Then the Qur'an
talks about Pharaoh's wife, Asiya, and the mother of Jesus (a.s.). The Qur'an
has shown them as an example to generations to follow them. In this connection
the Qur'an says:

"And Allah sets forth an example to those who believe the
wife of Pharaoh, when said she: O My Lord! Build for me a house with You in
the Garden and deliver me from Pharaoh and his doing, and deliver me from the
unjust people.' And Mary the daughter of Imran, who guarded her chastity; and
breathed We into it (her body) of Our Spirit, and she testified the truth of
the words of her Lord, and His Scriptures, and she was of the obedient
ones." Holy Qur'an (Tahrim 66:11-12)

Let us read these two verses and
consider carefully their wonderful intellectual meaning that talks about the
character of woman with honor and respect which no material civilization grants
her. The Qur'an has offered the righteous woman as a practical example to men
and women to follow her. This has been mentioned in the verse: "And
Allah sets forth an example to those who
believe." The phrase
""And Allah sets forth an example." and the phrase "to those who
believe" explain
clearly for us a unique concept in the world of thought and civilization
concerning the righteous woman. The Qur'an has offered them as an ideal example
to both men and women to follow them in thought and socio-political attitude.
It has shown two examples to the high character of the believing woman and her
position in Islamic thought. It has shown Pharoah's wife, the Queen of Egypt,
the Lady of crown, palace, power, policy, and the great state at that time.
However, she challenged the authorities. The Qur'an has also shown Mary,
daughter of Imran, who challenged the haughtiness and plot of the children of
Israel.

As the woman played an important
role during the lives of Abraham, Moses, and Jesus (peace be upon them), she
played the same role during the life of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) and his
mission. This unique ideological role was played by Khadija bint Khwaylid
(a.s.). It is worth mentioning, Khadija (a.s.) belonged to tribe of Quraish.
She was the Lady of the society and had a remarkable position at Holy Mecca.
She had wealth, trade, and position. She was the first woman to believe in
Prophet Muhammad's (s.a.w.) message. Accordingly she believed in his
prophethood and spent her money to support him. For him, she suffered all
persecutions throughout the ten years of her holy life, be his side. She
endured all the sufferings of the siege that lasted for three years. Thus, she
has become among the greatest women in the history of Islam. For this reason,
Allah's Apostle (s.a.w.) called the year when she died the Year of Sadness.

Muslims magnify this Lady very
much. They follow her behavior and noble attitudes.

In a conversation with his wife
A'isha concerning Khadija's character, the Prophet said: "Allah has not recompensed me with better than her.
She was the mother of the family and a house-wife. She believed me when the
people accused me of lying. She supported me with her money when the people
deprived me (of that). She bore me a son when I was deprived (of that) from
other than her."17

Again he talked bout her, saying:
"Indeed, I love those who love
her."18

Then the Prophet (s.a.w.) talked
about his daughter Fatima, the chaste: "Fatima is part of me. Whoever hurts her hurts me."19

One day he was asked: "Which of your family is the most lovable to you?" "Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad," he
said.20

From these texts we understand the
position and character of the woman during the lifetime of the Prophet
(s.a.w.). This attitude of the Prophet represents the best evaluation and
respect to the position of the woman in Islam.

Through this brief Qur'anic and
historical explanation, we understand that the woman looked after the great
prophets and supported them. This was embodied during the lifetimes of Abraham,
Moses, Ismael, Jesus (a.s.), and Muhammad (s.a.w.), who were the greatest of
all the prophets and messengers and the leaders of thought, righteousness, and
divine civilization in the earth.

The Qur'an has recorded the role
of the woman during the lifetime of the Prophet (s.a.w.) and his mission. It
has also mentioned that the women took part in emigrating with the Prophet and
struggling before him. In this connection, the Qur'an has mentioned both men
and women when it talks about emigration, pledge of allegiance, mission, good
reward, the relationship between men and women, etc. There are hundreds of
verses in the Qur'an about these matters. The following are some of them:

"And the believer men
and the believer women, they are guardians to one another; they enjoin good and
forbid evil."

Holy
Qur'an (Towba 9:71)

"And my Lord! Forgive
You me and my parents and him who enters my abode believing (in You) and the
believer men and the believer women, and increase not unto the unjust ones in
aught save perdition!"

Holy
Qur'an (Noah 71:28)

"The day you shall see
the faithful men and faithful women, with their light running before them,..."

Holy
Qur'an (Hadid 57:12)

In these verses, the Qur'an raises
the woman to the highest position and treats her as it treats the man. In the
concept of the Islamic message, the man and the woman support each other to
communicate the thought. They both reform society and remove corruption and
crime. They both convey the message of good and peace and righteousness
throughout the earth.

In the second verse, Prophet Noah
(a.s.) asked his Lord to forgive both believing men and women. Through the
meaning of this prayer, the principles of honoring, love, and respect for the
woman spread. That is because the supplication for a certain person has all
these meanings.

The Qur'an pictures that believing
men and women will be in a halo of light on the day when they meet their Lord
to receive their reward according to their deeds.

Thus, we understand that the
Qur'an has granted the righteous woman love and support. Besides it has
summoned (people) to ask their Lord to forgive the believing woman and bless
her. Moreover, it has surrounded the believing woman with a halo of light. Such
a woman is she who follows Asiya Pharoah's wife), Mary (the mother of Jesus),
Khadija (the wife of Prophet Muhammad [s.a.w.]), and Fatima (the daughter of
Muhammad [s.a.w.]).

Apart from this, we understand the
high character of woman and respect towards her when we know that the first
martyr in Islam was Sumayya, the mother of the great companion Ammar b. Yasir.
She was killed by Abu Sufyan, the leader of the polytheists. Thus, Sumayya
sacrificed her life for the principles of the Islamic message. That was when
the confrontation took place between the terrorists and tyrants, and Muhammad
(s.a.w.) and the deprived and slaves who followed the message of Islam to give
them their rights and to save them from ignorance and exploitation.

A number of the deprived women
hurried to believe in the Prophet (s.a.w.) at the beginning of his mission.