Woman and Society [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

They endured pain, torture, and persecution. So, they emigrated to Habasha and
Medina. They supported Allah and His Apostle (s.a.w.) strongly.

The character of the righteous
women clearly appear when we look at the view that surrounds the martyrs whom
the Qur'an has mentioned:

"And the earth shall get
radiant with the light of its Lord, and the Book (of deeds) shall be set, and
the prophets shall be brought up and the witnesses, and (it shall) be judged
between them, and they shall not be dealt with unjustly." Holy
Qur'an (Zumar 39:69)

The Muslim woman has not
discovered her true position in Islam yet and the Muslim man has not known the
true position of the woman in Islam yet. So the relationship between them has
become disordered and it will not become ordered until they both follow the
principles of the Qur'an and recognise the rights of each other.

If the woman who follows the
material civilization knows her position and respect in Islam, she will embrace
it.

Preparing the Women to fulfill
their Tasks

The process of preparing and
educating has an important effect on building and forming man's character. It
directs his abilities and merits in a constructive manner. Thus, he is able to
carry out his tasks in society. When man is neglected and deprived of education,
direction, and organized preparation, he will grow up spontaneously. In other
words, circumstances, environment, and events will direct him. All these things
kill his character, waste his abilities, and hinder his social growth. Then he
will have a weak and unstable character, so he will be unable to deal
successfully with society, events, problems, and chances. The conditions of
woman should be studied through the picture represented in Islam. This picture
is in the Qur'an and the purified Sunnah. It depends on numerous bases.
They are as follow:

1. The unity of mankind depending
on His words, the Exalted: "O people, keep your duty to your Lord,
Who created you from a single being and created its mate of the same (kind),
and spread from these two many men and women. And keep your duty to Allah, by Whom you demand one of another
(your rights), and (to) the ties of relationship. Surely Allah is ever a
Watcher over your." Holy Qur'an (Nisa 4:1)

We can understand this verse not
only through its great meaning, but also through the Revelation that opened the
Sura of al-Nisa' that talks about the affairs of woman with this verse and
depends on it. The sura of al-Nisa' is among the greatest Suras. It has 176
verses excluding the bismillah, namely, in the Name of Allah, the Most
Gracious, the Most Merciful.

This surah is regarded as the
foundation, legislation, and values that organize the relationship between man
and woman, and limit their position and their role in society.

2. The relationship between man
and woman depending on love, affection, mercy, calmness, and tranquility. All
these qualities are presented in these words of His, the Exalted: "And
of His signs is that He created for you from yourselves, mates that you may
dwell (inclined) unto them, and caused between you love and compassion: Verily
in this are signs for a people who reflect." Holy
Qur'an (Rum 30:21)

3. Man and woman are equal in
rights and duties: "and for the women shall be similar rights (over
men) in fairness,." Holy Qur'an (Baqara 2:228)

In this verse, Allahs means that
man and woman have rights and duties over each other. Each of them has rights
and duties. They both should carry out their duties through paying the rights
of each other with kindness and good association. With this unique religious,
and moral principle, Islam has balanced the relationship between man and woman.
Accordingly, it has established an outstanding principle for the rights of
woman.

4. The social relationship between
man and woman is based on friendship as declared by the Holy Qur'an. Allah, the
Exalted: "And the believer men and the believer women, they are
guardians to one another."
The Qur'an gives this wonderful picture of the relationship between man and
woman. This relationship is based on friendship. The highest degrees of love
and respect are presented in this relationship. It has been established in the
language that the word wali' means supporter, lover, and friend.

Among the clear social phenomena
in our world, which suffer from tyrants, are persecution, depression, force,
and domination. Thus, this phenomena have negative effects on social dealings,
education in school and home, the relations of work, and all kinds of social
organization.

The absence of freedom, scorning
the character of others, persecuting them, and depressing their will are
familiar phenomena in our present society. Nobody protests against them but in
some limits which are inappropriate for these phenomena.

Woman suffers from the pressure of
this phenomena more than man. Our society has inherited backward habits,
customs, and concepts. Through them it treats woman. Thus, it scorns the
character, abilities, and merits of woman. Moreover, in many environments, man
regards woman as a creature below the love of humanity of man. The concepts of
isolating woman from advanced social life have come into existence because of
backwardness and the absence of Islamic awareness and understanding from the
circles of Muslims, and general social, political, and intellectual situation.
We find strange that some material writers have ascribed these concepts to
Islam.

Because of the conditions of
ignorance and backwardness, Muslims have submitted to material intellectual
invasion through its two eastern and western schools. Thus, has begun a war
waged against Islamic thought and to focus on the conditions of woman in the
Islamic world. So, non-Islamic information and cultural foundations, secular
parties, and the propagators of materialism and dissoluteness have spared no
effort to drag woman from those circumstances and conditions in which she lives
in backward society to the circle of dissoluteness, to corrupt woman, and to
trade with her affairs politically and culturally. That is because they have
become sure of corrupting woman through sexual dissoluteness, and the motto of
(woman's rights) and (woman's freedom), being the best way to corrupt the
generation of males and females. That is because woman is the source of temptation
and sexual excitement. Besides spreading sexual dissoluteness, which they have
called (sexual rights), is among the most dangerous ways to destroy the family,
to make children homeless, and to destroy human relationship between man and
woman.

Thus, the plan of preparing and
educating woman faces three directions. They are as follow:

1. The direction that resulted from the conditions of civilizational
backwardness and awareness. It is the direction that depends on the base of scorning woman's character,
depressing her will, and making absent her human and social role beside man.
This direction has been inherited through habits and customs that have resulted
from those who have no knowledge of Islam, the conditions of domination, the
haughtiness of man, and intellectual backwardness.

2. Material direction: Western material civilization summons (people) to adopt this
direction. It is the direction that summons people to believe in sexual
dissoluteness that aims at destroying family relationships and empowering
persecution and oppression of woman in another way and under the motto of
"woman's rights" and "sexual freedom", etc., that makes
woman the victim of sexual enjoyment and violation and diseases.

3. Islamic direction: It is the direction that believes in the unity of mankind and
organizes the relationship between man and woman according to respect and
cooperation that aim at building society and organizing sexual relationship
between man and woman not according to dissolute woman's body and to enjoy it
and to destroy the foundations of family ties, as it occurs nowadays in Europe,
America, Russia, China, Japan, an other countries in the world, that have
followed the trend of material civilization. Rather on the foundation of
respecting woman's humanity and granting her her rights, for she is a human
being with qualities and rights and character.

Building through Family
Relationships

It has become clear that society
stands on three basic pillars. They are as follows:

1. The reaction between the two
cases of womanhood and manhood, for they have biological and psychological
qualities, and that the happiness of society, its psychological tranquility,
its social and material growth, the development of its production, and the
righteousness of its behavior depends, to a large extent, on the righteous
reaction between the two psychological states- the state of womanhood and
manhood.

2. The link of common culture and
thought.

3. Exchanging interests among the
various members of society- males and females.

According to the first and third
pillars, the social function of all the members of society, males and females,
have come into existence according to their physical and mental abilities and
their psychological inclinations.

According to these pillars, woman
moves to take part in building family and society. The widest fields of this
participation is family.

Psychological studies have
confirmed the Qur'an when it denoted that family was the base of society and
was among its most important foundations and the foundation on which social
life is built. Thus, the Qur'an has explained that and put the rules of
relationship between man and woman and between the rights and duties of both
man and woman to make them able to work and to build a happy social life.

Allah, the Exalted, said: "And
of His signs is that He created for you from yourselves, mates that you may
dwell (inclined) unto them, and caused between you love and compassion: Verily
in this are signs for a people who reflect." Holy
Qur'an (Rum 30:21)

"He it is Who created
you from a single self and from it did He make his mate that he may dwell
resting unto her." Holy Qur'an (Araf 9:189)

"Men have authoriy
over women on account of the qualities with which Allah has caused the one of
them to excel the other and for what they spend of their property; therefore,
the righteous women are obedient, guarding the
unseen that which Allah has
guarded."

Holy
Qur'an (Nisa 4:34)

"and for the
women shall be similar rights (over men) in fairness,." Holy
Qur'an (Baqara 2:228)

"but deal kindly with
them (women)."

Holy
Qur'an (Nisa 4:19)

"Let him with
abundance spend of his abundance."

Holy
Qur'an (Talaq 65:7)

"and help you (one
another) in righteousness and piety, and help you not (one another) in sin and
aggression." Holy Qur'an (Ma'ida 5:2)

The Qur'an has talked about the
human and lawful foundations and ties. The Prophetic traditions (sunna) has also talked about that. We will mention some traditions
which have been reported on the authority of the Prophet (s.a.w.): "All of you are responsibles. And all of you are
responsible for your subjects. The emir who (rules) over people is responsible
for his subjects. The man is responsible for the people of his house. The woman
is responsible for the house of her husband and his children. The slave is
responsible for the money of his master. Indeed you are all responsible for
your subjects."(21)

It has been reported on the
authority of Imam al-Sadiq (a.s.), who said: "It is the manner of the Prophets to love women."(22)

It has been also reported on his
authority (a.s.): "I do not think