Rights and role of woman in Islam
By Samreen ( Teena )
The Muslim woman was given a role, duties and rights more than 1400 years ago that most of them do not enjoy today, even in the West. These rights, granted by Allah, are designed to keep balance in the society, that may seem unjust or missing in one place is compensated or explained in another point.
Equality is a charming word, for it implies a sense of non-discrimination. A particular sanctity is attached to it. It evokes respect, especially when it is associated with rights.
No doubt, Islam has not in all cases accorded similar rights to man and woman. But it has not also prescribed similar duties and similar punishments for the two sexes. Anyway, the total value of the rights accorded to woman is not less than that of the rights accorded to man. The intention is to shed light on this veiled or forgotten face of ‘rights’.
The Quran states, “And they (women) have rights similar to those (of men) over them, and men are a degree above them.” (Quran 2:228). Along with this, the following saying of The Holy Prophet (PBUH) must be shed light as well, “It is the generous (in character) who is good to women, and it is the wicked who insults them.”
Here the question arises as to what is the reason that in certain cases, dissimilar rights have been accorded to man and woman. Would it not have been better, had their rights been similar, as well as equal in all cases? To give full consideration to this point following facts have been gathered.
Islam has made woman a symbol of chastity, however, it has not spared man of this holy spirit and both species are ordered to enshrine this blessing. But in woman, no doubt, it’s the excessive one as she is blessed with a certain attitude and behaviour to deal with various situations. They are considered as the beauty of the earth and the one crafted to reveal the artistic values of nature.
With regard to the woman’s right to seek employment, it should be stated first that Islam regards her role in society as a mother and a wife as the most sacred and essential one. Neither maids nor baby-sitters can possibly take the mother’s place as the educator of an upright, complex free, and carefully reared children. Such a noble and vital role, which largely shapes the future of nations, cannot be regarded as “idleness”.
Even in modern times and in the most developed countries, it is rare to find a woman in the position of a head of state, acting as more than a figurehead, a woman commander of the armed services, or even a proportionate number of women representatives in parliaments, or similar bodies. One cannot possibly ascribe this to backwardness of various nations or to any constitutional limitation on woman’s right to be in such a position. It is more logical to explain the present situation in terms of the natural and indisputable differences between man and woman, a difference, which does not imply any “supremacy” of one over the other. The difference implies rather the “complementary” roles of both the sexes in life.
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