God has said in the
Qur’an "وما خلقت الجن والانس الا ليعبدون" which
means that men and jinn have been created only for
worshipping (Him). In Islam, the apparent meaning of
‘worship’ is Namaz, Fasting, Zakat
(i.e. a religious tax on wealth) and pilgrimage.
These acts of worship provide a base for keeping
human relationships and dealing on an even keel. If
these acts of worship fail to achieve these
objectives of setting right the relation and
dealings, then those prayers we offer are not given
acceptance by God. For instance, God says about
that: "ان الصلوة تنهي عن الفحشاء و المنكر" i.e.,
Prayer positively prevents the worshipper from vices
and obscenity. It is conveyed, by implication, that
if our Namaz did not prevent us from
indulging in obscenity and evil deeds, it is not
Namaz at all in its real sense.
Now let us probe what these obscene acts are. All
those acts based on immodesty and particularly those
pertaining to the relationship between man and
woman, if not based on a moderate system – where
they are given an appropriate place and position,
enjoining equal rights which should be also be in
conformity with their respective physical build up
and temperaments and where duties have been assigned
taking into consideration their relative merits and
demerits – are included in the realm of obscenity.
In Islam, the position of women has been placed on a
higher pedestal on two occasions. In the position of
a mother, it has been said to her children that the
heaven is underneath her feet. By this it means that
her children can reach heaven and attain salvation
only by being obedient to her and by not arousing
her anger. As a mother her rights have been accepted
to such an extent that if both father and mother
were to command the presence of children
simultaneously, it is the mother who shall have
precedence in compliance over the command of their
father. She has been accorded a dignified status in
society as a daughter. A father cannot contract the
marriage of his daughter without her consent.
On bringing up a daughter and on giving her a sound
education and training, a father will not only be
rewarded but also his sins would be forgiven; and he
would be entitled to a very exalted position in
heaven. Apart form these two positions, a woman has
a third position which is her position as wife. In
this position of a wife she has been given the right
to demand her maintenance to meet her basic needs of
life. If her husband refuses, she has been given the
right to approach a court and seek divorce which, in
Islamic parlance, is called Khula. She has
been given the right to demand a portion of her
husband’s income towards the educational needs of
their children. She is entitled to regard her
husband’s house as her own and run and manage it
according to her will and wisdom. Collateral to this
position is also the obedience to husband that has
been made incumbent on her part.
For the establishment of a peaceful society, it is
imperative that there is division of labour between
man and woman according to their physical,
intellectual, emotional abilities and aptitudes. God
has so created the physical frame of the woman, that
they become physically and mentally weak for a few
days every month. Medical science bears testimony to
this fact that a majority of decisions taken by
women during this period are erroneous. Even the
most intelligent woman who, in normal times, is
capable of better judgment than man, lacks the same
confidence in her decisions during these periods of
menstruation. No woman can seek riddance from this
natural weakness associated with her sex. The second
important duty a woman performs - that of child
bringing and attainment of motherhood - is one which
no man can equal even after a thousand years of
service. The traumatic experience, both physical and
mental, through which a woman passes to became a
mother, and the kind of mental strain she undergoes
is beyond even the imagination of man. Later on, at
the time of giving birth, there are moments of life
and death through which the woman passes. It is in
view of this that, in Islam, the mother is not
recompensed for a moment of the torture she
underwent even if her children were to physically
carry her on their shoulders in visiting the Ka’bah
at Makkah on foot.
Nature has subjected a woman to such a tough test
that to expect her to extend help in managing the
other worldly affairs of man’s life and to lighten
men’s burden, when man has not been of any help to
her in her strenuous task of childbearing and
delivery, will be an act of callousness to the
extreme. The matter does not end here. Even after
giving birth, there is the emotional satisfaction
the mother provides, and the way the mother
sacrifices all her conveniences and comforts of her
life for nourishing the baby: all this cannot be
borne by any man even to the extent of a fraction.
After she performs all these duties, it would be
unjust to expect her to extend her helping hand in
the discharge of man’s duties and would be doubly
callous to drag her in the economic field to help
man. Is it not the selfishness of man that he never
helps in the discharge of our feminine duties and he
drags us in the economic field to help him in the
discharge of his duties?
As a matter of principle, the responsibilities of
man in the economic sphere of life is immense in
their requirements, and, therefore, he has been
given complete independence from the
responsibilities at home, so that keeping himself
free, he can arrive at correct judgment and
implement his decisions in the various walks of
life. If, on the other hand, a man were to drag his
wife into the fiercely competitive world outside,
she may not be able to discharge her duties at home
in a befitting manner. Consequently it will lead to
skirmishes, sexual anarchy, improper training of
children and other catastrophes as a natural
corollary to the unnatural division of labour. If
society were to restore her position as ordained by
God and if she were to discharge her duties in her
domain for which nature has destined her, and if she
were given her pre-eminent position in her home
which is her due, then she will be the greatest
source of happiness to her husband and the husband
will be able to arrive at better judgment and
decisions. Thus, her existence will be a source of
peace and happiness in society.
By nature women are more modest, in comparison to
men. Hence, they abhor all obscenity and immodesty
and shun their exhibits. In contrast, man, to
satisfy his sensual desires and quench his sexual
thirst, wants to make her nude under false pretexts
and under the cover of attractive titles of art,
fashion, women’s liberation or equality of rights
for sexes, man has been constantly fooling her and
reducing the honour and dignity of women to shreds.
The matter does not end here. He drags her in his
field by saying she is equal to man in all respects
and, as such, can discharge his duties too: the
paradox is that the woman forgets that she was never
inferior to man even without helping him in his
task. Can man discharge any part of her duties and,
if he cannot, why should we not say that man is
inferior to woman? If man cannot take part in her
courageous duties, he is decidedly far inferior to
woman. But, in principle, both of these statements
are wrong. No one is either superior or inferior to
each other. The division of duties have been
assigned according to their physical and mental
abilities. If men were to shoulder women’s
responsibilities and women men’s, will there be any
order in society?
It is true that in some difficult situations, men
are called upon to discharge responsibilities at
home. In the same way, the women, by force of
circumstances, have to struggle hard in the economic
field. But this can’t be a rule: it can be called an
exception. It is the responsibility of society to
safeguard such men and women from those situations
and to assign them to their respective fields. The
kinds of arts and culture clubs the sex-hungry men
have created and as a consequence the kind of
society that has come into existence, the currency
that obscene literature has acquired, the nude
posters of women that have been mocking the position
of women in society, and the way she is projected in
films and dramas, all this, cannot by standards, be
called as a part of an ideal society. History bears
witness that a good many battles are fought for the
sake of women. If we make an analysis of the reason
behind this, it will be clear that whenever woman
has been removed from her natural assignment, there
has always been anarchy and chaos in one form or the
other.
Whenever women undertook the responsibilities of
men, and given a go-by to her duties towards her
children, these children have fallen prey to the
hired affection of house maids and governesses and
consequently the whole generation has been spoiled:
this has spelled disaster for many a nation. From
this, I conclude that woman can best serve the cause
of humanity by holding steadfast to her duties in
her domain and thus make the world a planet of peace
and happiness. Whenever her potentialities are
misdirected, it has served as a potential source of
destruction and devastation.
Dr. Rokhiya Jaferi Siddique is a physician and is
the President of the International Seerah Academy,
Bangalore, She may be contacted at 9845588677 (M),
or at 080-41276426 (LL)
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