The very basic Islam for Women
By Talha Masud
I was on cloud nine, when I managed to store something in the back of my head against the prevailing tumult I always witness against Islam. I always objected that Islam should not be misapprehended just by its followers whom, by having the best religion as their identity, never even tried to act upon it as an en masse. They are frustrated. Indeed they are, as Islam for them is left only about the things they know superficially. Maltreatment of women is the most important finger pointing posed against Islam with its extreme approach.
Woman’s natural role attributed to her by nature, the role of bearing, raising mankind and building through her ways and traditions, a befitting world-order for man, can never be torn away from her. That is the crucial role which she only can fulfill. Upon that role hangs not only her very womanhood but the destiny of civilizations. It was destined that she who is wronged so cruelly, who is physically weak yet spiritually strong, should be empowered by the creator to transform man into the desired mould through the influence of her motherhood.
It is a stigma and a shame for the entire human race if woman is compelled to remind society of her rights. She must no longer look askance to others for her due rights. That is a thing of a past. She must not demand her rightful status. That too is a withering trend. Once again, she must prove that the Pardah or Hejab is no hindrance in a woman’s progress. No job on earth is beyond the reach of a Pardah-observing woman. It is the time for the Muslim woman to stop judging herself by Alien standards. As far as woman is concerned, it cannot be denied that in the present-day society, despite endless women’s liberation organizations and movements, she is the most oppressed, the most suppressed, the most subjugated person on earth in general. Her problems are acute. Every culture has made woman dance, dance to its sub-human’s, humiliating tunes. Ironically, it is men who have always defined women’s problems and their solutions, More often than not, these posers of women which reach public notice only after being censored by males, are often tailored up falsely and seen through biased vision. Sadly enough, the distorted version of Islam which is practiced today by Muslims is thought to be real Islam. People quote examples of contemporary Islamic activists of being so confined when it comes to dealing with their women, if the same is happening under the shadow of the man-defined course of any Nation’s rules, they have complete silence over this, because they are as proud of their culture as any Islamic extremist is, of his frame of mind.
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The Muslim community has itself to blame for the abysmal fall of Muslim women. Is it not a fact that even elementary education is denied to Muslim girls whereas the Prophet held the attainment of education to be compulsory for men and women alike? Is it not true that Muslim girls are often not consulted in the matter of their marriage and not even allowed to see the future life-partner whereas the Prophet has permitted that a man intending to marry a girl may see her? Islam grants her the liberty to demand a separate residence for herself if she is not comfortable living combined, which is one of the main problems in that context. Is it not true that even wealthy families expect their wives and girls to play a dumb role whereas Islam grants them total right of freedom of expression?
I (writer) don’t want to present a scholastic philosophy here, neither I am capable of doing it. I myself am ashamed of being a bad Muslim. I do not pray punctually or perform minute liabilities of my religion, which are not a hurdle in my day-to day life. But what I do is to think. Think about those who always have to blame Islam by taking instances of the fake Muslims. It took very long for me to understand that the effectiveness of Islamic law in every detail makes it more practicable and superior and relevant to the problems of every age, because the problems remain the same in every age. Only their texture change.
I don’t want to dwell into the details of the so-called ostentatious claims of the west or the people amongst us, having solid theories against pathetic (according to them) Islamic restrictions for women to prevent themselves from stepping out of their doors, flying in colors in their studies, ensuing to their aims, dreams, ambitions and aspirations pertaining their career selection and growth with the precautionary measures prescribed by Islam, that never dislodge women from their areas of specialization. On the contrary, not on the executive front, in western freedom, women in clerical, typing and junior jobs are pressured to go to bed to secure jobs. Silent conditions for employment say, ‘No sex no job’ and ‘No sex no promotion’. Is that freedom and equality? It is the worst slavery of women and blackmail and a refined way of playing the same game with women as that in the field of prostitution.
According to a friend who helped me to get a vision before writing this article, “The misunderstandings regarding the women’s status and rights in Islam can only be dispelled by critical and direct study of the rights granted to her in Islam”. The study needs to be observed in full light with an open mind removed from pre-conceived prejudice.
