November 22, 2011

Women in Islam



Western propaganda has been very successful in portraying the misinterpreted image of women in Islam. They consider women as weak, oppressed and second class citizen in the eye of Islam. But the reality in not what is shown in the news, movies and stories. Muslim women got fair amount of rights and respect in society, Islam is the most revolutionary liberalization of women’s rights the civilized world has ever seen.

Think of the possibilities for liberalization based on purely Islamic sources, not taking anything from the modern West.

That would be truly Islamic value of women. The origin of Islam is far more liberal and feminist than what subsequent generations made of it. Women’s rights were established by the Qur’an and the Prophet (peace be upon him), who after all loved women; we need to filter out the spurious anti-woman hadiths that were added later. Although the term liberalism of women has developed a somewhat poisonous connotation in today’s sermon, it really just means the promotion of women’s God-given rights and liberties, which is to the good of everyone.

Muslim women are completely permitted to work, and to get education and have been doing so in many Muslim countries around the world. There are many places around the world where Muslim women are being oppressed and are being treated as second class citizens but it is just due to the culture of that particular area. Things have changed dramatically and Muslim women are getting more and more educated. Forced arranged marriages are a thing of the past because Islam is clearly against it.

This is in the spirit of the Prophet’s (PBUH) answer to the Sahabi asking who was most deserving of good treatment and honor: 1) Your mother; 2) your mother; 3) your mother; 4) your father. Women are the heart of a Muslim family and should be treated with love and respect. Islam does not say for women to be used as cleaners or cooks around the home. Rather women should play their role in running a home and also in the development of a country.

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Tu Zinda Hai Wallah - Owais Raza Qadri