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Islam Discriminates against Women?
29|04|2007 |
Adduonline |
Discrimination does not even
apply to Islam
The issue of Muslim women is the subject of many controversies
deliberately created by Orientalists. The main theme of their
attacks against Islam is that, Islam gave women an inferior
position. It is incorrect to say that Islam discriminated
against the women because, when we look at the Islamic rules, we
will find that Islam gave certain rights to everyone. For
example, women have to cover more parts of their body. However,
the woman does not have to work; for her, working is a choice
that she can elect not to do. But for men, working is an
obligation; men will get punished by Allah if they do not work
to earn the Rizq. Also, the money that the woman makes (either
through her work, if she decides to, or through gifts, family
fortune, and inheritance) is for herself, and she can spend this
money the way she wants. However, the money that a man earns
must be spent upon his family. Even if the woman is extremely
wealthy (perhaps because she comes from a wealthy family) and
the man has a middle-class salary, still the man must provide
for her and for their children, and the woman can either use her
wealth to assist her husband or she can use it to buy a private
mansion for herself. The choice is hers.
Therefore, if we look at Islam from the point of view of
discrimination, then we will find that Islam discriminates
against everything, which is an oxymoron.
What is discrimination ?
Discrimination is to favour somebody at the expense of somebody
else, and you cannot favour everybody at the expense of
everyone. The correct stance is to say that discrimination does
not even apply to Islam, because, for one thing, Allah is above
and beyond favouring a group of people at the expense of another
group. This would mean that Allah is not just. Secondly, viewing
the Islamic rules from the point of view of discrimination would
make no sense because, as we mentioned, the Islamic rules seem
to favour everyone while discriminating against everyone.
Non-Muslim citizens of the Islamic State must pay the Jizya, but
Muslim citizens must pay the Zakat, and non-Muslim citizens are
allowed to drink alcohol, eat pork, and even buy and sell these
commodities among themselves. In addition, non-Muslims do not
have to enlist in the Islamic army, but they get the protection
from the Islamic army. Also, Islam allows us to hunt animals,
and we slaughter animals for food, but you can go to Hell for
torturing animals.
The point of all of this is to illustrate that we cannot look at
the Islamic rules from the point of view of discrimination.
Rather, the correct viewpoint is to look at the Islamic rules
from the point of view that these rules are from Allah, who is
the Creator. And Allah (swt) revealed these rules to organize
our affairs in a manner that, if they are implemented and
obeyed, will lead to tranquility for the individual and
prosperity and progress for the society. Going back to men and
women, some Islamic rules are gender-specific; Allah gave
certain obligations and rights to the man, and He gave certain
rights and obligations to the woman. And some rules are general
and apply to both men and women; for example, praying, fasting,
carrying the Daw'ah, working to establish the Islamic system,
are obligations that Allah has placed upon both men and women.
And the equality is that, if both men and women fulfill their
obligations and obey the commands of Allah (both in regards to
rules that apply only to their gender as well as to the rules
that apply to everyone), their reward will be equal on the Day
of Judgment.
Muslims in the past understood this. They realized that, when
the woman covers, she is not obeying her husband or father;
rather, she is obeying Allah. Also, when the man works to feed
his family, he is obeying Allah, and he does not go out and
break his back to earn a living to please his wife, his parents,
his family, or anyone. Rather, the man works to please Allah by
fulfilling his obligation that Allah placed upon him as a man.
As a result of this understanding, the Muslim world never
suffered ''gender wars'' or a ''battle of the sexes'' like what
happened in the West.
Also, we must realize that Islam gave the woman rights and
elevated the status of the woman in a way that no society or
culture was able to do. Fourteen centuries ago, Islam gave woman
the right to conduct business and earn money like the man,
engage in politics, earn an education and pursue knowledge, and
even fight in battle. The West, until very recently, was
debating whether or not the woman had a soul, and even today,
the prevailing notion in the West is that the woman is the
''devil,'' which has its roots in the idea that Eve tempted
Adam. However, this view does not even exist in Islam; in fact,
if you read the Qur'anic ayahs talking about Adam, you will see
that Shaitan tempted both of them. And when Allah was
reprimanding them, you will find that Allah is speaking to Adam
directly. You will not find any ayah in the Qur'an mentioning
Eve (Hawwa') speaking to Allah; it is as if the Qur'an is
presenting it in such a way that Adam was the one at fault, and
hence, he was the one who turned to repent. Therefore, given
this history, it is no surprise to see the women in the West
resort to feminism and outright hatred of men (lesbianism), as a
natural reaction to the way their society and culture viewed the
women. However, this was never a problem in Islam, which is why
concepts like feminism and ''women's liberation'' had to be
imported and shoved down the throats of the Muslims by deception
and coercion in order for them to take root among Muslims.
If there appears to be any discrimination practiced among women
among Muslims nowadays, then it is not because of Islam, but
because of the local cultures, whether Arab culture, Pakistani
culture, or any other culture. Unfortunately, when Islam
departed from our minds as a reference, this left a cultural
vacuum, and the local cultures filled the void. And because of
the decline in our understanding of Islam, and of the difference
between Islamic culture and between these local cultures, many
of these local cultures became mixed with Islam in our minds,
and nowadays, these cultural practices and customs are presented
''in the name of Islam.'' Therefore, it is not the fault of
Islam that women are discriminated against or persecuted in the
Muslim world; rather, it is because of these local cultures,
whether they are ''in the name of Islam'' or under any other
name. And the burden is upon us to clarify our thinking so that
we understand the difference between Islam on the one hand, and
local cultures on the other.
Conclusion
The enemies of Islam cleverly attacked many rules and aspects of
the Islamic system and culture, and we mistakenly rushed to the
defensive and assumed an apologetic stance. And once we chose to
tread this route, then we began to apologize for everything, to
the point that we have to apologize for being Muslims!
The mistake that we made (and we continue to make) is that we
try to present Islam the way other people want, rather than
simply presenting Islam as it is. When we present to the people
that Islam is the truth, along with the conclusive, irrefutable
evidences that prove that Islam is correct, then the others will
be on the defensive and the burden will placed upon them to
either accept or reject the truth. However, by assuming an
apologetic stance, the standard became how the West perceives
Islam. As a result, we began to evaluate the correctness of
Islam based upon how the West perceives Islam, and not based
upon the correctness of Islam as an idea established upon
irrefutable, conclusive proofs that no objective mind can deny.
And by doing so, the West maintains a firm intellectual grip
upon us; all they need to do to change our behaviour and outlook
is to change their perception of Islam, and we would scramble
for apologies and loopholes in order to reshape Islam to fit
their new perception!! As an example, if homosexuality is
increasingly becoming acceptable to the West does not mean
Islamic rules should be modified to suit the Western standard.
Therefore, we need to realize that all of these attacks have no
merit, and they will not change the fact that Islam is the
truth. Let them believe that the hijab is oppression and let
them launch all the attacks they want. This will not change the
fact that Allah exists, this will not change the fact that the
Qur'an is the Word of Allah or that Muhammad is the Messenger of
Allah, or that Islam is the system from Allah the Creator and is
therefore correct, and part of this system is the hijab. What
WOULD change this is if they actually prove that ISLAM IS WRONG
(i.e., that Allah DOES NOT EXIST or that the Qur'an IS NOT FROM
ALLAH). However, the enemies of Islam do not have the guts to
approach us directly because they know that Islam is the truth
and they have nothing to stand upon. As a result, they have to
attack us using more discrete means, one of which is to attack
certain rules based on logic and ''scare'' us into a defensive
position. And we should be clever enough not to fall into this
trap.. Ends.
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