In times gone by, early in the history of humankind, women were treated arbitrarily, as men pleased, as less than human beings. In ancient civilizations, women were accused of being agents of the devil, genderuwo, witches. They were cursed, punished, they were swept aside. “Woman is an unfinished man, left standing on a lower step in the scale of development,” Aristotle taught. In pre-Islamic Arabia, women were seen as “accursed devils”, evident in the following lines of verse from a pre-Islamic poem:
Inna al Nisa Syayathin Khuliqna Lana.
Na'udzu Billah min Syarr al SyayathinWomen are devils created for us
And we beg God's protection from these devils
Six hundred years after the birth of Jesus, the Prophet of Muslims, Muhammad bin Abdullah, came to put an end to such misguided and heretical beliefs. A number of Quranic verses were revealed to him that declared the equality of men and women in all things and to demand that justice be upheld, among them Quranic Surah al Ahzab, verse 35:
For Muslim men and women,- for believing men and women, for devout men and women, for true men and women, for men and women who are patient and constant, for men and women who humble themselves, for men and women who give in Charity, for men and women who fast (and deny themselves), for men and women who guard their chastity, and for men and women who engage much in Allah's praise,– for them has Allah prepared forgiveness and great reward.
According to the holy book of Islam, women and men help each other. They are created to bring out each other's goodness and erase each other's imperfections (amar ma’ruf nahi munkar) (Q.S. 9:71). Women and men are commanded to create a human civilization together, as partners. And women have the right to inhabit all the same spaces as men, not only the kitchen, the water well and the bedroom.
When Umar bin Khattab, the leader of the non-Muslim Quraysh, and later the second Rightly Guided Caliph of Islam, embraced Islam he said: “previously we have belittled the meaning and the existence of women. We considered them to have no rights whatsoever in this life. Now, whenever I hear al-Qur'an, I am aware that they have rights to all the same things as us, and we can no longer interfere with those rights".
One day, Asma bint Yazid met with the Prophet. She said: "I am here as a spokesperson for the women. You are the messenger of God for all people, men and women. I have faith in God and I am loyal to you. You know, we women must stay in our houses all day long, fulfilling the sexual appetites of men, bearing and raising their children. Meanwhile you men can pray together on Fridays and at Id, and are free to go anywhere and do anything. You give men the opportunity to struggle in the path of Allah, but we cannot. Instead, we are obliged to look after their property. We protest against this situation. We demand out rights!". When Asma had finished speaking, the Prophet said to his friends who had been listening: “See how intelligent this woman is”. Soon afterwards, God revealed his will in Quranic Surah al Ahzab, verse 35, quoted above.
One hot afternoon in Arabia, Khansa bint Khidam rushed to meet the Prophet. "Prophet,” she said, “my father has just asked me to marry his nephew. I don't want to. I don't like him." The Prophet asked her father to meet with him. The Prophet told her father: "you do not have the right to force your child to marry a man she does not like. You do not have the right. Let her decide for herself.” When they had finished speaking, Khansa said, "I want to tell everyone: parents do not have rights in such matters in situations like this".
Once, Umar bin Khattab banned women from setting a dowry that was too high. A woman raised her hand to protest, citing a Quranic verse. Umar corrected himself openly, saying “that woman is quite right and I am wrong.”
Sadly, not long after that, women once again found themselves confined to their homes again, isolated from the pulse of society. They went back to being second-class citizens, chained to the kitchen, marginalized from public roles. There was a popular saying, said to have originated from the Prophet, that the best place for a woman to pray was in the darkest room.
Violence towards women became commonplace again, as if Islam had never come. It happened secretly behind closed doors. It happened in the open. Quoting religious texts, and serving the interests of who knows what or who knows whom, this treatment was justified, ratified. The faces of women grew dark and blurry once again. And this continued through the centuries, up until the present day.
Al Jahizh, an prominent author in the third century of Islam, wrote of the reality of women in his time:
“Lasna Naqul, wa La Yaqulu Ahad min man Ya’qil, Inna al Nisa fawqa al Rijal aw Dunahum Thabaqah aw Thabaqatain aw Aktsar. Wa Lakin Ra-ayna al Naas Yuzrun ’alaihinna Asyadd al Zirayah, wa Yahtaqirunahunna Asyadd al Ihtiqar wa yabkhasuna Aktsar min Huquqihinn”
We don't think, and thinking people do not think, that women's position is above or below that of men. However, we see how so many people exploit them, degrade them and violate their rights (source: Rasa-il Jahizh).
The social reality Jahizh saw is no different from the social reality we face now, though some things have improved. Just look in the mass media every day. Ask the managers of Women's Crisis Centers or visit religious courts. What you will find is that violence towards women is widespread and horrifying. Then imagine if those women were your own mother, daughter, sister or aunt.
Change is brewing
Time passes, times change. The hearts and minds of women throughout the world are troubled and will no longer stand for the way they are treated, for the violence they continue to experience just because they are women. They call out in unison: “this violence must be stopped”. They are stirring, slowly but surely. They demand the human rights that have been violated, confiscated, denied to them. Millions of women are held prisoner, raped and killed, or die in childbirth. Millions of women's faces are bruised, their eyes swollen, they are exhausted and weak from the work that never stops, for which they are not justly compensated both in their own countries and abroad. Millions of women still struggle to read. They call out in unison:
“Why do they say we can't be President when Queen Balqis was an awe-inspiring ruler and successful in leading a large nation? Why do they say we can't become a General when Aisyah, wife of the prophet, was an army Commander?”.
"Why should big business be the domain of men when Khadijah, wife and advisor to the Prophet, was a successful businesswoman".
“Why are we charged with doing the housework when we know from Aisyah that the Prophet helped his wives in the home, sweeping, sewing, repairing shoes, milking the goats, preparing bread and attending to his grandchildren?”
“It's nonsense to say that the intellect and professionalism of women is inferior to men's. Nonsense!”.
“It's a lie to say that women cannot do these things”.
This is what women are screaming now. And those screams of protest echo everywhere.
Stagnation
The arguments of yesterday's culture which were used to degrade women have been shown to be weak and have been sent packing by the new, dynamic cultural reality overturning the barriers of tradition. We can see for ourselves how skillfully women lead the community. We can see for ourselves how charismatically and intelligently women speak in parliament. We can see for ourselves how women can match their opponents in debate. We can see too how they can put their children through school and university, with or without the help of a husband.
The religious ideas (fikih), traditions and culture that have swept women aside, and confined them to the kitchen and the home have also been shattered. Increasingly, we must think critically about the way we understand religious texts. We cannot stagnate. Because thinking like that justifies a culture of violence towards women and is stuck in a cultural context that marginalizes women. God values human beings without differentiating between them, and religion was given to humanity by God in order that we should value our fellow human beings. We cannot let our thinking remain stagnant and stuck in the past. Stagnation will be crushed under the wheels of history. Stagnation is the death of civilization.
When women are positioned as subordinates, second class citizens and alienated, this is the death of civilization. Read and see for yourself. The women of the world are growing in number and they possess outstanding minds and impressive intellect. When we discriminate against these minds, and restrict them, in truth we are hindering the progress and development of civilization and culture. Life is dynamic, and it proceeds in an exciting and unpredictable dialectic. Out of nothing comes something and one becomes two, the disempowered become empowered, the ignorant become wise. Life is dynamic, it must keeping moving, never stop, like water flowing ever forth. Life demands change and the pursuit of grand humanitarian ideas.
Continuing the Prophet's Quest
We therefore have no choice but to return to the patriarchal texts of religion and culture and develop new understandings. We cannot get stuck in old traditions and old ways of thinking. Because we inhabit a different history. Our traditions and customs are different. Every person is the child of their own era. Every person is the product of a different history. Ali bin Abi Thalib, the fourth and final Rightly Guided Caliph of Islam, once advised parents:
La Tukrihu Awladakum bi Akhlaqikum fa Innahum Khuliqu li Zaman Ghair Zamanikum
Don't force your children to follow your ideas and your culture because they are a product of their own era, not yours.
Change such as this can become the basis of change to law and policy, to religious thinking, to culture and to the rulings of jurisprudence (fikih).
Muslims are obliged to follow word and deed of the Prophet (saw). This is the logical consequence of our adherence to Islam. No Muslim, conservative, liberal, fundamentalist, progressive or whatever label you want to apply, disputes this religious doctrine. The question is, how do we follow his example? When the Prophet was still alive, this might have been easy – the decisions he made at that time and for that time were clear and final. However, now that he is no longer among us, following in the footsteps of the Prophet means continuing and realizing his aspirations, his ideas and the humanitarian ideals he conveyed to us both through the Holy Qur'an and through his own pronouncements. Following the Sunnah of the Prophet is not simply a matter of doing as he did. Umar bin Khattab was a close friend of the Prophet, and among those people who most understood his vision. Umar bin Khattab's rulings were not always exactly the same as the Prophet's, but they were compatible with the Prophet's vision. Fundamental to this vision was creating equality and solidarity amongst human beings all over the world regardless of gender, upholding social justice, valuing freedom and independence, upholding dignity and respect, showing compassion and sincere loyalty, and obedience of God.
This is what is meant by makarim al akhlaq, more commonly called al akhlaq al karima, or “morality”. "Bu'itstu li utammima Makarim al Akhlaq", said the Prophet: I was sent by God to perfect morality. Akhlaq (morality) is a source, a platform and reference for all decisions made by human beings. Any decision we make, whatever its form or formula, must not reduce or distort this idea of morality. And it is with this in mind that we must move forward into the future, in solidarity with women.
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