Islaam-Elevation of Women's Status
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Islaam - Elevation of Women's Status
by
Shaikh Ali Al-Timimi
Assalaamu 'Alaykum Wa Rahmatullaahi Wa Barakaatuhu
Al hamdu lillaah was salaatu was salaamu 'alaa rasoolillaah,
'amma ba'd:
The topic that I was asked to discuss here at McGill
University is the elevation of the status of women in Islaam.
Many, upon hearing the title of this lecture, might assume it
to be an oxymoron because the prevalent idea - at least in the
West - is that Islaam does not elevate the status of women,
but that Islaam oppresses and suppresses women. So people
might find the title in itself to be shocking or a curiosity
at least.
In discussing this topic - since it appears to me that this is
a mixed audience of Muslims and non-Muslims - I'd like to make
my remarks and comments brief. I will take no more than
thirty to forty five minutes, and then allow you an
opportunity to ask your questions. Perhaps the question/answer
session might be more fruitful in addressing specific
accusations, understandings or misunderstandings regarding the
status of women in Islaam.
As we all know, in the world today, there are - for the
overwhelming majority of humanity - basically two world views.
These two views are often in conflict - not only on the
personal level where individual human beings are making
choices, but also on the international level in terms of the
debate over the authenticity and correctness of these two
world views.
The first world view, which I am sure most of us are aware of,
is the Western liberal view. A view which claims to draw its
roots from the Judeo-Christian tradition that probably, upon
investigation, is more well rooted in the ideas that appeared
after the reformation; ideas that are rooted in secularism and
the world view that appeared thereafter during the 'era of
enlightenment'.
The second view is that of the Muslims - the Islamic world
view, and this view says that its roots and ideas lie in the
revelation given by God (or Allah in Arabic) to the prophet
Muhammad (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam). Those who proclaim
this view say that it can be used by humanity during all ages
and times, and that its relevance and benefit is not
restricted to a certain period of time, geographic area or
certain race of human beings. Likewise, the adherents of the
first view ,that of Western secularism and the liberal
tradition, beleive that their world view, ideas, culture and
civilization are the best for humanity.
Some of you might have read a book that came out a few years
ago by an American author of Japanese decent (Francis
Fukayama) called The End of Time. He basically put forth the
theory that human development in terms of its ideas has
concluded with this final period of liberal secular thought
and nothing more will come to humanity. However in his book he
adds that that the only part of the world which has not
adopted this secular human view is the Islamic world and
proposes that there will be a conflict in terms of this
ideology in the Islamic world.
With that brief introduction, one of the topics of contention
between these two worlds views, that of the secular liberal
humanist in the West and the Islamic tradition, concerns
women. What is the position and status of women? How are women
looked to? Are women elevated in one culture and oppressed in
another?
The Western view is that women are elevated only in the West
and that they are getting more and more rights with the
passage of time, while their sisters - they say - in the
Islamic world are still being suppressed. The Muslims who
they encounter say that in actuality it is the Islamic system
that provides the true freedoms for men and women alike, and
women in the West as well as men, are deceived into an idea of
freedom which really doesn't exist. What I'd like to discuss
this evening is exactly how Islaam looks to women. And
therefore my discussion will be more upon - what we might say
for the lack of a better term - the philosophical basis,
rather than the individual practices which vary from one
country to the other. How women are understood in Islaam
cannot be properly understood - and this is more significant,
I feel - unless one understands exactly what we might call the
philosophical basis or ideological understanding - since this
is really a theological concept.
First, let's review how exactly women were thought of and
understood in the western tradition, to compare and contrast
perspectives. We know that the western tradition sees itself
as the intellectual inheritors of the Greek tradition that
existed before the prophet Jesus Christ (peace be upon him),
and so therefore many of the intellectual traditions of the
West are found to some degree in the writings of the early
Greek philosophers like Aristotle, Plato and so forth.
How did they look towards women? What were the ideas of
Aristotle and Plato towards women? When one reviews the works
of these early Greek philosophers, he finds that they had very
disparaging views of women. Aristotle in his writings argued
that women were not full human beings and that the nature of
woman was not that of a full human person. As a result, women
were by nature deficient, not to be trusted and to be looked
down upon. In fact, writings describe that the free women in
many aspects of the Greek society - except for the very few
women of the elite classes - had positions no better than
animals and slaves.
This Aristotelian view of women was later carried on into the
early Christian tradition of the Catholic church. Saint Thomas
of Aquinas in his writings proposed that women were the trap
of Satan. The issue of Adam and Eve added a dimension to the
earlier Greek ideas of Aristotle; women were the cause of the
downfall of man and therefore were Satan's trap and should be
looked at with caution and weariness because they caused the
first downfall of humanity and all thus evil precedes from
women. This type of thought was persistent within the writings
of the Church fathers throughout the Middle Ages. In their
writings we find this theme proposed in one aspect or another.
However, after the Protestant reformation Europe decided to
free itself from the shackles and chains of the Catholic
church. Ideas which have been entitled as the Age of
Enlightenment or thought of as such, caused them to feel that
they needed to free themselves from many of these ideas. Some
of these ideas were scientific in nature, that the earth goes
around the sun, instead of the sun going around the earth;
theological in nature, as in the writings of Martin Luther;
and also social in nature, like the position of women in
society. However, the writers of the Enlightenment still
carried this basic theme that was not much of a switch - women
where not full human beings. French writers during the
revolution, like Rousseau, Voltaire and others, looked at
women as a burden that needed to be taken care of. This is
why I believe it's Rousseau in his book "Emile", which he
wrote concerning the education of women, proposed a different
form of education for women based upon the fact that women
were unable to understand what men were able to understand.
This is the tradition that the West inherited and thereafter
we find in the 1800's the first writings appearing by women
and some men calling for the change of these ideas. And with
this we have the origins of the first feminine movements. One
of the first books written was the "Vindication for the Rights
of Women" by Mary Walsencraft which appeared in the 1800's.
Thereafter the tradition of women receiving certain rights
came. The first of these were basically legal rights because
until the 1800's women were not able to own property and were
not able to dispose of their wealth as men did. It is very
well known that the first laws that allowed women to own
property in the United States or in Europe appeared only in
the last couple decades of the 1800's.
The Industrial Revolution caused another impetus, another
search, to this feminist movement. Women in the Industrial
Revolution, especially England, were forced to labor for many
hours in the coal mines and so forth, and would receive no pay
whatsoever compared to men. So therefore the first calling of
the movement was that people who work the same amount of hours
deserved the same amount of money or pay.
Finally a break occurred in this century of basically all
which is understood from the Western tradition. Coming from
the latter feminist movement which appeared after World War
II, a new movement called for the emancipation of women not
only in terms of legal rights but it also questioned some of
the morals of society and called for greater sexual freedoms
for women and men alike. It contended that basically a lot of
problems were caused by the institution of marriage and the
ideas of family and so forth. People wrote concerning the need
to break from these. And finally in the 1990's, the prevalent
argument in the West is that we should discuss genders, not
sexes. This idea was expressed recently in a book which came
out a year ago called "The Age of Extremes". The author
discusses the idea that there is no difference between male or
female and that gender is so only due to environment. So
therefore we can change the environment so that men could take
the roles of women and women take the roles of men by changing
the education and climate. This is where it has ended up now.
So we find in this 2500 year old western tradition, we come
from the first extreme which was expressed by the Greeks,
where women were denied their essential humanity, to this
extreme expressed today where there is no differences between
the sexes and it is an issue of gender, climate and
environment. This is, of course, a very brief summary of the
first world view. I didn't do justice to those 2500 years in
just those few minutes, but it just gives us an idea.
The other view which I would like to talk about in more detail
is the Islamic view. How does Islaam look at the issue of
women? Well, first of all we should understand that Muslims
unlike, for instance, the Greek philosophers or the French
writers after the French revolution, do not feel that their
concepts, ideas and beliefs are those of fellow men. But
rather they believe that what they are taught, what they
believe, what they practice, and all that is tied to this, is
part of a divine revelation given to them by God. And so, its
truth and veracity is not questionable because of it being
revelation from God. The argument is that God knows best that
which He created. He created human beings, He is a God of
wisdom, and a God of all knowledge and so therefore He knows
what is best. And He decrees that which is best for humanity,
His creatures. Therefore, Muslims try to live by a code of law
which is an expression of that belief.
Now I don't want to discuss the various details of the code of
law because that, I feel, would not really benefit us in this
lecture. Although perhaps some of that might come out in the
question and answer session and I'll be glad to entertain any
questions you might have. But what I would like to discuss is
how does Islaam look at women i.e. what is womanhood in
Islaam? Did Muslims believe like the early Greek writers or
early church fathers that women were not full human begins?
Did they feel that women where Satan's trap, so therefore
should be shunned and looked at as something evil and
dangerous? How did they perceive women? Upon investigating
into the traditions of Islaam which is, as I said, based on
revelation known as the Qur'aan, we find that it becomes very
clear that Muslims are taught that men and women share a
single humanity - that they are equal in their humanity and
that there is no difference in the amount of human nature in
them. We might now take that for granted, but as I explained,
the initial western civilization was based on the fact that
women were not full human beings.
So this being something that was taught 1400 years ago was a
revolutionary idea in the sense that it is only within the
last 100 years or so that the issue of women being full human
beings has come to be accepted in western intellectual
circles. Initially, women were not considered full human
beings.
The Qur'aan in describing the origins of human beings tells
them, the translation of which would be something like "O
humanity! Verily we have created you from a single male and a
single female, and have made you into tribes and peoples so
that you may know one another. Verily the most honorable of
you are those who are most pious with God."[49:13] This verse
in the Qur'aan teaches that humans come from a single male and
a single female. The indication here is that the male and
female in terms of their human nature are at an equal level.
Likewise another verse, from a chapter which is known in the
Qur'aan as the chapter of Women - because most of the issues
discussed there are laws dealing with women - starts off with
a verse which could be translated as "O humanity! Verily We
have created you from a single soul, and have made from it its
mate," this is a reference to Adam and Eve, "and have made
from both of them many people, men and women, and scattered
them throughout the earth."[4:1] So here again is the issue of
men and women and all human beings coming from a single
source, a single family, a single set of parents. This shows
that women share in full humanity with men.
Likewise in the traditions of the Prophet Mohammad
(sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) - which is the second source
of the Islaamic religion - we find that the Prophet Mohammad
(sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said in a Hadith that indeed
verily women are the twin halves of men. The Arabic word
shaqaa'iq, which I translated as twin halves, means taking
something and splitting it in half. The understanding is that
there is a single humanity, a single essence which is shared,
and there are twin halves of that - one is man and one is
women. This is repeated often in the Qur'aan. The words of
the Prophet Mohammad (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) also
emphasize this. As I said, this is a very important concept to
understand when one reflects on how traditional western
civilization looked at women as not being full partners and
not sharing in humanity. Although now, we might not find much
surprise to that because it is a given perhaps that men and
women are full human beings. But this is something that is a
late occurrence in western traditions.
Let us take it to another step, what is the aim of humanity?
What is the purpose for which human beings exist on earth, to
what ends do they strive? What will occur to them if they
strive to those ends and what will occur to them if they did
not strive to those ends? Since Islaam is a religion which
sees itself as revelation from God and the truth, Muslims
would feel that human beings have a set purpose here on earth;
that in everything of God's creation there is wisdom. There is
nothing of God's creation that does not have any wisdom. There
is nothing for sport or play and so therefore human beings
have a purpose, and that purpose has been elucidated for them
in the teaching of Islaam. They were created to worship God.
A verse from the Qur'aan says that God says that He has not
created human beings except to worship Him. So therefore, the
essence of humanity is the same between male and female, and
they also share the same aim and that is to worship God. And
that is the most important issue in the Islamic culture and
civilization. You know that the Islamic culture and
civilization is rooted in religious belief. American
civilization is rooted in what? In the writings of the
founding fathers of the United States of America. It is rooted
in the Declaration of Independence, the ideals which were
placed therein. It is rooted in the Constitution of the United
States. It is rooted in some of the arguments between monarchy
or democracy which were written by some of the early writers
or founding fathers. So it is rooted in a political thought.
Yes, it might have some traditions which go back further and
extend to certain ideas like in parts of Christianity and so
forth, but in its essence it is a political thought, unlike
Islaam which is a religion in its essence.
The civilization of Islaam - a civilization which is 1400
years old - is one which is rooted in religion. For a Muslim
the greatest aim is to serve God,to worship God alone, and
that is what the word Muslim means.
Muslim is not a racial description, it is not an ethnic
category, Muslim means one who submits. Islaam means
submitting to the will of God - the voluntary submission to
God - so Islaam is a religion of submission. Therefore, in the
most important aspect of the Islamic religion, we find that
men and women share in the same aim and are expected to have
the same responsibilities, in that men and women are both
required or obligated to testify that there is none worthy of
worship but Allah alone - God alone - and that Muhammad is His
Messenger. Men and women are both obligated to pray five
times a day, which is the second pillar of Islaam. They are
obligated to fast the month of Ramadan. They are obligated to
make pilgrimage to Makkah. They are obligated to give
charity. They are obligated to have the same beliefs. They
are obligated to have the same type of morality and the same
type of code of conduct and behavior.
Men and women share these essential ingredients of Islamic
behavior, which define a Muslim from a non-Muslim. And this is
of extreme importance because it breaks from the tradition of
religions. For instance fifteen years before the birth of the
prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) who was born
around 560 CE we find that there was a gathering of bishops in
France to discuss whether women possessed souls or not, and
that, if they do possess souls, what would be their purpose on
earth? Was it to worship God? And if they worshipped God,
would they go to paradise? In the end it was decided that,
yes, women do possess souls - which was a break from previous
tradition - but that their purpose was not just to worship
God, but also to serve men.
In Islaam, however, the basis of submission is not that women
are submitting to men, but that men and women together submit
to God. So therefore, when you read the passages of the
Qur'aan, it becomes very clear that the obedient from among
both the believing men and women receive paradise, which is
the greatest aim and objective in a Muslim's life, and the
basis of that civilization. Likewise, those who are
disobedient and who are renegades, and who do not want to
worship God also receive the same punishment whether they are
male or female. This is why throughout the Qur'aan you find
the wording addressed to both males and females. The Arabic
language like French has two types of verbs, one representing
the feminine and one the masculine. So in the Qur'aan you'll
find both categories of the human race, both sexes, being
addressed. This you find over and over and over. There is no
need to now recite all these passages, but they are there if
anyone wants to know.
In summary we found three bases: that they share the same
humanity, that they have the same aim on this earth, and also,
they expect the same reward, which is the goal which they are
working for collectively as human beings. And this is a break
as I said from the previous religious traditions and also
political and social understanding prevalent among the
philosophers before the coming of Islaam. And as a result of
that, we find that Islaam accorded women rights which perhaps
we take for granted now, but were given by God to men and
women some 1400 years ago. These rights like the right to own
property, the right to dispose of property according to their
own wishes as long as they follow the laws of the religion of
Islaam, which apply the same for men or women and the right to
certain what we would call now political rights, like the
right to enter into a treaty with combatant, are something
very recent relatively speaking in the West.
One of the rights given by Islaam in the time of the prophet
Muhammad (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) was that if a woman
gives a treaty to a combatant from a non-Muslim attacking
force - her treaty would be considered as was the case with a
female companion of the Prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu 'alayhi
wa sallam). In the Christian church these companions would be
called disciples for instance, the disciples of the Prophet
Muhammad are the companions as they are called. They were in
the hundreds and thousands not just twelve as with Jesus
Christ, and there are both men and women amongst them. When
the prophet Muhammad came to Mecca, one of the women
companions by the name of Umm Hani, who was an inhabitant of
Mecca and a believer in the Prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu
'alayhi wa sallam), accorded certain relatives of hers
protection that they would not be harmed. Her brother who was
one of the main companions of the Prophet Muhammad and married
his daughter, Ali Bin Abi Talib, wanted to execute two of
these men who were known for harming the Muslims and fighting
against them. So Umm Hani went to the Prophet Muhammad and
complained that she had accorded them protection and the
Prophet recognized her giving protection to those two
individuals.
This is what we might call, in the classification and
terminology that we now use, a political right. In the sense
of according protection for another person during the state of
war is something which is relatively new in the West and was a
known tradition in the Islamic world 1400 years ago.
Likewise, in terms of what we might call public participation,
there are certain acts of worship which are public acts of
worship in Islaam, and there are certain acts of worship which
are private. One of the public acts is the pilgrimage, when
men and women all make pilgrimage, and this is one of the
pillars of Islaam. Likewise another public act of worship is
the two 'Eid prayers which occur twice a year, once after the
pilgrimage and once after the pass of Ramadan. Men and women
both participate in that publicly. Likewise, we have a verse
which shows that the social contract between men and women is
the same in Islaam. This verse might be translated as the
following: "And the believing men and women are," what we
might translate as, "awliyaa" - the word in Arabic for friends
or allies or supporters of one another, "they" - meaning men
and women - "bid to that which is correct" i.e. they commend
that which is correct, "and they forbid that which is evil".
And this is a corrective process in society, removing evil and
commending that which is good. And then "they perform the
prayer", both men and women, "they pay the alms", or the
charity to the poor, "and they obey God and His Messenger."
And then God shows them the reward and that they are those
upon whom God will have mercy and God is Almighty and
All-Wise.
So in this verse, we find that the social contract between men
and women, as individuals in the society, is the same, that
they both go for the highest goal of bidding or commanding
that which is correct, forbidding that which is evil, and that
they share in the two major acts of worship, which are the
prayer and giving charity. They share in the beliefs and
obedience to God and obedience to the Prophet Muhammad
(sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) and likewise, they share in
the reward in the end of obtaining Allah's mercy. This is a
very important concept, which is in contradiction with what
the western tradition is upon today, and that is as I said as
a result of the initial extreme of the Greek philosophers that
women did not share in humanity. As the result of that
extreme another extreme occurred - at least the Muslims
consider it extreme - that there is no difference between men
and women.
So therefore, the idea of having genders - this is a term
which is not used in a biological sense, as we might use the
word sex in a biological sense for male and female, but the
understanding today is that the traits that define maleness or
femaleness, the social traits and so forth are determined by
upbringing, culture, and environment and that there is no
inherent difference in the way men and women think or act or
what their make up is and so forth. And that is why they use
the term gender.
This extreme resulted from the initial extreme that occurred
2000 years ago, when the Greek thought that the women did not
posses humanity. So as a result of this 2000 year processes
we now come to another extreme - at least this is what Muslims
would say - this extreme now is that men and women are the
same, that there is no difference.
Islaam, although confirming that men and women do share in the
same essence of humanity, also confirms that men and women are
different. But does this difference mean that men are
inherently good or women are inherently evil? No. And this is
why when you look at one of the verses in the Qur'aan that
sheds light on this aspect, God says, recounting His creation,
that He is the One Who created the night, as it envelops, as
it comes - if you look at the horizon, it comes like a sheet
enveloping the horizon - and He is the One Who created the day
as it comes bursting, shining, - that is how Sun rises and He
is the One Who created male and female. And then the next
verse says, verily, what you strive for - human beings are
into different ends, diverse ends - some strive for God's
pleasure, some strive for disobedience of God, some strive to
do good to humans, some strive to do harm, different ends.
But what is the example here? God mentions night and day and
then mentions male and female. The understanding is, yes,
night has a purpose, and in the Qur'aan you always find verse
after verse, describing that night has a wisdom behind it.
And also it tells humanity that had it been only night and no
day human beings could not live on earth. And this is now
shown scientifically that if it was only night and there was
no sunlight, certain hormones of body would not be able to
reproduce and human beings would die. Life as we know it on
earth would not exist. And likewise, day has its wisdoms
behind it. But can one argue and say, that night is good and
day is evil? No, and no Muslim would believe that. And can
one argue and say that day is good and night is evil? No.
Likewise, male and female also have their roles to play. But
can one say that the role of men is inherently good and the
role of women is inherently evil? No. And can one say the
opposite to that - the role of women is inherently good and
the role of men is inherently evil? No. But they both have a
role.
This is the main contention now between western thought and
Islamic belief. Western thought has basically accepted,
except for maybe some few corners perhaps in the Vatican or
so, that men and women share in their humanity and that they
are the same. Muslims have believed this for 1400 years. But
the difference is that in western thought, as a reaction to
the initial thought that women did not share humanity fully ,
the argument is that the roles of men and women in society are
only defined by culture, environment and upbringing, therefore
there is really no true role for men and no true role for
women and that we can switch this, if we just teach the
society correctly. But in Islaam there is a defined role for
men and a defined role for women. Who is the one who defines
this role for men and women? It's their creator. This is the
major if you want to use the term philosophical , even though
it is an inaccurate term in that sense, but we can just use if
for the lack of better term, philosophical, ideological or
theological difference between the two opposing arguments.
Now with that said, it is important to understand that when
Islaam gave these roles to men and women alike, it put
responsibilities equal to obligations to both. I will give you
an example for that: Islaam senses that women have the nature
of mother not by cultural tradition or by sociological system
but inherently are better in providing and taking care of the
offspring, that there is a bond there which goes beyond
tradition. A psychological bonding, a physical bonding,
something which is more than just traditions of human beings.
As a result of that it has placed greater responsibilities
upon women towards their children are then those of men.
At the same time, the obligations that children have towards
their mother in Islaam is greater than they have towards their
fathers, and this is why when the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was
asked by a man one was his companions "Who should I befriend
in this world?" The prophet Muhammad (pbuh) replied "your
mother." And then the man asked a second time, and the prophet
replied your mother, and then a third time, and again he
replied your mother, and on the fourth time, he said "your
father". Likewise in the Qur'aan we find that it tells human
beings that your mother bore you from one hardship to the
other hardship, talking about the labors and difficulties of
pregnancy and childhood, and then fed you for two years,
suckled you, and tells us to be kind to our parents and
reminds us of our mother first before our fathers.
The point is that even though it has defined a role for women
with the children which is different than the role of the
father, at the same time it gives women honor and respect from
their children which is greater than that received by the
fathers. The fathers do receive respect and their honor, they
are not just thrown out of the picture, but it is given to
them and according to the degree of their responsibility. And
likewise, because the mother inherently, not just because of
cultural tradition, has something inherent which makes that
bond greater between her and her child then the male. She
receives a greater honor and respect from the child and at the
same time she is required to give a greater obligation.
I only gave that as an example to show you that while Islaam
recognizes differences between the sexes, it does not accept
the concept that gender is just an issue of upbringing or
cultural traditions, for there are inherent differences in
males and females, and as a result of that the obligations and
responsibilities of each of the two sexes are together.
Imported from that is another matter that even though men and
women are different, they are not in opposition to one
another, which is the basis of much of the western thought and
especially of feminist traditions. That there's a struggle
between men and women, "There is a battle of sexes", as it is
sometimes said in the popular sort of designation. This
doesn't exist in Islaam. Men and women work in tandem , just
like day and night revolve, and you live in day time and you
live in night time. You cannot live only in night, and you
cannot live only in day, likewise, men and women are not
against one another, they are not pitted against one another
but rather they share in the same aim, the same purpose of
being, the same humanity. They have different roles, but
these roles complement one another and are needed by one
another in order for the success of humanity, not in this
world but also -of course since Muslims believe in the
hereafter- in the hereafter which is the ultimate goal for
Muslims.
Now, I would like to make one final comment and then I'll
leave it open for questions. Let's look at the
applicabilities of both of these programs. We discussed a lot
of ideas, thoughts and beliefs and historical concepts, but
when they are actually applied, which of the two view points
is more successful. Which brings more bliss to humanity? Is
it the secular western view or is it the Islaamic view? And I
have a concrete example which I'd like to share with you.
When I was in Beijing this last summer for the UN 4th world
conference on the women, there was a platform for action which
was being discussed by the different nations and organizations
there. The aim of the platform for action was to upraise,
uplift, and to embetter the status of women around the world,
which are of course noble and correct aims, there is no
contention concerning that. The platform for action was
divided into different areas of concentrations, such as
poverty, health, finances, conflicts and violence and so forth
and one of it was the girl child. The 12th issue of the 12
concerned areas for the platform for action, the girl child,
the status of girls - future women - in the world today. The
country which was hosting the conference, China is known for
the practice of killing girls. The reason why is because of
their population. You can only have one child per couple and
Chinese by their tradition view males as fewer then females
and so as a result they will usually kill the female child, in
hope that the wife gives birth to a boy.
This is an issue which exists and because the hosts were the
Chinese, the United Nations didn't really want to get into
this issue. They didn't want to talk about it because it was
not politically correct to address that issue in China.
Moreover, even though they might have passed certain
regulations, platforms for actions and certain commitments
which they have required of citizens of the world to follow,
they at the end will see that perhaps in twenty-five to fifty
years the status of the world child will not have markedly
improved.
We can see from other things, one of the major issues which
the United Nations was created for after World War II, was the
slaughter of so many million human beings, six million Jews in
Europe, and yet fifty years later, in the year of the fiftieth
celebration of the UN, a genocide has taken place in Europe of
the Bosnians. All the human rights, all of the declarations in
the last fifty years has not been able to change anything on
the ground. Now when the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was sent to
the Arabs, the Arabs had the same practice. They used to kill
their girl children. The Arabs killed their girls for a
number of reasons, most of the time due to poverty. Being a
desert people without industry or any sort of means of trade,
existence was very minimal. And as a result, out of fear of
poverty they would kill their girl children, and they would
bury them alive. This is a fact which is mentioned in the
Quraan and was well known during the time of the prophet
Muhammad (pbuh). God condemns in the Quraan with verses, the
idea of killing of the girl child, the burying in the ground,
and also the attitudes of the Arabs towards girls. One verse
in the Quraan says that "when he is given the good news that
his wife is given birth" God calls it a good news, " - to a
female child, a girl, his face becomes blackened and he
becomes ashamed. Will he hide the fact " that he has given
birth to a girl and not tell the people, because he feels it
as a shame. "Or will he bury it in the ground" , this is a
condemnation of the practice of the people. And likewise the
companions of the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) before they accepted
Islaam, many of them killed their girl children. One man came
to prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and said I killed ten of my
daughters in my lifetime, will I receive paradise? For will
God accept my repentance for this sin, now that I have left
this pagan religion of before, worshipping idols and killing
girl children and so forth. Within one generation, within 23
years this was how long the prophet was amongst the Arabs, the
practice of killing girls ended. It no longer existed in
Arabia. And likewise, it didn't just stop like that, but a
change in attitude came towards women, in educating them and
making morally upright people.
People receive no other reward, but paradise. Again that is
the greatest aim for the Muslim and that is their motivation
and reason of being. So Islam not only tried removing the
negative aspect of murdering girls, but also included the
positive aspect of educating girls and raising them in
society, and this brings me to my final point. This is
something of course which we can look at the previous
declarations of human rights or whatever, irrespective of
whether these being true or false, but they have not been able
to achieve the aims which they have stated. As the example of
human rights and the UN in Bosnia shows.
Fifty years after the creation of the UN, there is no change
in Europe, the same land which killed six million Jews. The
same genocide of the Bosnians occurs fifty years later by the
same people who started the UN. They are unable to stop their
own from this matter, and with this I come to my final point,
that I would like to leave you with. Islaamic civilization
unlike any other civilization is based, of course on
revelation, but it is in its essence supported and founded by
women. The first person to believe in Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
was his wife Khadija, and it was through her money and through
her support of him , her financial backing, and also her
encouragement that the prophet was able to spread the message
of Islaam in his first year of prophecy. The pagans did not
have the ideas of freedom of religion, that you can take your
own beliefs. This was not practiced by the pagans of Arabia -
they saw this as an insurrection, they saw this as a changing
of their ways, so they sought to stop it out by torture, by
killing and by all other means that they could. And likewise,
they tried to stop the Islaamic revelation this tradition,
when prophet Muhammad (pbuh) converted only the people of
Arabia. But as you know there are about one billion Muslims in
the world. They are in every single continent of the world,
even in Beijing where the UN was convening. There was a mosque
there which is over a thousand years old. And the neighborhood
that lives there is about forty to fifty thousands Muslims.
Now the kings palace, the forbidden city in front of
Teyennaman square which many of you have heard of, is only 500
years old. This shows how the growth of Islaam and the sprit
of Islaam is not just a middle eastern phenomenon or an
Arabian phenomenon but extends to all people and races
throughout the world.
Who is this teaching from, of course when prophet Muhammad
(pbuh) died after twenty three years Islaam only spread in
Arabia. This religion of Islam was basically spread by four or
five individuals who had the most in teaching. One of them was
the prophet's wife Aiesha. She is among the most to have
narrated his statements and likewise she is amongst the three,
four, five who have mostly given religious pronouncements, who
have given religious verdicts explained what these verses in
the Quraan meant or what the words of the prophet meant.
Look at any other civilization in the history of humanity, you
will not find a women playing a role in its establishment
where it can be attributed to her efforts for its
establishment. The Greeks, look at the philosophers Plato,
Aerostatle and others - all were men. The early church
fathers writings were basically men and until today the idea
of women scholarship is limited in some areas of the church.
The French writers at the French revolution and Voltaire and
the Russians were men. The founding fathers of the United
States were men, and also other civilizations are basically
based upon men. Islam is the only civilization which is known
by humanity where a leading input in terms of its transmission
and establishment was based upon the efforts of women.
Central - and this is an historical matter which is not open
to interpretation, it is a fact - these are the people who
transmitted these teachings these are the people who supported
it hereafter. Those are just some thoughts and impressions
concerning how Islaam uplifted women.
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