i have copied this from chowk.com iam not it’s author but it is really interesting .i like to know your opinion .
Why do Muslim men spend an
inordinate amount of time worrying
about what Muslim women are or
aren’t allowed to do? It would seem
that the very act of women not
covering their heads is responsible for
the current abyss that the Muslim
world finds itself in. And if we could
only be assured of female
subordination, then all our ills would
be gone; our past Islamic glory would
be recreated.
This, and the related issue of does
Islam "discriminate" against women
and if so why, continue to puzzle me.
Especially since I have an abiding
admiration for Islam - a true miracle
for all times, but especially for the
society that it was introduced into.
Centuries of needed change
telescoped into a mere 23 years with
the Prophet's guidance and leadership
(someone who couldn't read), can
only be explained in terms of a
miracle! So why does Islam seem to
place so many limits on women's lives
and why are men today so obsessed
with (to the exclusion of many other
seemingly more important facets of
Islamic life) their enforcement.
Two reasons come to mind. The first
is that many Muslim men today feel a
sense of profound impotence at their
inability to viably compete in a world
in which the kuffaar are so clearly
winning. The world is not theirs any
more - they are left far, far behind and
talk of past glory can only take them
so far. The only place that they can
exert control in is at home, by
dominating their women. After all, if he
can come home and terrorize his
womenfolk into submission, well then,
he is master of his domains isn't he?
Therefore, he must fight to retain this
last bastion of his power.
The second reason, and there is no
running away from this, for anyone
who has made a close study of Islam
and the Quran, is that Islam has
allowed major concessions to male
biology at the expense of women. To
me, the most damaging to women's
cause is the following verse (sura 4,
verse 34, Pickthall translation)
revealed at the time that a woman
complained to the Prophet that her
husband had slapped her, and what
would be the punishment. "Men are in
charge of women, because Allah had
made the one of them to excel the
other, and because they spend their
property (for the support of women).
Good women are obedient. They
guard their unseen parts because Allah
has guarded them. As for those from
whom ye fear rebellion (nushz,
interpreted by translator as arrogance,
refusing to consent to sex), admonish
them and banish them to beds apart,
and scourge them. Then if they obey
you seek not a way against them".
N. J Dawood has a slightly different
translation. "Men have authority over
women because God has made the
one superior to the other and because
they spend their wealth to maintain
them. Good women are obedient.
They guard their unseen parts because
God has guarded them. As for those
from whom you fear disobedience,
admonish them and send them to beds
apart and beat them. Then if they obey
you, take no further action against
them".
Professor Ahmed Ali has the most
favourable translation of this verse in
which he omits the words "beat" or
"scourge" and gives a lengthy footnote
explanation of why he doesn't think
Allah really meant to say that (he was
a pretty "liberal" man, and I have
looked at many others that are similar
to the translations given above).
So how do we reconcile Quranic
verses like these (and there are many
others) with what we would like to
think - that Islam couldn't be
condoning violence towards women?
As, I said earlier, the explanation lies
in the fact Islam conceded to male
biology. Men have a primal, biological
need to control female behavior
because, until recently when DNA
testing became available, there was no
way that a man could be sure that the
offspring that his woman had ha, was
really his own. The only way that he
could be sure he was propagating his
own genes and spending his time and
energy in the support of his own
children and not somebody else's, was
by restricting his women's activities.
So her activities had to be restricted.
In an Arab environment of debauchery
and hedonism when the Prophet had
to make so many revolutionary
changes, I am sure this appeared to be
a minor concession, especially since it
made perfect biologic sense.
The problem was further compounded
by the sentiments of two of our
Khulfa-i-Rashideen - Hazrat Omar
and Hazrat Ali. Hazrat Omar believed
in strict control of his women. Many of
you may remember the story from
Islamiat about when he discovered
that his sister had converted to Islam
and was even holding meetings of
Muslims in her house, "he beat her so
badly that marks were left on her".
After he himself converted, there are
many reports that he pleaded with the
Prophet to show more strictness to his
wives and that because of the
Prophet's lenient attitudes, the women
of Hijaz were becoming disobedient.
He is reported to have struck his wife
Jamila Bint Thabit "so hard that it
knocked her to the ground". Hazrat
Ali's views were colored by the
unfortunate involvement of Hazrat
Aisha in the Battle of the Camel (also
known as the first Islamic Civil War or
the First Fitna). Many of the "women
shouldn't be leaders" sentiments
prevalent in various Islamic traditions
can be traced to him.
So, with this background how do we
resolve the issue of women's rights
and freedom today? As an aside, I
haven't even bothered to compare the
rights that Islam gives to women of
other religions. There's no issue there -
Islam wins hands down. These other
religions have convenient reform
movements that they can hide behind.
We are left explaining why our religion
is so anti-women - a point of course
the anti-Islam Western media belabors
endlessly, as if Islam's specific
purpose in coming into existence was
to hold its women captive and maltreat
them. Are any solutions possible? As
a first, I would like to suggest that we
view matters in context. For example,
we know that Islam condoned slavery,
it did not outlaw it (although there are
many admonishments on treating
slaves kindly, and freeing them was a
major sewaab). Yet, every fiber of our
modern being tells us that slavery is
morally wrong, that it is inhuman, a
crime against human dignity. So this
must have been another concession of
Islam to the prevailing environment.
Islam recognized that men were not
perfect, and its ultimate success
depended on that realization. I think
this is a powerful argument against the
mistreatment of women sanctioned by
the "fundamentalists" today. Also, the
fact that men can now find out by
genetic testing what they could never
have known before, should serve to
reduce their in-built paranoia that their
women are up to some mischief if they
step outside the house or their fear
that if a na-mahram man sees their
wive's face, the attraction that he will
(surely) feel by the act of gazing upon
her will lead the wife astray.
As for the abyss that the Muslim
Ummah is in today - I have no ready
answers!
Read
Replies
InterAct!
Mail This
Article to a
Friend
Related
Material
Published on
Chowk
Should We
Still have a
Lunar
Calendar?
Why didn't
the Scientific
Revolution
happen in
Islam?
Women's
Rights in
Pakistan
Gender and
Literacy in
Pakistan
The Woman
Akbar Mai
Other
Articles by
Anita Zaidi
Phuppi ki
Beti, Mamoon
ka Beta
In Defence of
Desi Pun
Sobriquets,
Pseudonyms,
and the Like