oN ANOTHER FORUM,THE POSITION OF MOSLEM WOMEN WAS UNDER ATTACK FOR SUBSERVIENT,INFERIOR,/‘LOCKED UP’& CONSIDERED EVEN WORSE THAN BURNT UP BRIDES 500 /YEAR IN DELHI ALONE!!bY & LARGE FOR AN ENLIGHTENED & CONSCIOUS MOSLEM WOMEN,SHE HAS BEEN RELATIVELY BETTER TAKEN CARE OF ASFIT,IMHO:)
Title:ISLAMIC ECONOMICS: Muslim Women and
Economics..
Women in Islamic Economics
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Of the great faiths, Islam has been foremost in assigning to woman a
position of economic independence. It is well known that in the United
Kingdom till as late as 1882, when the first Married Women’s Property
Act was passed by Parliament, a married woman could hold no property of
her own, independently of her husband. Any property that a femme sole
(unmarried woman) held in her own right vested automatically in her
husband on her marriage. A hundred years later traces still linger in
certain aspects of British Law which illustrate a married woman’s
position of dependence upon her husband.
In Islam the independent economic position of woman has been established
since the very beginning. Mention has been made of the obligation of the
husband to make a settlement on the wife, in proportion to his means, at
the time of marriage. This settlement is called dower (mehr). If at the
time of the death of the husband the wife’s dower should be still
unpaid, it ranks as a debt to be discharged out of his estate, in
priority to all his other debts. In addition, the widow is entitled to
her share in the husband’s estate, which is determined by law.
Any property that a woman might acquire by her own effort, or might
inherit as an heir or receive as a legacy or gift, belongs to her
independently of her husband. She may ask her husband to manage it, but
if she chooses to manage or administer it herself, he cannot interfere
in her management or administration of it.
A married woman who possesses means of her own may, and in most cases
does, contribute a portion or the whole of her independent means towards
the upkeep of the household, but is under no obligation to do so. The
upkeep of the household is the entire responsibility of the husband,
even when the wife is in her own right better off than her husband.
This is well illustrated by the following incident. The Holy Prophet,
peace be on him, on one occasion admonished women to spend in charity
out of their own means also. Thereafter two women, both bearing the name
of Zainab, one of them the wife of the well known companion Abdullah bin
Masood, came to him and told him that their respective husbands were men
of straitened means, but that they in their own rights were
comparatively better off. Would it be an act of spiritual merit if they
were to assist their husbands out of their own means?
The Holy Prophet assured them their spending on their husbands would be
doubly meritorious, as it would rank both as charity and as graciousness
towards kindred. The Holy Quran admonishes:
Covet not that whereby Allah has made some of you excel others. Men
shall have a portion of that which they earn and women shall have a
portion of that which they earn. Ask Allah alone of His bounty. Surely,
Allah has perfect knowledge of all things. (4:33)
For everyone leaving an inheritance We have appointed heirs, parents and
near relations, and also husbands and wives to whom you are bound by
solemn covenants. So give all of them their appointed shares. Surely,
Allah watches over all things. (4:34)
The Islamic system of succession and inheritance, set out in 4:12-13 and
177, aims at a wide distribution of property. If a person should die
leaving his or her surviving parents, wife or husband, sons and
daughters, they all share in the inheritance; the general rule being
that the share of a male is double that of a female in the same degree
of relationship. In this there is no discrimination against female heirs
in view of the obligation of the male to provide for his family, while
the female has no such obligation. In practice the rule works out
favorably for female heirs.
A Muslim may not dispose of more than one-third of his assets by
testamentary directions. Legacies, whether for charity or in favor of
non-heirs, must not exceed one-third of net assets; nor may the share of
an heir be augmented or diminished by testamentary direction. There is
no room for discrimination between the heirs under the Islamic system of
inheritance, like, for instance, primogeniture, or exclusion of females.
A direction designed to secure the preservation of testimony relating to
civil transactions, which requires that they must be reduced to writing,
is sometime mistakenly seized upon as evidence of discrimination against
females. The direction is as follows:
Procure two witnesses from among your men; and if two men be not
available, then one man and two women, of such as you like as witnesses,
so that if either of the two women should be in danger of forgetting,
the other may refresh her memory. (2:283)
There is here not the slightest trace of discrimination. The normal rule
is that women should be safeguarded against the contingency of having to
appear as witnesses in judicial proceedings. Therefore, normally a woman
should not be called upon to attest a document recording a transaction.
This rule may be relaxed in an emergency. But then another difficulty
would arise. In the case of male witnesses their memory of a transaction
that they attest as witnesses would be refreshed when they met socially
and the transaction was recalled for one reason or another. In the case
of a document recording a transaction, which is attested by one male and
one female witness, the female witness, under the Islamic social system,
as will presently be appreciated, would not normally have frequent
occasion to meet the male witness and talk to him, so that there would
be little chance of her memory of the transaction being refreshed. To
overcome this lack of opportunity of refreshing the memory, it is wisely
provided that wher
e only one male witness is available two female witnesses may be called
upon so that, in the very words of the text, one may refresh the memory
of the other.
This provision is concerned only with the preservation of evidence, and
does not deal with the weight to be attached to the testimony of a male
or female witness. An illustration may help to clear up any doubt on the
matter. Assume that a transaction recorded in a document attested by one
male and two female witnesses becomes the subject of a dispute which
comes up for judicial determination. It is then discovered that one of
the two female witnesses has in the meantime died. The male witness and
the surviving female witness are examined in court and the judge finds
that their respective accounts of the terms of the transaction are not
entirely in harmony; but he feels very strongly that taking every
relevant factor into consideration the testimony of the female witness
is more reliable than that of the male witness. In such a case it would
be his plain duty to rely on the testimony of the female witness in
preference to that of the male witness. There could be no question of
discrimination in favor of or ag
ainst a woman.
Title:Rights of HidNu and Muslim Woman compared..
Author:muslim
Hindu Women VS Muslim Women
The Brahmins make a big campaign that Islam restricts the freedom of
women. Let us compare the positions of the Hindu woman and the Muslim
woman. See the following facts for comparison and then try to bring
these Brahmins to their senses.
The Hindu Woman:
- The Hindu Woman has no right to divorce her husband.
- She has no property or inheritance rights.
- Choice of partner is limited because she can only marry within her
own caste; moreover her horoscope must match that of the intending
bridegroom/family. - The family of the girl has to offer an enormous dowry to the
bridegroom/family. - If her husband dies she should commit Sati (being cremated with her
dead husband). Since today’s law forbids Sati, society mainly punishes
her in other “holy” ways (see below). - She cannot remarry.
- The widow is considered to be a curse and must not be seen in public.
She cannot wear jewelry or colourful clothes. (She should not even take
part in her children’s marriage!) - Child and infant marriage is encouraged.
The Muslim Woman:
1.The Muslim woman has the same right as the Muslim man in all matters
including divorce. - She enjoys property and inheritance rights. (Which other religion
grants women these rights?). She can also conduct her own separate
business. - She can marry any Muslim of her choice. If her parents choose a
partner for her, her consent must be taken. - The dowry in Islam is a gift from a husband to his wife (not the
other way around as is practiced by some ignorant Muslims). - A Muslim widow is encouraged to remarry, and her remarriage is the
responsibility of the Muslim society.
6.Mixed marriage is encouraged and is a means to prevent racism creeping
in society. - A Muslim mother is given the highest form of respect.
What right do the Hindus have to criticize the Muslims? Have you ever
heard of a Muslim burning his wife? In India women die daily of dowry
deaths, Hindu women being burnt by the husband or in-laws. It is a fact
that upper caste Hindus ill-treat their women. The Brahmins are trying
to claim that Muslims do not give freedom to their women. I ask you
again. “Do the Hindus respect their women?”
You be the judge.