Status of Women

Critic:-

More on Islamism, as exemplified by Muhammad Qutb and his very popular book "Islam the Misunderstood Religion" is the status of women. He claims that there is equality of the sexes in Islam and yet women are treated unequally in many respects:- they inherit half as much as men, two female witnesses equal one man witness, men are allowed polygamy and they are allowed to chastise their wives.

Comment:-

There are many more explanations than that of Muhammad Qutb.

They are all interpretations that depend either on the existing culture and social, political and economic conditions of the times and place or they are interpretations that try to conform to the values and ideals to be implemented at a future date.

The Islamic position is that Equality does not mean similarity. Justice demands that all should be treated similarly or dissimilarly in proportion to their similarities and dissimilarities. Treating dissimilars similarly does not constitute treating them equally in Justice. Clearly, we cannot require that people should be equal in height or weight or in wealth and circumstance, or in intelligence or talents or virtue or knowledge. The equality that is being spoken of is that which concerns measurement or assessment. We cannot compare two things by using a foot measure for one and metre for the other.

Men and women are equal but not similar - they have different strengths, talents and functions. Islam is concerned with how human beings fulfil their inherent functions.

All things in Islam must be judged in the context of the whole Islamic system, and not in isolation. To take things out of that context and put it into say the context of a Western Social System distorts the view.

Marriages in Islam do not form nuclear families, but each marriage is like a knot in the social network that connects families with families, individuals with spouses, their children and parents, and through them with other relatives that are connected with other families. All have functions with respect to this network.

It is necessary to understand that in Islam marriage is a contract and each is required to abide by it. It is permitted for the partners to make a suitable contract before entering marriage.

As for chastisement of women:-

It was meant to control violence against women not initiate it - there was much violence against women in the past and there is probably more violence against women in the USA than in Islamic countries. It was permitted only:-

(a) Against what, within the Islamic context, is regarded as misdemeanour or misdeeds and it is meant to remove these, not necessarily by the punishment itself but by its educational effects - If it deters then the punishment abolishes itself.

(b) As a last resort after negotiations between respective families were concluded and before resorting to divorce which is regarded as the worst of allowable evils.

(c) The permitted punishment was a token one to express disapproval and not to inflict physical pain or injury.

As for inequality in inheritance:-

It is the husband who was required to provide for his wife and children and not the wife for the husband. He had to use his inheritance to aid in his career and this was not required of the wife. The conditions of life did not give women many careers.

As for inequality in witnessing:-

As women bear and rear the children, and are physically and psychologically best equipped for this function, their strength lies in greater sensitivity of feelings and emotions rather than physical and intellectual fields and they have greater social skills as to opposed to male mechanical and abstract conceptual skills. Though not completely different, women tend to be, on the average, more subjective and men more objective. The reversal of this causes malfunctions.

As for Polygamy:-

It is not a recommendation. It is permitted up to 4 wives provided they are treated equally. But as this is difficult, monogamy is regarded as the ideal.

The various wars and battles for defence of Islam against attack left many widows and orphans. These were best cared for through polygamy. This not only provides for them materially, but also emotionally, socially and educationally and prevents sexual frustrations and immorality.

It should be noted that the World Wars in the West created the problem of widows and orphans and surplus women but provided no solutions. The result was the decline in sexual morality, the break up of families, the inadequate development of children that bred the increasing unruly and anti-social behaviour, delinquency, neurosis and psychopathy and the proliferation of numerous social problems such as drug abuse, alcoholism, cruelty to children, infanticide etc. There is a great amount of fornication and adultery which, in fact, boils down to secret irresponsible polygamy and polyandry.

It is well known that in the not so distant past the status of women under Islam was much higher than it was in the West or elsewhere. They had greater independence and respect and had property rights while women were chattel. It is true that the status of women has declined in Muslim countries owing to decline of Islam, increase in ignorance, and unfavourable economic and political conditions and the status of women has improved in the West and overtaken those in Muslim countries. However, it seems to Muslims that the changes have not been all positive and that women are widely regarded as sex-objects and exploited as such commercially, socially culturally or else they are required to deny and negate their femininity and adopt male values instead. This involves devaluation of women as women, self-contradiction and neurosis and an unbalanced malfunctioning society. Thinking Muslims do not, therefore, think that the real status of women in the West is necessarily better, but is more an illusion sustained by intense propaganda.

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