Are women not equal to men in Islam?

Q-Why does Islam not consider women equal to men?

ANS: There is a very common misconception about Islam that it makes society male dominated. But in actual it is not so.

Let us first consider one thing;

There are many issues on which human intellect is bound to fail especially when it comes to rights & obligations of;

1-Man & Woman
2-Employer & Employee, and
3-Ruler and the ruled

To have balanced rules for all these cases we need to refer to some Super-Human, All-Knowing and All-Wise Authority—ALLAH subhanahu wa ta’ala.

Men, only the protectors of women.

There is no Quranic verse or Saying of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) which speaks of superiority of one sex over the other. Let us examine a Quranic verse often misunderstood in this regard.

“Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means”.(4:34)

Abdullah Yusuf Ali’s writes in his commentary to this verse;

“Qawwam: one who stands firm in another's business, protects his interests, and looks after his affairs- or it may be, standing firm in his own business, managing affairs, with a steady purpose.”

People say the word‘Qawwam’ means, ‘one degree higher in superiority’ - But actually the word ‘Qawwam’ comes from the root word ‘Iqamah’

‘Iqamah’ means for example ‘when you give the Ikamah before prayers - You stand up’.

So ‘Iqamah’ means to standup - so the word ‘Qawwam’ means one degree higher in responsibility, not one degree higher in superiority.

Even if you read the commentary of ‘Ibne-Kathir’ - He says that the word ‘Qawwam’ means one degree higher in responsibility, not one degree higher in superiority.

And this responsibility, should be carried out by mutual consent of both husband and wife.

Thus we can see that in this verse the only thing told is that ‘men are the protectors and maintainers of women; and nothing more. And that too because they by nature have more physical strength.

Different role of man & woman.

Yes, in Islam there are different rules for different members of the society. And very reasonably Islam assigns different duties to men and women. In Islam a man is responsible for the financial and administrative affairs of the household whereas a woman is responsible for the internal affairs of the house. They can help each other but only when each of them has justly fulfilled his/her own obligations first. .
A woman is generally supposed to stay at her house and keep doing her primary job, managing the inside affairs.

“And stay quietly in your houses, and make not a dazzling display, like that of the former Times of Ignorance; and establish regular Prayer, and give regular Charity; and obey Allah and His Messenger”(Al-Quran 33:33)

Man & Woman are equal.

There is saying of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) that makes it clear as to how Islam strikes balance between the rights of a man & a woman.

The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) said; “The greatest right upon a woman is that of her husband while the greatest right upon a man is that of his mother.”

See ! How justly has Islam kept a balance between a man and a woman.

Equal reward of good deeds..

As for as reward of good deeds is concerned, a man and a woman are absolutely equal in this regard. ALLAH says in the Quran;

“Whoever works righteousness, Man or Woman, and has Faith, verily, to him will We give a new Life, a life that is good and pure and We will bestow on such their reward according to the best of their actions.” (16:97).

Share in inheritance.

Yes, it is true that Islam gives a male child double share in the inheritance then a female child. Quran says;

“Allah (thus) directs you as regards your Children's (Inheritance): to the male, a portion equal to that of two females” (4:11)

But again this is not without reason. As described earlier Islam makes the man responsible for the finances of the family not the woman. And for this reason he is given a double share. Man, being the manager of finances, has to spend money on his family while a woman is not bound to do that.

To sum up I think the following lines adequately describe the status of women in Islam;

Woman was made from the rib of man,
She was not created from his head to top him,
Nor from his feet to be stepped upon,
She was made from his side to be close to him,
From beneath his arm to be protected by him,
Near his heart to be loved by him.

INDEED ALLAH KNOWS THE BEST !!!

....By Waqar Akbar Cheema

Does Islam allow wife beating?

Some non-Muslims especially the Christians criticize and speak against Islam saying that Islam allows men to beat their wives. They refer to Quran 4:34 and pour out their inner filth.

Lets have careful look into the issue;
Firstly, you cant just take a word of the Quran and comment the way you like. You ought to consider the whole Islamic moral and social make up, make a study in the very same context and then form your opinion;

Why was Prophet Muhammad polygamous?

Non-Muslims often ask as to why Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) had more wives at one time than what is allowed for common Muslim i.e. four . Some of them even yell obscenities alleging that these were sensual passions that made the Prophet (PBUH) polygamous. Can there be any greater lie?

For the complete understanding of the issue, consider the following points;

Why Quran calls woman a tilth for man?

Q-Is it not a fact that "ISLAM CONSIDERS WOMEN TILTH FOR MEN" and thus degrades them?

ANS: The verse they refer to is as under;

"Your wives are as a tilth unto you; so approach your tilth when or how ye will; but do some good act for your souls beforehand; and fear Allah. And know that ye are to meet Him (in the Hereafter), and give (these) good tidings to those who believe." (Al-Quran 2:223)

Yes, woman is called the tilth for man, but it is not that a parallel is being drawn between her and tilth. Actually it is a simile, that it is man whose seed a woman carries in her womb. It is in this context that this simile is given for understanding. For those who really understand the Quran, this verse asks for better attitude towards women. you see, a farmer looks after his tilth, waters it, protects it against all climate conditions. In the same way man is supposed to take every care of woman, for he has been given more physical strength and has been made her protector and manager of her affairs.

INDEED ALLAH KNOWS THE BEST!

Is the Islamic Concept of God devoid of love ?

Q-Is ittrue that Islamic Concept of God is devoid of love and God in Islam is ever ready to punish and has got no attribute such as Love?

ANS: Please do consider the following points;

Why Allah Punishes?

ALLAH- the Only True God loves us all. He is not Someone every ready to punish. And when He punishes, it is because its required for He is Just. He punishes only for the sake of Justice for it will be unjust that a nice, good, well behaving, righteous person and a perverted transgressor remain equal both in this world and the hereafter. For our punishment adds nothing to His Glory.

Allah says in the Holy Quran;

"What can Allah gain by your punishment, if ye are grateful and ye believe? Nay, it is Allah that recogniseth (all good), and knoweth all things." (Quran 4:147)

Allah is Loving:

There are hundreds of Quranic verses wherein Allah is called Merciful and Beneficent, attributes which are a reflections of ones Love and Compassion.

His Attributes:

As far as His attributes are concerned, the fact is the very thing Christians ask for is there in His 99 attributes.

One of Allah's attributes is al-Wadood which means the Loving.

And this is from Holy Quran. It says;

"And He is the Forgiving, the Loving" (Quran 85:14)

Yes, we don't say Allah is love, we say Allah is Loving just as we say He is Merciful not that, He is Mercy. This is because we are ultra cautious when it comes to Tawheed i.e. Monotheism.

INDEED ALLAH KNOWS THE BEST!

Why Quran calls Mary, a Sister of Aaron ?

The verse in question is;

"O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!" (Al-Qur’an 19:28)

It does not mean that here Qur’an calls Mary, the real sister of Aaron, the Prophet who was hundreds of years before her. Here she is only being called a female person of the family, from the Noble lineage of Prophet Aaron.

The Qur’anic usage:


In order to understand Qur’anic language one must look into other Qur’anic passages.

Qur’ans calls Prophet Shoaib as the brother of the people of Midian. Qur’an says;

“And unto Midian (We sent) their brother, Shu'eyb." (Al-Qur’an 7:85)

And similarly Qur’an calls Prophet Salih, the brother of the people of Thamud. It says;

"And unto Thamud (We sent) their brother Salih." (Al-Qur’an 11:61)

In both these examples it is never meant that the Prophets were the real brothers of the each and every person of that tribe. It’s only way to address them. It means that Shu'aib was a (male) person from the people of Midian and similarly Salih from the people of Thamud.

So in the very same manner when Qur’an describes Mary, the mother of Christ as 'Sister of Aaron', It means that she is being referred to as a (female) person from the people, the lineage of Prophet Aaron.
This is infact an Arabic idiom, a way to address. In Arabia a person from the tribe Banu Mudhar may be addressed as Ya Akha Mudhar, meaning 'O the brother of Mudhar'.

The Prophetic answer to this question:

Mughira b. Shu'ba reported: When I came to Najran, they (the Christians of Najran) asked me: You read" O sister of Aaron", whereas Moses was born much before Jesus. When I came back to Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) I asked him about that, whereupon he said: “The (people of the old age) used to call names (of their persons) after the names of the Prophets and pious persons who had gone before them.” (Sahih Muslim, Book on General Behaviour, Hadith 3962)

The Holy Prophet (PBUH) meant to say that Mary’s relationship with Prophet Aaron was mentioned because she was of his lineage for among Semites it was common to associate a person with his lineage.

This fits the context as well. The people thought that Mary had done something unworthy of a chaste woman and thus as they rebuked her, they first made a reference to her noble ancestry and then testified that even her own father was no wicked person (verse 28).

Observations from the Bible:

1- One thing we need to consider is that Qur’an does not call Mary ‘Sister of Moses’ but ‘Sister of Aaron’.

2- Aaron (PBUH) we know was the first in line for the Israelite priesthood.

3- New Testament clearly tells us that Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist (PBUH) was from the lineage of Aaron (Luke 1:5). Also it tells that Mary was a cousin of Elizabeth (1:36). Therefore we can easily call them both ‘Sisters of Aaron’ i.e. from the lineage of Aaron.

4- Infact we have evidence of the similar usage from the Bible. In Genesis 13:8 Abraham and Lot are called brothers while certainly they did not come from loins of one individual. It reads;

“And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.”

A certain Christian commentator, Adam Clarke says in his commentary to this verse;


‘[It means] we are of the same family, worship the same God in the same way, have the same promises, and look for the same end.’

Was the same not true in case of Mary and Aaron? Were they both not from the same priestly family and of same faith?

 So the conclusion is that this is only a beautiful way of expression in the Arabic language and to try to twist it some other way speaks only of ones inner wickedness and that’s all!

INDEED ALLAH KNOWS THE BEST!