Freedom or Islam for Women
1. A survey conducted at UCLA showed that 33 percent of male students said that they would rape a woman if they could get away with it.
2. In the United States, national statistics indicate that a woman is raped every six minutes and is beaten every 18 minutes. Only one fifth of women in the United States report surviving completed or attempted rape at some time in their lives. http://www.unhchr.ch/huridocda/huridoca.nsf/(Symbol)/E.CN.4.2003.75.Add.1.En?Opendocument
3. Women may be afraid of strangers, but it's a husband, a lover, a boyfriend, or someone they know who is most likely to hurt them. According to a U.S. Justice Department study, two-thirds of violent attacks against women are committed by someone the woman knows. In the United States, the most dangerous place for a woman is in her own home, where anger may explode into violence. Approximately 1,500 women are killed each year by husbands or boyfriends. About 2 million men per year beat their partners, according to the F.B.I. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 95 percent of the victims of domestic violence are women. The National Crime Victimization Survey consistently finds that no matter who initiates the violence, women are 7 to 10 times more likely to be injured than are men. By U.S. Justice Department estimates, three out of four women will be the victims of some kind of violence in their lifetime. Each year women report almost half a million rapes and sexual assaults. That's according to the most recent U.S. Justice Department survey. Keep in mind, however, that most rapes are never reported.
By most reports, three-fourths of rapes are committed by a man the woman knows -- a fact society is not willing to accept. Studies show that a rapist can be anyone -- a date, a boyfriend, a father, a grandfather, an uncle, a neighbor, a friend, a brother, a son. The rapists use the trust they have in the victims.
Rape is a devastating crime. Some women are badly injured. Some become pregnant. Some contract HIV. But the emotional trauma can be worse than any physical injury. Women who are raped have nightmares, panic attacks, waves of self-doubt, an overwhelming sense of distrust. The lives of women who are raped are forever changed. Feminism, as invited more problems to women than any equality or freedom. Mary Dickson writes "Feminism keeps saying the sexes are the same," she writes. "It keeps telling women they can do anything, go anywhere, say anything, wear anything. No, they can't. Women will always be in sexual danger." After seeing women like that in magazines, on billboards, and casinos wearing hardly anything, you grow up after 23 years pretty much thinking that's what a lot of these women bring on themselves. According to Department of Justice statistics, 48 percent of accused rapists were released before trial. Of those tried, only 54 percent were sentenced to prison. Even more troubling is that the average sex offender may commit hundreds of crimes in his lifetime, which means that the vast majority of rapes go undetected and unpunished. http://www.pbs.org/kued/nosafeplace/studyg/domestic.html (No Safe Place: Violence Against Women was produced and directed by Colleen Casto; Mary Dickson was writer/co-producer).
The above statistics testify to the stand that equal rights for women, freedom of expression, and Feminism (products of capitalism) had failed and will fail to provide security, honor and respect that she deserved. If this statistics are not enough then how bad it should get to have indicators?
Women In Islam: The antithesis to this situation is Islam, where honor of the woman is viewed as a life and death matter to be given the utmost care and attention. This is exhibited by the society and state and at all stages within the Muslim woman�s life as a daughter, wife, sister, and mother. The Prophet Muhammad said: �Whoever dies protecting his honor dies Martyr.� The woman is one of those honor placed within the palm of the man as an trust from his Creator Allah to be protected at all times. This attitude within an Islamic State would also affect every level of the society from the ruler, army, and to the man on the street. Prophet (saw) the best of women are those who are best to their husbands. To each of such women is set down a reward equivalent to the reward of a 1000 martyrs...? For a mother to nurture her children by feeding, bathing, playing and smiling at them, is a great honor. The Prophet Muhammad has said, �When a woman breast feeds her baby, for every gulp of milk, she will receive a reward as if she had granted life to a being, and when she weans her child, the angels pat on her back saying, �Congratulations! All your past sins have been forgiven, now start all over again.�
The Prophet Muhammad also said:, �During pregnancy until the time of childbirth, and until the end of the suckling period, a woman earns reward similar to that of the person who is guarding the borders of Islam.� He also said �The world and all things in the world are precious but the most precious thing in the world is a virtuous woman.� This is the way that Allah has described the honor of the woman. Within an Islamic society, such an understanding will affect the men within the society at large, who will view the woman as an honor, regardless of whether she has a career or not. They will not belittle the position of the wife and mother but regard it with the highest of esteem. The first example is that of slander against the reputation of an individual. Today, this is not seen as a severe crime, but Islam views this as a serious issue and has prescribed lashings as the punishment for such an action. Thus, Women felt secure in their homes and on the street.
The social system in Islam is geared towards the preservation of the human race and the protection of the society. Since the human race consists of men and women, Islam addressed both with its doctrine as well as its laws. It defined the relationship between them, established their rights and their responsibilities and promised each one the reward of paradise for submitting to their creator.
Islam recognized the importance of the family and it established rules with the aim of protecting it. The family is built through the legal contract of marriage between a man and a woman. This definition is fixed, rejecting the ideas of �same sex marriage� or shared partners that are becoming prevalent in the western societies. Islam recognized the sexual instincts in both sexes and directed them to satisfy it through marriage and forbade any sexual activity outside marriage.
In addition, Islam set many guidelines for the relationship between men and women in order to prevent adultery and fornication. Islam established a dress code for men and women, which preserves their dignity and their honor. Women are not looked upon as sex objects nor they dealt with on the basis of their looks, but rather based on their personality and their consciousness of their creator, Allah.
Looking at the west, however, we see that the woman�s value is related to her sexual appeal. In fact, this appeal of the women is a major source of money for business and even the government collect taxes on legalized brothels in Las Vegas. Women, in order to pay for school or support their families are sometimes pushed to work in clubs dancing naked in front of men. They are even told that this not something to be ashamed of, but rather it represents the fact that they are free from the shackles of the old way of thinking about the woman and her sexuality. However, woman ended up with new shackles that use her as marketing tool.
One such example is �Ladies Nights� at clubs and bars, when women are given free admission for no reason other than to bring more male customers. In addition, the entire entertainment and advertising industry is built on the exploitation of women as sex objects. All of these things have created hostile atmosphere for women in every aspect of life. At work, in the armed forces, at schools and universities, and on the streets, they are faced with sexual harassment constantly. If they refuse to fit into the role given to them as sex objects they are considered as odd or as backward.
The western world considers women as a commodity for business, sex and satisfaction of instincts, so they are the lucrative tools of business. In their contempt for women, they reached the point where they collect taxes from the ones who earn their living by selling their bodies. Instead of protecting their honour, you see them using them in low and vile jobs just like any other commodity. They see her as a promotion for their projects, so they display her at the show windows of the entertainment houses, to the point that the institutions, government departments and education centers became centers of indecency. Instead of rectifying the morals of women you find them providing them with the necessary documents so that they can be exploited. Then, as soon as their exploitation is finished you will find them discarded on the streets.
Islam protected women from being the subject of exploitation by viewing her as an honor that has to be protected. She is not moneymaking machine, a marketing tool, an entertainment for soldiers over seas or a sex object. Rather, her primary duty is to be a mother. To guarantee this, Islam set specific rules for the interaction between men and women in the society.
To build the right social structure in the society, Islam forbade free mixing of men and women. On the other hand, Islam allowed limited mixing if specific situation and between specific relatives within the family. In addition, Islam allowed mixing in the public life within specific rules of dress and conduct as long as it does not compromise the honor dignity of the woman or the morals in the society.
Islam also views the rights and responsibility of men and women in a unique manner. Islam treated men and women first as human beings, guaranteeing each on certain basic rights such as the preservation of their belief, their life, their mind, their wealth and their honor. In addition, to this, Islam recognized the obvious physical differences between both the sexes.
Based on this differences and knowledge of Allah regarding the nature of men and women, Islam gave the women the right to DEMAND from her husband to provide for her needs, and child custody in the event of divorce, and gave her the responsibilities of raising the children and protecting the honor of the home in the husband�s absence. Islam gave the women right to earn her own wealth, and protect it from anyone by forbidding even her husband to access to it except by her will.
In the west, there is a great deal of confusion about the role of women. Due to the oppression arose when man-made system assigned gender roles that were unjust to women; there has been a backlash against the concept of gender differences. It has become politically incorrect to discuss the differences between men and women and to adopt certain ideas based on this difference. This is a natural reaction to the injustice of man made systems; however, the reaction of the feminists and other groups working to breakdown the gender barrier have not produces anything but more confusions and an even further breakdown in the treatment of the women. They only manage to create a hostile atmosphere in which men and women are rivals to each other for what they perceive as limited resources. Even the economies of the family in the western societies are such that to remain above poverty, one needs a two-income-household, forcing women to hold a job, while taking care of the home, to help provide for the family as well as to maintain her independence in case of divorce.
The other global view is that any way of life that opposes this secular belief, its values, and laws, will naturally be oppressive towards the woman, producing a life of misery, discontentment, and backwardness. The image is that any system of ruling that places God as the sovereign Lawmaker for the society will create a society where the woman is undervalued disrespected, dishonored, and insecure. The misconception that has been propagated then, is that an Islamic Society will produce a situation where the woman is hidden away from society, forced into marriage, used as a servant by her husband existing only to fulfill his sexual desires, with no access to education or work or even essential needs, condemned to a life of total misery and imprisonment. The western media as proofs for their claim repeatedly cites the pseudo-Islamic states such as Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia that do not represent a true Islamic State.
Islam does not believe in the ideas of freedom, liberation, or equality of the woman, for it does not leave the human being to decide how he or she should live her life according to her own desires or allow mankind to legislate their own laws for the society and create their own system from the ignorance, bias, greed, and limited understanding that they have of each others needs. The system comes completely from the Creator, covering all of life's affairs: ruling, economic, judicial, education and the social system dealing with the relationship and duties of men and women within the society. Within Islam, the Muslim woman has contentment in her life, for the only expectations she has to live up to are those of the Creator and not the continually changing or unrealistic expectations of her husband, family, community, or society. She is not expected to be the superwoman who has a successful busy career but at the same time has to fulfill the duties of being a wife and mother perfectly.
With regards to the honor, respect, and security that a woman deserves, Islam establishes this in two ways. Firstly, Islam commands that the man views the woman as an honor to be protected at all times and as a trust that the Creator has placed in his hand, whether it is his mother, daughter, wife, or any woman in society. He understands that his treatment towards her can bring him either reward or punishment in the Hereafter. In a saying of the Prophet Muhammad, who said, "The world and all things in the world are precious but the most precious thing in the world is a virtuous woman". In his last sermon to the Muslims, he reminded them, "O People, it is true that you have certain rights, with regards to your women but they also have rights over you. Remember that you have taken them as your wives only under Allah's trust and with His permission. If they abide by your right then to them belongs the right to be fed and clothed in kindness. Do be kind to them for they are your partners and committed helpers."
Within a true Islamic Society, such an understanding will affect the men within the society at large, who will view the woman as an honor regardless of whether she has a career or not.
The second manner by which Islam protects the honor of the woman is by the presence of an Islamic State. The Islamic State is the ruling system of Islam that applies all of the commands of Islam that includes for example the prayer, the fasting, the zakat (obligatory charity), the economic laws, the social system that regulates the relationship of men and women within the society, and the punishment system of Islam.
What an irony it is then that while 1400 years ago Islam brought to an end the cruel pre-Islamic practice of female infanticide, 'traditional culture' has brought back contempt for females in the form of an intense wish for male heirs and disappointment when a female child is born. Allah (swt) says, "When the news is brought to one of them of the birth of a female child, his face darkens and he is filled with inward grief! With shame he hides himself from his people because of the bad news he has had! Shall he retain her on (sufferance and) contempt or bury her in the dust? Ah, what an evil choice they decide on!" [ An-Nahl: 58].
However, Islam recognizes the importance and need for education as the Messenger (saw)commanded knowledge upon all Muslims and to seek it as far as they could reach it at all times. He (saw) said,"To seek knowledge is compulsory on every Muslim male and female."
This is why throughout history, Islam has produced women such as Hazrat Aisha (ra) who was one of the greatest scholars of the deen and whose knowledge excelled over many of the companions (ra) of the Messenger (saw). And, as in the past, there will always continue to be a need in society for appropriately trained female Muslim doctors, judges, teachers and the like.
Condone
An example of the type of arranged marriage that Islam does condone is one where families of both parties take a leading role in finding a suitable spouse and where free and mutual consent is obtained from both the prospective bride and groom. But while Islam accepts that the parents should have a role in the choice of the husband or wife, it rejects the notion that they, or anybody else, have the right to force either party into the marriage. The woman has the right to accept or reject marriage proposals and her consent is a prerequisite to the validity of the marital contract, according to the teachings of the Messenger (saw). If this condition were not fulfilled, then such a marriage can be annulled if the unwilling bride so wishes.
Islam defines the role of a spouse as that of a companion, and enjoins a happy and fulfilling marital relationship.
Allah (swt) says,'And among His signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that you may dwell in tranquillity with them, and he has put love and mercy between your (hearts).' [ Ar-Rum: 21].
And He (saw) said, 'Permitted to you, on the night of the fasts, is the approach to your wives. They are your garments and ye are their garments�' [Al-Baqarah: 187]
'The most perfect man of religion is one who excels in character. The best among you is he who gives the best treatment to his womenfolk.' (At-Tirmidhi)
The shari'ah stipulates that in the marriage contract maher (dowry) is an essential part of the nikah (marriage). However in Islam when a woman marries, it is the bridegroom who is expected to give her a maher which may be of any value agreed upon. The Maher is a gift from the bridegroom to the bride and it becomes her exclusive property.
Allah (swt) said,'There is no blame on you if ye divorce women before consummation or the fixation of their dower; but bestow on them (a suitable gift), the wealthy according to his means, and the poor according to his means - A gift of a reasonable amount is due from those who wish to do the right thing.' [ an-Nisa: 4]
"Men are the protectors and guardians over women". [An- Nisa: 34].
And He (saw) said:
If there is a lot of work to be done which would put her in hardship, then it is incumbent on the husband to provide her a servant that will enable the work to get done, and she has the right to demand this.
The obligation of providing financial maintenance (Nafaqa) lies with the man as evidenced by the saying of Allah (swt): �But the father of the child shall bear the cost of the mother�s food and clothing on a reasonable basis.� [2:233]
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