Women in Islam: What the Qur'an and Sunnah Say

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while he was twenty five. She provided the moral, financial, and emotional support for Nabî Sallallâhu ‘alayhi wasallam when he was blessed with Nubuwat. When Nabî Sallallâhu ‘alayhi wasallam first saw Jibra’îl Alayhis-Salâm in the cave of Hira, he was terrified and feared for his life. He ran down the mountain trembling and crying: “Cover me up! Cover me up!” It was Khadija Radhi-Allâhu ‘anha who consoled him; she was his pillar of support; she believed in him when everyone else doubted him. She served as his refuge, consoled him, supported him and cared for him when he was alone, confused and terrified. She stood by him when everyone else shunned him. Khadija Radhi-Allâhu ‘anha rallied to the call of Islam, she gave a home to Nabî Sallallâhu ‘alayhi wasallam, she was his first confidant, and tower of strength. Fatima Daughter of Muhammad Therefore, verses of the Qur’an need to be taken in the contexts in which they were revealed, as the Qur’an takes the specific circumstances of the societal conditions into consideration. 9 These specific verses are products of their times and contexts, and need not be forced onto different times and different contexts. Moreover, the Qur’anic verses need to be looked at in a wholesome manner and not taken in isolation from other texts and verses. In fact, the five main schools of thought in Islamic jurisprudence ( Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i, Hanbali, and Ja’fari), formally adopted by Muslim countries, agree on four basic principles of Islamic law; it changes with time and place, must serve the public interest, should not cause harm, and may be discarded if its cause has faded. 10 This is clear evidence that some verses which were revealed in specific circumstances should not be taken out of context and generalized as the rule for all times and places. In all of these countries all of these atrocities are illegal, they are banned, and you have several different punishments for them. For instance, for causing bodily harm (because female genital mutilation falls under bodily harm) in the Netherlands, to a child, an individual, you could get a maximum sentence of 15 years. I’m sure you get more than that in the US. But the problem is that it is not enforced, so government is negligent in failing to devise a control system to counter that, to protect children. And the same applies to forced marriages, and honour beatings. For an honour killing the government will say that’s murder and the law will go after the murderer, and the murderer will be put in jail. But the government is again negligent in pursuing all the individuals that are involved in that murder.

The scholars of hadîth are of the view that this statement was made before Aisha Radhi-Allâhu ‘anha reached the position of excellence whereupon Nabî Sallallâhu ‘alayhi wasallam said: “The virtue of Aisha Radhi-Allâhu ‘anha over all the women of the world is like the virtue of tharîd [a meat dish] over all other food.” The rigid laws of Islam have deprived half of the population of their basic human rights. The male is in charge of the female: Koran 4:34, and the subjugated half is led to believe, through Islamic teachings, that the supremacy of the man is the will of Allah, and it has been predestined for women to live as submissive, obedient wives. In contrast to these mainstream narratives and the popular traditional interpretations of Islamic text, a solid (although still peripheral) feminist Islamic perspective has emerged. The less known narrative is that of Islamic jurisprudence female scholars who provide contextual readings and alternative interpretations of Islamic text. These Muslim women, who are also practicing believers, dispute the misogynistic Islamic interpretations that subordinate women in Muslim societies, and demonstrate -in the name of their faith- that the popular prejudiced readings of Islam are not inherent in the text but are products of their time and place.Women living under Islamic Law cannot travel, work, study, and leave their houses without their fathers or husbands’ permission. They do not have the right to choose the place of their residence. Under the terms of Koranic law, any judge fulfilling the seven requirements (that he have reached puberty, be a believer, know the Koranic laws perfectly, be just, and not be affected by amnesia, or not born illegitimate, or be of the female sex), is qualified to dispense justice in any type of cases. According to Islamic Law, woman cannot choose her mate and is not permitted to divorce him. Her husband can divorce without her knowledge, and according to Shari’a, he is required to support her for only 100 days. Polygamy That’s what government should be doing. In this case, its role should be to compel my grandmother to give this tradition up on threat of punishment, to make it unlawful. Just as child labour was made unlawful and so on. All forms of coercion were, in Western society, slowly made unlawful. So this is a step the government has to do where they have to intervene between a child and his parents or grandparents. That’s what Western governments have been doing – but now they are confronted with this new problem of immigrants from Muslim countries, where, within the intimate circle, things are really different because they haven’t been educated in Western society. So in these cases the government is being negligent. Al – Baqara 2: 222 “They questioned thee (O Mohammad) concerning menstruation, Say it is an illness, so let women alone at such times and go not unto them till they are cleansed.”

The hadîth however refers to four women who acquired perfection in faith and character by virtue of their devotion, patience, toil and morality. Their lives radiated with piety, trust, patience and gratitude. Their lives serve as beacons of guidance for all believers, especially in times of hardship, difficulty and struggle. Miryam: The Daughter of ImrânWe ask experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and explain their selection in an interview.