Aisha Lemu – Fatima Heeren Language: English | Format: PDF | Pages: 53 | Size: 2 MB
During the last fifteen years since I
came to accept Islam, I have been asked many questions about the Muslim
way of life by non-Muslim friends and acquaintances. The ignorance of
the ordinary educated Westerner about Islam is almost total; but the
area where the vacuum of knowledge has been most effectively filled with
misinformation is possibly concerning the role of women in Islam. Some
non-Muslims ask such questions as “In Islam do you believe that women
have souls?” and “Muslim women do not pray or go to Makka, do they?” and
“Paradise is only for men in Islam, isn’t it?”
Fantasy and Escape
According to these assumptions, the
Muslim woman is spiritually a non-person, existing in a world of
shadows, oppressed and suppressed, from which she will at death pass
into a sort of limbo for soulless non-entities. This impression has in
the past often been fostered by Christian missionaries, some of whom may
even have actually believed it to be true. Side by side with this image
In the Western mind is another one projected by the entertainment
media, that of the Muslim woman as a member. of the harem in the
Hollywood versions of the Arabian Nights. Here she forms a unit in a
flock of scantily-clad and birdwitted young ladies who lie around in
palaces awaiting the opportunity to be noticed by their lord and master,
the sultan.
These images are of course very appealing
to the Western imagination-firstly of the mysterious and chaste veiled
woman, living in fear of her jealous and brutal husband; she is the
traditional maiden in distress, waiting for St. George to slay the
dragon and rescue her; and secondly of the slave-girl, dazzling in silks
and jewels, awaiting her master’s pleasure. Which Western man or woman
has not at one time or another indulged in a fantasy in which he or she
plays one of these roles? This is doubtless why the fantasy lingers so
long. We want to believe that these women exist so that we can weave
these day-dreams about them, though publicly we must condemn a situation
so obviously contrary to the principles of women’s liberation.
This then is the fantasy, and as long as
we recognise it as such, it is a pleasant form of escapism. But we are
here to discuss women in Islam and to outline what is the role expected
of a Muslim woman. Th& best source of information on this must be
not tales of imagination and Hollywood’s choicest offerings but the
source-book of Islam-that is the Qur’an, and the hadTth, the recorded
sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad.
My intention is to bring to your notice
some of those verses of the Qur’an and sayings of t~e Prophet Mu~ammad
which relate to women, and to try to draw some conclusions about what
these mean-or should mean-in practice, with regard to a woman’s life. I
do not intend to describe the status of Muslim women In individual
countries past or present, however, since this varies considerably from
one period to another and one place to another due to the influence of
regional customs stemming from pre-Islamic or modern cultural factors…
Foreword:
The West has known Islam for over
thirteen centuries now, but it has generally known it in antagonistic
terms as an enemy and as a threat. It is not surpri’sing therefore that
our religion has been portrayed as a hostile, tyrannical, violent and
even idolatrous religion and our culture has been painted in dark and
dismal colours. This state of affairs cannot be allowed to persist and
disfigure relations between Islam and the Western world. With the
advance of knowledge and a greater contact between Europe and the Muslim
world, intellectual, social, cultural and political and economic, we
hope the old attitudes will change, giving place to better understanding
and closer co-operation based on loyalty to facts, honest appreciation
of areas of agreement and disagreement between us, and respect for
differences. where we may disagree.
The International Islamic Conference held
in London from 3rd to 12th April, 1976, has no parallel in the history
of Europe for never before have so many distinguished Muslim scholars
and statesmen been brought together in one place in Europe to explain
before the world the teachings of Islam as Muslims understand. them. A
major aim of the Conference was the development of a better
understanding of Islam and Muslim Culture in the West, with a view to
improving relations between Muslims and the followers of other faiths
and ideologies.
One of the most memorable sessions was
the one devoted to themes relating to woman in Islam. It was addressed
by two Muslim women, both coming from the Western background, one
English and the other German. As such the Western audience had a chance
to listen to the Islamic viewpoint from those who, although coming from a
different background, had accepted the Islamic social framework out of
conviction and were prepared to share their experience and its
intellectual appreciation with others. I am glad that these lectures are
being published in the form of a separate book even before they appear
in the voluminous proceedings of the Conference. I am thankful to the
Islamic Foundation for producing this book so quickly and efficiently.
Salem Azzam – Secretary General
Preface:
Ours is a period of tumult and change.
Doubt, dissatisfaction with the status quo, yearning for revolution seem
to symbolize the spirit of the age. Age-old institutions face the
prospect of disintegration. Values that have inspired and led man In the
past are being questioned, if not scorned. Everything seems to be in a
state of flux.
There is nothing baSically wrong in a
mood of inquiry and re-examination. They have been mainsprings of
progress in the past and could be so in the future. The situation
changes if man loses balance and composure. If periods like these arouse
man to evaluate and re-evaluate in the light of a higher criterion,
they can open up new horizons and prove harbingers of future progress.
But if they generate an overtly negative attitude, they lead to moral
and cultural vandalism. Change as such begins to be prized and sought
after. It is forgotten that change could be for the better or the worse.
Even more important than change is the direction of change and our
sense of right and wrong, of truth and falsehood, of justice and
injustice and a commitment to prefer right, truth and justice on their
antithesis. There Is abundant evidence that we are amidst a period of
revolutionary change; there is little evidence that change is In the
direction of the right and truth and justice.
In a period like this, it is very
Important that focus of attention should be shifted from change per se
to change for what. Minds should be riveted towards the ideals, values
and prinCiples which should go to make up man’s vision of the future.
The centre of concern should be made to move from minutive to the
fundamentals, from means to the ends, from techniques to the ideals and
ideologies. This is the challenge that besets modern man. This is the
issue that attracts most attention of one who tries to look upon the
predicament of man in modern society through the eye of a Muslim.
Islam is conscious of the material
aspects of human life. It is not a religion of the spirit alone. Its
uniqueness lies in treating the entire realm of human life as the real
domain of religion. The problems of material life and the technological
aspects of society are as much its concern as those of the purification
of the soul and the integration of man with his Creator. It is opposed
to every such concept of material or spiritual progress that tries to
treat the problem in isolation of the other aspect. It adopts an
integrative approach. It wants to avail of all the resources at the
disposal of man to create a new world where man lives in peace with his
Creator and with the entire creation, in short, in peace with himself.
And this is what is missing in modern society.
The Family is one of the key institutions
of human society. When man is not at peace with himself this state of
affairs is reflected most in the realm of human relations, particularly
in the family and the relations between the sexes. Any discussion on the
crucial problems of our age and on the future of humanity is bound to
cluster around relations between the sexes and the institutions of
family and education.
The International Islamic Conference held
in April, 1976, in London under the auspices of the Islamic Council of
Europe and the King Abdul Aziz University focused on the theme of Islam
and the Challenge of our Age. A special session (Session V, 8th April,
1976) was devoted to an examination of the Islamic scheme for relations
between the sexes. Two European Muslim women spoke on the subject and
received a standing ovation from the audience. The entire proceedings of
the International Islamic Conference are being edited for publication.
But in view of pressing demands from different quarters, these two
papers and parts of discussion thereon are being published separately in
the present booklet Woman in Islam.
The present writer is responsible for
editing the manuscript. Translation of the verses from the Qur’an has
been revised in the light of the work done in the Foundation. This
booklet is also being produced in the Indonesian and Arabic languages.
Dr. M. Natsir is supervising the Indonesian edition while Dr. Muhammad
Sakr is looking after the Arabic version.
I am grateful to Brother Salem Azzam,
Secretary General, Islamic Council of Europe, for inviting me to edit
the proceedings and the Islamic Foundation to publish them on behalf of
the Islamic Council of Europe. My thanks are also due to Mr. E. Fox for
kindly reading the manuscript. Dr. M. M. Ahsan and Mr. Ashraf Abu Turab
have also read the first draft and helped me by their comments.Mrs. K.
Hollingworth’s unstinted secretarial assistance is also gratefully
acknowledged.
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