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The emergence of human life on this earth
brought face to face with a number of situations that demanded
solution, for unlike other species who lived and acted within a
perfect pattern of behavior, the human species had the freedom
to choose from amongst any number of growing possibilities. Now,
the
Free Will , although a rare and coveted
gift, implies that if human beings can rise to lofty sublime
heights, they can also fall low into abysmal depths. Today we
know that at a number of crossroads, human being have taken a
wrong turning only to return tired and exhausted, with the
prospect of beginning al over again. In their attitude towards
the world of matter, human existence ad its goals and purposes,
human being s have traversed many paths. The process has been
painful and prolonged, but nevertheless it has been a process of
learning, of self-discovery and of maturing. The history of
human beings can be linked with the story of one individual—its
phases of childhood, youth, an the experience and mellowness of
later years, in this context the finality of NUBUWWAH or
Messenger Hood heralded by the
Quran indicated the coming of age of human beings. They were
no longer to be tied to the apron strings of the
Messenger of God, but like a mature grown
up person to stand on their own feet and to move towards their
destination, in other words to live within the best pattern of
human behavior given to them in the form of signposts at the
crossroads. These were embedded in the Quran to be chosen at
will as one of many other possibilities. However, their
acceptance demands not only an inductive and objective approach
but also a rich and varied experience, free from prejudice and a
level of emotional and metal maturity. The Quranic signposts are
for the grown-ups; those individuals and nations that are still
in the childhood phase will mss its beautiful experience. In the
are of male and female relationship, human beings blundered into
a blind alley of reducing the female not only to a low statues
but shifting her to position that transformed her into another
species as it were, separate and distinct from the human
species. Naturally, this has been an unhappy experience for the
women but many men still do not appreciate the fact that they
too have robbed themselves of the happiness that could have been
theirs.
In
nature's scheme of things, the make and the
female amongst the various species emphasizes the biological
difference, designed for the perpetuation of the species. The
female biological function incapacitates the human female for a
considerable period, so much so, that she is no longer capable
of participating alongside the make in the struggle for
existence which must have been frightfully harsh and tough in
that age of childhood. Furthermore , the human baby is more
helpless than the young's of other species, and this
helplessness is also more prolonged. Thus this adds to the
mothers incapacity. This prolonged artificially created
incapability ended up in her complete dependence on the man who
was not hindered in this manner for food, clothes and shelter.
At the crossroads, the immaturity of man took a wrong turn. The
incapacity and helplessness of the female was looked upon as
inferiority and her economic dependence as a chance to enslave
her. What was simply a division of labor became a distorted
philosophy of life, and means were now sought to establish this
master-slave equation on a permanent basis. The methods to
enslave women run remarkably parallel to the cast Brahman's
efforts to keep the untouchables in perpetual bondage. It has
begun as a considered adequate for the purpose. It was essential
to close all does of opportunities for improvement, it was laid
down that the untouchables could not possess anything, they were
lot love on the crumbs from the tables of the caste Hindus and
wear their discarded clothes. Their destiny was to serve the
caste Hindus, disobedience to whom brought severe reprisals in
this life and affected the future re-births. The untouchables
also were to have no access to knowledge, another source of
immense power. If any dared to hear the Vedas being read, his
ears were to be blocked by molten lead ; if he attempted to read
the Vedas, his tongue would be chopped off. Similar injunctions
were laid down for women. She could not possess property nor
could she inherit any from her father or husband ; she has no
claim to her husbands earning. Until very recently this was her
fate in Europe. The
Hindu Law stated that she must depend on
the make members of the family—father, brother, husband, and the
son. If anything was given to her, it was by way of charity
incidentally, this is the origin of the fabulous dowry system in
the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent today, again as with the
untouchables she was denied the power of knowledge. Her place
was the kitchen sink and education was irrelevant to her roles.
An education for women was considered a contradiction. Her
destiny was to obey and serve her husband who was her
majazi-Khuda—i.e. the visible God before whom she should
prostrate, and disobedience to him invoked the curse of the
Angels and the wrath of
God . But a secret dear lurked, in the mind
of man, as it would in any vested interest, that sometimes,
somewhere a women or for that matter and untouchable could
revolt against such insane concepts, for after all they were
only ma-made and hence changeable a clever device was this
thought out, making such a change well-nigh impossible. These
concepts were incorporated in the sacred literature and
attributed to Divinity. Women and untouchables were to lead a
particular kind of life not because men and caste Brahmins were
cruel, but because it was the Will of God. All efforts to regain
her position were thus completely thwarted, and her motivations
to do so were described as irreligious and impious. Having
started on this path, they ran the full gamut. Her slavery did
not remain restricted to the fundamental issues of ownership of
property and access to knowledge. More and more pious and
religious principles were proclaimed and her statues brought
more and more harmony with the Divine Programmed. Women is the
course of all evil, rang the voice of the preacher far and wife
every nook and corner of the world. She is stubborn and crooked
for she was born of Adam's rib. Is was further stated that Adam
was created first and she came later for his sake, to please him
and relieve him of his loneliness. She had to attract him and
entertain him, for otherwise she would be failing her feminine
duty, from this it was just another step to become a mans toy
and possession. She lost her identity and in future shrew as to
be known by the rebels of her father or husband attached to her.
Thus just like another piece of property, she was to be used as
the whim and caprice of the make dictates. To further guarantee
this, child marriages were encourages and made sacrosanct.
Marriages were said to be made in heaven, hence divorce was
unthinkable. The end of the road was not yet in sight. Having
stripped her of most of her human potentiality, she was left
with one exclusive attribute only—reproduction. And as
misfortune of
mankind would have it, they managed to make
the natural biological function dirty and sinful. The concept
that Divinity is Perfection and the Divinity was neither
begotten nor does her be gent was concluded as Sex being a
barrier to perfection. The life of
Jesus put a final stamp on it. the theory
that his was an immaculate Conception of the virgin Mary , and
that he himself remained unmarried left us no doubt about the
women role as a temptress. To keep away from her achievement.
Woman's humiliation was complete, she now symbolized sex that
was stigmatized as sinful. We know today that man can really
respect only those women with whom he can have no sexual
relationship—mothers, sisters and daughters. Just as the
Biblical story of
Adam and Even brought this phase to a
climax, the traditional
Muslim literature and its social formation
carried the whole Hindu, Christian and other sources of cultural
heritage with it to its logical conclusion. This world was made
into exclusively a mans world, and the women as a piece of
properly was shut behind the four walls along with other
possessions.
Muslim
Women and Quran
However, the Muslim
criteria of fixing the status of a women, or man, are neither
these social laws nor this moral code. For the Muslims, there is
only one standard under the sky, and that is the book of God,
which they profess to believe in. What status does the Quran
endows for women. The details are lengthy, but their gist
reminds me of a joke which Allama Iqbal used to relate. He would
say, If I were not a Muslim, and I had studied the Quran like an
ordinary student, then I would have concluded that this book was
written by a woman, who was taking revenge on man, for the
usurped rights of her community. If one studies the
religions and cultures of the world, it
leaves no doubt in one's mind that a women has been pushed to
extreme degradation. On the other hand, in the Quranic study it
appears as if she has been favored very much. For a start, the
Quran has rejected the common belief that God created men (Adam)
first and then woman (Eve) was created out of his rib. By now,
you must have understood that according to the Quran, this very
concept that human beings were created by a special couple
called Adam and Eve, is wrong. The Quran, in effect, presents
Adam as the representative of mankind or humanity.
The Quran calls both
man and women as Zauj "counter parts"; but in Urdu we call a
women the Zauja (wife) of a man. We do not call a man the Zauj
of a women. The Quran, however, calls both men and women, Zauj
to each other, meaning companions. Further, it does not say that
the woman is a man's Zauj, and that the man is not. God
addresses human beings and tells them: He has made Zauj among
you (30:21,
42:11) . Zauj means a friend and
companion; which implies that men and women are each other's
friends and companions. Accordingly, Zauj would mean the ones
who are complementary to each other. Given this meaning, a man
complements a women, and a women complements a man. They are
Zauj to each other. The Quran has gone to the extent of saying,
you are from each other
(3:195). Therefore, no individual can call
itself complete unilaterally.
After this, the Quran
has negated the myth that, Adam had faltered in the paradise due
to a women. The belief of Satan trapping the woman and then the
woman tempting Adam, who sinned and was then kicked out of
paradise was rejected as has been mentioned in Torah of Jews.
The Quran says that both men and women are capable of compliance
or defiance of laws; both can err and commit mistakes.
Therefore, it said: Satan misguided both of them
(2:36) . Hence it is wrong to surmise that
woman is responsible for all the sins committed in this world,
and that the man is completely innocent. Quran has deeply
discussed about the role of muslim woman. |
