المحراب

المحراب — Page 152

STATUS OF WOMEN IN ISLAM Translated and adapted from an address of Hazrat Khalifatul Masth IV to Lajna Imaillah on August 1, 1987 By Sureayya Hamza مِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ الرِّجَالُ قَوَّامُونَ عَلَى النِّسَاء بِمَا فَضَّلَ اللَّهُ بعضَهُمْ عَلَى بَعْضٍ وَبِمَا الفَقُوا مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ فالصلحت فنِيتُ حَفِظَتُ لِلْغَيْبِ بِمَا حَفِظَ اللَّهُ والتي تَخَافُونَ نُشُوزَهُنَّ لَهِ فَرُهُنَّ وَالْبُرُوهُنَّ فِي بُوهُنَّ فَاتُ أَطَعْنَكُمْ فَلَا المَضاجِعِ وَاضْرِبُوه عَلَيْهِنَّ سَبِيلًا إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ عَلَيْا كَبيراه Sura Al Nisa Verse 35 Europeans object that according to the Quran God has created man superior to woman and therefore he has every right to order about woman as he likes۔Now let us analyse the verses:- The word means something which has the correcting or reforming quality۔Thus would be used for a person who carries the responsibility of the reformation of society۔The primary responsibility of the social reformation of women rests on men۔If there is a de- terioration in the social behaviour of women and if this leads to liberties that run against the principles of Islam and disorientates family life, men are to be held primarily responsible for such be- cause God has given this responsibility to men۔This responsibility has been placed on the shoulders of men God بما فضل الله بعضهم على بعض because has endowed certain inborn faculties exclusive to each of His creations۔As a corollary thereof some of His creations are selectively superior to others in certain ways۔O describes only one aspect of superiority of men over women۔This does not mean that men are superior to women in all other aspects, too۔Now another meaning of the word is 'strong۔And, the Fair Sex' is accepted to be delicate even in the West۔There is no doubt that man is physically stronger than woman۔If this is not so, why then, are sports and games held, even on international level, sepa- rately for men and women۔If they desire۔to believe the Holy Quran, they should do so practically and not verbally alone۔This is a fact which even the collected efforts of all women liberation movements, the world over, cannot belie۔Under the economic والفقو من اموالهم system of Islam, man is responsible for providing necessities of life to his family۔Now this is clear that a giving-hand is always the upper one and thus has certain superiority over the receiving one۔Don't we see this in the attitude of donor nations as against the acceptors۔The so-called developed nations of Europe and America cannot comprehend this because their woman is obliged to work in order to share the economic burden with her man and call this equality of sexes۔She works in the house, she gives birth to children, she earns and if they are separated, their possessions are equally divided between husband and wife, even if all of it is on the other hand, earned by the wife۔In the economic system of Islam, women 5