Muhammad the Liberator of Women — Page 6
6 M U H A M M A D S A W — T H E L I B E R A T O R O F W O M E N Mothers were not consulted about their children regarding education or upbringing; their rights over their children were unrecognised. In cases where husbands and wives separated, the fathers were given the custody of the children. Women had no authority over their households both in the lifetime of their husband and after. A husband could expel his wife from her home whenever he pleased, making her derelict for her to wander aimlessly. Through the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, all these cruelties were swiftly laid to rest. The Holy Prophet saw announced that God Almighty had especially entrusted to him the task of safeguarding the rights of women. He declared in the name of God Almighty that men and women by virtue of their common humanity were equal to one another and in their coexistence just as men have certain rights over women, similarly women have certain rights over men. Women could own property just like men; husbands had no rights to spend the wealth of their spouses unless they willingly gave it to them as a gift. To seize a woman’s wealth by force or to acquire it in a manner that could be adjudged that she had only consented out of deference was unacceptable. Whatever a husband gave to his wife as a gift became her property and he was not allowed to take it back from her. Daughters were rightful heirs of their parents’ wealth just as sons. However, in view of the fact that responsibility for the of the five Pandava brothers. Draupadi had five sons from her five husbands, who were all murdered in the war of Mahabharata by the General of the Kaurava Army. (Urd u J a mi‘ Encyclopedia, vol. 1, p. 597, Lahore, 1987)