Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 501
! ! 501 ِﻣ ۡﻨ ُﻜ ۡﻢ s ا َۡﻻ ۡﻣ ِﺮ ُا و >ِ َو ا ﻟ َّﺮ ُﺳ ۡﻮ َل َا ِﻃ ۡﻴ ُﻌ ﻮ ا َو ا َّٰﷲ َا ِﻃ ۡﻴ ُﻌ ﻮ ا [ “ … obey Allah and obey His Messenger and those who are in authority among you. ” ] (Holy Qur’ān, Ch. 4: V. 60 ) Which in other words means c hoose your leaders from among yourselves. Here , no one would translate the word ! ِﻣ ۡﻨ ُﻜ ۡﻢ as choosing your leaders from among those who were cleaved from your ribs. T he word clearly states that th o se people are from among your group. Your circumstances match their circumstances , their needs match your needs, they are human just as you are , and they harbor feelings just as you do. They understand your needs. Accept them as your leaders and do not create phantom leaders , for the l atter neither exist s , nor can they benefit you. The words minha and ِﻣ ۡﻨ ُﻜ ۡﻢ minkum are mentioned innumerable ti mes in the Holy Qur’ān , but that does not mean that everything was created by cutting open your rib s. Rather, i t means that just as you are , they too are of the same kind. Therefore, when God Almighty says : َز ۡو َﺟ َﻬ ﺎ ِﻣ ۡﻨ َﻬ ﺎ َﺧ َﻠ َﻖ [ “ … created theref ro m its mate … ” ] (Holy Qur’ān, Ch. 4: V. 2 ) It means that a woman is created from the same species as the man. This reveals to us that just as men have been bestowed with a heart and mind, women have been bestowed with a similar heart and mind. The rib is not mentioned here. However, what is being referred to here is the commonality between m e n and wom e n. Since the creation of th is world, times have come when men have tried to prevent women from carr ying out their responsibilities. Similarly, other times have passed when women have tri ed to prevent men from fulfilling their responsibilities. There have been other times in history when men viewed a woman as a different creature. At other times, women have viewed men as different beings. However, t he revelation of the Holy Qur’ān dispels this misconception. The Holy Qur’an states :