All praise is due to Allah. May Allah's peace and blessings be upon His messenger Muhammad, his companions, his family and his followers until the day resurrection.
I am very happy to introduce this book (Women in the Shade of Islam) to all readers (Muslims and non-Muslims). The subject is very critical and the time for it is overdue.
For a long time there has been a misunderstanding of the status of women in any religion in general and Islam in particular. Throughout the ages, many nations and cultures have placed women in the lowest position against men. Men have dominated their lives and properties. This included the Arabian culture before Islam known as the Age of Ignorance. In the Greek culture, for example, women were looked at as an item in the house. She was subject to buying and selling in the market. She was deprived from the right of inheritance and was thought of as filth and a product from the deeds of the Satan. In the Roman society, the woman used to suffer all worst punishments by men such as burning her body with hot oil, tying her to posts and polling her behind speeding horses. All of this took place for no other reason other than being a woman. According to the English law, up until 1805 men could sell their wives as they would with any property!
In Islam, however, women are respected as partners of men. Their role in life is complimentary rather than contradictory. The woman in Islam has all rights of property ownership, business dealings and choosing her husband. In facing responsibilities and earning rights she is perfectly as equal as man. Men have even bigger responsibilities in carrying the burdens of earning for the family and supporting spouses. Protecting their chastity and reputation honors women. Unfortunately, many a times, the Western culture has been degrading the status of women into the level of mere commodities.
To write a book on this subject is very much needed, and I am very much happy to present it to the readers for two reasons: the first is that I know brother Abd al-Raman al-Shiha for a period of time. I have dealt with him and found him to be one of the finest people I have met. By the grace of Allah, he has a good character and he -as I know it- is dedicated to the cause of serving Allah. Allah alone knows the best. The second is that I find this book to be interesting and beneficial. The reader, whether being a Muslim or not, will find a logical orderly and supported with evidence presentation. I also find this book to be easy to read while containing all the necessary information on such diverse and comprehensive theme.
For a serious reader this book is a must, so that s/he will know to what extent women are respected and protected in perfected Islam.
I pray that Allah would reward my brother Abd al- Raman al-Shiha for writing this book and for all his effort in the cause of serving Islam, Muslims and humanity. All praise is due to Allah the almighty.
Dr. Ahmad Ibn Saifuddin
Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America
