All praise is due to Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala). May Allah's peace and blessings be upon His final Prophet and Messenger to mankind, Mohammad bin Abdillah. May Allah's blessings be upon all the rightly guided companions, and household of Allah's Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
I believe I will not present any new issues or items on the topic, "Women's Rights in Islam". However, I have attempted to collect, arrange and summarize all I could find of the writings on this subject and present it in a new fashion for the benefit of the reader.
I hope, seek and pray for guidance from Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala), in this regard. I also hope to be successful in reaching my goals. Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala), stated in the Glorious Quran (49:13) which the meaning of is translated as: �O Mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another. Verily, the most honorable of you in the Sight of Allah is the believer who has Taqwa (i.e. piety and righteousness) and loves Allah most. Verily, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.�
Mr. Ghalayenee, the author of Islam Is the Spirit of Civilization, (in Arabic), stated on page 267, quoting from "The Crescent and the Cross", quoting the well known French thinker and philosopher, Voltaire, in his book The Dictionary of Philosophy, under the essay "The Quran": "We have attributed many ridiculous things to the Quran of which it is indeed pure. Our authors, who increased in numbers, notably find it easy to rally women behind their party by convincing them that Mohammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) considered them merely intelligent animals. Further, women are, in the sight of Islamic Laws, no more than owned slaves who own nothing of their world, and are entitled to nothing in the hereafter either." It is very obvious that statements as such are nothing but falsehood. Yet, there were readers who believed such statements.
We do not ignore the fact that the Quran has given men a special natural characteristic. The Quran, however, differs from the Old Testament which considers the weakness of the woman a divine punishment, as it was stated in Genesis (3:16) which the meaning of is translated as: �Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.�
It is a great confusion to attribute to a great legislator like Mohammad, such unacceptable treatment of women. The truth is that the Quran stated (4:19) which the meaning of is translated as: �...If you dislike them, it may be that you dislike one thing and Allah brings through it a great deal of good.�
Also, in verse (30:21) which the meaning of is translated as: �And among His Signs is this, that He created for you wives from among yourselves, that you may find repose in them, and He has put between you affection and mercy. Verily, in that are indeed signs for people who reflect.�
Abdul Rahman bin Abdul Karim Al-Sheha.
E.mail. alsheha@cocg.org.
K.S.A RIYADH 11535 P.O.BOX (59565).
