Woman between Islam and Western Society

for the State Treasury.” When he had had his say, a woman got up from one corner of the gathering and said, “O Chief of the Faithful, is the Book of God (Qur’an) to be followed or what you have to say?” ‘Umar replied that it was certainly the Book of God that was to be followed. The woman then retorted, “You have just forbidden people to increase the amount of dower, whereas God says in His book: ‘O believers, it is unlawful for you ... to force them to give up a part of what you have given them.’”49 The woman had actually misquoted the text, but ‘Umar did not choose to assert himself and simply said, “Everyone knows more than ‘Umar.”50 With these words he relented on the question of the dower. Here was a common woman criticizing the ruler of an empire, and the latter withdrawing his words. The right of absolute freedom of expression as we find in this incident, is a clear indication that woman has been granted her full rights in Islamic society. HOME MANAGEMENT IS NOT AN INFERIOR TASK A certain woman called Nasibah once came to the Prophet Muhammad and said: “O Messenger of God, Men have excelled in meriting the rewards of the Hereafter. They join the Friday prayer, attend congregations and perform jihad. Then what is left for us women to do?” The Prophet replied, “O Nasibah, if your manner of living with your husband is proper and obedient, such conduct in itself is equal to all the actions performed by men, which you have just mentioned. “51 In modern times, as a result of perverted thinking, managing a home is considered inferior to work done outside the home. But Islam gives the same place of honor to both kinds of work, it being a fact that both are equally important. On this score, neither man nor woman need have a superiority or an inferiority complex. THE IMPORTANCE OF WOMAN IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SOCIETY According to Jabir ibn ‘Abdullah, the Prophet once observed: “The throne of Iblis (Satan), the chief of the devils, is situated above the seas, whence he sends his bands to lead human beings astray. To Iblis, the most worthy of the devils is the one who causes the greatest wickedness. The devils visit him as their chief to report their deeds to him, and Iblis gives a hearing to all of them. On one occasion, Iblis remained unimpressed with their achievements, until one of the devils came and told him that he had pursued a husband and wife until he managed to separate them. He had achieved this by causing them to have doubts and misgivings about one another. Iblis was so overjoyed to hear this that he drew him to him in a close embrace, saying, “Yes, you did it,” meaning that he had really managed to lead human beings astray.”52