WOMEN IN ISLAM

have shown a woman’s memory to be weaker than a man’s, it is entirely by the facts of nature to stipulate that there should be two female witnesses in place of one man. This command thus sets a value upon memory per se. This is a practical requirement, and it does not discriminate against women or grant superiority to men. WORKING OUTDOORS According to ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud, when Abu ad-Dahdah, one of the Prophet’s Companions, heard the revelation of this Quranic verse: “Who will give a generous loan to God? He will pay him back two-fold, and he shall receive a rich reward,”(57:11) he asked the Prophet, “O Messenger of God, does God want a loan from us?” When the Prophet replied in the affirmative, Abu ad-Dahdah took him by the hand and said, “I, at this moment, lend my orchard to God.” Abu ad-Dahdah’s orchard was a sizeable one with six hundred date palms, and, at the time he donated it to the cause of Islam, his wife, Umm ad-Dahdah, was staying in it with her children. Nevertheless, having made his pledge to the Prophet, Abu ad-Dahdah came to the orchard, called his wife, and told her that she would have to leave, as it had been loaned to God. Umm ad-Dahdah’s reaction was that he had made a good bargain. That is, God would reward him many times over hereafter. So saying, she left the orchard with her children, carrying all her bags and baggage. (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Vol. 4, p. 308) From this incident, we can gather that Umm ad-Dahdah