STATUS OF WOMEN VIS-A-VIS MEN

women are able to use their full potential. Since earliest days of Islam we find Muslim women working outdoors. Umme Dahdah, wife of a Companion of the Prophet worked in her orchard. Khadija, the Prophet’s wife conducted business, to cite only a few of such examples. However, Islam sets great value on the proper management of a home. It is because a home is the most important unit of any society. Home is the centre of preparing succeeding generations. Thus neglecting the home front will amount to neglecting the next generation, which in turn will result in a great national loss. Islam grants even more respect to women than to men. According to one Hadith a man once came to the Prophet and asked him, who rightfully deserved the best treatment from him. “Your mother,” said the Prophet. “Who’s next?” asked the man. “Your mother.” “Who comes next?” the man asked again. The Prophet again replied, “Your mother.” “Who is after that?” insisted the man. “Your father,” said the Prophet. Another example concerns Hajra, the Prophet Abraham’s wife. Hajj, regarded as the greatest form of worship in Islam, entails the performance of Sai, one of the main rites of the Hajj. This is accomplished by running back and forth seven times between Safa and Marwah, two hillocks near the Kabah. This running, enjoined upon every pilgrim, be they rich or poor, literate or illiterate, kings or commoners, is in imitation of the desperate quest of Hajra, Abraham’s wife, for water to quench the thirst of her crying infant, four thousand years ago. The performance of this rite is a lesson in struggling for the cause of God. It is of the utmost significance that this was an act performed by a woman. Perhaps there could be no better demonstration of a woman’s greatness than God’s command to all men, literally to follow in her footsteps. The Quran says that men are in charge of—that is, they are ‘maintainers’ of women (4: 34). This leads to a common misconception that Islam gives a higher status to men than women. According to this verse of the Quran, it does not mean that men have a distinctive status over women. Being maintainers of women has never been intended as a form of discriminatory treatment, it rather concerns the practical management of the home, for which the man is held responsible. However, this When it comes to the establishment of a home and raising of a family, men and women have their separate roles to play. But each is vital. Each is indispensable to the other.