FROM THE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

FROM THE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Dr. Farida Khanam has been a professor at the Department of Islamic Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi. A Study of World's Major Religions, A Simple Guide to Sufism are two of the books amongst many others, of which she is the author. She has also translated many books on Islam authored by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Currently, the chairperson of Centre for Peace and Spirituality (CPS International), an organization founded by her father Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, she is a regular contributor of articles to journals, newspapers and magazines. Dr. Khanam has edited Maulana’s English translation of the Quran and has also translated his Urdu commentary of the Quran into English. Under Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Peace Foundation, along with the CPS team, she has designed a series of courses on peace-building, countering extremism and conflict resolution. THE STATUS OF WOMAN IN ISLAM O mankind! Fear your Lord, who created you from a single soul. He created its mate from it and from the two of them spread countless men and women [throughout the earth]. Fear God, in whose name you appeal to one another, and be mindful of your obligations in respect of ties of kinship. God is always watching over you. (THE QURAN 4: 1) T HIS verse of the Quran tells us that God has created man and woman from the same soul, that is, from the same substance. The entire human race has come from Adam and Eve—the first man and the first woman. Looked at in this way, human beings on this earth are blood brothers and blood sisters. A study of the Quran and Hadith tells us that in Islam a woman enjoys the same status as that of a man. The Quran says: You are members, one of another. (3: 195) There is no difference between the two as regards status, rights and blessings both in this world and in the Hereafter. Another verse of the Quran reads: It is He who created you from a single soul and made from him his mate so that he might find comfort in her. (7: 189)