WOMAN’S POSITION IN ISLAM

WOMAN’S POSITION IN ISLAM Leading by Example There could be no better demonstration of a woman’s greatness than God’s command to men, literally to follow in her footsteps. T HE honourable position accorded by Islam to woman is symbolically demonstrated by the performance of the rite of sa’i, as an important part of the pilgrimage to Makkah, made at least once in a lifetime as a religious duty to all believers who can afford the journey. The rite of sa’i is performed 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 Hajar (Hagar), Abraham’s wife, for water to quench the thirst of her crying infant when they arrived in the dry desert country, four thousand years ago, at God’s behest, long before there was any such city as Makah. (God’s aim in leading Abraham, his wife and child to this barren, inhospitable land was to bring into being a vigorous civilization, would play a revolutionary role led by the last Prophet.) 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 men, literally to follow in her footsteps. o What we can achieve through the patience and Peace, we canot achieve by violence. What we can achieve gradually, we cannot achieve in one go.