What comes to your mind
when you think of a Muslim woman? A mysterious, veiled victim of male
oppression, awaiting Western liberation? A slogan-shouting terrorist? An
uneducated foreigner with whom you have little or nothing in common?
Unless your social circle includes Muslim friends and acquaintances, the
chances are that your impressions of Muslim women have largely been
formed by negative media stereotypes - images that usually have little
to do with real life, and may have been designed to attract more
viewers, sell more products, or gain support for someone's political
agenda.

How
much do you really know about Muslim women's lives or views, and why
does it matter? Well, for one thing, Muslims account for 20-25% of the
people on this planet, and Islam has become the second main religion in
Europe. But did you know that the majority of European and American
converts to Islam are women - not men? Would it surprise you to learn
that many women in the Muslim world feel sorry for Western women and
view them as being victimised? Have you ever stopped to consider why
Muslim women who immigrate to the West usually maintain their identity
and strive to pass it on to their children? A thinking person may well
ask, if Islam is as oppressive to women as some journalists would have
us believe, why aren't Muslim women running away in droves? What it is
about Islam that attracts any followers outside its heartlands?

In
this brochure we aim to look beyond sensationalistic or alarmist
stories to take a glimpse at what Islam has to offer educated women in
today's world, and understand why so many (men and) women of every race,
colour, and social class have made Islam their choice. The truth, like
real life, is beyond propaganda and stereotypes.

The Islamic view of women



First of all, women are portrayed positively in the Qur'an and the
Hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad). The Qur'an is the only book of
world Scripture in which women are frequently referred to alongside
men, and both are described as being friends and partners in faith. The
following verses are just a few notable examples:

The
believers, men and women, are protecting friends one of another; they
promote the right and forbid the wrong, establish prayer, pay the
poor-due, and they obey God and His messenger. As for these, God will
have mercy on them. Surely God is Mighty, Wise. God has promised to
believers, men and women, gardens under which rivers flow, to dwell
therein, and beautiful mansions in gardens of everlasting bliss. But the
greatest bliss is the good pleasure of God: that is the supreme
felicity. (Qur'an 9:71-72)

Surely for men who surrender to God, and women who surrender

and men who believe and women who believe;

and men who obey and women who obey;

and men who speak the truth and women who speak the truth;

and men who persevere (in righteousness)

and women who persevere;

and men who are humble and women who are humble;

and men who give alms and women who give alms;

and men who fast and women who fast;

and men who guard their modesty and women who guard

(their modesty);and men who remember Allah much and women who remember -
Allah has prepared for them forgiveness and a vast reward. (Qur'an
33:35)

There
is no question in Islam of men and women being at odds with one
another, engaged in some kind of historical struggle for power. Rather,
the roles of both are complementary and essential. The Qur'an states:

O
mankind! Be mindful of your duty to your Lord, Who created you from a
single being, and from it created its mate, and from the two of them has
scattered countless men and women (throughout the earth). Fear God, in
Whose (Name) you demand your rights of one another, and (be mindful of
your duty) towards the wombs that bore you. God is ever Watching over
you. (Qur'an 4:1)

Do
not long for the favours by which God has made some of you excel
others. Men shall have a share of what they have earned, and women shall
have a share of what they have earned. (Do not envy each other) but ask
God to give you of His bounty. God has knowledge of all things. (Qur'an
4:31-32)

The
Prophet Muhammad augmented the revelations he received with further
teachings and his wonderful personal example, which made him beloved by
family and followers alike. He forbade violence against women, and
preached against all forms of abuse of power. He warned that both men
and women would be held accountable by God for those in their care or
under their authority, and said:

Let
no Muslim man entertain any bad feeling against a Muslim woman. If he
should dislike one quality in her, he will find another that is
pleasing.

The best of believers are those who are best to their wives and families.

The position of women in other religions



While these teachings may not seem very remarkable today, they were
revolutionary at the time they were revealed, for Arabs and non-Arabs
alike. While Muslim sons were being taught that Paradise lay at their
mothers' feet, women in Confucian China were told to obey their fathers,
then their husbands, and finally their sons after their husbands'
death. Hindu women were declared to be unfit for independence,
inherently weak, easily misled, sinful and unintelligent. In Buddhism,
women were said to be the personification of evil. At the time, Jews and
Christians believed women to be responsible for the downfall of the
human race, and considered menstruation and childbirth to be the
consequences of a Divine curse. One thousand years after Muhammad, in
1586, French Catholics were still debating whether or not women
possessed souls! English Christians burned millions of women alive on
the mere suspicion that they were witches. Married women in Europe did
not gain the right to own property, obtain a divorce or enter into their
own contracts until the 19th century. Not surprisingly, women who found
such teachings unreasonable rebelled against them and fought for better
treatment. Whereas other women have often had to pit themselves against
the authority of a male priesthood, in Islam the dynamics of social
change have been quite different.

Muhammad was greatly concerned with women's rights



The Prophet Muhammad was an extremely successful social reformer as well
as spiritual and political leader, who championed the rights of the
weak and oppressed. The Qur'anic verses referring to women had the
effect of vastly improving the status and rights of women at the time
they were revealed. Muslim women were granted the right to own, inherit
and dispose of their own property as they saw fit; reject forced
marriages; keep their own names and identities after marriage; initiate
divorce; and obtain an education - back in the 7th century. In contrast
to the dismal situation affecting many women in developing countries
today, early Muslim women were noted for their learning and
accomplishments. The Prophet declared, 'To seek knowledge is an
obligation on every Muslim, male and female,' and his own wife Aisha was
responsible for transmitting thousands of his sayings to later
generations. Aisha was also renowned for her knowledge of poetry,
medicine, and Islamic law, as well as her personal qualities of
character and intelligence. When she led a battle after the Prophet's
death, no one objected on the grounds that she was a woman. Many Muslim
women in the medieval period enjoyed positions of respect as scholars
and religious authorities. Therefore, Muslims seeking to improve the
position of women in society have usually focused their efforts on
getting men (and women) to practice Islam, rather than trying to
'reform' it, as happened with other religions. The main obstacles to
Muslim women achieving the rights guaranteed to them, then and now, have
been persistent un-Islamic cultural traditions (usually dating to the
period before people accepted Islam in a given locality), inadequate
religious education, and the bad side of human nature.

Women's roles, rights and obligations

Spiritual status

As shown in the Qur'anic verses above, women are considered to be the
spiritual equals of men, and they have the same religious duties. This
is all the more important when we consider that the main goal of a
Muslim is to serve God, and that this world is regarded as no more than a
testing-grounds to prepare oneself for eternal life after death.
Therefore, worldly accomplishments, fame, wealth and power simply do not
have the same attraction for a Muslim, whose main focus is on the Next
World. The Qur'an repeatedly draws our attention to the fact that the
time we spend in this world is short and unpredictable, and what really
counts is our character, how we treat others, and what we do with the
blessings God has given us. In this context, home and family are of
paramount importance, since stable families are essential to the rearing
of well-adjusted children who will transmit their faith and values to
the next generation. According to a well-known Arab proverb, 'The mother
is a school.'

Social roles



Islam supports the traditional division of labour whereby women assume
the main responsibility for home while men are responsible for their
financial support, but with an important difference: motherhood and
homemaking, like a Muslim's inner life, are not considered to be less
important or rewarding than a professional career. Indeed, motherhood is
one of the most important professions, and competent mothers who can
successfully run a warm and welcoming home, and raise a family of happy,
confident and well-disciplined children are becoming increasingly
harder to find. Muslim wives and mothers are granted the respect due to
all women for the struggles and sacrifices they make for the sake of
their families. Furthermore, Muslims consider it unfair to burden women
with both the physical and emotional demands of motherhood and the
professional demands of the workplace, which end up exhausting so many
women and destroying family life for the sake of economic gain. Muslims
often express sympathy for women in the West, who often suffer from
sexual exploitation and abuse at home and in the workplace, while being
unappreciated in their traditional roles. Western women who seek to be
respected must often dress and behave like men, and are expected in
practise to neglect their children's needs for the sake of their
careers. In Islam, femininity is appreciated, and Muslim women may seek a
higher education, work outside the home or volunteer their services to
benefit the community as long as their primary responsibilities are
taken care of. Any money that a Muslim woman earns is her own, to spend
as she likes; men remain solely responsible for maintaining the family.

Islamic marriage



Although Muslim parents traditionally play an important role in
arranging introductions and helping to choose marriage partners for
their children, both husband and wife must freely agree to the marriage.
The Prophet granted girls who had been forced into marriages against
their will the right to have their marriages annulled.

The relationship between husband and wife in Islam is an interdependent one, based on love and tranquillity. The Qur'an says,

And
of His signs is this: He created spouses for you from among yourselves
that you might find comfort in them, and He put between you love and
mercy. Surely there are signs in that for people who reflect. (Qur'an
30:21)

Both
parents should strive to establish a stable, loving home and
partnership. Major family decision-making should be through consultation
and discussion. As the provider, the husband is expected to take the
lead, as he is accountable to God for his care of the family. If no
agreement can be reached, the wife should be supportive as long as her
husband does not ask her to do anything that contravenes religious law.
This works well as long as each spouse behaves maturely and treats the
other with respect, kindness and consideration.

Codes of behaviour for women and men



In order to safeguard the moral integrity of family and society, Muslim
men and women are expected to observe certain guidelines of behaviour
that Westerners may find restrictive. Both sexes are expected to dress
modestly in loose, non-transparent clothing and avoid situations that
would put them alone with members of the opposite sex, or lead to
temptation or misunderstandings. Muslim women additionally cover their
hair, since women are ordinarily considered to be the more attractive of
the sexes. These restrictions are not observed at home among close
family members, but serve to protect women's honour in public and draw
attention to their personal qualities rather than their looks. In Islam,
the sexual urge is considered to be natural and desirable as long as it
is confined to expression within marriage. However, Muslims are
saddened by the rise in the vulgar exploitation of women and the human
body for marketing purposes and pornography, which inevitably result in a
cheapening of sexuality and the undermining of family and spiritual
life.

Islam's appeal to today's woman



For women who enjoy being women and appreciate the differences (as well
as the common ground) between the sexes, who would prefer to be
respected for their intelligence and character rather than being chased
after for their looks, and who would like to pursue personal and
spiritual fulfilment at a human pace without having to neglect their
families, Islam is a very appealing alternative.

A few words about polygamy…



Many people are aware that Muslim men are permitted to marry more than
one wife. What is not generally known is that strict conditions of equal
treatment in terms of time and money are imposed on men who do, or that
women may stipulate in their marriage contracts that they have the
right to divorce if their husbands take another wife. In reality,
monogamy is the norm and polygamy the exception; it has never been
common among Muslims except in areas where it was already practised, and
it is seldom successful unless the first wife agrees. Islam did not
introduce polygamy; in reality, some form of polygamy - whether with
legal marriages, mistresses, prostitution or extra-marital affairs -
occurs in every society. Rather, it allowed and regulated it in order to
protect the women and children who might otherwise be taken advantage
of. In certain cases, such as when the first wife is chronically (or
mentally) ill or unable to bear children; when there are many widows and
orphans due to war; or when a marriage has effectively broken down but
the wife would prefer to remain married; open and legalised polygamy can
be a workable second-best solution.

The
Prophet Muhammad was married to his first wife, Khadijah, for 25 years,
and he did not take other wives until after her death. His marriages to
several widows and divorcees in later years were primarily contracted
for political and humanitarian reasons, as was expected of a man in his
position. His home life was characterised by love, consideration,
kindness and respect.