I’m writing an ethnographic paper for a class where I’m supposed to use both interviews and secondary sources. My interviewee talked about Islam with reference to equality and respect, and I was hoping to find some passages or quotes somewhere in Islam writings that are about those things. Can anyone help guide me in the right direction?
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Dhan Noon
February 8th, 2010 at 4:47 am
In addition to the above poster, this verse talks about how men and women are both equal in the end:
{{Verily, the Muslims, men and women, the believers men and women the men and the women who are obedient (to Allâh), the men and women who are truthful (in their speech and deeds), the men and the women who are patient (in performing all the duties which Allâh has ordered and in abstaining from all that Allâh has forbidden), the men and the women who are humble (before their Lord Allâh), the men and the women who give Sadaqât (i.e. Zakât, and alms, etc.), the men and the women who observe Saum (fast) (the obligatory fasting during the month of Ramadân, and the optional Nawâfil fasting), the men and the women who guard their chastity (from illegal sexual acts) and the men and the women who remember Allâh much with their hearts and tongues Allâh has prepared for them forgiveness and a great reward}}
[Soorah al-Ahzaab, 33:35]
{{For men there is reward for what they have earned, (and likewise) for women there is reward for what they have earned, and ask Allâh of His Bounty. Surely, Allâh is Ever AllKnower of everything}}
[Soorah an-Nisaa, 4:32]
▐▀▀▼▀▀▌ ►ѕнαнку яαмα∂α◄ ▐▄▄▲▄▄▌
February 8th, 2010 at 4:47 am
This word – equality – which many thinkers in both the east and the west advocate in various fields of life is a word which is based on deviation and a lack of understanding, especially when the speaker attributes this idea of equality to the Qur’aan and to Islaam.
One of the things that people misunderstand is when they say that “Islaam is the religion of equality”. What they should say is that Islaam is the religion of justice.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
“Here we should note that there are some people who speak of equality instead of justice, and this is a mistake. We should not say equality, because equality implies no differentiation between the two. Because of this unjust call for equality, they started to ask, what is the difference between male and female?’ So they made males and females the same, and then the communists said, ‘What difference is there between ruler and subject? No one has any authority over anyone else, not even fathers and sons; the father has no authority over his son,’ and so on.
But if we say justice, which means giving each one that to which he or she is entitled, this misunderstanding no longer applies, and the word used is correct. Hence it does not say in the Qur’aan that Allaah enjoins equality, rather it says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Verily, Allaah enjoins Al‑‘Adl (i.e. justice)”
[al-Nahl 16:90]
“and that when you judge between men, you judge with justice”
[al-Nisa’ 4:58]
Those who say that Islaam is the religion of equality are lying against Islaam. Rather Islaam is the religion of justice which means treating equally those who are equal and differentiating between those who are different.
No one who knows the religion of Islaam would say that it is the religion of equality. Rather what shows you that this principle is false is the fact that most of what is mentioned in the Qur’aan denies equality, as in the following verses:
‘Say: Are those who know equal to those who know not?”
[al-Zumar 39:9]
‘Say: Is the blind equal to the one who sees? Or darkness equal to light?’
[al-Ra’d 13:16]
‘Not equal among you are those who spent and fought before the conquering (of Makkah, with those among you who did so later’
[al-Hadeed 57:10]
‘Not equal are those of the believers who sit (at home), except those who are disabled (by injury or are blind or lame), and those who strive hard and fight in the Cause of Allaah with their wealth and their live’
[al-Nisa’ 4:95]
Not one single letter in the Qur’aan enjoins equality, rather it enjoins justice. You will also find that the word justice is acceptable to people, for I feel that if I am better than this man in terms of knowledge, or wealth, or piety, or in doing good, I would not like for him to be equal to me.
Every man knows that he find it unacceptable if we say that the male is equal to the female.”
[Sharh al-‘Aqeedah al-Waasitah, 1/180-181]
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Based on this, Islaam does not regard men and women as equal in matters where regarding them as equal would result in injustice to one of them, because equality that is inappropriate is a severe form of injustice.
The Qur’aan commands women to wear clothes that are different from those worn by men, because of the differences in the ways each sex is tempted by the other. The temptation posed by men is less than the temptation posed by women, so the clothes that women should wear are different than the clothes that men wear. It makes no sense to tell women to expose the parts of the body that men are allowed to expose, because of the differences in the temptation posed by a woman’s body and a man’s body.
The male is different from the female in many ways, in his strength, in his body, in his toughness and roughness, whereas women are soft and gentle.
And men are different in intellectual terms, for men are known for their strength of understanding and their memory as compared to women. Women are weaker than men in memory and forget more than men do. This is well known, for most of the reputable scholars in the world are men. There are some women who are more intelligent and have better memories than some men, but this does not cancel out the general rule. Most cases are as we have described above.
With regard to emotions, men speak of them when they get angry or when they are happy, but women are affected by the slightest emotional effects, so their tears flow at the slightest emotional provocation.
Jihad is obligatory for men, but jihad in the sense of fighting is not obligatory for women. This is the mercy of Allaah towards them, and consideration for their nature.
In conclusion we may say that the rulings for men are not like the rulings for women.
Islaam regards men and women as equally obliged with regard to many acts of worship and interactions with others. For example, women do wudoo’ just as men do, they do ghusl as men do, they pray as men do, and they fast as men do, except when they are menstruating or bleeding following childbirth. Women pay zakaah as men pay zakaah, and they do Hajj as men do, except for a few differences in the rulings. It is permissible and acceptable to buy from a woman, and if a woman gives charity, that is permissible. It is permissible for a woman to set free the slaves that she owns, and there are many other similar cases because women are the twin halves of men, as it says in the hadeeth:
► Conclusion:
Women are like men in some aspects and they differ from them in others. Most of the rulings of Islaam apply to men and women equally. In cases where a distinction is made between the sexes, the Muslim regards that as a mercy from Allaah and a sign of His knowledge of His creation, but the arrogant kaafir sees it as oppression and injustice, so he stubbornly insists on claiming that men and women are the same. So let him tell us how a man can carry a foetus and breastfeed it? He stubbornly ignores the weakness of women and how they bleed during their monthly period, and he stubbornly beat his head against the rock of reality. But the Muslim is still at peace with his faith, surrendering to the command of Allaah.
“Should not He Who has created know? And He is the Most Kind and Courteous (to His slaves), All‑Aware (of everything)”
[al-Mulk 67:14 – interpretation of the meaning]
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Pope Khomeni
February 8th, 2010 at 4:47 am
Mohammad’s words (Qur’an) are clear on this. Women are the property of men. Men are the keepers of women because Allah made men stronger than women. It’s time for you to deal with it and be a non-questioning woman.Men are the keepers of women. Why must you challenge Allah’s will?
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