മൂന്നു പേര്‍, അവരെ നിസ്സാരമാക്കുകയില്ല, കപട വിശ്വാസിയല്ലാതെ. 

الجنة تحت أقدام الأمهات

I would ask you to consider two distinctly separate views regarding mankind: According to one, all men (including women) are equal, and therefore a sound social system is one that is based on the principle of absolute “equality”. According to the other, all men (or women) are different – they are different in their mental, physical and emotional qualities, they are different in the opportunities life gives them and they are different in their natural strengths and weaknesses – and because they are different, a good society is not the one based on the principle of equality, but the one based on the principle of “justice”. Just for the sake of further clarification, “equality” means that all persons should be dealt with equally, irrespective of their needs, abilities or strengths and weaknesses. In other words, according to this principle, a sound society is the one that places equal responsibilities and gives equal priveleges and authorities to its members. On the other hand, “justice” means that a person should be dealt with on the basis of what he deserves. In other words, acording to this principle, a sound society is the one that places responsibilities and gives priveleges and authorities to its members according to their abilities and qualities.

I would like to clearly state here (even at the risk of being misconstrued) that Islam has based its teachings on the presumption that all human beings are equal in all spheres of life, except in the case of their inherent abilities and in the case of their position in the family (or on a broader scale, the social) setup. In other words, Islam after accepting that all human beings are equal, and should be dealt with accoridng to the principle of equality, wants the society to give only two exceptions to this principle. These exceptions are:
 

• ·  Because human beings are different in their inherent abilities, a person (man or woman) with more abilities should have the opportunities to progress further in life as compared to a person (man or woman) with less abilities. The system adopted to insure “justice” in this sphere is quite a simple one. Islam simply advocates that there should be no artificial hinderances in the progress of a person (man or woman) with more abilities.

In this sense, Islam although allows a differentiation among individuals, but this differentiation is not based on the sex of the individuals, but on their abilities.
 

• ·  Because a sound social setup is possible only through strengthening the basic unit of this setup, (i.e. the family) Islam wants the family to have a well defined authority-responsibility relationship.

According to the Qur’an, man and woman are two units of a pair. When both are taken independent of each other, there are ceretain obvious vacuums in the mental, physical and emotional personalities of each. God has created the two in such a way that they complement each other in different ways, so that these vacuums are generally removed to a great extent. For this very purpose, God gave different mental, physical and emotional qualities to the male and the female. These different mental, physical and emotional qualities, on the one hand complement man and woman, and on the other establishes for them different spheres of activity in their interpersonal relationships.

According to the Qur’an, man, for two reasons, should be the head of the family: One, because he is given the responsibility of earning the livelihood for the family (i.e. he is to strive for the provision of the financial requirements of the family); and two, because he is given the mental, physical and emotional qualities that are more suitable for this responsibility; just like women are given certain qualities that make them more suitable for responsibilities in a number of other spheres. It is only in this sphere (i.e. in the relationship of husband and wife) that God has given the man a degree of authority over the woman. Besides this sphere, both are considered equal.

If the above explanation is clearly understood, you shall be able to see that Islam does not assign a lower status to the womankind, as compared to the mankind, it is only in a particular relationship that one is given a degree of authority over the other, and that too for fulfilling the responsibility assigned to him from the perspective of this life as well as the hereafter. In this sense, it is the same thing as saying that:

• the parents (both male and female) are responsible for the well being of their children (both male and female) and therefore should be given a degree of authority over them; or
• the teachers (both male and female) are responsible for the well being of their pupil (both male and female) and therefore should be given a degree of authority over them; or
• the head of the state (whether male or female) is responsible for the well being of the citizens (both male and female) and therefore should be given a degree of authority over them.
   

I hope it is clear from the above explanation that in my opinion, Islam does not differentiate between the status of a man or a woman. It is only in the particular relationship of husband and wife that Islam gives a degree of authority to the husband. It would be as wrong to say on this basis that Islam gives women a lower status in the social setup as compared to men, as it would be to say that Islam gives men a lower status as compared to women on the basis of the degree of authority that a mother has over her male child.
 

Harsh Reality

There has been no dearth of movements and organisations working for the rights, upliftment, liberation and emancipation of women. There is a lot of hue and cry about their status, role and rights. Inspite of all this the women related statistics make a dismal reading.
 

• 5,000 brides are murdered or commit suicide in relation to dowry every year inIndia.
• Female foeticide is rampant inIndiaandChina. Of 8,000 abortions conducted at a clinic in Mumbai, 7,999 were female fetuses.
• Some 600,000 women – die each year from pregnancy related causes, most of which are preventable.
• 70% of world illiterates are women.
• 70% of people in abject poverty are women.
• Only 1% of world assets are held by women.
• InAfricafor every HIV infected male there are six HIV infected females.
• 50% to 75% women experience domestic voilence.
• Nearly 30% marriages end in divorce in the west.
• Half the population on globe lacks basic sanitation and 1/3 of the world population is without safe drinking water.
• Basic education for all would cost $6 billion and water and sanitation for all would cost $9 billion.
• Reproductive health service for all women would cost $12 million annually.

But Annually,
 

• $700 bilion spent on world’s militaries
• $400 billion spent on narcotic drugs.
• $50 billion spent on cigarettes.
• $33 billion spent on cosmetics and weight loss programs
• $17 billion spent on pet food.
• $12 billion is spent on perfume in Europe andUSA.
• $11 billion is spent on ice cream inEurope.

What are women’s rights in Islam?
Courtesy of Islamic.Org

In a truely Islamic society women have the following rights in Islam:

1. The right and duty to obtain education.

2. The right to have their own independent property.

3. The right to work to earn money if they need it or want it.

4. Equality of reward for equal deeds.

5. The right to express their opinion and be heard.

6. The right to provisions from the husband for all her needs and more.

7. The right to negotiate marriage terms of her choice.

8. The right to obtain divorce from her husband, even on the grounds that she simply can’t stand him. (pls note that God deeply frowns upon divorce as a solution unless there is hardly any other alternative but it does not mean that men have more right to divorce their wives than women do.)

9. The right to keep all her own money (she is not responsible to maintain any relations).

10. The right to get sexual satisfaction from her husband.

11. custody of their children after divorce.

12. to refuse any marriage that does not please them

and more…

Here is an article taken from a speech which details some of these rights: Ideals and role models for women in Islam
 

Marriage in Islam: Considered from a Legal Point of View
by Dr. Ahmad Shafaat (1984)

From a legal point of view Islam views marriage as an ‘aqd or contract. Like any other contract the marriage contract requires full and free consent of the parties concerned. The parents or guardian of any of the parties may give advice, choose a marriage partner or use persuasion, but the final decision to enter into a marriage must be the result of a free choice on the part of each partner, even though this freely made choice may consist of nothing but accepting the choice of one’s parents or guardian. This right of free choice is fairly well recognized in the case of men but (unfortunately) not in the case of women. In the Holy Qur’an we read:

“Do not inherit women against their will” (4:19)

And in Hadith we find traditions like the following:

“Khansa bint Khidhan who had a previous marriage, related that when her father married her and she disapproved of that, she went to the Messenger of God and he revoked her marriage.” (Bukhari, Ibn Majah)

“A [girl who was not married] came to the Messenger of God and mentioned that her father had married her against her will, so the Prophet allowed her to exercise her choice.” (Abu Da’ud, on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbas)

Just as any adult can enter into any legal contract, so also any adult man or woman can arrange his or her own marriage, provided that during the process of arranging the marriage there is no sexual contact, in other words, there is no dating in the North American style. It is well known that Khadijah, the Prophet’s first wife arranged her own marriage with the Prophet. It is true that this happened before sayyadna Muhammad received prophethood. But if an arrangement by a woman of her own marriage were so shameful in the eyes of Allah as it is in the eyes of some Muslims, then He would have somehow prevented His Messenger from such a marriage. Moreover, there are some ahadith which show that even after receiving prophethood sayyadna Muhammad did not disapprove of women arranging their own marriage.We quote here one such hadith:

“A woman came to the Messenger of God and offered herself to him (in marriage). When she had stood for a long time (without receiving an answer) a man got up and said: Messenger of God! Marry her to me if you have no need of her. He asked the man if he had anything to give her as dower (marriage gift), and when he replied that he had nothing but the lower garment he was wearing, the Prophet said: Look for something, even though it be an iron ring. Then when the man had searched and found nothing, God’s Messenger asked him whether he new anything of the Qur’an. When the man replied that he knew Surah so and so and Surah so and so, God’s Messenger said: Go away, I give her to you in marriage. Teach her some of the Qur’an.” (Bukhari and Muslim on the authority of Sahl bin Sa’d)

In this hadith a woman is arranging her own marriage but the Prophet does not rebuke her or admonish her in any other way. Thus while it may not be the best thing for a woman to do, she can if she wishes, make a marriage proposal for herself without being blameworthy in the eyes of God.

What are the terms involved in the marriage contract? This contract involves two things: First, a gift from the husband to the wife, which may be a sum of money, an object of some value such as a ring or such non-material things as acceptance of Islam or teaching a part of the Qur’an⁽¹⁾. Second, a commitment from both parties to try to make life physically comfortable for each other and to provide emotional, psychological and spiritual happiness to each other, with the responsibility for taking care of economic needs generally falling on the shoulders of the man.⁽²⁾

At the time of the marriage both partners should have the fullest possible intention of keeping the marriage commitment for life, although under some extreme circumstances it may perhaps be possible to enter into a marriage contract on a temporary basis.⁽³⁾

Even though the marriage commitment is for life, should it so happen that after marriage the two partners find it impossible to live together the Islamic law provides for the termination of the marriage contract. The termination of the marriage contract can be initiated by any party which has decided that the other party cannot or will not satisfactorily fulfill the commitment implicit in the marriage contract, namely, to provide enough physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual happiness. It is evident that the judgment as to whether a marriage partner is getting enough satisfaction out of his or her marriage is a subjective one and therefore belongs entirely to the partner himself or herself. Consequently, for the dissolution of marriage Islam does not require that a partner prove to some authority such as a court that there has indeed been a failing on the part of the other partner in the fulfillment of his or her marital obligations. It is enough for the dissatisfied partner to say that he or she can no longer love or respect the other partner to be able to continue living with him or her. Third parties such as relatives, the community, etc. can and indeed should (4:35) get involved at some stage of marriage difficulties and try to prevent the break-up of the marriage through counseling, etc.; but they cannot oblige any marriage partner to remain in the marriage bond, as for example the catholic church or the Hindu tradition that obliges couples to remain tied in marriage until one of the partners dies.

A man can on his own dissolve the marriage by following a prescribed procedure, the details of which need not concern us here. A woman can dissolve the marriage by asking the husband to divorce her and if he refuses can go to court which should arrange the terms of dissolution as regards to compensation and order the husband to dissolve the marriage.⁽⁴⁾ To avoid this procedure the woman can include in the marriage contract the condition that she can dissolve the marriage without having to go to court.

The party which initiates the divorce may have to pay some compensation to the other party. This compensation may be the return of the marriage gift in the case of a woman initiating the divorce⁽⁵⁾ and payment of an alimony in the case of a man taking that step.⁽⁶⁾ Again, the details of these matters are out of the scope of this article.
 
 

The degree by which the husband has greater right

In the above outline of the legal view of marriage in Islam, man and women are completely equal partners except in the following respects:

1) Both parties make the equal responsibility to provide physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual happiness to each other, but men generally have the added responsibility to provide for the economic needs of the wife.

2) In case the husband initiates divorce, he is obliged by religious law to pay some maintenance expenses (2:241). This prescribed alimony belongs to the wife by right. However, when the woman initiates the divorce she does not pay any compensation to the husband as requirement of religious law; she need at most return part of what she received from the husband as dower if such payment is helpful in an amicable settlement. (2:229)

3) A man can divorce his wife on his own while a woman needs to go through court or introduce into the marriage a clause giving her the right to divorce her husband.

In regard to the above differences the Holy Qur’an says:

“And (wives) shall have rights similar to those (the husbands have) over them, in accordance with justice, (except that) husbands’ rights are a degree greater.” (2:228)

“Husbands are guardians (qawwamun) of wives because God has favoured some more than others and because they (i.e. husbands generally) spend out of their wealth.” (4:34)

The first of the above two Qur’anic statements occurs in a long passage dealing with divorce and should be understood in relation to that context. The degree by which husband’s rights are greater should therefore be understood as the degree by which the husband is freer than the wife to break the marriage bond. This, however, is not a very big degree since as stated earlier the wife can get out of the marriage bond whenever she wants to, practically without giving any reason. It is only that she has to follow a more indirect procedure.

The second Qur’anic statement refers to the greater responsibility husbands generally have as protectors and providers of women and to the greater say this gives them in making decisions.

The fact that husbands’ rights are a degree greater does not effect the claim that in Islam men and women have equal rights, since men’s greater rights within the marriage relationship do not mean that men also enjoy greater rights outside that relationship and since within the marriage relationship men’s greater rights are completely justified by their greater responsibility. We must remember here that whenever we talk about members of a society having equal rights it is never precluded that members of that society cannot freely enter into terminable arrangements in which some take greater responsibility and therefore also have greater rights. Equality of rights can only be asserted on the assumption of equality of responsibility. This principle sometimes works in favour of women. For example, as mothers women give much more to children than do men as fathers and so Islam recognizes greater rights of mothers over children than of fathers except where economic considerations demand otherwise.
 

Notes

⁽¹⁾ See the hadith quoted earlier in which the dower for marriage consists of the husband teaching a portion of the Holy Qur’an to the wife. In the following hadith it consists of the husband accepting Islam:

“Umm Sulaym had become a Muslim before Abu Talha and when he asked her in marriage she said: “I have become a Muslim. so if you also become one I shall marry you.” Abu Talha accepted Islam and that was the dower arranged between them.” (Nasa’i on the authority of Anas)

This hadith also supports the view that men and women can arrange their own marriage.

⁽²⁾ See Qur’an 4:34. The wife can, however, with her own free will choose to share part of the economic burden. Khadijah helped the Prophet and Asma, the daughter of Abu Bakr, helped her poor husband Zubayr.

⁽³⁾ This is the shi’a view. Sunni traditions admit that temporary marriage was at some point in time allowed in Islam but say that this was later forbidden.

⁽⁴⁾ See Qur’an 2:229 in the light of the following hadith:

“The wife of Thabit bin Qays came to the Prophet and said, “Messenger of God, I do not reproach Thabit bin Qays in respect of character or religion but I do not want to be guilty of kufran regarding Islam (meaning that she did not like him enough as a marriage partner and so was afraid she might not give him the respect and love due to a husband).” God’s Messenger asked her if she would give back to Thabit his garden, and when she replied that she would, he told him to accept the garden and declare the divorce.” (Bukhari, Nasa’i, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah and Bayhaqi, on the authority of Ibn Abbas)

⁽⁵⁾ See the hadith quoted in the previous note. The wife is not obligated by religious law to pay the compensation and need only do so as part of a settlement with the husband. (Qur’an 2:229)

⁽⁶⁾ “For divorced women a reasonable maintenance (should be provided). This is a duty on the righteous.” (Qur’an 2:241)
 

അബൂഹുറൈറ( റ) വില്‍ നിന്ന് നിവേദനം : റസൂല്‍ (സ) പറഞ്ഞു :” രണ്ടു പേര്‍ വസ്ത്രം ചുരുളഴിച്ചു പിടിചിരിക്കെ ഖിയാമത് വരുന്നു അപ്പോള്‍ അത് മടക്കി  വെക്കാനോ കച്ചവടം

 ചെയ്യാനോ അവര്‍ക്ക് കഴിയില്ല. ഒരാള്‍ ഒട്ടകത്തെ കറന്നു പാലുമായി വരവേ ഖിയാമത്ത് വരുന്നു .അത് കുടിക്കനവന് സാധിക്കുകയില്ല . കുഴിയില്‍ വെള്ളം നിറച്ചു കൊണ്ടിരിക്കെ ഖിയാമത് വരുന്നു അത് കുടിപ്പാനവന് അവസരം  കിട്ടുകയില്ല . ഉരുള വായിലെക്കുയര്തിക്കൊണ്ടിരിക്കെ ഖിയാമത്ത് പിടികൂടുന്നു . അത് ഭക്ഷിക്കാനവന്  കഴിയില്ല

Scridb filter]]> http://ipcblogger.net/nafeesa/?feed=rss2&p=550 0 http://ipcblogger.net/nafeesa/?p=538 http://ipcblogger.net/nafeesa/?p=538#comments Wed, 10 Aug 2011 07:46:35 +0000 nafeesa shakoor http://ipcblogger.net/nafeesa/?p=538

സത്യവിശ്വാസിയെ സംബന്തിചിടത്തോളം അവന്റെ വസന്തത്തിന്‍റെ കാലഘട്ടം എന്ന് വിശേഷിപ്പിക്കുന്നത്  റമദാന്‍മാസമാകുന്നു . സ്നേഹത്തിന്റെയും സാഹോദര്യത്തിന്റെയും അടയാളമായി സത്യവിശ്വാസിയില്‍ പ്രകടമാവേണ്ട പ്രത്യേകമാസമാണ് റമദാന്‍ കരീം . എല്ലാമനുഷ്യരും ഒന്നാണെന്ന തത്ത്വം സാമൂഹ്യ ജീവിതത്തില്‍

പ്രകടമാക്കേണ്ട മാസവും അതിനനുസൃതമായി ആരാധനാ കര്‍മ്മങ്ങളില്‍ കര്‍മ്മ നിരതരാവേണ്ട മാസവും  അല്ലാഹുവില്‍ നിന്നുള്ള  മഗ്ഫിരത്തിനും  മര്‍ഹാമാത്തിനും പ്രതീക്ഷ നിര്‍ഭരമായ മനസ്സുംമായ്‌ സത്യവിശ്വാസി അല്ലാഹുവിലേക്ക് മടങ്ങേണ്ട സമയമാകുന്നു

ആത്മ  സംസ്കരണത്തിന്റെ  മാസമാകുന്നു റമദാന്‍. ഏതു വിധത്തിലും കഴിഞ്ഞ കാലഘട്ടത്തിലെ കഷ്ട്ട നഷ്ട്ടങ്ങള്‍ നികത്താനും വരും കാലത്തെ ചില പ്രതീക്ഷകള്‍ കൈവിടാതെ ക്‌ുടുതല്‍ പ്രവര്‍ത്തിക്കാന്‍ ഒരു പ്രചോധനവുമാണ് സത്യവിശ്വസിക്കുണ്ടാവേണ്ടത് .

വിശ്വാസത്തോടെയും , പ്രതിഫലേച്ചയോടെയും റമദാനില്‍ ആരെങ്കിലും നിന്ന് നമസ്കരിച്ചാല് അവന്‍റെ മുന്കഴിഞ്ഞ പാപങ്ങളെല്ലാം പൊറുത്തു കൊടുക്കുന്നതാണ്
റമദാനില്‍ നല്‍കുന്ന ദാനമാണ് ഏറ്റവും നല്ലദാനം (പ്രവാചക വചനം )
റമദാന്‍ ഖൈരിന്റെയും ബരകതിന്റെയും മാസമാകുന്നു, നബി (സ) പറഞ്ഞു : റമദാന്‍ ഷഹര് സ്സ്വബ്ര്‍ (ക്ഷമയുടെ മാസമാകുന്നു)
.യുദ്ധത്തിലും മറ്റും പരിച മറ്റുള്ളവരുടെ ആക്രമണത്തില്‍ നിന്നും നമ്മുടെ ശരീരത്തെ സംരക്ഷിക്കുന്നതുപോലെ റമദാന്‍ നരകത്തില്‍നിന്നുള്ള പരിചയാണ്.
നോമ്പ് ശരീരത്തിന് ഗുണം ചെയ്യുന്നത് പോലെ ആത്മീയമായ പല ഗുണങ്ങളും നോമ്പ് പ്രദാനം ചെയ്യുന്നുണ്ട്
നോമ്പുകാരന് രണ്ടു സന്തോഷമുണ്ട് ഒന്ന് : നോമ്പ് തുറക്കുമ്പോള്‍ , രണ്ടു: അന്ത്യദിനത്തില് തന്‍റെ രക്ഷിതാവിനെ കണ്ടു മുട്ടുമ്പോള്‍.
ചില കാര്യങ്ങള്‍ നോമ്പുകാലത്ത് ചെയ്യാന്‍ പ്രവാചകന്‍ (സ) പ്രത്യേകം കല്പിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു

പ്രഭാതത്തിനു തൊട്ടു മുന്പ്ലഘുവായി ആഹരിക്കുക
അസ്തമയം കഴിഞ്ഞ ഉടനെ മൂന്നു കാരക്ക തിന്നുകയും അല്പം വെള്ളം കുടിക്കുക.(അല്ലാഹുമ്മ ലകസമത് വാ അലാ രിസ്ഖിക അഫ്തര്‍ത്തു എന്ന് ചൊല്ലുകയും ചെയ്യുക.)
ഭക്ഷണം കുറക്കുക ഐചിക നമസ്കാരമായ തറാവീഹ്‌ അനുഷ്ട്ടിക്കുക
സാമൂഹ്യ സന്ദര്‍ശനങ്ങള്‍ വര്‍ധിപ്പിക്കുക ഖുര്‍ആന്‍ പാരായണവും പഠനവും വര്‍ധിപ്പിക്കുക,നാവിന്‍റെ ഉപയോഗം നിയന്ത്രിക്കുക , സഹനശക്തി വര്‍ദ്ധിപ്പിക്കുക
ഈ പറഞ്ഞ കാര്യങ്ങള്‍ എല്ലാം റമദാനില്‍ നാം ശ്രേധിക്കേണ്ട കാര്യങ്ങളാകുന്നു