Feminism In Islam

Feminism is a collection of movements and ideologies aimed at defining, establishing,

and defending equal political, economic, cultural, and social rights for women. This
includes seeking to establish equal opportunities for women in education and
employment. Feminist advocates or supports the rights and equality of women.
Whereas Islamic feminism means is a form of feminism concerned with the role
of women in Islam. It aims for the full equality of all Muslims, regardless of gender, in
public and private life. Islamic feminists advocate womens rights, gender equality, and
social justice grounded in an Islamic framework.
During the early days of Islam in the 7th century CE, reforms in women's rights affected
marriage, divorce and inheritance.[9] Women were not accorded such legal status in
other cultures, including the West, until centuries later.[10]

In the seventh century, an Arabian trader launched a revolution in social norms that was
to shape a faith-based community for 14 centuries. He was the Prophet Muhammad,
the first feminist in Islam. In his life and in the revelations that he began to receive in
610 when he was 30 years old, Muhammad became the vehicle for a religion that paid
particular attention to the rights of women. as the Prophet Muhammad (S.W.A) said:

Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should not hurt (trouble) his
neighbor. And I advise you to take care of the women, for they are created
from a rib and the most crooked part of the rib is its upper part; if you try to
straighten it, it will break; and if you leave it, it will remain crooked; so I
urge you to take care of woman."

The Prophet Muhammad championed womens rights and supported the first female
teacher in Islam, Shifa bint abd Allah. She worked as a healer and passed this
knowledge as well as reading and writing to other women. The second Chaliph, Umar
bin al-Khattab, appointed her as controller of the market in the city of Medina (the
second major Islamic city after Mecca). She walked around town with a bull whip to
keep the money lenders in line. A bull whip.

The Quran contains principles of gender equality and wider issues of social justice ,The
Quran and the Sunna, or the sayings and actions of the Prophet as witnessed by his
companions and passed on through the ages, guarantee women life, wealth, and
happiness. The Quran upholds the sanctity and absolute valve of human life and states in
Surah 6: Al- Anam: 151:

Do not take any human beings life----(the life) which God has declared to be sacred
----- otherwise than in (the pursuit of) justice: this has He enjoined upon you so bthat
you mightuse your reason.

Before the advent of Islam, female infanticide was a practice among the Arabian
tribes. Muhammad forbad it. In a chapter dedicated to women, the Quran mandates a
womans right to a dowry and to a half share of inheritance that will remain in her name.
According to Quranic teaching , every man and woman has the right to work , whether
the work consists of gainful employment or voluntary service. The fruits of labour belong
to the one who has worked for them--- regardless of whether it is a man or a woman. As
Surah 4: An- Nisa : 32 states :

To men is allotted what they earn, and to women what they earn.
The Qur'an makes it clear that man and woman stand absolutely
equal in the sight of God, but also that they are "members" and "protectors"
of each other. In other words, the Qur'an does not create a hierarchy in
which men are placed above women, nor does it pit men against women in an
adversary relationship. They are created as equal creatures of a universal, just,
and merciful Creator whose pleasure it is that they livein harmony and in
Righteousnesstogether.
In spite of the Qur'anic affirmation of man-woman equality, Muslim societies
in general have never regarded men and women as equal, particularly in
the context of marriage.
Underlying the rejection in Muslim societies of the idea of man-woman equality is the
deeply rooted belief that women who are inferior in creation (having been made from a
crooked rib) and in righteousness (having helped the Shaitan in defeating God's plan for
Adam) have been created mainly to be of use to men who are superior to them.
The alleged superiority of men to women, which permeates the Islamic tradition, is
grounded not only in hadith literature but also in popular interpretations of some
Qur'anic passages which generally cited to support the contention that men have "a
degree of advantage" over women. Of these, the first reads as follows in A. A.
Maududi's translation of the Arabic text:
Men are the managers of the affairs of women because Allah has made
the one superior to the other and because men spend of their wealth on
women. Virtuous women are, therefore, obedient: they guard their rights
carefully in their absence under the care and watch of Allah. As for those
women whose defiance you have cause to fear, admonish them and keep
them apart from your beds and beat them. Then, if they submit to you, do
not look for excuses to punish them: note it well that there is Allah above
you, Who is Supreme and Great.29
The translation makes it appear that the one who has more strength, excellence, or
superiority is the man. However, the Qur'anic text does not accord superiority to men.
Using an idiomatic expression which literally means "some in relation to some," the
Qur'anic statement could mean either that some men are superior to some others (men
or women) and that some women are superior to some others (men or women). The
interpretation that seems to me to be the most appropriate contextually is that some
men are more blessed with the means to be better providers than are other men.Man
and woman, created equal by God and standing equal in the sight of God, have become
very unequal in Muslim societies. The Quran says:
"They are your garments/And you are their garments"

This Quranic description of man and woman in marriage implies closeness, mutuality,
and equality. However, Muslim culture has reduced many, if not most, women to the
position of puppets on a string, to slave like creatures whose only purpose in life is to
cater to the needs and pleasures of men. Not only this, it has also had the audacity and
the arrogance to deny women direct access to God.
In Islam feminism does not mean men and women are identical to each other. Some
argue that feminism is fallacious in nature because it seeks to equalize men and women
when they are biologically, psychologically, as well as emotionally different. This
perception of equality is false. Equality does not mean being identical to men. There are
tasks where women outperform men, and likewise there are tasks where men
outperform women. Feminism is understood to mean different things within different
social structures. But unfortunately it is still presumed that all feminist movements are
alike, and are seeking to eradicate male oppression in a similar way.
Feminism is the radical notion that women are people. This radical notion is NOT the
brainchild of the west, it is the brainchild of Islam. When Islam opposed female
infanticide, when the preaching of Islam was initially funded by the business profits of a
woman (Hazrta Khadija RA, the first wife of the Holy Prophet SAW), when Islam
defended the right of women in inheritance, when Islam made men responsible for the
women they married or had/wanted to have carnal relations with, when Islam made men
own the children they sired, when Islam curtailed polygamy, etc, etc it was basically
treating women like humans, like people.

The West Didnt Export It To Us:

Contrary to popular belief, the so-called feminist movement is not a hand-me-down
dress from the west. It is not a yahoodiyoon ki saazish. It is the weakness of our own
society. It is the weakness or lack of faith on our part. There is a reason why armies
used to build strong forts in the old days, you cant enter a city if it is surrounded by
unbreakable walls. Our society gives women no such walls. For example;
1. If a guy earns for his family, he is a good son, a good father, a good husband,
a good brother. All the praises in the world for him from his parents, siblings,
spouse and kids.
2. 2. If a woman bears and brings up children well, thats her job. She is
supposed to do it. Every penny that is spent on her, even the cost of delivering
the child is counted and recorded for future reference. In all fairness, this
counting is not just the mens doing, women are equally involved. No body
praises her.

3. Women Are As Much Responsible For The Uprise As The Men:

Its easy to think men are solely responsible for the injustice dealt to women, they seem
like an obvious target. But the fact is, within the home, when a mother decides to favor
her son over her daughter, she is just as bad as the father who favors the sons over the
daughter. A mother has the power to raise her children with the finest values, so much
so that Hazrat Ali RA advised men Dont look for a wife for yourselves, look for a
mother for your children. And when, knowledgeable of this power, abuse it, it is
simply despicable. No woman from the west ever came and taught the Pakistani women
that it was the sisters JOB to eat only after her brother had eaten, this is our own

invention. Whats worse is, when these sisters grow up, they take these very same
values and put them into bringing up their own children.
A Few Muslim Practices:
Here are a few Islamic Rights conferred to women, as a sample of how our you
feminist shouting meat-heads wouldnt survive day if Shariat was ever implemented in
this country;
1. In Islam a woman is not bound to adopt her husbands name or her husbands family
name. She is known by her fathers name and, like all humans, will be raised on the Day
of Judgment by her fathers name, not her husband. Nuff said. (Update: Sahih Hadith
mentions that people will be raised on the Day of Judgment by their fathers
name.)
2. In Islam, when you bring something to eat home, like customarily fathers bring fruits
home, the first fruit is to be offered to the daughters, starting with the youngest.
3. A womans property, inherited from her father, or built through business, or given to
her as her own possession via gift, is her property. Her husband/father/brother/son has
no claim to it in her life. If she gives part or all of it to them, that is charity on her part
and she will be rewarded, but it is not their right.
The list is pretty long, in fact books have been written over this subject. Of course, all
this being said, the fact that there is plenty wrong and outright vulgar going on in the
name feminism cant be denied. But just as undefended borders are no borders at all,
similarly a society eon away from its own value system and in an identity crisis is easy
prey. We shouldnt blame the vultures; we should blame ourselves for feeding them.
The Reality Of Feminism In Pakistan
The status of women in Pakistan varies considerably across classes, regions, and the
rural/urban divide due to uneven socioeconomic development and the impact of tribal,
feudal, and capitalist social formations on women's lives. Feminism over the years has
become a pseudo-curse word in Pakistani society. The minute a woman wants her basic
human rights, the same rights she sees men of her own country enjoy, she is
vehemently labeled a feminist. Unfortunately, what most people fail to realise is that
feminism in Paksitan is not entirely a novel concept, nor is it anti-Islamic. In fact, Islam
was the first religion to formally grant women a status they had not enjoyed before and
taught moral, spiritual and economic equality. There are countless quotes from
prominent Islamic scholars, ahadith and the Quran itself, promulgating womens rights
regarding different of life, including education, marriage and divorce. In politics, the
undertones of feminist ideals have existed throughout, coming to the forefront only
recently thanks to advancements in media and education.
Fatima Jinnah, for instance, fearlessly led thousands of women to stand up for their
well-being even before Pakistan was created. Soon after, Begum Raana Liaquat Ali
Khan founded the All Pakistan Womens Association (APWA) in 1949, aiming to further
the moral, social and economic standing of women across the country. Similarly, the
Womens Action Forum (WMA) was established in September 1981, lobbying and
advocating on behalf of women without the resources to do it themselves.
What we need as Muslim Pakistanis (men and women alike), is to give our mothers,
daughters, sisters and wives the confidence that our religion prescribes, without waiting
for them to ask for it, or leaving them no choice but to ask for what is rightly theirs. Only

then would there be no semblance of this so-called feminism. We women would simply
give a resounding shut-up call to anyone who told us were oppressed.

Feminism in India