A considerable enticement that has arisen is that when women have been imprisoned and oppressed and it is demanded that women be allowed to remain unveiled and have complete freedom to go out of their way. ۔ It is as if all your riches including all your gold, silver, diamond jewelry are taken out and displayed on the road. Then why such slogans are being raised! Of course, this is a stratagem against Islam. You will realize further by reading more. What is a woman, what was the status of the woman before Islam, and what status did she get after Islam? The sisters who are being victimized and putting themselves in danger should learn a lesson from this composition. No religion has given the dignity and honor that Islam has given to women. Despite knowing the profits and losses, why would she put herself in danger?
What is a woman?
A woman is one of the greatest blessings of God. She is a co-sharer in the world’s settlement. A woman is the peace of man’s heart, his soul, his mind, and his body. She is the beauty of this world and makes the world a place to live. The woman is the “mother” of all human beings except Adam and Hawa, so she is respected by all. Her existence is extremely important for human civilization. If it were not for women, this world would be a mess. A woman loves her siblings as a child. She loves her husband after marriage. She loves her children. That is why a woman is a symbol of love and affection in the world.
Woman before Islam
Before Islam, the condition of women was very bad. There was no dignity of women. Women had no status before men. They were a “toy” to fulfill the desires of men. Women used to serve men and benefit them from their earnings from various jobs, but the oppressive men still did not value these women. They used to beat them, cut off the ears, nose, and other organs of women on the slightest mistake, and even killed them.
The Arabs used to bury girls alive, and after their father’s death, their sons became the owners of their father’s property and also claim their father’s wives as their inheritance, and these women were forcibly enslaved. Women could not claim anything as her possession and did not get any share from inheritance.
In some Arab tribes, it was a cruel custom to imprison the widow for a year in a small cramped, dark hut. She could not get out of the hut or take a bath. She could not change their clothes. Food, water, and all their needs were given in the same hut. Many women died of suffocation and those who survived were put camel’s shit in their ankles after one year. They were forced to rub themselves with animals and then walk around the city in the same filthy clothes, throwing camel’s shit around. It was a proclamation that the ‘iddah of these women was over, and so on.
The condition of women in India
In India, widows were subjected to such cruel and cruel treatment that they were left to fend for themselves. In Hinduism, it was the duty of every woman to perform husband’s worship by performing various services throughout her life and after her husband’s death she should lie down on the flames of her “Chita” in order to be sati, that is, to burn a living woman with her husband’s body to ashes. Such ruthless and cruel men of the world used to inflict such oppressions on women that after hearing such stories one’s heart will be filled with grief and sorrow.
The compulsion and helplessness of these oppressed and helpless women was a sign that women had no rights in society and there was no recourse to any law to complain about their oppression. For thousands of years, these oppressed women cried over their helplessness but no one in the world could be seen healing the wounds of these women and wiping their tears, nor could anyone in the world listen to their cries of pain and sorrow.
There was no feeling of compassion for these women in anyone’s heart. Humanity was restless with grief and sorrow over the plight of women, but there was no choice but to wait for the mercy of Allah to create something from the unseen that suddenly unique revolution appears and all the sorrows and pains of helpless women would be removed. So, when the sun of mercy rose, the whole world suddenly realized the light of hope in every house.
Woman after Islam
When our Messenger of Mercy, Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa (Peace Be Upon Him) came with the “religion of Islam” from Allah, the star of fortune of the oppressed women all over the world shone. And thanks to Islam, the status of women who have been crushed and trampled by the oppression of oppressive men has risen to such a high level that in every aspect of worship and affairs, but also in life and death, women have become equal to men.
The rights of women, as well as men, were established and the divine law came down from heaven to protect their rights, and courts were established under Islamic law to ensure their rights. Women got property rights, so women were made the owners of their dowry money, their businesses, their property and inherited their parents, siblings, children, and husband’s inheritance. So, the women who were more humiliated and helpless than the shoes of men became the peace of men’s hearts and the queen of their homes, so the Qur’an clearly declared that
He created for you spouses from among yourselves so that you may find comfort in them. And He has placed between you compassion and mercy. Surely in this are signs for people who reflect. [1] پ21،روم:21
Now no man can beat women for no reason or evict them from their homes and no one can take away their property or possessions but every man is religiously oblige to pay for the rights of women so God The Holy Prophet said in the Holy Quran
Women have rights similar to those of men equitably, [2]پ2،البقرہ:228
And decreed for the man:
Treat them fairly[3]پ۴،النساء:۱۹
Women in Islam
Let the whole world see that the religion of Islam has given the presidency of the collective life of the husband and wife to the man and has made the men the rulers over the women so that if there is any major problem in the family system, the man will overcome it with his power and ability. But at the same time where some of the rights of men have been made obligatory on women, there are also some women’s rights imposed on men. Therefore, both men and women are bound by each other’s rights so that both of them can fulfill their rights and make their collective life a paradise of joy and happiness and be free from the hell of hypocrisy and strife forever.
It is a great blessing of the Holy Prophet ﷺ to elevate women to such high levels of rank and dignity that even if women all over the world continue to give thanks for this blessing till the last breath of their lives, The duty of giving thanks for great benevolence cannot be waived.