Women IN Islam

At a time when the rest of the world, from Greece and Rome to India and China, considered women as no better than children or even slaves, with no rights whatsoever, Islam acknowledged women's equality with men in a great many respects. The Quran states:

"And among His signs is this: that He created mates for you from yourselves that you may find rest and peace of mind in them, and He ordained between you love and mercy. Certainly, herein indeed are signs for people who reflect." [Noble Quran 30:21]

Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

"The most perfect in faith amongst believers is he who is best in manners and kindest to his wife." [Abu Dawud]

Muslims believe that Adam and Eve were created from the same soul. Both were equally guilty of their sin and fall from grace, and Allah forgave both. Many women in Islam have had high status; consider the fact that the first person to convert to Islam was Khadijah, the wife of Muhammad, whom he both loved and respected. His favorite wife after Khadijah's death, Ayshah, became renowned as a scholar and one of the greatest sources of Hadith literature. Many of the female Companions accomplished great deeds and achieved fame, and throughout Islamic history there have been famous and influential scholars and jurists.

We might also mention that while many in the West criticize Islam with regard to the treatment of women, in fact a number of Muslim countries have had women rulers and presidents. To name a few: Turkey; Bangladesh and Pakistan.

With regard to education, both women and men have the same rights and obligations. This is clear in Prophet Muhammad's saying:

"Seeking knowledge is mandatory for every believer." [Ibn Majah]

This implies men and women.

A woman is to be treated as God has endowed her, with rights, such as to be treated as an individual, with the right to own and dispose of her own property and earnings, enter into contracts, even after marriage. She has the right to be educated and to work outside the home if she so chooses. She has the right to inherit from her father, mother, and husband. A very interesting point to note is that in Islam, unlike any other religion, a woman can be an imam, a leader of communal prayer, for a group of women.

A Muslim woman also has obligations. All the laws and regulations pertaining to prayer, fasting, charity, pilgrimage, doing good deeds, etc., apply to women, albeit with minor differences having mainly to do with female physiology.

Before marriage, a woman has the right to choose her husband. Islamic law is very strict regarding the necessity of having the woman's consent for marriage. The groom gives a marriage dowry to the bride for her own personal use. She keeps her own family name, rather than taking her husband's. As a wife, a woman has the right to be supported by her husband even if she is already rich. She also has the right to seek divorce and custody of young children. She does not return the dowry, except in a few unusual situations.

Despite the fact that in many places and times Muslim communities have not always adhered to all or even many of the foregoing in practice, the ideal has been there for 1,400 years, while virtually all other major civilizations did not begin to address these issues or change their negative attitudes until the 19th and 20th centuries, and there are still many contemporary civilizations which have yet to do so.

WOMEN IN ISLAM

Obituary: Aminah Assilmi - She led a caravan on the route of faith
Aminah Assilmi, renowned female scholar of Islam died on March 5 in a car accident in Newport, Tennessee while returning from a speaking engagement. She was President of International Union of Muslim Women, the organization that was responsible for persuading the US Postal Service to issue the first postage stamp with an Islamic theme 'Eid Mubarak'. She was 65. Aminah lost touch with several of her relatives and friends when she embraced Islam on May 21, 1977. However, she worked her way to the hearts of all those who had deserted her, eventually all of them converting to Islam.

She was a Southern Baptist girl, a radical feminist, and a broadcast journalist. She was a girl with an unusual calibre, who excelled in school, received scholarships, ran her own business, and was competing with professionals and getting awards - all these while she was going to college. A group of Islamic missionaries who knocked at her door one day introduced her to Islam with a copy of the Holy Quran and a book on Islam. She hated Islam in the beginning and used to find mistakes in the holy scripture in order 'to convince the Muslims of the fake nature of Islam and Prophet Muhammadsaw. But slowly Islam made inroads into her heart till she declared the Shahadah. This resulted in a divorce with her husband and under State laws of Colorado denied her the custody of two little kids. Judge gave her 20 minutes to decide whether she would give up Islam or the kids.
She loved her children very dearly. It is perhaps the worst nightmare that a mother can have: asked to willfully leave her child - not for one day, month, or year, but forever. On the other hand, how could she keep the Truth away from her children and live as a hypocrite? "It was the most painful 20 minutes in my life", she said in an interview. Those of us who are mothers and fathers, especially of young children, little imagination is needed to feel the pain and torment that she must have passed every second in those 20 minutes. What added further to her pain was that according to doctors, she could never bear another child because of certain complications. "I prayed like I had never done before ... I knew that there was no safer place for my children to be than in the hands of Allah. If I denied Him, there would be no way in the future to show my children the wonders of being with Allah."

She decided to retain Islam. Her two dear children - one little boy and one little girl - were taken away from her and given to her ex-husband.

Aminah Assilimi later fought back and took her case to the media. Although she did not get custody of her children again, a change was made in the Colorado law that one cannot be denied child custody on the basis of his or her religion.

Aminah kept touch with everyone in the family even though they hated her or detested her decision to embrace Islam. She would keep sending them cards on various occasions with a few quotes from the Quran. First to accept Islam among them was her grandmother, at 100, who died soon after conversion to Islam. Next to join her faith was her father who had loaded his double barreled shotgun to kill her when he first heard the news of her entering Islam. Her mother too entered the fold of Islam a few years later. Curiously, both her father and mother were Muslims for at least two years, without each one knowing of other also being a Muslim. Her son, upon becoming adult, accepted Islam. When he turned 21, he called her and said that he wanted to become a Muslim.
Sixteen years after the divorce, her ex-husband also accepted Islam. He said that he had been watching her for 16 years and wanted his daughter to have the same religion that she had. He came to her and apologized for what he had done. He was a very nice gentlemen and Assilimi had forgiven him long ago.

Perhaps the greatest reward for her was yet to come. Assilmi later married another person, and despite the doctors' verdict that she could never conceive another child, Allah blessed her with a beautiful boy. If Allahswt makes a gift to someone, who can prevent Him? It was truly a wonderful blessing from Allahswt, and so she named him "Barakah"

She lost her job because of wearing hijab. She was later appointed the President of the International Union of Muslim Women. She used to deliver lectures nationwide and was on high demand.

She is survived by her daughter Amber, and sons, Whitney and Mohammad, as well as by several grandchildren.

(abridged from www.iumw.org)

Women and Islam

Does Islam treat women better or worse than other religions do? Are women better off under Islam than under Western culture? These are important questions not only for women's history, but for understanding the news today. Each of the books included has its own biases -- but that's helpful because you need to read and understand several perspectives to make your own truly informed judgments.by Fatima Mernissi, translator Mary Jo Lakeland, reprint 1992. Subtitle: A Feminist Interpretation of Women's Rights in Islam. A Moroccan, Muslim and sociology professor carefully unpacks Qu'ranic and hadith texts. By rooting her feminist views in the tradition and showing how the male elite uses political and economic power to oppress women, she is able to argue for change rooted in Islam itself..
Reference by:womenshistory.about.com

Best Attitude for Believing Women

There once was a woman named Jane,
she was very sweet and really quite sane.
People laughed at her innocence and made fun without shame,
some even called her Plain Jane.
Jane learned that "Allah" was really God's Name,
And all of the prophets had a message - the same.
She learned "Islam" means worship God in peace and surrender,
And Muhammad is the messenger for humans and jinn regardless of gender.
She said the shahadah on the very same day,
and became a Muslimah in every possible way.
She now understands about a Muslimah's duty
and is happy to wear her hijab - the covering for her beauty
Reference by www.islamnewsroom.com