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Religious Obligations of Muslim Women

RELIGIOUS OBLIGATIONS OF MUSLIM WOMEN

Book’s Introduction

In the realm of collective human life, mankind has been grappling with certain problems that have plagued many a civilizations and cultures.

 The varied responses of different civilizations and cultures, to these problems, have been in similitude to the swings of a pendulum, fluctuating from one extreme response to another, trying desperately to find the equilibrium in order to achieve harmony and peace among the members of a society.

Among such problems is one that has been present since time immemorial viz the role and responsibilities of women in society.

From the sale and purchase of females in old Arabia to the absolute freedom of modern Western female, mankind has witnessed one failure after another in achieving an equilibrium between the responsibilities of the two genders so that both can make contributions to society according. to and in harmony with their inherent physical and psychological natures.

Only once in human history has a response been articulated and implemented that established the yearned equilibrium. That response was the one put forth by the Muslim civilization in its early pristine stages due to the revolution brought about by the Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

In modern times, in the wake of the feminist movement, having arisen in the West and now spreading all over the world, the issue of women’s responsibilities has once again emerged onto the world stage.

This time the issue is not as to what is the proper role of women in a society, rather, the Western civilization has articulated a response to the problem according to a purely materialistic view devoid of all spiritual, transcendental and traditional considerations and is now coercing its version onto other civilizations.

Muslim civilization, perhaps the most spiritually motivated, tradition-based, religiously devout civilization present today, is the most defiant in accepting the western ideal of the female.

It is for this reason that the Muslim civilization is the prime target of the present propaganda against the traditional role of women.

Under the influence of the western ideal of femininity and social values, the Muslim world itself is engulfed in much confusion and controversy over this topic. This is due to two reasons. Firstly, the backward and ignorant Muslims have imposed their own self-forged model upon the Muslim woman.

 This model has reduced the Muslim woman to merely a beast of household burdens and a sex-maid, and imperceptibly negates and denies her independent spiritual existence.

 Secondly, in stark contrast to this, the Muslim proponents of the western model are quite successfully propagating, indeed forcing, the western ideal onto Muslim societies via the popular media.

In order to achieve their goals, these proponents, along with their western counterparts, have not only rejected the true Islamic model but have categorically engaged in perverting the Islamic teachings related to this issue. Hence, the logical result – a conflict between the two ideals. This necessitates the clarification of the true Islamic ideal viz the obligations of women in society.

The present tract by Dr. Israr Ahmed is an attempt to clarify the obligations which Islam has awarded to women viz a viz the framework of family and society. The tract is based on a speech delivered by Dr. Israr Ahmed in delivered by Dr. Israr Ahmed in June 1991 on the occasion of a conference held by Women’s Wing of Tanzeem-e­Islami in Qur’an Academy Lahore.

The original speech in Urdu, titled “Musalman Khawateen Kay Deeni Faraiz”, was converted to booklet form in May 1996. The present translation is based upon the Urdu booklet.

The present booklet is divided into two sections. First section is laden with Islamic terminology and footnotes.

The traversal through this section may prove an obstacle course and an unnecessary nuisance for a reader unfamiliar with or indifferent to such terminology. For such readers a second section has been added which is more flowing and leaves out most of the terminologies and all footnotes.

The first section was rendered into English originally by Momina Khan, later revised by Amina Khawaja and thereafter edited by Khalid Mahmood.

The second section is a translation by Amina Khawaja. The Anjurnan Khuddam-ul-Qur’ an is grateful to all of them for their efforts in this regard.

The Importance of Religious Obligations

It is essential for every individual to acquire a comprehensive understanding of his religious obligations. If a person is ignorant of the duties assigned to him by Allah (SWT) through His Deen (the comprehensive code of life), he will be unable to perform his obligations in true spirit.

Similarly, if one’s concept of the duties incumbent upon him is deficient in any way, he can only partially carry out his religious responsibilities. In such a case he is likely to meet with failure on the Day of Judgment no matter how sincerely committed he might have been to his religion in his opinion.

Another aspect of this problem is equally important that concerns women in special. There is a possibility that a person might take upon himself certain responsibilities that his religion has not imposed on him.

This is bound to lead to disastrous consequences because even the desire to do good, when it exceeds the prescribed boundaries, gets channelized to completely undesirable directions. Monasticism, for instance, is the result of human extremism in trying to be pious.

It was the desire to do good that led to the concept of celibacy in Christianity which later became the breeding ground for vice and immorality. Hence, negative and undesirable consequences are bound to follow if anyone overburdens his responsibilities.

Therefore we must learn and understand our true religious duties and must not burden ourselves with the duties that have not been imposed upon us. When an individual begins to assign certain duties to himself other than the ones Allah (SWT) has imposed on him, he exposes himself to the danger of the Qur’anic indictment stated in Surah Al-Nisa:

“We appoint for him that unto which he himself has turned and expose him unto Hell, a hapless journey’s end.” [al-Qur’an 4:115]

In other words Allah (SWT) lets him opt for the way he himself has chosen and withdraws His support and help.

Therefore, with respect to the obligations we owe to Allah (SWT), we must have a comprehensive consciousness regarding the rights of Allah (SWT) that we have to fulfill, the rights of our ‘self’ upon us and the rights regarding our fellow human beings.

We have to learn to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate, legal and illegal as ordained by Allah (SWT). If we blindly follow our wayward desires, we are bound to cross our limits into the forbidden (Haram). Similarly we have to perform our duty towards people, and mankind in general, according to the tenets set by Allah (SWT).

 If this principle is duly followed, our vision will remain clear and our target defined. If, on the other hand, we follow our own whims and desires, we will deviate from the divinely prescribed path.

The Three Levels of Our Religious Duties: An Analogy of a Building.

In order to understand the true nature of our religious obligations, it will be helpful to use the analogy of a building with three floors •

With the help of this analogy, the duties that are particular to men will be explained first. Then, the duties that are equally applicable to women and men and duties with disparities between the two genders will be pointed out.

As mentioned, the building comprises of three floors, standing on four pillars. On the ground floor all you can see are the pillars, as there are no walls, but of course there is the foundation beneath the pillars that supports them.

Higher floors are dependent on the floors below them. In that respect, top floor is the highest but not the most important part of the building. Most important part is the foundation, while the pillars become the second most important, for they carry the weight of whole the structure.

If the foundation or the pillars are weak, the whole structure would collapse. It is important to note that on the second and third floors, the pillars, hidden behind walls, though still present, become invisible.

The building accurately represents our religious obligations. The foundation of this building is Faith (Iman), on which depends the strength of the structure.

If the foundation is deep and firmly entrenched in the ground, the above lying structure will be unshakable. On the other hand, if the foundation itself is weak and unstable, the building can come crashing down any