Woman is the architect of the domestic life and her proper position in an ideal Islamic society should be very correctly realized. The duties of men and women in the society should be well defined. And woman should not be assigned with such duties that are injurious to her nor it is befitting for her to destroy the domestic life and take part in such activities, which may prove harmful to her own self and the family as well.
In the history of Islam we notice that women held an important and significant place. And in the recent history also, as in Iran, women are playing important and significant role even in state affairs. Nowhere in the normative teachings of Islam and in the ideal Islamic society, women are regarded as inferior to men. But it is a matter of regret that the west has spread misinformation and misunderstanding about the position of woman in Islam and thus done a great disservice to the cause of woman by distorting and misinterpreting the facts of the Islamic history. Probably all these misinterpretation did not come intentionally, but from failure of proper investigation, lack of proper spiritual judgement and the lack of proper realization of the teachings of Islam. It is a matter of happiness that many misunderstandings about the position of woman in Islam have been dismantled by the arduous intellectual efforts of some outstanding Islamic scholars. More effort is needed to accelerate this trend to have a new era free of all sorts of misunderstanding and misinformation. One of the major avenues where the difference between the approach of Islam and the West is seen is the question of the proper role of women in the society.
One stand that western thinkers take is that if woman is removed from civil and social work, the advancement in the field of modernization would be reduced to fifty percent and the progress of fifty years will take one full century. In fact, such argument has no reasonable ground. Because society is not a technical institution to produce one particular commodity. The progress of a society depends upon the participation of all the member of it in his or her respective field. And society has come into existence due to the association of various departments of human life. Some of these departments belong to men and some others to women. If these departments are abolished and all the members of society begin to do the same thing, the whole society will suffer disintegration. Hence, evolution of society means progress of every department to achieve the overall high standard of life. And this high standard of life covers the progress in morality, spirituality, economics, social integration, political system etc.
In Islam the welfare of mankind depends upon right thinking and right practice. It is sheer ignorance to degrade woman simply because she happens to be a woman, and man is considered heavenly creature because he happens to be a man. Islam has explained it in very clear words that human dignity results from piety and virtue. The subject is well answered by the Holy Qur'an:
"Whoever doeth right whether male or female, and is a believer, him verily We shall quicken with good life and We shall pay them recompense in proportion to the best of what they used to do." (16:97).
In fact, both man and woman have helped and cooperated with each other in the development of human life. Their union bas brought the civilization into existence. No nation and movement of the world can neglect either of them. If man and woman are responsible for the establishment of the authority of truth and its enforcement, they are equally responsible for the spread of vices in the world. The participation of both of them is important to make a better world. Mankind can not play its assigned role in this mundane world if its one half is paralyzed. Apparently we see the functioning of different organizations differently but in fact these organizations and institutions are the parts of the one single social set-up. A body of government runs the affairs of the country, the judiciary deals with justice, and municipalities look after the civic affairs of the city. Schools, colleges and universities impart education, and commercial organizations manage the trade and industries of the country. But all these organizations are governed by one social set-up. Similarly man and woman should be assigned to do their respective jobs. One should not undertake a job, which is not his/her natural function, neglecting his/her assigned duty.
Though Islam has emphasized the role of woman at her home, she has not been deprived of her right to participate in other organizational activities. On the contrary, Islamic society makes her a useful member of the society. Through acquiring education, she can become specialist in her respective field. She can become a doctor and serve people. She can become a teacher and impart education to her society. In short, she can participate in all activities of the society and choose her career. Islamic Shariah provides all facilities to woman to acquire knowledge. It intends to develop her mental faculty in order to make her a useful member of the society. Islam has emancipated woman from ignorance and made her position dignified and honorable. Urwah bin Zubair (RA) says about Hazrat Ayesha (RA): "Hazrat Ayesha (RA) knew more about the injunctions of the Holy Qur'an, poetry and literature, the history of Arabs and their hierarchy than any other persons."
The aim of Islam is to regularize the human activities in accordance with the Holy Qur'an and the Sunnah. It forbids all unnatural and unlawful activities because it is the only way to eradicate evil from society. Hence, if the world wants real peace and happiness, it must adopt the principles of the Holy Qur'an and the Sunnah. And Islam has given honorable status to woman in the human society and also granted them equal rights according to their natural requirements and human needs. There is no discrimination on the basis of sex in Islam.
by Ezabul Khalid