By Sumaira Rafaqat Kahloon Advocate. Nazima Women League
As people have lost awareness about this great blessing of Islam and the Western
media in particular have been quite engaged in distorting the true face of this
most just, moderate and peace-promoting system of life, we owe a great deal to
Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri for his ardent love for mankind and
global peace and security especially with regard to women rights. On the
occasion of International Women Day (IWD) we the Minhaj-ul-Quran Women League
feel proud of bringing to fore the global struggle of Dr Qadri for women's
rights. This must serve as a glad tidings for all the governments of the world
patronizing the women rights struggle, the non-governmental organizations, the
UNIFEM (United Nations Development Fund for Women), and the UN Secretary-General
(calling for Say NO to Violence against Women campaign) because Islam's
programme for the restoration of women rights is zero-defect, time tested,
genuine, moderate ensuring human dignity, justice and equality and guaranteeing
love, integrity and prosperity of all the communities of the world.
Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri's performance in the field of restoration of women rights is
matchless and marvelous. He recognises that there is not a more oppressed
segment of society than the womenfolk, particularly in Pakistan and
sub-continent. Women in many areas have traditionally been seen as second-class
citizens, devoid of rights and privileges, and completely subservient to men. Dr
Qadri has been at the forefront of championing the rights of women and ensuring
their complete participation and involvement in the social, material,
technological and ethical progress of society. Through his teachings,
publications and organized efforts he has made a significant contribution to the
betterment of women's social and material standing in Pakistan.
Minhaj-ul-Qur'an International (MQI) is the first Islamic organisation in the
world to formally permit the involvement of women and positively encourage their
participation in all its activities. The Minhaj-ul-Quran Women League brings
empowerment to the women of all age groups and organises activities with full
confidence, providing opportunities to develop skills and abilities in order to
take a full and active part in society. The Minhaj-ul-Qur'an Women League holds
cultural, spiritual and educational events. The main themes of these events are :
to build bridges between different communities and create peace and harmony
between them, to educate women, especially of low socio-economic status, of
their rights and inculcate in them self-respect, confidence and pride in the
significant role they play in creating a peaceful and progressive society, and
also to provide them with positive role models to follow. Women from
Minhaj-ul-Qur'an are now taking part in welfare and humanitarian projects in
Pakistan and abroad and are working for their rights, promoting religious
moderation through spiritual endeavours, social and cultural projects,
interfaith dialogue conferences as well as self-development and character
building events and workshops.
According to Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri women enjoy the same
rights as the men do in Islam. Islam believes in gender equality. Man is in no
way justified to exploit, subdue or overshadow women in sphere of life. The
women are a dignified community; they play a significant role in adding
coherence, peace and prosperity to the human society. They rather perform better
than men when assigned some responsibility may it be education, politics,
economy or social welfare. Islamic Sharia provides them all their rights; the
orthodox view in this connection cannot be regarded as the true spirit of Islam.
Dr Qadri pronounces that under Islamic law women have equal if not more rights
than their husbands. His pronouncements have been transmitted via his TV
lectures to millions of people all over the world. He denounces domestic
violence and forced marriages openly and strongly and declares all such
practices contrary to Islamic teachings and gross violation of human rights.
According to Dr Qadri women are half of humanity but are the most deprived and
most wronged population of the earth. He has fought the case of women rights at
all levels emphatically. They deserve peace and security more than any other
creature on earth. They become most vulnerable when married and are at the mercy
of their husbands. But Islam has clearly delineated the rights and duties of
women as well as men with strict warning for men to desist from doing women any
wrong. In his famous address on women's rights to a large gathering of 50,000
men and women observing Itikaf in the holy month of Ramzan 2008 he said :
I have seen people who are regular in performance of their religious obligations
but are very cruel in their treatment of women and wives. What Sharia these
cruel people believe in? This is not the Prophet's Sharia, The Prophet strictly
forbade beating and oppressing women.
The women are made duty bound to stay at home in many parts of the world. They
do all the domestic chores, maintain household and do all types of labour. But,
according to Dr Qadri, the Holy Quran and Hadith reject all this and hold them
upright, equal to the status of men. He said :
According to the Quran and the Prophetic Traditions it is not obligatory for
women to cook food, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They are not duty-bound to
entertain our guests with lavish meals. Nor is it their duty to wash and iron
your clothes, wash dishes, sweep and broom the house and clean wash rooms. I
have gone through the Holy Quran and books on Hadith and I have not found a
single such Hadith which makes it obligatory to perform these functions and
accomplish the domestic chores from legal point of view as Sharia duty. You can
consult experts about it.
Men do not have many rights to claim on women. More important than formal rights
is the mutual love and care, respect and dignity and peace. Dr Qadri said :
As for the rights of a husband, a wife has to honour and respect him, obey all
his lawful and permissible sayings, fulfil his conjugal demands if there is no
hindrance from Shariah point of view, and safeguard his trust. A husband enjoys
only these four rights and others are included in it. I have not seen any other
right of husbands in the Quran and the books of Hadith. You pick up any book of
Hadith and you will not get any more. If a wife does more than these four duties
to her husband she would be entitled to rewards. It is her benevolence and if a
husband returns the gesture, it would increase their mutual love and family life
would go on well. But if a husband demands other than these four duties by way
of coercion, it will be disobedience to Allah and His Messenger and will spoil
the domestic environment as well. A husband must recognize her benevolence and
pay it back by being generous to her and putting in her greater trust.
While addressing the same gathering he said that matters related to spending
money, must be set straight. He enlightened his audience with the teachings of
the Quran and Hadith on how men need to spend money on their families, what is
the spiritual import of this spending and what exactly they owe to their wives.
According to a tradition narrated in Sahih Muslim reported by Hazrat Abu Abdulla,
Abi Abdur Rehman Soban that the Holy Prophet said, "The best use of money whose
reward is the maximum is to spend it on one's wife and children." Then there
comes the turn of spending in the way of Allah.
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According to Hazrat Umme Salma (may Allah be well pleased with her) : "I asked
the Holy Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) what would be the reward if I
spend on Banu Salma, my family (her children). The Holy Prophet (blessings and
peace be upon him) replied : "you would get a reward from Allah against every
penny you would spend on them."
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(To Be Continued)
