Islam did the greatest service to the female sex and not only by depriving fathers of their absolute authority. It gave complete freedom; it gave individuality an independence of thought and opinion and formally acknowledged their natural rights. However the steps that Islam took in connection with the rights of women are without doubt basically different in two ways from what is going on in the west and among those who imitate the west.
Firstly in the area of the psychologies of man and woman Islam has accomplished a miracle. We shall discuss this matter in future articles and shall give clear examples.
The second difference is that despite the fact that Islam acquainted woman with her human rights gave her individuality freedom and independence it never induced her to revolt and mutiny against or be cynical towards the male sex.
The Islamic women’s movement was a “white’’ movement untinged with black red blue or purple.[3] Daughters’ respect for their fathers and wives’ respect for their husbands was not done away with. The foundations of family life were not wrecked. It did not make women despise having husbands being mothers and bringing up children. Islam did not provide the means for social gatherings where bachelors and women-chasers go to hunt out their victims free of cost. Islam did not allow wives to leave the sides of their husbands and daughters the benevolent protection of their father and mothers to be handed over to men of title and wealthy persons. It did nothing to cause one of weeping and wailing to rise to the heavens crying ‘Oh woe the sacred law of the family has been shattered reliance on the father has disappeared; in the midst of all this generation what can we do?’ What can we do when there is so much infanticide and abortion? When there are forty illegitimate births in every hundred? Illegitimate children with unknown fathers whose mothers since they did not give birth to them in the loving home of a father have no strong feelings towards them and them over to a social organization and then never inquire further about them.
In our country we are in need of a women’s movement but we need a pure Islamic movement and not a dark and gloomy European Movement.
We are in need of a woman’s movement in which young lustful men are prevented from taking part; a movement which should truly spring from the great teachings of Islam and not something in which in the name of amending the Civil Law the certain laws of Islam are made the victim of fancies and capricious desires; a movement which should be based upon a deep rational investigation so that it may make clear for all societies who take upon themselves the name of Islam to what extent they are putting into practice the teachings of Islam.
If with the help of Allah we succeed in continuing this series of articles when we have come to an end of all the topics necessary to the discussion itself we shall start writing on the subject of an Islamic women’s movement then see that they can establish a movement which will be new acceptable to the whole world and reasonable and which will have for its fountain-head its own independent philosophy of fourteen centuries without having In extent a begging hand towards the western world.
3. In other words the movement was a pure movement based on the fundamental nature of woman and not allied to some particular man-made ideology
source : http://www.maaref-foundation.com
