How can Felicity Obtained by Man & Woman?
The Quran has introduced only one way toward felicity of man, and invited and asked all children of Adam, men and women, to follow and adopt that way.
"Enjoined I not on you O children of Adam! that ye should worship not Satan? for he is your open enemy. And ye should worship "only" Me, "and" this is the "only" Right way?" "36:60, 61"
Throughout the five daily "obligatory" prayers, every follower of Islam implores God five times, day and night, to guide him toward the straight path, which is way of guidance.
Enemy of Woman & Man on Course to Perfection
Do the woman and man have enemies on the path to happiness? Is their enemy a common one? Is his enmity to each of them of the same degree? These are requests to which answers should be given within the last question. Some of feeble and ignorant thoughts indicate that in view of religion, the Satan contracts enmity with the man while proposing friendship with women, and Adam was entrapped for the first time by Satan, through his wife.
The holy Quran regards this idea to be incorrect. Besides, the creation verses indicate that Satan has whispered and prompted to Adam and Eve to err and they both went astray. But then they both confessed before their Lord that they have wronged themselves.
In other verses the Quran considers the Satan as the enemy of man, not the enemy of men.
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"... Verily Satan unto man is an open enemy!"
The Almighty Allah has also made a covenant with all children of Adam charging them to keep themselves far from Satan, as stated in surat Yaseen:
"Enjoined I not on you O children of Adam! that ye should worship not Satan?"
To sum up the discussion, it can be said that the holy Quran never maintains any difference between personality of woman and that of the man, but rather it looks at them both equally as a pure human entity, preparing for both of them the ground of development and progress. The only difference lies in the fact that the Quran considers the woman and man as complementary to each other in human life.
"... they are an apparel for you and ye are apparel for them;..." "2:187"
In his exposition of this verse, Al'Allamah AtTabataba'i writes:
By apparel "libas" the commonly known meaning is indicated, that is whatever man covers his body with. These two sentences are metaphorically used, as each woman and each man can curb the other from following evil ways and being a joint property, and every one of them is raiment for the other, covering his/her defects and screening his/her private parts. 7
Through and between the traditions, an eloquent statement is quoted that manifests the views of our religion leaders "Imams" the character of the woman, to some of which I refer herewith:
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7. ibid., vol. 11, p. 44
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Mates of Men "shaqaayiq"
It is reported from the Messenger of Allah "peace and benediction be upon him and his Progeny" that he said: "The women are verily the mates "shaqaayiq" of the men." 8
The same hadeeth is quoted with other versions like: "They are verily equals of men." and "The women are mates of men." 9
In regard of the meaning of the word Shaqaayiq, lexicographers write:
The woman are verily mates "shaqaayiq" of the men, meaning that they are like and equal to them in morals and behaviour and nature, in a way that it can be said the women have not been separated from the men. 10 The root of the term shaqeeq gives the meaning of full brother "from the same father and mother".
Paradise is under the Feet of Women
In a hadeeth reported from the Prophet"S", he said: "Paradise is verily under the foot of the woman." 11 This hadeeth is recorded in books of hadeeth with other versions, like: "Paradise is under the feet of mothers," 12 and: "Construction of paradise is under feet of mothers." 13 and others.
Honouring the Women
In regard of honouring the women, the Prophet"S" said: "The
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8. Musnad Ahmed, vol. VI, p. 256; Kanz Al-'Ummal, vol. XVI, p. 482.
9. Mawsu'at Atraaf Al-Hadeeth An-Nabawi, vol. III, p. 55 & 266
10. Lisaan Al-Arab, vol. VIII, p. 166.
11. At-Tabaqaat Al-Kubra, vol. IV, p. 274.
12. Kanz Al-Ummal, vol. XVI, p. 461.
13. Mawsu'at Atraaf Al-Hadeeth An-Nabawi, vol. IV, p. 513.
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best of you are those who be too kind to their wives." 14
He also said: "None honouring the women but the magnanimous, and none insulting them but the mean depraved one." 15
The noteworthy point here is that our religious leaders have, in their last testaments and in most critical situations, recommended to respect rights and dignity of women.
In the last year of his age and in his Farewell Pilgrimage "hijjat alwadaa'", which was attended by a huge multitude of people, the Messenger of Allah"S" addressed people saying:
"O mankind, your wives have right over you and you have right over them... so fear you the wrath of God, in respect of the women, and recommend to them all the good." 16
AlImaam Ali "peace be upon him", after being stroked on the nineteenth night of Month of Ramazan, has summoned his children giving them and all people throughout history, precious recommendations, among which the following maxim was also cited:
" "I recommend you to observe your duty to" Allah in regard of the women and the captives whom your right hands possess. As the last thing recommended by your Prophet was that he said: "I commit to your charge the two feebles: the women and what your right hands possess." 17
That which can be concluded out of this statement is that the custom of enslaving "others" is never approved by religion at all, and it has exerted so many efforts for abolishing and eradicating it from the human society. Further, some laws
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14. Sunan Ibn Majah, vol. II, p. 636
15. Mukhtasar Tareekh Dimashq, vol. VII, p. 50.
16. Tuhaf Al-Oqool, p. 30
17. ibid., p. 140
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and regulations have been revealed and enacted all for changing and removing this abominable practice with time passage. In regard of women the same method was followed and adopted to the effect that our religion never intending to discriminate between males and females, and the aim of some of the laws and rules was to creating gradual accompaniment with the society and eradicating that habit for ever.
All Muslims, shi'ah and sunni, boast of their history due to having virtuous and chaste women, enumerating for them distinguished characteristics from which many men are deprived.
Among these great notable ladies we can refer to: Khadijah, Fatimah"A", UmmSalamah, Zaynab, Hamidah "wife of AlImaam AsSaadiq"A", Sawsan "mother of AlImaam AlHasan AlAskari"A", Hakeemah "daughter of AlImaam AlJawaad"A" and UmmAhmad "wife of AlImaam AlKaazim"A", and others.
Fathoming and examining the biography of women will show them to be among perfectionseekers, and each having a scholastic and spiritual position in relation to the religious leaders. Rather some of them were known to have the position of succeeding an Infallible Imaam and being a spiritual trustee, depository and executor of him. 18
The question arises here being: Does the woman have any difference in essence and nature with the man, and is her human cause and background like that of the man or that the difference being not in essence and nature, but they differ in the dimension of human perfections affected by outer circumstances.
If the first case be correct, the presence of women of virtue and maturity and superior to many men, would be somehow impossible in essence and unaccepted. Then how can be there
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18. Zan Wa Payam-awari, pp. 145-238.
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many individuals in whose essence a radical change happened, while no special and unusual provisions being under consideration for them.
And when accepting the second case, that is to consider the women's defect being a transient and ephemeral phenomenon imposed on them by the social circumstances, again this question will still be raised: Are the imposed provisions admitted by religion and religious leaders? Or that they were concerned for removing that defect, intending to take away those inconvenient conditions?
If the first supposition be admitted, then existence of virtuous and prominent women will be incongruous and reversed to purpose and objective of religion. As a result of all this, it is proper to say that no difference is there whatsoever between women and men, in respect of essence of humanity and leaven of development and maturity: And those partial differences were only caused and created by inhuman conditions, with which religion is not content, the evidence for which can be the presence of outstanding women in history of Islam and Muslims, with emphatic recommendations to maturity and perfection.
In short, we can say that according to the description and portrait of the character of woman given by the Quran, "Prophetic" Sunnah and inner belief of Muslims, there is no difference whatsoever in the nature and composition of these two species. Besides, the ability to attain maturity and perfectionseeking is the same for both of them "men and women", as they both can reach the sublime ideal and human positions, and each one of them is never a parasite upon the other.
Al'Allamah AtTabataba'i has an elegant comment in this regard, in which he says:
Evidences and experience necessitate that the man and woman being two individuals of one and the same essential species, which is the human being. As all the marks and signs witnessed in category of men are witnessed also in the category of women, without a bit difference, and emergence of traces of
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any species undoubtedly obligates realisation of its subject. No one can deny the fact that the category differs greatly and slightly in some of the common traces, but this can never cause the annulment of existence of species in every individual. Thus it becomes clear that the specific extrapolations and maturities available for one species can be found in the other species, of which the moral maturities attained by faith, worships and seeking God's pleasure. So the best and most comprehensive words expressing this meaning can be the following Quranic verse:
"... I will not suffer the work of any of you that worketh to be lost, be he male or female, the one of you being from the other." "3:195" 19
For completing this view, I should give answers to a pair of important questions, since otherwise all my discussion will lead to no conclusion and will be incomplete.
The first question is: If we admit that female and male enjoy one and the same essence and nature, with realising their being not one entity, i.e. neither a woman is a man nor a man is a woman. Then where lies the field of difference between these two beings?
The second question is: Some of religious expressions like deficiency of woman's intellect, and lack of faith, contradict such view and weaken it. But if we intend to defend this view "that the woman differs from the man with 'aql and deen", we should give evidences that it can give reply to such faults. Hence, in conclusion of this chapter, I will make a condensed investigation about these two questions.
