15/11/2005
Ahmad Hassoun, Syrian Grand Mufi
Comments on Relationships between men and women:
Islam claim in order to liberate women and relieve them from inferiority. Women and men are equal in Islam. There is a chapter in the Holy Koran that says men and women are created from the same material and same spirit and soul which was created by God himself. God created Eve from the soul of Adam and another spirit.
That is why Eve was equal to Adam and consequently He raised women in the universe. From Adam and Even came all of creation. Women are completely equal to men because they descended from the same Father. This equality creates compassion between men and women. It’s all mercy and love because He created this compassion between both. God created also created this love between family members. You should share this equality with family members as well as with people at work. God gave these commands to both Adam and Eve. God said, “You should live with your wife, but avoid that tree because then you will be misguided”. Satan misled them. We are all the beings of God. In the Koran, those who do good are rewarded by something rewarded by God. There is no distinction between men and women. God is with individuals. Islam also pushes for women’s rights and is against the notion of women being humiliated. Some people prefer to have male to female children. In prehistoric time, female babies were buried, but in Islam, children are gifts from God. It’s through God’s grace that we must thank Him for children. They are records of hope and happiness. The purpose of all this is to lead a happy and productive life using your minds and getting rid of pre-Islamic ideas. Girls are compassionate towards their parents, merciful and caring when their parents get old. The parents of the female children were given a better chance to enter Paradise. Muhmmed el rasllah stated that females will enter Paradise. Don’t hate daughters because they are dear companions. Islam called for absolute quality because God commanded this. The Prophet also said that you must be fair with your children and deal with them on equal grounds. First, the right to life. This is the holy gift from God. We stipulate on the Jewish people that if you kill one individual, here there is no disctinction between men and women. The sacrdness of life is looked at equally. The same applies to killing both men and women. An eye for an eye quote. Or the right to hold contracts. Islam – women are independent and free to dispense their money without custodianship. God says: “Don’t wish for what others have. You all have a share of God’s grace.” The Koran also talks about inheritance; no such thing as men have double of what the women have. Manifestation of independence- women have the freedom to marry. God says “Don’t prevent your daughters from marry –if they are equal to them, it’s fine”. Disputed case—girl came to prophet and said, “My father has engaged me to his friend but I don’t want to marry him”. The Prophet then gave the girl the choice. The girl wanted to tell the father that they can’t control. They have the right to ownership in property, real estate, houses, and gifts. If we follow the details of these civil rights, faithful—male or female—perform their religious duties it will increase freedom, social freedom, political freedom. Men are actually obliged by God to more duties so their work carried by men has been bound by thes restrictions. God has given commands to women that they have comply by certain moral values. That they be decent and it’s not allowed for them to be on their own by strangers. For a man to be alone with a stranger it does not apply to only women. It applies to both men and women. Women can perform any kind of job like getting work in industry and agriculture. We accept that presidency that is accepted by the caliphate- all the things which are provided for the term of both men and women. Women go to prayers with men in mosques. There is a saying by the prophet that if women ask to go to the mosque, they should be able to go. Women used to go to the same parties as women and go to war and provided a number of services, they actually fought in the war. Women used to be successful traders. There were stories about women who were professional businessmen. God dictated these rights to women who are half of society and bring up the other half of society.
Thank you very much.
Jesus did not give direct definition of status of women. He did instruct on teachings in divorce. Or when he was asked about divorce He said that since the beginning of life, both men and women are two souls in women body, so no one would divide them. Another occasion-Moses gave flexibility in divorce. He talked about the sin of adultery to reach the heart. If you look at a woman at lustful way, this is a form of adultery. He told the woman he committed adultery to leave. In the Bible there are many stories where we can clearly infer that He dealt equally with females as with men. He gave her the honor of being a missionary. Women were also carrying the candles of missionaries. The Christian theology does not differentiate between men and women—they are both people and are given equal privileges. Everything dealt with men and women is equal. Weakness is in the body. The Bible dealt with this in an equal way. The messages of St. Paul—women asked men to obey men but he first said that man should love a woman just as the love for a church. Another saint also clarified about describing the man ahead of the women. Man is sacrificing as well. Women could be the head of the man if she is a stronger believer (in faith). If man is the head of the family then the woman is the neck.. The psychological differences-there are some duties that are binding. Women is in charge of raising children which makes her character more loving. Whereas man has to be organized and this is needed for work. Both need each other to function. Women are even better than men in their believes in being committed to their virtue. The world would be dry without these feelings. She is a human being that should have rights and practice her own role in life. She is calling more for the gender issue more than love. The world is suffering from regaining this lost meaning.
Women do suffer from discrimination particular from traditional socities. They still look at women as inferior and they do have less rights because of the heritage and tradition. Women are still living in patriarchal societies. They are restricted by religions edicts. I tried to focus on these elements in my papers. I address the factors affecting women’s status in this regard and what’s their upbringing and cultural and social traditions. There are things that contributed to the creation of this image. If we look at this traditional expression. Women are also symbols of their communities honor. Men must observe this conduct and must be subjected to this. The family’s first goal is to preserve her honor. This is done through marriage by providing a safeguard. Marriage is that criterion for success in the Arab world. It raises the status for men while also defending the man’s honor. Killing women in the case of honor-killing is a prominent feature in Arab society. The social definition of honor killing as related to women. So women who have a relationship with men outside of marriage can have their lives taken to preserve the family. Here we find a duplicity on the concept of honor—it is reductive to the female body. A woman’s body becomes the male’s property. Social traditions and customs and isolation in terms of space there are isolated in houses so an honorable woman is an extension of an honorable man. The female body is the channel for preserving this honor. Cultural heritage is still the main criteria to which society determines the honor killings. Honor killing is still a part of social function which reglects male domination of women. Any problem with a woman’s honor causes problems with men. If we move to the second access which is education—ideas are passed by institutions, schools, the media-they play an important part on the interpretation of the social system. Women have no control over their lives, or freedom of movement. They are always subordinate to their fathers and even sons. This process of uprbringing. Men and women are brought up to believe that men are more rational, objective, capable of making decisions. Women are perceived as only interested in appearances, emotional etc. If there are biological differences or jusitifactions between both men and women, they are dictated by their social structure. This convergence between culture, traditions in Arab societies relate to certain ideas and the women’s role in these parties. The education that women receive affect what type of jobs they can be given; so if they are given jobs, their ultimate work place is pressured on them to be their homes. My comments on what the sheikh said—these religious authorities, in society women occupy a inferior area than men, as it is in all societies, not only in the Arab world. The problem in the Arab world is that it is supported more by social and religious elements which are almost sacred with is allowed and prohibited. So the position of women in Arab societies is much more inferior to men. Cultural traditions based on the differences play a significant role in informing both men and women. Cultural systems were produced based on the heritage and in terms of reference. The sheikh calling for equality is an inevitable right for women, so where’s the problem there? In this Islamic particularity which also includes prudence, so their main texts in the Koran emphasize women’s rights and these rights are add odds with these religious texts. We do not have problems with these fundamental texts because they clarify all of these texts by dealing with Muslim scholars. Most of these texts talk about these detail rulings. The legislature make them the general interpretation of these prudences. They were misinterpretated because of the impact of a certain social tradition. This misunderstanding has an impact on obscuring the genuine equality between men and women in Muslim texts. These mechanisms which are based on certain verses on detail and the partial statements while at the same time negliting general verses in the Hly Koran which highlights women’s equality with men. The women were turned into Satanic figures and internal strife. These interpretations based the Islamic view of women informed this relationshipwith men and women. Under this light, occupies an inferior position. Islamic prudence is very much determined by social circumstances. We interpreted the women’s inferiority to men. Male supremacy was always given a place in these interpretations in the readings of the Koran. This shows that a network of concerts and pretexts to promote the position of men that brothers and sons of any other male relative remain which makes a relationship possible. They become the property of the father or the husband. We shouldn’t forget that women used to be the property and taken into captivity. Consequently women derive their identity with men, in their relationships. It is absent in most Islamic disprudence rulings.
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