Misconceptions of Women's Rights in Islam and Its Refutations: A Conceptual Study Based on Sources of Islamic Law

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1. See discussions , stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337495251 Misconceptions of Women's Rights in Islam and Its Refutations: A Conceptual Study Based on Sources of Islamic Law Article · June 2019 CITATIONS READS 0 16 2 authors: Iqbal Saujan Naseer Mohammed Nawas South Eastern University of Sri Lanka South Eastern University of Sri Lanka 9 PUBLICATIONS   0 CITATIONS    6 PUBLICATIONS   0 CITATIONS    SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Proposed Constitutional Reform and Minority's Rights: A Critical Analysis View project All content following this page was uploaded by Iqbal Saujan on 04 December 2019. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. SEE PROFILE
2. © 2019 IJRAR June 2019, Volume 6, Issue 2 www.ijrar.org (E-ISSN 2348-1269, P- ISSN 2349-5138) Misconceptions of Women's Rights in Islam and Its Refutations: A Conceptual Study Based on Sources of Islamic Law (1) IQBAL SAUJAN, (2)ABDUL NASEER MOHAMMED NAWAS (1),(2) (1) (2) Undergraduate Department of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Islamic Studies and Arabic language, South Eastern University of Sri LankaOluvil Department of Arabic Language, Faculty of Islamic Studies and Arabic language, South Eastern University of Sri LankaOluvil Abstract- The status of women in Islam is clear and very unambiguous. Concerns are often raised about the status of women in Islamic law. Frequently, misunderstandings and misinterpretations about how women are handled by Islam are used to encourage the notion that Islam is misogynistic in the western world. Consequently, the objectives of this study to identify the misinterpretation, misconceptions of woman's rights in Islamic and to provide appropriate refutations for the misconceptions through the sources of Islamic Law and To provide awareness through this study to the people who are misinterpreting women's rights in Islam. In This paper examining five common misinterpretations of women's rights, such as polygamy in Islam, Testimony of Women, Women's right of inheritance, divorce power with man and Travel without immediate male escort. This paper explores to provide clarity, background, and explanation in these five areas. The data were obtained from secondary sources such as books, magazines, journals, research articles, newspapers and websites for this research, have been explained using a descriptive approach. The findings show these misinterpretations and misconceptions are groundless argument on the perspective of Islamic Law. Furthermore, this paper provides reason for the misconceptions is that misinterpretations of Islamic scours and attritions’ Key Words- Women's rights; Islam; Misconceptions; Sources of Islamic Law. 1. Introduction Islam, one of the major religions of the present-day world, commands the worship of nearly one-seventh of the world's population, is, in fact, a way of life. It provides a distinctive social, economic, and political doctrine as well as the regulation of these spheres of life. The Holy Quran gives instructions and provides guidelines about all such matters as social relations, socially acceptable behaviour, treatment of parents, children, wife, relatives, neighbours, orphans, travellers, enemies, etc. It gives detailed marriage, divorce and inheritance rules, business transactions of etiquettes, certain crimes for punishment, and rules and norms of war, etc. Haseena Hashia, "Muslim women in India since independence"(1998),p.no-13 Allamah Shibli Nomani writes that the four parts of Islam cover all aspects of human life. He elaborates these as (1) Iman-relationship with God, or Faith, (2) Expression of belief in God through all forms of prayer, (3) Man's worldly transactions with fellow beings according to law, and (4) observance of good manners and humanitarian attitude towards fellow human beings. This shows that Islam not only moulds the beliefs but also the daily behaviour and activities in the life of Muslims. Haseena Hashia, "Muslim women in India since independence"(1998),p.no-13 The Islamic perspective on women's rights are based on the sources of Islamic Shari'a. These sources mainly include the Qur'an, the traditions of the Prophet (saw) known as-Sunnah and the juristic mechanisms which used to deduce injunctions from the Qur'an and the Sunnah such as legal analogy (qiyas) and the consideration of public interest (maslaha mursala). To varying degrees, the sources and principles of Islamic Shari'a affect culture and law-making in 57 counties worldwide. Far from being an ancient faith system, it is an influential set of rules and philosophies, the scope of which extends beyond religious duties to regulating marriage and what to eat and wear. One of the fundamental domains of Islamic Shari'a is the regulation of the process of law-making in Muslim societies. It can operate as a normative framework for law-making in different fields of law, including human rights. The nature of men and women is different in terms of physical, mental and psychological abilities. Though In Islam, men and women are moral equals in God's sight and are expected to fulfil the same duties of worship, prayer, faith, almsgiving, fasting, and pilgrimage to Mecca. Islam generally improved the status of women compared to earlier Arab cultures, prohibiting female infanticide and recognizing women's IJRAR19K6827 International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews (IJRAR) www.ijrar.org 849
3. © 2019 IJRAR June 2019, Volume 6, Issue 2 www.ijrar.org (E-ISSN 2348-1269, P- ISSN 2349-5138) full personhood. Islam emphasizes the contractual nature of marriage, requiring that a dowry be paid to the woman rather than to her family, and guaranteeing women's rights of inheritance and to own and manage property. Oxford Islamic studies online, "Women and Islam". Women were also granted the right to live in the matrimonial home and receive financial maintenance during marriage and a waiting period following death and divorce. In the modern world, some misconceptions have been spread about women and their rights in Islam. These misconceptions were not meant for individual women themselves, but rather an attack on Islam in particular. People who rise such misconceptions aim mainly distort the beautiful picture of women in Islam, have been honoured, respected, cherished and dignified. Therefore this paper present misconceptions of women's rights in Islam and its refutations: a conceptual study based on sources of Islamic law. II. 1. 2. 3. 1. 2. 3. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES To Identify the misconceptions of women's rights in Islam To give appropriate refutations for these misconceptions through the sources of Islamic Law. To provide awareness through this study to the people who are misrepresenting women's rights in Islam. III. Research Questions What are the most common Misconceptions of women Rights in Islam? What are the Mechanisms have been used of the misconceptions against women's rights in Islam? How to provide the refutations against these misconceptions? IV. Research Methodology This paper used conceptual analysis that has identified, from various documents related to the topic and explained based on the research objectives. This study focused on secondary sources to evaluate the theoretical view of women rights and misconceptions. The data of the study were collected from secondary sources such as Holy Quar' an Traditions of Muhammed (Saw) (Sunnah), reputable scholars of the Islamic tradition, books and articles of research-scientific and educational journals, magazines, newspapers and websites for this research, collected data has been analysed. The qualitative research is done by descriptive method to establish of discussion part. 1. 2. V. Literature Review Khalida Tanvir Syed, "Misconception about human rights and women's rights in Islam" This paper aims to clarify three current misconceptions about the Islamic faith and issues of human rights and women's rights in the West. The first misconception is that Muslims are terrorists because they believe in Jihad. It is factually the case that Islamic teachings stress the value of peace and prosperity for all human beings. The second misconception is that Muslims prohibit scientific knowledge and only aim to seek religious knowledge. To the contrary, Qur'an emphasizes that the opportunity to seek all forms of knowledge is a human right and responsibility of all Muslims. The third misconception and perhaps, the most controversial, is that Islam oppresses women. In reality, Islam offers women the right to make their own choices in the areas of education, business, and property, to name a few. By sharing Researcher own experiential narrative as a Muslim born woman and that of a Canadian women who converted to Islam, Researcher can see the similarities between human rights in Islam and the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). Finally, this paper concluding these are inappropriate criticisms about human rights and women's rights in Islam based on western groundless arguments. The paper compliance with the concept of women rights nevertheless, it differs from the title, objects and research problems of this study. Omid Afghan,.(2012)., "Women Rights in Islam" this paper dealing with Issue of women, especially during recent times both around the world and especially during recent two decades in Afghanistan, has become a very serious concern for scientists, governments and political circles. In the area of human rights and human development, major questions have been raised regarding women and their social status. In this paper, the Researcher has tried to clarify the Islamic approach to women's rights and then, concerning secondary data Researcher has compared the Religious values with the related social facts in Afghanistan. Conducting this study was important for several reasons: It is important to examine the religious perceptions of people regarding the major issues of the country, including women, using scientific methods such subjects have poor research to study the legal and human status of women. From the Islamic viewpoint, observing rights and performing the assigned duties, are important issues which must be considered in all areas of people's lives including families and other groups. The paper compliance with the concept of women rights nevertheless, it differs from the title, objects and research problems of this study furthermore, this study differ from contextual analysis of the mentioned paper. 3. Abdul Rahman Al-Shehe, (2000)., "Woman In the shade of Islam" this book aims to present comprehensive and exhaustive historical, social and political accounts of Women from Islamic perspective. Presently, the most important role for a woman in Islam is no different than that assigned to the man-servant of God. It is as servants of God that Muslim women and men take on the roles of mothers and fathers and wives and husbands, buyers and sellers, teachers and pupils, workers and employers. The paper compliance with the concept of women rights nevertheless, it differs from the title, objects and research problems of this study furthermore, this study differ from contextual analysis of the mentioned paper. IJRAR19K6827 International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews (IJRAR) www.ijrar.org 850
4. © 2019 IJRAR June 2019, Volume 6, Issue 2 www.ijrar.org (E-ISSN 2348-1269, P- ISSN 2349-5138) VI. Discussion and Result A. Polygamy in Islam Polygamy is a practise that predates Islam and was prevalent in pre-Islamic Arabia. The practise of men taking more than one wife, or polygyny, was a widespread cultural norm of early Arab societies which Islam was first to regulate. The Qur'an's mention of this occurs once, in Surah An- Nisa verse -3: "And if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, marry women of your choice, two, or three, or four; But if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one, or that which your right hands possess. That will be more suitable, to prevent you from doing injustice." Translation of Abdullah Yusuf Ali. In this verse, the Qur'an neither establishes new permissions for polygyny nor encourages it, rather it sets limitations on its practice. In a society where there were no prior limits on how many women a man could simultaneously marry, the Qur'an's restriction to four wives was a means of regulating a societally entrenched practice to restore justice. Hence, it could be argued that by setting four as the maximum, the Qur'an imposed a restriction on men that was principally aimed at upholding the rights of women. Mashhour, Amira, "Islamic Law and Gender Equality: Could There be a Common Ground?: (Volume 27: 2, May 2005), 568. Further, the Qur'anic exhortation to ‘marry only one' is grounded in it being the most fair option to women and the preferred option as mentioned by classical jurists like Imam al-Shafi'i. Al-`Imrani, Yahya Ibn Abi Khayr. Al-Bayan fi Fiqh al-Imam Shafi'i. (Jeddah: Dar alMinhaj 2000) vol. 11, p. 189. The jurists held that the verse restricted polygynous marriages, largely due to the difficulty of maintaining equal treatment towards all wives, Mushir Hosain Kidwai, Women Under Different Social and Religious Laws: Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, 103 (1976). which is later mentioned in verse 129 of Surah 4. Here, the Qur'an states, "You will never be able to treat your wives with equal fairness, however much you may desire to do so, but do not ignore one wife altogether, leaving her suspended…" which is often understood to be in conjunction with verse 3. The argument goes: if the requirement of polygyny is equal and fair treatment between wives, and this cannot be perfectly achieved, then indirectly the Qur'an is stating that monogamy is preferred. Rashid Rida. Tafsir al-Manar. 12 vols. (Beirut: Dar alMa'rifah), vol. 4, p. 349; Mashhour, Amira, "Islamic Law and Gender Equality," 568. The Qur'anic verse furthermore makes a connection between justice towards wives and justice towards orphans. The Qur'an is replete with various mentions of duties towards orphans and commentary from classical jurists such as al-Tabari, Ibn Kathir, and al-Qurtubi suggest this verse was meant to establish the rights of orphan girls at risk of abuse by their male guardians. This is grounded in a narration of Aisha who, upon being asked to explain Surah 4 Verse 3, stated that "it was the custom of the Arabs who had under their custody beautiful and rich orphan girls to marry them without offering them their fair dower." Souaiaia, Ahmed E, From Transitory Status to Perpetual Sententiae: Rethinking polygamy in Islamic Traditions. Hawwa (Volume 2: 3, 2004), 294. By instructing men to marry women, not in their custody, the verse was revealed to terminate the practice of taking advantage of orphans, making it compulsory that they have access to their fair dower or be left alone. Ibid., and Nasr, Seyyid Hossein (ed.), The Study Qur'an (NY: HarperOne, 2015), p. 190. It did so as a concession in a society where polygyny was an accepted norm. Other commentary has suggested that this verse was revealed in the context of war, after the Battle of Uhud, which saw many male casualties and thus many widows and orphans. The provision to allow polygyny may, therefore, be viewed as a way to ensure that all women are capable of marrying, even in instances where women outnumber men. This was especially necessary in social situations where marriage was a means of both physical and material protection for women. Thus, by first placing restrictions on the number of wives a man can have and further establishing rules around their treatment, the Qur'anic verse regarding polygamy instituted rules intended to maintain fairness and equity towards women. Moreover, the Prophet Mohamed (Peace be upon him) set a precedent in this regard. When asked why he did not marry a woman from the Ansar despite their beauty, the Prophet replied, "The women of the Ansar have a strong sense of jealousy and would not endure co-wives, while I am a man with multiple wives, so I would hate to do wrong to her people (the Ansar) by mistreating her." Tabaqat Ibn Sa'd (Cairo: Maktabat Khānjī, 2001), vol. 10, p. 195. In this narration, the Prophet demonstrated his concern for the feelings of women and his dislike for polygyny in situations where women would find such an arrangement intolerable. It is for this reason that a woman may stipulate in a marriage contract that her husband cannot take another wife, as Ibn Qudamah al-Maqdisi notes in al-Mughni, and it would then become binding upon him to comply with this condition (fa-hadha yalzimuhu al-wafa' laha bihi), otherwise annulling the marriage. In this sense, monogamy becomes a woman's choice. Presently, the legal allowance of polygyny differs significantly among Muslim-majority countries. Some countries such as Turkey and Tunisia prohibit it, other countries restrict it significantly such as Malaysia and Morocco, and few countries like Kuwait place no restrictions on the practice. Islamic countries have the legal authority to restrict permissible matters when it is determined that the socioeconomic context leads to those matters resulting in greater harm (mafsadah). Despite the fundamental premise of justice laid out in the Qur'an, how polygamy occurs may not always reflect this. Though Islamic law may be used to justify such practices, the historical jurisprudence is clear on the initial intent to ensure fairness. Where this does not occur, polygamy is discouraged and/or forbidden entirely. IJRAR19K6827 International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews (IJRAR) www.ijrar.org 851
5. © 2019 IJRAR June 2019, Volume 6, Issue 2 www.ijrar.org (E-ISSN 2348-1269, P- ISSN 2349-5138) B. Testimony of Women A woman's testimony is worth only half a man's, One of the most common criticisms of Islam's treatment of women stems from a verse in the Qur'an that requires two female witnesses to testify in the absence of one male witness: "You who believe, when you contract a debt for a stated term, put it down in writing…Call in two men as witnesses. If two men are not there, then call one man and two women out of those you approve as witnesses, so that if one of the two women should forget (or err) the other can remind her." Verse 2: 282. Translation based on M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008). A literal reading of this verse can lead one to assume that women are generally more likely to err than men; accordingly, the testimony of a woman would be defector half of a man's. Mohammad Fadel, "Two Women, One Man: Knowledge, Power, and Gender in Medieval Sunni Legal Thought",(1997) Often, premodern Qur'anic exegetes the likes of Fakhr al-Din al-Razi would explain this verse by asserting the biological or psychological inferiority of women. It is crucial to note, however, that the exegetes who made such assertions about the inherent deficiencies in women's biology drew upon Ancient Greek physiology to substantiate their argument, rather than any scriptural quotes from Qur'an or hadith that speak on the physiological constitutions of women versus men. Thus, Al-Razi states, concerning 2: 282, "And the meaning is that forgetfulness predominates in the physiology of women due to the abundance of moisture and coldness in their physical constitutions." Fakhr al-Din al-Razi. Mafatih al-Ghayb verse 2:282. But it was Hippocrates who concocted this notion, arguing that the female body contains excessive moisture and coldness (and menses being the time that excess moisture was expelled), while the male body is relatively healthier and superior due to heat and dryness. Jean-Baptiste Bonnard, Male and Female Bodies according to Ancient Greek Physicians, (2013): 21-39. Other scholars have cast aside Hellenistic physiology as a suitable backdrop to Qur'anic exegesis and have argued that the requirement of two women to one man was not a result of an ontological difference between genders. Rather, it was the fact that in most societies, women were not involved in the conventional economic sphere; thus, since a woman was most likely unfamiliar with contracts, another woman should testify as well to reinforce her statement. Ahlam Muhammad Ighbariyah. Shahadat al-Nisa: Dirasah Fiqhiyyah, Qanuniyah Muqaarinah, Masters Dissertation, Hebron University 2010. pp. 210-211. Scholars determined that the substitution of two women for a man is not universal, but was only intended to be applied in certain areas of law, while in other areas of law female testimony may even be deemed superior to male testimony, in matters familiar to women (fi ma la yatla alayhi illa al-nisa). And the requirement for two women in testimony was not applied universally in financial matters either; Mu'awiyah passed a judgment concerning housing based on the sole testimony of Umm Salamah, without requiring any corroboration. Ibn al-Qayyim, Al-Turuq al-Hukmiyyah (Makkah: Dar ‘Alam al-Fawa'id, 2007). P. 415. Moreover, when it came to narrating the words of the Prophet( peace be upon him) and contributing to the hadith corpus that would become the second major source of Islamic law after the Qur'an, there was no distinction whatsoever between men and women. There were simply two qualifications—not necessarily easy to fulfil—that were required for any narrator to be a transmitter of hadith: ʿadālah, integrity, and ḍabṭ, reliability in memory. Mohammad Akram Nadwi, al-Muhaddithat: The Women Scholars in Islam (Oxford: Interface Publications, 2007), p. 18. This fact has gone undisputed within Islamic scholarship from its inception, so it comes as no surprise that the wife of the Prophet (Peace be upon him), Aisha, was among the top five narrators of hadith. Or the fact that Akram al-Nadwī has recorded the names and stories of over eight thousand women who not only studied and transmitted hadith but were the teachers of some of the most influential male scholars in Muslim history. This all being said, nevertheless, it must be taken into consideration that some scholars made a distinction between testimony (shahāda) and narration (riwāya), thereby justifying the need for two women to one man in cases of testimony but not narration. Nadwi, p. 20. Although both categories are reports, for example, Imām al-Qarāfī distinguished testimony as impacting the rights of other individuals, whereas a narration refers to a general matter or statement that would only affect the person narrating. Nadwi, p. 21; Fadel, p. 189. In other words, witnessing a transaction of debt will directly affect the debtor and debtee while reporting a hadith does not have a direct effect on the rights of other individuals. Although several scholars contended "that women were inherently less reliable than men," it was very difficult to make this claim on epistemological grounds. al-Qarāfī, for example, attempted to argue that two women were required instead of one man because they were "deficient in reason and intellect." Fadel, 192. For a more detailed discussion on the hadith that this phrase is referring to, see Abu Amina Elias Ibn al-Shatt, the commentator on al-Qarāfī's text, however, pointed out that this could not hold because if this premise was accepted, then women could not be reliable narrators of hadith. Fadel demonstrates that many scholars, including the likes of the Maliki jurist al-Qarāfī and the Hanafi jurist al-Ṭarābulsī, could not argue the need for two women on the basis of an inherent deficiency; rather, they fell back on sociological arguments, such as the difficulty of women attending court proceedings to testify or their lack of involvement in social and political affairs that would preclude them serving as reliable witnesses. Fadel, pp. 193-6. IJRAR19K6827 International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews (IJRAR) www.ijrar.org 852
6. © 2019 IJRAR June 2019, Volume 6, Issue 2 www.ijrar.org (E-ISSN 2348-1269, P- ISSN 2349-5138) On the other hand, when it came to legal testimony that was relegated to the private domain (e.g., birth), the testimony of one woman was equal to, and often more worthy than, the testimony of one man since there was no doubt that a woman was more experienced in that arena. Fadel, pp. 193-6. Ibn Qudamah, in his most famous compendium on Islamic jurisprudence al-Mughnī, explained that in matters of nursing, childbirth, menstruation, chastity, and physical defects, a male witness is not accepted entirely while a single female witness is. Not all scholars, however, insisted on the political and normative dichotomy, nor the public versus private realms. Hanbalite scholars Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim rejected these categorizations and argued that if either (testimony or narration) were to be more important, narrating a hadith would require more care because it deals with the words and actions of our beloved Prophet. Thus, since a woman's transmission of hadith is to be accepted, if a woman could prove herself to be credible in testifying in other areas—deemed political and impenetrable to women by other scholars—then her testimony should be accepted. C. Women's right of Inheritance Allah (He is free from all Imperfections, Exalted), stated in the Glorious Qur'an (4:11) that which means: "Allah commands you as regards your children's (inheritance); to the male, a portion equal to that of two females...." Those who misunderstood Islam claim that Islam does injustice to women in terms of inheritance. How could it be fair to grant the male (son) a portion equal to two portions of that of the female, (although they are brother and sister of the same parents)? Allah (He is free from all Imperfections, Exalted), offered a full and detailed method of women's inheritance in the Glorious Qur'an. Allah has stated three cases for women's inheritance as follows: I. II. III. A woman will have an equal share as that of the man A woman will have an equal share to that of the man or maybe a little less. A woman will have half the share of man, which is the most common cause There is a special branch of Islamic knowledge called "Estate Division Science" that deals with all the different ways of dividing an inheritance the proper share of all relatives which called "Estate-Division and Inheritance" close and distant, etc. One must be fair and just. Before passing any judgment about "unfair treatment of Islam to women in terms of inheritance", one must examine this subject closely, before making any comment. The following is a simple example of the way Islam passes a verdict to distribute the wealth of deceased among his heirs: "A man passed away leaving a son and a daughter. The deceased left a sum of US$ 3,000 for his heirs. In this case, and accordance with Islamic rules of estate division, the son is entitled to USA$ 2000 and the daughter's share is USA$ 1000" The heirs' situation after the death of the father. The son's share of inheritance is decreasing because he has to pay a dowry (if he intends to get married). He is also required to furnish his house for the marriage and he is also required to take care of all the needs of his household in terms of their expenses. The son is also required to take care of his widowed mother, grandparents (if still alive) and other poor and needy relatives. The daughter, on the other hand, is not required to spend any of her inherited money (unless she pleases), even if she is a wealthy and rich person. If she gets married she is entitled to a dowry from her husband. The husband is required to secure all her financial needs as well, in terms of house expenses, health care, childcare and all other financial obligations of the family. Women in the shade of Islam, page no-84. Therefore, it is the man's responsibility to take care of all the financial needs of the woman and his entire family according to his means. The daughter's wealth from inheritance will be supplemented and hence increase, rather than decrease, if she gets married and receives a dowry from the husband. She will be entitled to all living expenses in terms of accommodation, food, health-care, child-care and all, from her husband. Man, however, is even required to pay alimony and child support, in case of divorce or separation. A female heir is entitled to do as she desires with her wealth, funds and money. She may invest her share of the inheritance or do as she pleases with it. Thus, this example illustrates that he daughter's share of the inheritance remains intact, while the man's share is spent for many lawful and valid reasons due to financial responsibilities and obligations that he undertakes in this life. The woman, according to the Islamic teachings, is entitled to maintain her share of the inheritance. Islamic laws and teachings differ from all other national and international legal systems all over the world. In some societies, the father does responsibilities for his daughter, or son for that matter, after a certain age. The son and daughter are required to take care of their own financial needs and arrangements. According to Islam, a father, (or even a brother after the death of the father) is required to take care of the entire financial needs of a daughter (or sister) until she is married From the time a female marries, her financial responsibilities are her husband's obligation, according to Islamic teachings. In the meantime, laws that equalize the inheritance share for both male and female heirs require them to bear equal financial obligations and responsibilities as well. Therefore, demanding a "fair", "just" or "equal" share of inheritance for both male and female Muslims who do not have equal financial obligations and responsibilities is an unfair and unjust demand. Thus, it is only fair and just to give preference to a male heir, in light of the previous discussion over the female heir from the inheritance of the father-mother or others according to Islam. Man and woman, according to Islam, do not shoulder the same financial obligations and responsibilities. Therefore, it will be unfair to grant them equal inheritance, as decided by Allah. Allah, relieved woman from all financial stresses, constraints Additionally, He has honoured the woman by granting her IJRAR19K6827 International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews (IJRAR) www.ijrar.org 853
7. © 2019 IJRAR June 2019, Volume 6, Issue 2 www.ijrar.org (E-ISSN 2348-1269, P- ISSN 2349-5138) the right to everything that she needs, and having her attended to by her husband, brother, or son. All male members of the family are required and obliged of the female members of the family. Yet, a female is still entitled, by the Islamic law, to a half share of the portion of inheritance received by the male. Indeed, this is fair and just, in light of all the above. One important thing we should point out concerning the laws of inheritance in Islam is that "every male and/or female heir has a specified share of the inheritance that he/she is entitled to, and no one can deprive the heir of his/her share of the inheritance." This is unlike the British Law that can grant the possessor of wealth freedom insofar as his bequest is concerned based upon a will he/she makes before his/her death. Such a will may deprive all the legal and lawful heirs of the inheritance of their relatives. However, by Islamic teachings, man is entitled to specify only one-third of his/her legacy in a will, and one cannot exceed this set limit. Gustave Le Bond says in his book Arab Civilization: "The principles of inheritance which have been determined in the Glorious Qur'an have a great deal of justice and fairness. The person who reads the Glorious Qur'an can perceive these concepts of justice and fairness in terms of inheritance through the verses I quoted. I should also point out the great level of efficiency in terms of general laws rules derived from these verses. I have compared British, French and Islamic Laws of inheritance and found that Islam grants the wives who are considered by Westerners to be ill-treated and that Muslims are not fair in treating their wives (and women in general) are entitled to inheritance rights that are lacking in our laws" Women in the shade of Islam, page no-85. D. Divorce power with Man Marriage is one of the most important institutions in Islam and it serves as a primary source for stability and harmony. In its most basic form, it is a legal contract between two individuals committed to fulfilling each other's rights and responsibilities. It should not, however, come as a surprise that Islam seeks to avoid divorce; one tradition even describes it as the most hated of permissible acts to God. The words of the Prophet serve to emphasize the significance of healthy marriages; that said, once a marriage is threatened by any number of factors (e.g., impotence, domestic abuse), Islamic law provides recourse for either spouse to seek a divorce. Any desire to terminate this contract, however, requires explicit procedures. There are multiple types of legal divorce in Islam. The most common is known as ṭalāq, which is derived from the root letters in Arabic ṭ-lq that mean to absolve a person from a responsibility (i.e., the obligations of marriage). Initiating this type of divorce is limited to the husband and can lead to immediate dissolution of the marriage. Although a woman does not have the unilateral right to divorce, the four main Sunnī schools of law recognized the ability for a husband to delegate the power of initiating divorce to his wife, in what is known as ṭalāq al-tafwīḍ. Similarly, the Hanbali School of law maintains that a woman can stipulate in her marriage contract the right to divorce. Ṭalāq, despite it being the right of the husband, is not always his easiest option. It often entails extensive financial burdens, ironically revealing the deeper rights intended for women. Upon divorce, for example, women are not only entitled to financial maintenance until the end of their waiting period (which can last up to a few years if they are pregnant and/or breastfeeding) but also their stipulated deferred dowry as well as a suitable gift (mutʿah). Not to mention, a husband who is also a father is required to pay the expenses of his children, no matter who receives custody. Another category of divorce is that of tafrīq or faskh: dissolution of the marriage through a judicial process. In other words, the wife, or her blood relatives, could complain of her situation to a judge, who could then grant her a divorce without the consent of her husband. There are several valid reasons for a wife to seek a judicial annulment of her marriage. The Malikis, for example, categorized a handful of causes such as "her husband's cruelty, refusal or inability to maintain her, desertion, or serious disease or ailment that would make a continuance of the marriage harmful to the wife." If any of these reasons were met, the judge could issue a divorce and preserve the rights of the wife in the process (i.e., she could keep her dower and the husband was required to maintain her living expenses until her period ended). In the event that the wife desires to leave her husband for reasons not deemed extenuating circumstances by the schools of law, she has the right to a khulʿ divorce, defined by jurists as the wife's ability to annul her marriage in exchange of compensation to her husband (i.e., the dower her husband paid her at the commencement of or throughout their marriage). This is based on a hadith of the Prophet in which Jamilah bint Abdallah, the wife of Thabit ibn Qays, approached the Messenger seeking to be divorced from her husband on grounds not related to his morality or religiosity; on the contrary, she was concerned for her morality if she remained in her marriage, perhaps since she may not have found her husband attractive and would, therefore, be tempted by impermissible means to fulfil her desires. The Prophet then suggested to Jamilah to return her "garden" (i.e., dower) in exchange for her divorce, which he then told Thabit to accept. Although many jurists contended that a judge was not required for this form of separation, scholars like the Maliki Ibn Ishaq warned judges to be wary of false khulʿ proceedings in which a wife was coerced into khulʿ so the husband did not have to complete his payments in maintaining her and would demand she repay the dower he had formerly given her. Despite these occasional stratagems, women throughout the Ottoman Empire were well aware of the workings of the law and knew precisely the measures needed when seeking a divorce or obtaining their rights. Khulʿ divorces were very commonplace, constituting the majority form of divorce throughout the Mamluk Empire and continuing throughout Ottoman society. Given all of this, it would be naive to ignore the fact that ṭalāq grants husbands the unquestionable authority to divorce their wives at will and has hence largely been considered to privilege men. Yet, Islamic courts and the judges and muftis who headed them were not blind to this; in fact, they regulated this unlimited authority by increasing responsibilities for the husband to fulfil and consequently. IJRAR19K6827 International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews (IJRAR) www.ijrar.org 854
8. © 2019 IJRAR June 2019, Volume 6, Issue 2 www.ijrar.org (E-ISSN 2348-1269, P- ISSN 2349-5138) E. Travel without Immediate Male Escort The Prophet (Peace be upon Him) said: "A woman must not travel alone without a mahram. No man may enter the house of a woman unless there is a mahram with her." A man stood up and asked Allah's Prophet (Peace be upon Him): "O Messenger of Allah! My wife is going on Hajj (pilgrimage), while I want to participate in a battle, what should I do?" The Prophet of Allah (Peace be upon Him) said: "Go out with her." Bukhari -1763 For the protection of the person and honour of women, the Islamic rule encompassed in this tradition forbids any woman, whether she be young or old, single or married, to travel alone without (mahram) as a travel companion. This man must be of those to whom she is permanently prohibited to marry due to their close blood relationship, such as a father, a brother, an uncle, an elder son or nephew after he has reached puberty, or a husband, etc. Some people might say that this regulation restricts the freedom of the woman and her basic right of movement. The purpose of this rule is not to prevent her ravel but to free her from harm and molestation, and thus to maintain and preserve her right to dignity. Travelling entails many hardships and dangers, and since women are physically weaker than men, and moreover she may have circumstances of pregnancy, menses, nursing and childcare, or some ailments, she is in more need of help and service. Also, women are generally more emotional and impressionable; they are more susceptible to unscrupulous and characterless men in search of victims. The Prophet of Allah (Peace be upon him) expressed this most eloquently when he said to a man singing travel songs with a beautiful masculine voice in order to help the steady movement of the riding and pack animals, as per the custom of travellers: "Go gently, O Anjashah, you're urging on the delicate glassware." Bukhari -5857 The phrase "delicate glassware" describes the fragileness and softness of the women's nature, who were the riders in that caravan, easily broken or disturbed. There are, as we all know, wicked-minded, evil and violent men who lurk about and seek to take advantage of women whom they find susceptible, gullible or travelling alone. Such wicked-minded men are of course either interested in robbery, trickery, seduction, or rape. Therefore, a woman is very much in need of someone to care for, protect and fulfil her special needs while travelling, providing her the needed security, service and attention to help her in the difficulties and ward off strangers and potential predators. The "mahram" of a woman in Islam protects and serves with utmost sincerity since this is a natural obligation on him, rewarded by Allah. I. II. III. VII. Findings The Islamic perspective on women's rights are based on the sources of Islamic Shari'a. These sources mainly include the Qur'an, the traditions of the Prophet (saw) known as-Sunnah and the juristic mechanisms which used to deduce injunctions from the Qur'an and the Sunnah such as legal analogy (qiyas) and the consideration of public interest (maslaha mursala). The nature of men and women is different in terms of physical, mental and psychological abilities. Though In Islam, men and women are moral equals in God's sight and are expected to fulfil the same duties of worship, prayer, faith, almsgiving, fasting, and pilgrimage to Mecca. In modern world, there are some misconceptions such as polygamy in Islam, Testimony of Women, Women's right of inheritance, and divorce power with man and Travel without immediate male escort have been spread about women and their rights in Islam. These misconceptions were not meant for individual women themselves, but rather an attack on Islam in particular. VIII. Conclusion The best remedy to misinformation, propaganda, and ignorant stereotypes is knowledge. Islam's position on women has been one of its most frequently misrepresented aspects, and the five myths discussed above can be readily debunked concerning abundant evidences from the Qur'an, the Prophetic teachings, and reputable scholars of the Islamic tradition. Muslims can empower themselves with the knowledge and conviction vital to the cultivation of good in society, while also acting to eradicate gender-biased practices that contradict Islam's teachings. IJRAR19K6827 International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews (IJRAR) www.ijrar.org 855
9. © 2019 IJRAR June 2019, Volume 6, Issue 2 [1]. [2]. [3]. [4]. [5]. [6]. [7]. [8]. [9]. [10]. [11]. [12]. [13]. www.ijrar.org (E-ISSN 2348-1269, P- ISSN 2349-5138) IX. References Safia Iqbal. Women and Islamic Law. New Delhi: India, Adam publishers & distributors, 2013, pp. 1-139. Abdul Rahman Al-Shehe. Women in the shade of Islam. Riyadh: Kingdome of Saudi Arabia, As'ad hashim publication, 2000, pp 1-113. Abdul Rahman Al-Shehe. Islamic perspective of sex. Riyadh: Kingdome of Saudi Arabia, As'ad hashim publication, 2000,pp 1236. Mohammad Fadel, Two Women, One Man: Knowledge, Power, and Gender in Medieval Sunni Legal Thought. International Journal of Middle East Studies 29, 2 (1997), 187. Robert Brym. (2016, February 12). Democracy, women rights, and public opinion in Tunisia. [Online]. 27(3). Available: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/295242239_Democracy_womens_rights_and_public_opinion_in_Tunisia [October 10, 2019]. Jean-Baptiste Bonnard, Male and Female Bodies according to Ancient Greek Physicians, translated by Lillian E. Doherty and Violaine Sebillotte Cuchet. Clio 1, n. 37 (2013): 21-39. Ahlam Muhammad Ighbariyah. Shahadat al-Nisa: Dirasah Fiqhiyyah, Qanuniyah Muqaarinah, Masters Dissertation, Hebron University 2010. pp. 210-211. Mashhour, Amira, "Islamic Law and Gender Equality: Could There be a Common Ground?: A Study of Divorce and Polygamy in Sharia Law and Contemporary Legislation in Tunisia and Egypt," Human Rights Quarterly (Volume 27: 2, May 2005), 568. Mushir Hosain Kidwai, Women Under Different Social and Religious Laws: Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, 103 (1976). M.I.Navadi, Judicial system in Islam: Delhi, Discovery publishing house pvt.ltd, (2010) Haseena Hashia, Muslim women in India since independence: feminine perspectives, New Delhi, Institute of Objective Studies, (1998) Al-Sheha A.R.,(1997). Woman In The Shade Of Islam. As’ad Hashim Publication Riyad. Navadi.M.I.,(2010). Judicial System In Islam. Vil-7. Published By Discovery Publishing House PVT.LTD-New Delhi. IJRAR19K6827 View publication stats International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews (IJRAR) www.ijrar.org 856