Sex, Marriage and Family in World Religions (47 page)

Document 3–114

I asked ‘A’ishah, “What did the Prophet use to do at home?” She said, “He used to work for his family, and when he heard the call for the prayer (Adhan), he would go out.”

[Hadith narrated by al-Aswad Ibn Yazid in al-Bukhari,
Sahih al-Bukhari,
Bk. 64, no. 276]

Islam
217

Document 3–115

a b u m u h a m m a d a l i i b n s a ’ i d i b n h a z m It is not obligatory for the wife to serve her husband in anything, be it kneading the dough, baking it, cooking, tidying up, sweeping the floor, or anything related to household work. But it would be kind of her to do that. It is obligatory for the husband to bring her ready-to-wear clothes and fully cooked meals.

[Abu Muhammad Ali Ibn Sa’id Ibn Hazm,
al-Muhalla bi al-Athar
(The Gilded or Ornamented with Revelation and Tradition), 12 vols. (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-

‘Ilmiyyah, 1988), 9:227–228 (11th century ce)]

Document 3–116

i b n h a j a r a l - ‘ a s q a l a n i

There is no evidence that permits the coercion of women to serve their husbands in any way. The consensus of scholars is such that he caters to all her needs. Al-Tahawi also reported that the husband is not permitted to dismiss the wife’s servant. On the contrary, he has even to provide for that servant, too.

[Al-‘Asqalani,
Fath al-Bari Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari,
9:633]

Document 3–117

s h a y k h s y e d m u t a w a l l i a d - d a r s h Q: Generally, women look after the home and men go out to work and look after the women. However, in today’s society, when it is often essential for a wife to work outside to help support the family, shouldn’t a man also do his share of the housework? I know a lot of Muslim women who work and then face household chores whereas their husbands come home and then go off to study circles and so on. The women do not get the chance to study, and the husbands are the first to complain if they get no share of their wife’s income and if the house is not clean and tidy. What is your advice? Please do not say, “Give up working outside the home” because we need the money.

A: The Islamic attitude is this: even if the woman is not working, is she under any obligation to do the housework or not? Look at the concept of marriage, at the marriage contract; the Fuqaha’—legalists—define this contract as
Aqdu
Istimtaa’
—an agreement allowing all [
sic
] parties to enjoy themselves in that intimate relationship. It is not an agreement of servitude or anything like that.

So when it comes to the legality and everyone says, “Where are my rights?” this contract relieves the woman from cleaning or doing anything like that. In the words of Ibn Hazm, one of the great literalist scholars, it is the duty of the husband to bring the food ready-cooked to his wife. And the
Fuqaha’
(jurists) generally say that if the woman is one of those who are used to being served— 218

a z i z a h a l - h i b r i a n d r a j a ’ m . e l h a b t i upper class—it is the duty of the husband to provide her with a servant to look after her.45

However, it is said that good manners require a woman to look after what is inside the house, and the man to look after what is outside, common courtesy dictates that the husband lend the wife a hand. This was the ruling of the Prophet . . . When he ruled on Fatimah and ‘Ali. . . . when ‘A’ishah . . . was asked about the manner of the Prophet . . . at home, she said he used to be involved in the work of his family; he would repair his clothes and shoes, look after his bed, and so on. Now, in the situation where a woman is working to earn a living, we are not saying that the husband should necessarily look after the house, but good manners say she [
sic
] should help in the home and share the duties. This is what I do and what the Prophet . . . did. It is the husband’s duty to care for his family and home, not just sit in front of the television for hours on end while his wife does the cooking and looks after the children. This is simply unfair.

[Shaykh Syed Mutawalli Ad-Darsh (1930–1997),
Answers to Questions Ranging from
Contemporary to Family Issues,
in http://ireland.iol.ie/˜afifi/Ad-Darsh/27.9.96.htm]

The Qur’an exhorts Muslims, men and women, to seek education and knowledge. In particular, the prophetic tradition in the matter is rich and clear about women’s right to knowledge and education. There is a general agreement among Muslim scholars that educating women is a duty, not just an option or luxury. It is also a consequence of the equal religious duties and obligations incumbent upon both males and females. Since understanding one’s religion is
fardh ayn
(a duty that is incumbent on each Muslim), as al-Ghazali put it, Muslim women, just like men, require full access to religious education. Indeed, history makes clear that the religious education of women in early Islam proceeded hand in hand with that of men. Women entered into debates with men about the proper interpretation of the Qur’an and the
hadith
as well as the significance of events in the world around them. Women also were major reporters of
hadith
. As a result, many prominent men came to them for religious education and guidance. This trend continued for several centuries after the death of the Prophet.

Document 3–118

q u r ’ a n 9 6 : 1

Read in the name of thy Lord. . . .

[al-‘Alaq, The Clinging Clot]

Islam
219

Document 3–119

q u r ’ a n 3 9 : 9

Are those equal, those who know and those who do not know? It is those who are endowed with understanding that receive admonition.

[Al-Zumar, The Crowds]

Document 3–120

Education is a duty
(faridah)
upon all Muslims.

[Hadith narrated by Anas Ibn Malik and reported by Ibn Majah in
Sunan Ibn Majah,
bk. 1,
Muqaddimah,
no. 224 (9th century ce)]

Document 3–121

h u s s e i n i b n f a y d a l - h a m d a n i

One of the most prominent religious authorities, al-Sultan al Khattab Ibn al-Hasan al-Hujuri al-Hamdani, while responding to the opposing view suggesting that women do not deserve the position of upper religious leadership
(Hujjiyah),
said, “Garments46 cannot be a basis for inferring rules or enacting them. . . . On the one hand, we do find some, who happen to be wearing women’s garments, to be in most prominent and respected positions, such as al-Zahra’ al-Batul . . . Khadija bint Khuwaylid . . . and Maryam daughter of Imran.47 On the other hand, we find others who have the worst repute. Male or female garments do have little impact upon the character of whoever wears them. It is, rather, the qualities of actions of those who wear them that are of substantial significance. Therefore, when good deeds prevail over evil ones, submission in matters of worship rules over defiance. When sainthood is un-blemished by arrogance and acceptance is not frustrated by rejection, a person is likely to receive enlightenment that points at his/her being deeply rooted in knowledge. Only through this way may one distinguish between a genuine believer and a sinful disbeliever. If the person, wearing female garments, has acquired all the good qualities, she should be given the same stature of her male counterparts. . . . And if the one wearing male garments does not have all the necessary qualities he should be treated as equal to his female counterparts. . . . Human bodies, male or female, do not have any significance in this respect. It is the capability of acquiring knowledge that matters.48

[Hussein Ibn Fayd Al-Hamdani, Al-Sulhiyun wa al-Harakah al-Fatimiyyah fi al-Yemen (The Sulayhids and the Fatimid Movement in Yemen) (San’a’: Manshuraat al-Madinah, 1986), pp.144–145 (20th century ce)]

220

a z i z a h a l - h i b r i a n d r a j a ’ m . e l h a b t i
Document 3–122

The female companions knew and understood the importance of knowledge in Islam. They passionately competed among themselves and endeavored to gain sound knowledge. The Prophet (S)49 . . . encouraged their enthusiasm and allowed them to attend his study circle. How could he not after his Lord taught him to say, “Lord, increase my knowledge.” (20:114). When the female companions heard the Prophet (S) saying, “When Allah wants to do good for a person; He gives him sound knowledge in religion,” they understood this narration to be directed to both male and female Muslims, and not exclusively to men, as some people seem to believe. . . .

‘A’ishah (R)50 said, “How excellent the women of the Ansaar! They do not feel shy while learning sound knowledge in religion.” The women persevered in doing so and regularly attended study circles. There they asked the Prophet (S) various questions, some general, some related to women’s issues. In a narration by Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri [
sic
] we learned that some women requested that the Prophet (S) even set aside a day for them because the men were taking all the time. In response to their request he promised them one day for religious lessons and commandments.

[Naseef,
Women in Islam,
pp. 82–83 (20th century ce)]

Islam sees a woman, whether single or married, as an economically independent legal entity, with the right to manage her own affairs, enter into contracts and dissolve them, and own and dispose of her property without any guardi-anship or control over her, whether by her father, husband, or anyone else.

Unfortunately, later patriarchal jurisprudence has tried to erode these rights by giving the husband a say over the disposition of at least part of the wife’s property.

It has also attempted to expand the authority of the husband over the wife in other areas so as to interfere with her economic independence. For example, many laws in Muslim countries require the wife to obtain her husband’s permission before she accepts a job or leaves her home or country. If she does not, she risks losing her maintenance. This type of law clearly interferes with the wife’s ability to enter the field of employment or conduct business. Further-more, laws in some Muslim countries that severely restrict the interaction of the two genders has made the presence of the woman in the marketplace awk-ward and led in some cases to the establishment of “women’s banks.” These developments would have appeared incomprehensible to Khadijah, the wealthy businesswoman who married the Prophet, or to al-Shifaa’, the woman appointed by Khalifah ‘Umar to audit the commercial markets against fraud and
Islam
221

irregularities
(hisbah)
. Today Muslim women cannot fully enjoy their economic rights without changing such laws. Some Muslim countries, like Morocco, have started the process, but a great deal still needs to be done by modern Muslim jurists.

Document 3–123

q u r ’ a n 4 : 3 2

To men is allotted what they earn, and to women what they earn: But ask God of His bounty. For God hath full knowledge of all things.

[Al-Nisa’, The Women]

Document 3–124

q u r ’ a n 4 : 6

Make trial of orphans until they reach the age of marriage; if then you find sound judgment in them release their property to them.

[Al-Nisa’, The Women]

Document 3–125

m u h a m m a d i b n i d r i s a l - s h a fi ’ i Reaching the age of liability for both genders is defined by their ability to handle their own financial affairs. . . . Reaching the age is completing fifteen years for both genders equally. . . . Both male and female are equal in this regard. . . .

The capability of handling financial affairs is known through testing the orphan. . . .

Testing the woman’s capability of handling her financial matters, while she is likely to be away from public life, is a little more extensive. Her close relatives should give her a limited amount. If she handles it well then she is ready to handle bigger amounts such as her
mahr
before or after marriage. Marriage does not increase or decrease her mental capacity, as it does not affect her male counterpart. . . . For God has ordered to hand him out his money as soon as he comes of age, and God did not link it to his marital status. Similarly, there should be no condition of marriage for a woman to be given command over her financial matters. A husband does not have the right to interfere in his wife’s financial affairs. So whenever a boy or a girl comes of age he or she should be given his/her money to manage, as they deem fit. . . .

When a woman is given her money, as in the case of a man, married or divorced, she has the full right to manage her wealth as she deems right in the same way a man has the power of overseeing his interests. There is no difference 222

a z i z a h a l - h i b r i a n d r a j a ’ m . e l h a b t i between the two of them whatsoever. This is God’s ruling and is supported by the Prophet’s tradition.

[Muhammad Ibn Idris Al-Shafi’i (767–820),
Kitab al-Umm
(The Mother Book), 8 vols. (Cairo: Maktabat al-Kuliyyah al-Azhariyyah, 1961), 3:215–216, 219

(9th century ce)]

Document 3–126

a b u b a k r m u h a m m a d i b n a b d i l l a h i b n a l - ‘ a r a b i a l m a l i k i God says, “To men is allotted what they earn, and to women what they earn.”

Our scholars have said that their share in terms of religious reward is equal. . . . Each good deed is rewarded tenfold. Man and woman are equal. . . . As to their shares in worldly wealth, according to what God knows is good for humans and what He inspired to people in judging and managing their affairs, He decided their shares. . . .

[Ibn al-‘Arabi al Maliki,
Ahkam al-Qur’an,
5:31 (12th century ce)]

Document 3–127

a b d e l k a b i r a l - a l a o u i a l - m d a g h r i Among these decrees
(fatawa),
is one that was written under the title “A woman is entitled to take what is of right to her from her and her husband’s earnings”

in the book titled
Fatawa Tatahadda al-Ihmal fi Chafchaoun wa ma Hawlaha
min Al Jibaal
51 by Muhammad El-Habti Al-Mawahibi. Here is its text: And from al-Qal’a,52 here is a decree signed by its author and his ruling is the following: