Defending the Woman's Rights

Chapter Eight : Greatest Pleasures

Islam has attended to all human needs, not separating man and woman's material and spiritual life. Islam accepts the attractions and beauties of human life in both material and spiritual aspects. It looks positively at the issue of 'enjoyment' and denies the lack of enjoyments in some Sufi and Eastern schools. It therefore considers marriage and its enjoyments reasonable inside Islamic framework. Islam also considers marriage and its normal pleasures as effective in the human spiritual growth.

This Islamic view is not only about some parts of the worldly life; rather all the pleasures and joys of life are viewed as positive, constructive, and valuable in Islam.

According to this view, woman is considered as one of the most valuable and attractive parts of the human life. Phylogeny (fondness of one's wife) is thus considered congruent with the Islamic belief and human spiritual growth, provided that it is moderate and away from extreme fondness in women, which is denied by the common sense and the religion.

The woman (one's wife) is introduced as a very enjoyable creature in the Islamic teachings.

Imam Sadiq (a.s) narrated from the Prophet (a.s.): "The delight of my eyes has been made in prayer and my pleasure (has been made) in women." 1

Imam Sadiq (a.s) was asked: "What is the most enjoyable thing?" Everybody said something about this, but Imam Sadiq (a.s) replied, "The most enjoyable thing is the sleeping with women." 2

Surprisingly, the enjoyment of association with women is considered the greatest pleasure of the Hereafter, too, in a tradition narrated from Imam Sadiq (a.s).

Imam Sadiq (a.s) said, "People do never enjoy in this life and the afterlife a pleasure more pleasant than the pleasure of (association or sleeping with) woman ... The inhabitants of the Paradise do not find anything more enjoyable than marriage, which is found neither in foods nor in drinks." 3

As a result, there is no doubt about the acceptance of this kind of pleasure by Islam. In addition to so many spiritual realities, the material daily realities of life are not ignored in Islam. In fact, anything is defined in its own place and within the religious framework. Defining mere material goals, however, is not acceptable in the Islamic view.

Imam Sadiq (a.s) said, "From the morals of the prophets is the love of women." 4

Thus, the philosophy of enjoyment has two basic criteria; first, the human beings should avoid material enjoyments as their ultimate goal in life, so that they would not ignore the

________________________ 1 Al-Kafi, 5/321; Wasa'il al-Shi'a, 14/10. 2 Ibid. 3 Al-Kafi, 5/321, 320. 4 Ibid.

permanent spiritual joys. Second, they should act moderately; avoid both Sufi avoidance of joys and the mere goal of enjoyment. Both of these extremes are far from the high Islamic goals. Islam supports moderation in all fields of life, including enjoyment. It has been proved that moderation helps permanent benefit from pleasures, because going to extreme results in early old age and the deprivation of enjoyment.

Imam Ali (a.s) said, "The one who does not act economically (moderately) shall die out of wastefulness (extravagance)." 1

Imam Sajjad (a.s) stated, "... Please me with moderation ... " 2

Moderation helps benefit from the present facilities, but extravagance wastes capitals and abilities.

By spreading close relationship between husband and wife, Islam tries to strengthen the family institution. This way, the family members do not attend only to legal regulations for solving their problems; rather, they follow their own deep emotions. The principle of kindness is the natural base of spouses' relationships that overshadows the law. Legal and social rules are not efficient enough in reinforcing the family. Only love and kindness help fortify family relations and dominate legal and ethical regulations.

The cooperation of ethical and religious systems is necessary for enforcing all the rules. All cases of breaking the law and escaping from it happen because the legal

________________________ 1 Al-Hayat, 3/ 275, Farsi translation. 2 Al-Hayat 3/ 275, Farsi translation.

systems try to institutionalize the law rigidly, not with the help of emotional and religious systems.

"... In no society human values can be maintained merely by the law; rather by strengthening human virtues and ethics. Increasing people's understanding also simplifies the job of law enforcers. It is by awakening the conscience of people that the law is followed without any force or obligation." 1

"... The institutionalization of law facilitates the continuation and maintenance of societies, not the number of legal books or the fear of punishment ..." 2

________________________ 1 Hadrat Ma'suma wa Shahri Qom, 82, Second Edition, Daftar Tabliqat Islami Qom, 1369. 2 Qanun wa Shakhsiyyat, p.2.

Chapter Nine : Woman's Mission

The human being is a free creature, who can decide overtly, and choose something from among others. However, man or woman is entangled in nature's compulsory rules, limited by natural traditions, and cannot go beyond them.

For instance, the human being becomes hungry; his/her hunger is satisfied with some food. S/he needs the air and to breathe. S/he gets sick and needs drugs. Finally, after a period of growth, s/he gradually looses power and passes away. There are no options and solutions in such issues, but obedience and surrender.

The result of this compulsion principle in science is that the natural rules of any creature are not changeable. Any attempt for changing these compulsory conditions may violate that creature's quality of existence. Even if he/she/it is able to continue life after being altered, he/she/it may not remain as efficient as before.

The nature's unchangeable rules have also defined certain duties and missions for man and woman. They should find their mission inside the natural framework and follow it. It is therefore not logical that woman accomplishes the male's duties and vice versa; it is no progress or evolution, as some people might think!

"Physiologic rules are as rigid as the rules of stars and not changeable because of human desires ..." 1

As a result, anyone should attempt, think, and act inside his/her framework of existence to go beyond the material life to human perfection. Man and woman's special missions are discussed with regard to this inflexible criterion.

Though man and woman are from the same essence of creation, according to the natural laws each one has a especial mission. His mission is to be a good man and her mission is to be a good woman; that is what the nature has specified for them.

'Women should try to develop their natural characteristics, in line with their own nature and without blind imitation. Their mission in promoting the human race is much greater than men's is. Women should not consider their mission as unimportant. The importance of the two genders is not their being equal ..." 2

The equality of rights and missions in the two genders blends two different sets of duties while both remain undone. This inefficient performance of duties brings about basic disorders in the society. If the proponents of woman's rights announce this sameness of duties, they prevent both genders from completing their fundamental roles.

In fact, the blind blending of man and woman's missions is the result of the male prejudice, which considers the male gender more valuable. It tries to provoke women to think, work, and have emotions and roles like men. This is really an insult to women, because maleness is considered a value.

________________________ 1 Man; The Unknown Being, p.101. 2 Man; The Unknown Being, p.103.

Woman's prejudice should thus not liken women to men and ignore their original character, in order to value them!

Being a woman is perfection and value in itself, just as being a man is valuable. Man and woman each have divine missions by doing that by which they can get prosperity and perfection in this world and the Hereafter. Anyone who seeks to be like the opposite sex might suffer from inferiority complex and even cannot play his/her own role, because of being alien to his/her real character.

In this compulsory life, the physiologic and psychophysiologic rules have introduced certain ways for each of the two genders, congruous with their physical and psychological characteristics, to grow and reach their own goals. Therefore, the criteria for education, rule-making, and other social areas should be in accord with each gender.

"Experts of education should consider man and woman's differences and their natural roles. This is a very important factor for creating our future civilization." 1

We can mention many instances of men's feminine roles and women's masculine jobs in some countries and evaluate their resulting problems for the human soeiety, as mentioned even by proponents of feminism. Only one example is talked about here :

One of the effects of this blending of roles is the destruction of families, which is totally incurable. Some imaginary fortune-tellings that talk about employed mothers and ordered children are really nasty and they cannot fill the empty place of the family, the relationships among its members and many other emotional ties. How can the

________________________ 1 Man; The Unknown Being, p.103.

employed mothers and the ordered children of medical institutes bring about that calmness created by a family of father, mother, and children? How can a human society be established by such stepfathers and stepchildren? Can we expect the humane love and kindness in such artificial relationships? The proponents of the artificial life consider humans as objects and the role of human families as multifunctional machines! Of course, these instances are very few and created from fatal materialist and capitalist views. Thoughts and views against the Divine rules and traditions would not last long and would be vanished by human pure temperament and the Divine religions. Even now, the modernism that thought of core families is being defied and replaced by postmodernism and its trend of extended families and their values.

The future tellers, too, talk about the human tendency to traditional families in future civilizations :

"... I think none of them (multinational firms, information mangers, computer rooms, industrial research labs, etc.) is the future society's main axis. In fact, homes are the axes of future civilization. To me, home is very important in the third wave. The introduction of production for consumption, the development of electronic village, organizational constructions in economy, automatic industries, and non-mass production all imply the regained importance of the family as the basic unit of future society; a unit whose economic, medical, educational, and social duties shall increase in the future, rather than decrease ..." 1

________________________ I The Third Wave, p.490.