Woman and Society

Woman and Material Civilization

To study the history of nations and societies throughout its ages, shows the sufferings of the woman and how has she exploited and persecuted.????????

No ideology or belief has saved the woman from persecution and sufferings like Divine principles represented in its perfect and prettiest form i.e. the immortal Islamic message. Before talking about the value, rights and the notable position of the woman in Islam, it is necessary to mention some statistics about the persecution and sufferings of the woman in the material civilization headed by America and Europe that declare the rights of the woman.

The figures and statistics underline that the woman is persecuted and enslaved in these cultures. French News Agency: "1.3 billion human beings lead a life of abject poverty in the world. 70% of them are women. There are about 2.3 billion illiterate women in the world.

"One-third of the women in Norway, America, Holland and Newsland are subject to sexual exploitation "Every eight seconds one woman is mistreated. Every six minutes one woman is violated."

The News Agency added: "Half a million women die during pregnancy and its symptoms. 40% of them are young girls. "The wages of 828 million women ranging from 30-40% less than those of men. 10% of bank considerations include them." In another report announced by American Federal Police says: "According to a study made by American Ministry of Justice, 310 thousand women are raped every year."

According to the report of French News Agency from Washington, there are about half a million sexual assaults against women every year."

According to the latest figures issued by F.B.A. the police announced only the existence of 140 thousand attempts of violation in America.

The Iranian Newspaper, Ittila'at, No.20401, quoted a report from Rome as follows: "The wave of violence has increased among the Italian families. The instances of murdering fathers by sons and of sons by fathers have increased more than they had been before."

The Italian Newspaper, Larpoblika, wrote lately from the annual report of the Euro Union for Statistics, in the first ten months of the year 1994, 192 incidents of family violence were recorded in Italy; 129 of them ended to murders. According to this report, this kind of violence led to 112 murders in 1993.

It is worth mentioning, 40.1% of these family murders occurred in the north of Italy; 43.8% occurred in the south of Italy; 16.1% occurred in the middle of Italy.

Most family murders in 1994 occurred in the Province of Lombardy, in the north of Italy. Jumhuri Islami Newspaper, No.4485, Autumn of 1994, mentioned the following report:

"Epidemiology Magazine, affiliated to the World Health Organization (WHO), No.11, Summer of 1993, published the latest world figures concerning AIDS in various areas of the world. "WHO has recorded that the number of AIDS cases was 718,894 in June, 1993. "(371086) cases were in America; 247,577 cases were in Africa; 92,482 cases were in Europe; 4,188 cases were in Australia; 3,561 cases were in Asia.

"The number of cases per countries is as follows: 289320 cases were in the U.S.A.; 38,719 cases were in Tanzania; 36,481 cases were in Brazil; 31,185 cases were in Kenya; 34,611 cases were in Uganda; 26,955 cases in Britain; 24,226 cases in France; 21,008 cases in Zaire; 18,347 cases in Spain; 16,860 cases in Italy; 14,655 cases in Congo. Besides there are other cases in other countries.

"We see that the U.S.A. not only occupies the first position in Aids cases but also it is extremely differing from the counties that follow. Besides, if we take into consideration the percentage of the figures, we will find that those infected by AIDS in the U.S.A. constitute 40% of the infected in 150 countries in the world. Nevertheless, the population of the U.S.A. constitutes only 5% of the population."

The Iranian Newspaper, Ittila`at, No. 20482, May 21, 1995, conveying its correspondent in Madrid, reported: "In the year 1960, 82% of the children lived under the care of their fathers. Nowadays, 60% of them live without fathers. Divorce and the stubbornness of mothers forced fathers to abandon their houses. After mentioning the above-mentioned figures, David Blink Horn, an American writer, said in his book `America without Father': `To have good fathers needs exemplary (righteous) women. This is the reason why fathers abandon their houses'

"In a report from America, the reporter of the Spanish Newspaper, Al-Payis, said: `Being partial toward the woman in American society led to the damage of the fathers there. It has prevented children from the care of their fathers. So, it has become a difficult dream to secure fathers in America."

Concerning the conditions of the children in Britain, the Newspaper, Ittila`at, No. 20407, January 1995, reported the following account from IRNA News Agency, London:

"In a report, the United Nations strongly criticized the conditions of the children in Britain and the laws and regulations of taking care of the children in that country.

"According to this report, prepared by the Children's Rights Committee affiliated to the United Nations Organization, the laws ruling in Britain concerning the health, eduacation and social insurance of children pay no attention to the interests of the children there.

"The specialists in the Children's Rights Committee think that the laws concerning the children in Britain only concentrate for punishing and imprisoning the deviated children and teenagers. "Among the criticisms in the report is that the number of poor children has increased, the average of divorce has increased, the authorities have decreased their relives to poor families, and the number of children and teenagers, who loiter and beg in streets, has increased.

"The writers of the report expressed their worry about the mistreatment, sexual and physical exploitation from which children suffer.

"According to what the sources of the United Nations mentioned, the reports of this organization on the conditions of the children in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark have criticisms similar to those in the report about Britain."

An Iranian Newspaper, Jumhuri Islami, No.4485, mentioned the following: "According to IRNA News Agency from Bonn, the report of Germany Statistics Office mentioned in the year 1993 that the number of mothers who brought up their children by themselves increased each year. The report added that there were 455 thousand mothers in the eastern states of Germany (21% of all mothers in these states) who brought up their children by themselves.

"Besides there were 915 thousnad mothers out of 7 million mother (12% of mothers) in the western states of German brought up their children by themselves.

"Thus, there were one million 370 thousand mothers out of 9 million 260 thousand in Germany who brought up their children by themselves.

"According to this report, 46% of these mothers in the eastern states and 30% of them in the western states did not marry officially, and 43% of these women divorced their husbands. As the children in Germany are under the care of mothers, therefore, they should take the responsibility of bringing them up.

There are over 9.26 million mothers in Germany. They have children under 18 years old. 5.4 million of them work outside their houses full time or part time in addition to their responsibilities in their houses and the tasks of bringing up their children. It is worth mentioning, the average of divorce has doubled since 1968. It has increased from 65 thousand cases in 1968 to 135 thousand cases in present years. Every year 390 thousand contracts of marriage are recorded in Germany. However, 33% of them end with divorce. This ratio reaches 50% in the large cities such as Hamborg.

Ittila`at Newspaper, No.20503, reported the following from the United Nations-IRNA:

"The American's contribution to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), in comparasion with its national income, is less than that of the industrial counties in the world."

The officials of UNICEF announced that and added: "Though America occupies the second position after Japan through paying 9.7 billion dollars as an aid to UNICEF, this sum of money is only 0.15% of its national income. Holland and the Scandinavian countries occupy the first position in this respect, for their aid is 0.8% of their national incomes.

"The officials of UNICEF expressed their concern with the low contributions from rich countries to the under developed countries. Then, they added: `This happens at the time when the importance of supporting the growth and health of children and of improving the conditions of the work of mothers exetremely increases.'

"According to this account, 13 million children die in the world every year of pneumonia, diarrhea, and measles. "Besides 200 million children in the world suffer from the lack of vitamin C which leads to blindness."

Ittila`at Newspaper, No.20370, 15 December 1994, in another report adds. In the report it has been mentioned: "Tehran-IRNA: There are a half million children who loiter in America. Orphanages will be built for them. However, the American society regards this as a shame against it.

"Susan Fildiz, the analyst of the Washington Times Newspaper, wrote: "Many fatherless children live under the care of foster families. They are subjected not only to hitting, abuse and mistreatment, but also, they are killed." "Fildiz said: "The quality of the treatment of society towards its children is an important sign for the real identity of that society."

"She added: `The number of the children who loiter in America increases day by day to the extent that the police sometimes find new-born babies in garbage cans. In such cases, financial aid is not enough for mothers. Rather, it is necessary to find special centers to meet the basic needs of these children.'"

The Woman in Islam

Why is the attack against Islamic attitude towards Woman????????

Studying this matter (woman's rights in Islam) is among the important civilizational and inellectual matters and affairs at the present time. The opponents of Islam, their followers, and those who have no knowledge of Islamic thought, precepts and concepts still continue their oppressive attack against Islamic thought and law, claim that the woman is oppressed in Islam.

Studying and analyzing the elements of this intellectual battle between Islam, materialism and secularism, we can conclude that the axle of the battle moves around a basic matter. The matter is that the secular thought tries to spread sexual dissoluteness and corruption.

According to this theory, the woman will become a tool for enjoyment and instinctive satisfaction which destroys the family, society, and the woman. While, Islam honors the woman and raises her from this low level. It also grants her rights and position to allow her to share with man in building life and expressing her humanity according to human bases which we will mention briefly in this study.

Before discussing this matter, it is important for us to mention the basic reasons of this battle (of the rights of the woman) and accusing Islam of depriving woman of her rights.

Muslim writers and thinkers, the propagators of Islam, the religious scholars, the foundations of the Islamic message and culture, and especially as it concerns the children of the Moslem communities in the non-Islamic countries and especially in America and Europe should explain this important matter through researches, studies, conferences, seminars in all various political, psychological, social, family, and civilizational fields.

We can summarize the reasons which lie beyond the attack against the Islamic thought as follows:

1. The confusion between the backward customs and social Islamic theory:

Muslim writers, thinkers, and propagators should clarify such confusion, for the opponents of Islam, those who are deceived by corrupt material thought, and those who confuse concepts have no ability to distinguish Islamic concepts from the social customs existed in backward Islamic societies. Such customs are contrary to the essence, principles and methods of Islam that regulate society, sexual relationships and the foundations of the relationship between man and woman.

So, the opponents of Islam attribute such backward customs to Islam to distort it, intentionally or out of ignorance. It is necessary for us to differentiate between the present society of Muslims and the Islamic society based on Islamic principles.

This social backwardness in the society of Muslims is part of the general backwardness in the fields of science, knowledge, development, industry, health, etc.

Some sociologists derive a distorted picture concerning the social position of the woman from the rural of Muslim countries such as Egypt, Iraq, Morroco and the desert areas of Peninsula. Thus, they diagnose the problem of the woman through the backward rural or desert view that oppresses the woman. Then, they give a distorted picture about the Muslim society, for its members are Muslims. They forget that such concepts and practices have no relation with Islam. We firmly believe that such concepts and practices oppose Islamic values and teachings. Meanwhile, Islam has devoted part of its thought, laws, and values to change these conditions.

2. Ignorance of Islam:

Among the problems which Islamic thought faces in our present time is that the people, in Europe, America, and other non-Islamic countries, are ignorant of Islam and have no correct knowledge of the simplest principles of Islam. In other words, they have a distorted picture of Islam. They think that Islam is based on fable, terrorism, bloodshed, and tribalism. They do not know that such ideas have been created by the enemies of Islam, such as orientalists, Zionists, and church foundations.

Thus, Western man knows nothing about Islam except distorted pictures. If Western man understands the essence of Islam, surely he will embrace it through rationale.

To understand this problem more clearly, let us return to the speech addressed by German President, Roman Hotsogh, on the occasion of honoring Mrs. Ana Mary Shmil, a German orientalist, who received a peace prize from the German Book Association in 10/1/1995. Some people opposed giving a peace prize to Mrs. Shmil, for she supports the Islamic thought, treats it justly, and summons people to understand Islam and to change the distorted picture which the European ministers made about Islam and Muslims.

In response to those who opposed giving a peace prize to Mrs. Shmil, the German president said: "There is a phenomenon that seems clear in our relations and dealings with Islam in our present time. We do not accuse falsely of the German public opinion when we say that many of us think that Islam is the religion of inhumane penal law, non-tolerance, oppression against woman, and aggressive roots. However, this is narrow-mindedness which we must change. In turn, we must remember the wave of enlightenment that maintained great parts of the western inheritance six or seven centuries ago, and that it found itself before a style of western thought. Without doubt, it was radical and non-tolerant."11

In another part of his speech, the German president indicated that the Europeans showed enmity toward Islam, for they had no knowledge of it. Thus, in his speech, he asked them: "Isn't it possible that we do not understand Islam because it depends on deep popular faith, while we are in a secular society?

"Have we the right to classify the pious Muslims with the radical terrorists because we have no sound feeling towards the mockery at the religious feelings of others or because we are unable to express this sound feeling?"12

Then, the German president admitted that he had no knowledge of Islam until he read the books of Mrs. Shmil. In this regared, he said: "I did not know the numerous Islamic trends in the history of Islam except through the books of Ana Mary Shmil. Perhaps, other than I witnessed the same experience. Indeed we are in need of understanding each other."13

Then, the German president summoned (people) to understand Islam to adopt another attitude towards it. Thus, he said: "I confess that there is no other option before us except that we must increase our knowledge of the Islamic world. That is if we want to achieve human rights and freedom."14

Then he added: "Indeed, the real reason for longing for understanding Islam and its rich civilization arises from our belonging to a civilization differing from it. Mrs. Shmil has moved this longing in my soul. I hope that others than me do the same."15 "Mrs. Shmil has paved the way for us to meet Islam."16

The battle of granting a peace prize to the orientalist Shmil in Germany in 1995, the agreement of the learned political public opinion in Germany, which is among the most important countries in modern history, and the victory of the front of Shmil, which means the victory of the trend that summons (people) to understand true Islam and to adopt an attitude towards it, among this advanced class of thinkers and politicians, among the foremost being is the German president, whose important speech we have read, all these denote that Muslim writers, thinkers, artists, and scholars think men should shoulder their responsibility towards Islam.

Besides, religious foundations and clergy men should shoulder their responsibility towards it. They should spread the true Islam that moves intellect, heart, and conscience. They should follow the method of the Qur'an when they summon people to believe in Allah, the Glorified: "And call you unto the way of your Lord with wisdom and kindly exhortation and dispute with them in the manner which is the best;..." Holy Qur'an (Nahil 16:125)

That civilizational battle, which took place in Germany and ended for those who summoned people to understand Islam, shows us that Islam is great and that man is ready to understand it, regardless of his faith. This battle is clearly shown in the Qur'an: "Go you unto Pharaoh, verily he has transgressed (the bounds). Then speak you both unto him a gentle word, happly he may get admonished or fear (Our punishment)." Holy Qur'an (Taha 20: 43-44)

From this we understand that the Qur'an summons the propagators of Islam to hold true faith and communicate it to those who have intense enmity towards Islam. Meanwhile, it summons them to leave despair and to open a door to hold intellectual talks. That is because the conditions of talks differ from time to time. In other words, the talks may be rejected today but are accepted tomorrow. What is rejected through one way is accepted through another way.

3. Lust and Sexual Deviation:

Perhaps, among the most prominent motives of those who demand the freedom of woman or sexual dessolateness is the motive of lust or sexual deviation. The Holy Qur'an talks about these motives and their danger and denotes their destructive effects. Allah, the Most High, says:

"But followed after them a succession who neglected prayers and they followed lust, so they shall soon meet perdition,." Holy Qur'an (Maryam, 19:59)

He said: "(It has been) made to seem attractively fair unto men, the love of the lust for women and sons and the hoarded treasures of gold and silver..." Holy Qur'an (Aali-Imran 3: 13)

He said: "...but desire those who follow their own lusts that you should deviate a great deviation." Holy Qur'an (Nisa'4: 27)

In these verses, the Holy Qur'an explains the danger of lust and that it represents `ghay', which means (the ignorance that arises from a corrupt belief) and `mayl', which means (turning away from righteousness and moderation), which has been mentioned in another verse:

"Those who hinder (others) from the path of Allah and seek to make it crooked; and they in the hereafter, they are the disbelievers." Holy Qur'an (Hud 11:19) There is a practical proof in the reports and figures which we have mentioned about sexual deviation. The Qur'an has explained it to people and warned them against it.

4. Inherited Malice and Fear of Islam:

Among the motives of the campaign against Islam and distorting its attitude towards woman is the inherited malice against Islam and distorting its principles and high values. This malice began from the day when the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) made public his mission. Then it increased during the Crusades and after them. Through blind imitation, Europe has inherited spite and hatred towards Islam.

It has spared no effort to distort the plain principles of Islam and to mislead public opinion, because Islam is a civilizational mission that will destroy their interests, end their oppression and domination over the world in general and the Muslim world in private. The fears of Europe of Islam have increased since the beginning of Islamic awareness and the appearance of Islam as a plan which the Islamic movements have adopted, and which a live experience has embodied through establishing Islamic states, such as the Islamic Republic in Iran.

The super powers have gathered their hirelings everywhere to resist Islamic awareness and to destroy the Islamic plan and its propagators and the holders of its banner.