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Woman was made
from...
Woman was
made from the rib of man. She was not created from
his feet to be stepped upon, Nor from his head to top
him. Woman was made from the rib of man. She was made
from his side to be close to him, near his heart to
be loved by him.
The
creation of woman from man was a token of Allah's
mercy upon man. But showing no discrimination between
the purposes of the two, by stating all of mankind
share the same common purpose to worship and serve
Allah, states the equal worth of both before the
Creator.
Allah (SWT) created the first man Adam (AS)
and then made the first woman to be his soul mate and
companion through the journey of life.
"O mankind! Be dutiful to your
Lord, who created you from a single person and from him
created his wife and from them both scattered many men
and women; and fear Allah through whom you demand (your
mutual rights) of each other, and the wombs (that bore
you). Surely Allah is ever a watcher over you." - Qur'an,
4:1.
Further to that Allah stated:
"I have created Jinn and Mankind
that they serve me." - Qur'an,
51:56
Women In Islam - A comparative
look...
Before the advent of Islam, women were
considered to have only one purpose all over the world -
To serve Men. It was the Qur'an that declared that she
too was only created for Allah (as seen in the above
verse) - in that regard, was a complete equal to
man.
The
Messenger of Allah said clearly - "Women are the twin
halves of men." - at Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud
It was also through Allah's final word that
women for the first time were given constitutional rights
as in marriage, divorce and the ability to own
possessions.
Yet at the same time, Islam does not
mistake equality of worth for sameness in roles. Since it
is obvious that men and women have been created
differently both physically and psychologically, it is
also clear that both have been made for distinct, though
equally important, roles. In Islam - Allah dignifies both
men and women in their distinctiveness, not sameness,
while maintaining that in the most meaningful sense of
equality, before the Creator - they both are the
same.
"And whosoever does deeds of
righteousness, whether male or female and has faith,
these will enter Paradise and not the least injustice
will be done to them." - Qur'an -
4-124
From the glance at history it becomes clear
that the female gender was held in very low esteem indeed
in almost all societies. In pre Islamic Arabia fathering
a daughter was considered to be such a loss and an insult
that men would often bury their daughters alive. It's
worth mentioning that the fact that women in the modern
world are able to work and own property etc.. is not due
to the kindness of the men of the West. It is actually
achieved through long and painful struggle on the part of
woman and then, too, only when society needed her
contribution. Islam had first liberated women before the
word 'liberate' even came into fashion.
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