Strategically Speaking
Back to the days of <i>Jaheliat</i>
LISTENING to the angry rhetoric of some of the so-called cleric regarding the National Women Development Policy (NWDP), 2008 one wonders whether or not we are heading back towards the days of the Jaheliat. All the arguments put forward against implementation of the bill, and also the CEDAW in the light of the 1995 Beijing declaration, actually run counter to the fundamental teachings of Islam -- equality.
Nowhere has the issue of women's rights merited mention more predominantly and unequivocally than in Islam. "Paradise is at the feet of mothers." So said the Holy Prophet (PBUH), while speaking on the manner we should treat our parents. And yet some of us are unwilling to accord equal rights, nay equal status, to the women in Bangladesh. It is even more disheartening that it is a section of the cleric in Bangladesh that has taken the lead in opposing the proposed women's development policy.
Perhaps no other religion has accorded women as much dignity and equality as Islam. At a time when the abhorrent female infanticide was a usual practice, it was Islam that put a stop to it. Women were no longer regarded as objects to be inherited, and men were enjoined upon by the Prophet not only to shun the practice of infanticide but also to give women equal treatment when he said: "Whosoever has a daughter and he does not bury her alive, does not insult her, and does not favour his son over her, God will enter him into Paradise," and, "Whosoever supports two daughters till they mature, he and I will come in the day of judgment as this (and he pointed with his two fingers held together)."
Historically speaking, Arabia was not alone in its unjust treatment of women and in reducing the status of women to that of a secondary object. According to scholars, in the Indian civilization subjection of women was the cardinal principal, and according to Manu: "Day and night must women be held by their protectors in a state of dependence." And only those women, according to Hindu scripture, whose mind, speech and body were kept in subjection, could hope to acquire high renown in this world, and, in the next, the same abode with her husband. Needless to say, the law of inheritance was agnatic.
And what about the status of women in civilizations whose level of intellectual eminence and scientific excellence were sought to be emulated by others? This is what an eminent scholar has to say of the status of women in Athens and Rome: "Athenian women were always minors, subject to some male -- to their father, to their brother, or to some of their male kin. Her consent in marriage was not generally thought to be necessary and she was obliged to submit to the wishes of her parents, and receive from them her husband and her lord, even though he were stranger to her."
A Roman wife was described by an historian as: "A babe, a minor, a ward, a person incapable of doing or acting anything according to her own individual taste, a person continually under the tutelage and guardianship of her husband."
Such was the condition of women in Arabia before the advent of Islam -- a period better known as Aiam-e-Jaheliat. And Islam changed all that. A fear that it is shared by most right thinking Muslims in Bangladesh is that we might very well revert back to the days of Jaheliat if the views of those that oppose giving equal rights to women are not appropriately countered, and that should be done through logic and not rhetoric.
Therefore, let us briefly address a few of the points of the Ulema committee. Among other things it is the contention of a section of the Ulema in Bangladesh that:
"A woman cannot enjoy rights equal to a man's because a woman is not equal to a man by birth ..." Not only is it impossible to establish equal rights for men and women in the country, but in some cases giving women equality would deprive them of their rights in many sectors."
As a lay man I would like to ask these venerated men of religion to cite one verse from the Quran which supports their contention that a woman is not equal to man by birth. On the contrary, according to religious scholars, the Quran unequivocally states the equality of men and women both in terms of their responsibilities and rights. To be dissimilar is not to be unequal. Three verses from the Quran make it clear:
"I shall not lose sight of the labour of any of you who labours in My way, be it man or woman; each of you is equal to the other (3:195)"
"Every soul will be (held) in pledge for its deeds (74:38)"
"Whoever works righteousness, man or woman, and has faith, verily to him will We give a new life that is good and pure, and We will bestow on such their reward according to the their actions. (16:97.)"
In fact, in no aspect of human existence -- social, political, religious and economic, has Islam made any distinction between man and woman -- from the spiritual to the temporal -- from the right to owning property, to seeking divorce and participation in politics.
And in Islam no woman can be married against her will. According to Jamal A. Badawi: "Ibn Abbas reported that a girl came to the Messenger of God, Muhammad (P.), and she reported that her father had forced her to marry without her consent. The Messenger of God gave her the choice (between accepting the marriage or invalidating it)." (Ibn Hanbal No. 2469). In another version, the girl said: "Actually, I accept this marriage but I wanted to let women know that parents have no right (to force a husband on them)" (Ibn Maja, No. 1873).
One also fails to understand how sending women to peace-keeping missions "would make women insecure and it could tarnish Bangladesh's image," as per the contention of the Ulemas. Women folk used to be a part of the Muslim battle train during the days of the Prophet. They would provide logistic and other support to their men folk during the course of the battle. And physical participation of women in battle is not unknown -- a well-known woman warrior during the time of the Prophet was Khawala the sister of the famous warrior Zarrar-bin-Yusuf.
Those who oppose according women equal opportunities and participation in wealth, employment, market and business have perhaps forgotten that Bibi Khadija was one of the successful businesswomen when the Holy Prophet married her.
Several things must be made clear about the women's bill. It calls for removing all forms of discrimination against women, and it is for all the women of Bangladesh not just the Muslim women. Also, the NWDP reinforces what Islam has provided for in respect of equality of women. Not implementing it would, in fact, be going against the teachings of Islam.
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