PROGRESS OF WOMEN
IN ISLAMIC SOCIETY
Islam also pays utmost importance to education. It is evident from the first revealed verse of the Quran, which says, “Read! In the name of your Lord who created man from a clot. Read! Your Lord is the most Bountiful One who taught by the pen, taught man what he did not know.” (96:1-5)
According to the Quran, this shows the importance of reading and learning to read. The first command of the Quran was not to pray or fast but to read and to learn to read. We can see the examples of the Prophet’s wives, Khadijah and Aisha, who made a name for themselves. Khadijah was a successful businesswoman, while Aisha was a renowned Hadith scholar and leader after the passing away of the Prophet. About 2210 traditions of the Prophet were related by her, and she passed them on to about 100 of the Prophet’s Companions and their close associates. She was also a jurist of high calibre and used to explain the wisdom and background of each tradition she described. (Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, Women between Islam and Western Society, p 160)
According to a Hadith of the Prophet, the Prophet Muhammad praised the women of Madina for their desire for religious knowledge. (James E. Lindsay, ‘Daily Life in the Medieval Islamic World,’ Greenwood Pub. Group, 2005, p. 196)
We can also see the case of Imam Bukhari, whose al-Jami’as-Sahih is by far the most authentic source of Hadith learning. He had set off at the young age of 14 to acquire knowledge in distant lands. But his education had started with his mother and sister at home, who gave him a sound educational background. (Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, Woman Between Islam and Western Society, p, 155).
The Quran advised humanity to pray thus: “Exalted is God, the True King. Do not be impatient with the Quran before its revelation is completed and say, ‘My Lord, increase my knowledge.’” (20:114)
According to a saying of the Prophet of Islam, every believer must acquire knowledge. (Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith No. 224)
A woman can seek employment and work if she wishes to work. No text in the Quran or the Hadith prevents a woman from working outside the house, as long as it is not unlawful, within the preview of the Islamic Shariah, and as long as she maintains her dignity and safeguards her honour. The 12th-century famous Islamic philosopher Qadi Ibn Rushd (Averroes) said that women were equal to men in all aspects and thus could excel in times of trouble like war or peace. (Jamil Ahmed 1994. Ibn Rushd. Monthly Renaissance IV. Retrieved 2008-10-14.) Professor T.W. Arnold has written in this regard: “It is interesting to note that the propagation of Islam has not been the work of men only, but that Muslim women have also taken their part in this pious task.” (T.W. Arnold, The Preachings of Islam. (1976), p 415)
