• Women: Are men superior to women in Allah's judgment?
It is mentioned in the Qur'an that there will be women in heaven. May I ask why will they be there? In our country, some scholars suggest that a true believer will be offered as many as seventy such women. Are they correct? If so, what about women? Being a married woman, I cannot think of my husband having seventy women around him in heaven. I want him to be mine only. Is this possible? Do I commit a sin by entertaining such thoughts? Being a non-Arabic speaking woman, I am intrigued by the fact that every time a reward from Allah is mentioned for a particular action, it is suggested that it will be given to a man. What is the reward for women, then? In the translation of the traditions of Al-Bukhari, the writer makes the comment women can never achieve the grade of men with regard to worship. Is the writer correct? Are men superior to women in Allah's judgment?
When we speak about the life to come, we must bear in mind that whatever we may do, we cannot formulate a "true to life" picture of what things will be like there. How does the resurrection take place? We believe in the resurrection as an essential part of our faith. We have accepted the passage of the Prophet Muhammad as the final and correct message from Allah to mankind, and that the religion of Islam is the faith chosen by Allah for human beings. To believe in the resurrection is a basic requirement of believing in Islam. Hence, we accept it without question. We are told by the Prophet in this connection that women who will be admitted into heaven will be made to look in their best form, full of life and vigor, as they were in their prime of life. How will women regain this form after having lived sixty, seventy or even ninety years? The answer is that we do not know. We believe in it because we believe that Allah has the power to accomplish anything He wills.
We must also bear in mind the Hadith which describes the luxuries which true believers will enjoy in heaven as follows: "In it (i.e. in heaven) there are things that no eye has ever beheld, and of which no ear has ever heard, and the thought of which no human mind has ever entertained."
This Hadith emphasizes the fact that what those who will be blessed with admission into heaven will have much more than they can enjoy. Yet, there are detailed description of what we are likely to have in heaven. Moreover, the description is made in terms of this life and its luxuries. A Muslim cannot entertain any doubt with regard to the truthfulness of any description given in the life to come. We must no forget that the Qur'an is the world of Allah, and whatever Allah tells us is truth, clear and simple. How do we reconcile the Hadith quoted above with the descriptions of heaven given in the Qur'an? This is very simple. Had Allah described the luxuries and happiness of heaven as they actually are, we would not have understood his description, because our life experience is too modest to comprehend it. Therefore, Allah has given us descriptions which we can understand through our experience. But the luxuries and happiness of heaven are in actual fact much more than we can visualize. In other words, their measure is much more than we can imagine. It is true that in the Qur'anic descriptions of heaven, the presence of young, pretty woman is mentioned. But it is not to be contemplated for a second that these will compete with the believers' wives over their husbands. Your feelings about wanting to have your husband all for yourself are quite understandable. You will certainly have him as you please, if both of you are included among those whom Allah will bless with admission into heaven. It is perfectly legitimate for a believer to pray Allah to give him or her in the hereafter the same marriage partner they have in this life. As for the number seventy, referring to women who will be assigned to every man in heaven, this is news to me. I have not heard it before. However, seven and seventy are often used in Arabic as figurative numbers. They denote plenty.
Perhaps I should mention another point with regard to the relationship between believers and these heaven women. In this life, the main purposes of marriages are the satisfaction of our natural desire and having children. Indeed Allah has made sex so enjoyable in order to ensure the survival of man. The continuation of human life is part of Allah's creation. This does not apply to life in the hereafter. People in heaven will not go on giving birth to children and increasing their own numbers. At no time the description of heaven given in the Qur'an mentioned children being born to believers. You may, therefore, rest assured that you will not be fighting other women over your husband.
That the Qur'an uses the masculine reference when it speaks of Allah's reward to believers is a requirement of Arabic language. This is indeed the case in many languages. The Qur'an makes it clear that the same reward is given to men and women for the same actions. Allah states in the Qur'an: "A person, whether male or female, who does good works while at the same time he is a true believer shall be given a good life of Us, and We will give them their reward according to their best actions." Indeed, you should read all references to reward in the hereafter that occur in the masculine as equally applicable to the feminine. The Prophet says; "Women are the sisters of men." This denotes total equality between the two sexes, except where differences are necessitated by their physical differences and their different roles.
May I correct you on the last part of your question. Al-Bukhari has not written this book. He only made a compilation of statements made by the Prophet, making sure of the authenticity of the traditions attributed to the Prophet. He included in his Sahih only those Hadiths the authenticity of which he was absolutely certain. These statements are not made by Al-Bukhari. They were made by the Prophet and Al-Bukhari's role was only to confirm their authentic attribution to the Prophet. May be you are referring to the commentary on the Hadiths listed by Al-Bukhari. If so, this commentary is written by a human being who is liable to err. I do not think that it is correct, from the Islamic point of view, to say that a woman will never attain to the grade of man with regard to worship. This is a fallacy. The fact is that women may excel men in any respect, including work for pleasing Allah.
• Women: Attitude towards chores for women in Islam
I have heard many people say that girls should be denied the right to education, because in Islam, a woman's duty is merely to look after the house and the children. How far is this true?
Allah has sent His messenger to convey to mankind His message which assigns to them certain duties. Everyone who fulfills his duties and works with diligence to fulfill what Allah requires of him is promised the reward of admittance into heaven. This applies to both men and women. One basic requirement of Islam is that which we inadequately translate as "fearing Allah". This "fear" actually means to be always conscious of Allah and to remember our duties toward Him at all times. It is a fact of life that the closer our own concepts of Allah to the concept laid down by Islam, the more God-fearing we are and the more likely we are to win admittance into heaven. Fearing Allah does not entail a relationship of fear and enmity. Indeed, the Islamic concept of Allah is that of a Supreme Being who is kind, merciful, gracious, dispensing His grace to believers and to non-believers. When we work to please Him, we experience a life of happiness that is incomparable to any other type of happiness. It is pure and sublime. At the same time, we always guard against incurring His displeasure. That comes only as a result of disobeying Him. We, therefore, need to try always to be conscious of what may displease Allah and avoid it. That is what is meant by fearing Allah all the time. It is, then, appropriate to ask how do we develop this sense of fearing Allah.
There is a Qur'anic statement, which is highly relevant in this context. Allah says: "Those among Allah's servants who truly fear Him are those endowed with knowledge." (35:28) Knowledge is then essential to develop a true sense of fearing Allah. Indeed, the wider a person's knowledge, the more likely he is to be God-fearing, provided that his knowledge is based on sound faith. It is certainly true that both men and women need to fear Allah, and to develop that sense. Hence, they need knowledge. Moreover, people need to know what duties are required of them and how to discharge these duties. To do so, they need knowledge. In this, men and women are equal. To start with, they have been required to fulfill the same duties. As such, they stand in the same position with regard to their needs of knowledge. Anyone who thinks that a woman could fulfill her duties which Allah has imposed on her without knowledge, while man needs such knowledge for fulfilling his duties, does not know what he is talking about.
You quote some people as saying that the woman's duty is to look after the house and the children. Even if we say that this is true, she is in need of education to discharge her duty properly. How do we expect an ignorant woman to look properly after her children? In this day and age, it has become increasingly clear that an educated woman can look after her children better. It is not only that she could look after their own education, but she can also look after them from the health and nutrition points of view, making sure that they are vaccinated, watching their growth, ensuring that they have proper nourishment, etc.
Having said that, I have to point out that it is not true that a woman's duty is to look after her house. This is not an Islamic duty. Indeed, Islam does not require any married woman to look after her house, or to clean it or to do any household work. All that is the duty of the man, because the house is his and he is in charge of the family. Whether he does this type of work himself or employs a servant is his choice, but he certainly cannot require that of his wife as something assigned to her by Islam. I realize that it is customary or traditional in almost all societies that the woman looks after the house. Hence, we have the term "housewife" which refers to a married woman who does not go out to work, but looks after her family and her house. This is acceptable from the Islamic point of view. Indeed, the Prophet has sanctioned this when he talked to his daughter, Fatimah and her husband, Ali. He divided responsibilities between them in a satisfactory manner, saying that the man should look after the external affairs of the family, i.e. the duties outside the home, and the woman looks after the inside. But this is a recommendation, not a duty. [Recommendation of the Prophet cannot and should not be ignored, though.] Hence, no one may use this responsibility in order to deny a woman her right to education.
• Women: Breastfeeding and milk banks
The idea of breast milk banks is common in Western and other countries. The breast milk is given to infants who cannot feed directly from their mothers for different reasons. There is a possibility that two babies of different sexes may be given the milk of the same woman donor. According to Islamic principles, marriage is not possible between a man and a woman who is in their childhood were given such milk from the same donor. As such they are a brother and sister. Given that possibility, it is appropriate to encourage such milk banks?
When God tells us of the woman we are not allowed to marry, He says: "Forbidden to you (in marriage) are your mothers, daughters, sisters." He then mentions among them, "your mothers who breast-fed you, and your sisters through breast-feeding." He does not speak of an event or a substance that causes such a prohibition of marriage.
He speaks of a relationship born out of a repeated action. It is motherhood that comes about when a woman takes in her hand a child who is under two years of age, puts him on her lap, and gives him her breast and watches as he sucks her milk until he is satisfied and happy. He speaks of a child feeling the comfort of a woman’s care, being so close to her and enjoying the feed he is receiving from her body. That should be repeated at least five times and give the child a full feed each time. That is the action of breast-feeding that gives birth to a permanent relationship of mother and son or daughter, with all the affiliated relationships. Hence, God speaks of our "sisters through breast-feeding" and the Prophet, peace be upon him, adds: "our aunt through breast-feeding". These are the woman’s sisters and her husband’s sisters.
Milk banks have no such relationship. They are operated by nurses, with the milk kept in refrigerators, warmed on cookers, put in bottles, tested for temperature and given to the child. That is a very mechanical operation that establishes no relationship and creates no bond.
There is no caring mother, and no recipient child. There is simply no breast-feeding. Had God wanted to include such a method in the prohibition, He would have mentioned it. He has given us in full detail every aspect of our religion, which we need to observe in our lives.