My father is strongly opposed to co-education establishments. I want to study medicine, but he is unwilling to let me pursue my aim because the system of university education is co-educational. He suggested that I should travel to another city where there is a medical college for girls only. I feel I would lose much if I were living alone in another city. It is much better for me to be able to come home to my family every day. He feels that the dangers in co-educational establishments that a girl takes are enormous. I feel that an educated young woman should be able to look after herself, particularly if she adheres to Islamic teachings with regard to her dress and manners. I agree with his view that a woman is naturally suited to a life at home, bringing up her family, but the community needs women doctors, nurses and teachers. May I ask whether Islam prohibits studying in a university if it is co-educational?
It is clear that the lady reader is brought up is a conservative family which looks at co-education with strong disapproval. There is no doubt that Islam prefers single sex schools, particularly in intermediate and high schools, when students are all teen-agers. That is a time which involves a great change in the physical and emotional make-up of every boy and girl. It is so much safer in such a stage not to burden young people with close contacts with the other sex, because that may lead to problems.
Having said that, I wish to make it clear that an in-depth study of Hadith and history reveals that Islamic society in the early period of Islam, including the time of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and the rightly guided Caliphs, was a mixed society. Segregation of the two sexes is not a principle preached by Islam. In fact there is much misunderstanding of the role of woman in Islamic society. In Islam, the woman is an equal partner with man. She helps him in all aspects of life. However, the division of roles and responsibilities makes it preferable for a woman to stay at home, particularly when she has a young family, to look after children in their formative years.
There is no restriction on her to go out to work. This means that there in no restriction on her education either. In fact there were many woman scholars in the early periods of Islam, when Islamic civilization flourished. When you read any book of Hadith, you will find in the chain of reporters of Hadiths many women Scholars, who taught both men and women.
The best example is Ayesha, the Prophet’s wife, who reported more than one thousand Hadiths, and all reporters after her were men, which means that they heard the Hadiths from her directly.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, used to take one of his wives with him each time he traveled. The choice was made on the basis of a toss. Omar appointed a lady as a supervisor or controller in the market place. This meant that women frequented the market to do their shopping. It is clear from this and other reports that there were also women shopkeepers. In fact women were in all spheres of life, sharing with men on equal basis.
This is natural because women constitute half the population, and there are many situations where a woman needs to work or do her business as an independent person. There is nothing in Islam to prevent that.
In our modern world, there is great need for qualified ladies to work in different sorts of professions. The lady reader mentions the medical profession, naming doctors and nurses, as well as teachers. But there is need for women in various other specialties. An Islamic society should work hard to have a sufficient number of ladies who achieve excellence in various areas of medicine, such as gynecology, obstetrics, internal medicine, so that Muslim women need not be attended by men doctors in such areas. So far, medical colleges, which teach both men and women at the same time, are better and have greater resources and facilities than girls’ colleges. In this situation, it is better for our women who wish to study medicine to attend such colleges. There is no harm in doing so, as long as the women students observe their religious duties with regard to manners and dress. The reader’s father need not fear for her, because she sounds to be a responsible and religious person who has been brought up with the right values.
In fact it is better for our lady reader to study in her home town, in a co-education college, so that she may be looked after by her family, than to travel alone to a different city where she studies in a girls’ college. May God help her with her studies, so that she will be a fine doctor. ~
I have been researching the status of women in Islam, but I found certain things that I cannot understand. For example, I read a Hadith to the effect that if women were allowed to prostrate for anyone, they would do so before their husbands. Obedience by a wife is stressed very strongly. That should be all right if a husband is reasonable in his demands. But many are the husbands that are unreasonable, and with the requirement of obedience women can be in a very difficult position. Moreover, a Qur’anic verse speaks of the steps to be taken before divorce, and it includes beating one’s wife. I am told that the word ‘beat’ is an incorrect translation. Yet there is a Qur’anic statement that gives husbands a step over women in their status. That gives me the impression that the relationship between man and wife in Islam is similar to one between a man and his pet. It is easy to make a pet’s life very difficult without ever incurring a sin. Please explain.
It is easy to misinterpret a verse in the Qur’an, or a statement by the Prophet, if one takes it in isolation, without relating to other verses and statements on the same subject. Hence it is imperative that we deal with religious text to understand the basic principles that Islam emphasizes and to relate such text to principles applicable to its subject matter. In the relationship between man and woman, the overriding principle is that stated by God in Verse 228 of Surah 2: “Women shall, in all fairness, enjoy rights equal to those exercised against them, although men have an advantage over them.” As this statement occurs in the context of divorce, it is applicable to all matrimonial relations. The rights of both husband and wife are equal. There is no doubt about this. The practice of Prophet, peace be upon him, and his guidance confirm this.
I realize that the next statement in the same verse speaks of men having an advantage over women. But this advantage is simply the one, which gives a man the right to end the marital relationship unilaterally, while a woman needs to prove a case of harm or seek Khula in order to get her marriage terminated.
In the light of the above statement, and looking at the way God makes His address in the Qur’an scholars have concluded that whenever an address is made by the Prophet, peace be upon him, or in the Qur’an, it simply applies to men and women equally. Excepted from that are the cases where women are addressed specifically as women. Thus, the address in the Qur’an, and Hadith applies either to women on their own, when the case is clearly so, or to men and women equally. This means that the order to men to take good care of women implies that women should also take good care of men. This is a pervasive rule that applies in all situations except where the context is clear that it applies to women only. There is no question that the relationship is that of a master and a pet. It is one between equals, governed by rights specified by God and elaborated by His messenger.
Now if we look at the examples the reader has pointed out, we begin with the Hadith about prostration. It is clearly misquoted by the reader, who makes it a special case for women, while it is not. The Hadith runs as follows: “Qais ibn Sa’ad (a companion of the Prophet, peace be upon him) says: I went to Al-Heerah (the capital of a puppet state in Iraq) where I saw people prostrating before the governor. I thought that God’s messenger had a greater claim to people’s prostration. When I met him I reported this and told him, “You have a better claim that we should prostrate ourselves to you.” He said, “Do not do that. Had I thought of ordering anyone to prostrate before another, I would have ordered women to prostrate before their husbands, because of the rights they have against them.” (Related by Abu Dawood).
When you look at this Hadith in full, you realize that it is a case of prohibition rather than encouragement. It is not permissible for anyone to prostrate himself before another, no matter what position that person occupies. In his own case, the Prophet, peace be upon him, ordered his companions not to do that. He then added that had such prostration ever been possible, then women might have been ordered to do that for their husbands. But the Prophet, peace be upon him, did not order that. Hence, it is not right. The construction of the sentence makes it clear that the whole idea is unacceptable. It is stated in this way only to emphasize the matrimonial rights. According to Islam, however, these are equal between man and wife. Hence, we should never belittle women’s rights in Islam.
Another misconception by the reader is that concerned with beating and divorce. The Qur’anic verse that mentions this speaks of women who are rebellious. Three methods of dealing with them are specified in a particular order, one after the other. No one may resort to the second step before the first or to the third before the second. The verse may be rendered in translation as follows:
“As for those women whose ill-will you have reasons to fear, admonish them first, then leave them alone in bed, then beat them, and if thereupon they pay you heed, do not seek to harm them.” (4: 34)
In his translation of the Qur’an, Muhammad Asad writes a footnote in comment on this verse. He explains the case admirably well. It is useful to quote him in full.
“It is evident from many authentic traditions that the Prophet, peace be upon him, himself intensely detested the idea of beating one’s wife, and said on more than one occasion. ‘ Could any of you beat his wife as he would beat a slave, and then lie with her in the evening’?” (Related by Al-Bukhari and Muslim). According to another tradition, he forbade the beating of any woman with the words, ‘Never beat God’s handmaidens.’ [Related by Abu Dawood, Nassa’ie, Ibn Majah, Ahmad & Hakim).
“When the above Qur’anic verse authorizing the beating of refractory wife was revealed, the Prophet, peace be upon him, is reported to have said, ‘I wanted one thing, but God has willed another thing. What God has willed must be best.” With all this he stipulated in his sermon on the occasion of Farewell Pilgrimage, shortly before his death, that beating should be resorted to only if the wife ‘has become guilty, in an obvious manner, of immoral conduct’. And that it should be done “in such a way as not to cause pain.”
Authentic traditions to this effect are found in Muslim, Tirmithi, Abu Dawood, Nasa’ie and Ibn Majah. On the basis of these traditions, all the authorities stress that this “beating”, if resorted to at all, should be more or less symbolic — “with a tooth brush [miswak], or something similar, or even with “a folded handkerchief”. Some of the great Muslim scholars, e.g. Shaf’ie, are of the opinion that it is just barely permissible, and should preferably be avoided. They justify this opinion by the Prophet’s personal feelings with regard to this problem. I will quote you one Hadith in support of what Asad says, Mu’awiya Al-Qoshairi reports: “I asked God’s messenger about our women and what we may do and what we may not do with them. He said, ‘You may come into her when you wish. You may feed her when you eat and clothe her when you buy clothes. You must not insult her, nor may you hit her’.” [Related by Abu Dawood]
The relationship between man and wife in Islam is not one of obedience in a military sense, as some people would have us understand. It is a caring and loving relationship in which both try their best to take good care of each other. The reader speaks of unreasonable husbands, who demand obedience. This is not what is required of a woman. She is to obey her husband in what is fair and reasonable. He may not demand what is neither fair nor reasonable. ~
If a woman’s period lasts 20 days, followed by only one week before the next period, what should she do regarding her prayers?
This is the case known as Istihadhah in Fiqh terminology. If this lady used to have a normal period of no more than 10 days, then she applies that norm to her present condition, which is an abnormal condition. Suppose that she used to have her period lasting 7 days, like most women do, then she takes a bath after seven days and treats the rest of the days as days of cleanliness. However, she needs to have a fresh ablution, or wudhu for every prayer. Before she performs her ablution, she should wash her genital area, and replace her sanitary napkin, so that she lessens to the minimum any bleeding. She should also perform her ablution after the prayer is due, not before it is due.
For all intents and purposes, she is not in menstruation after her nominal period of 7 days. This means that she may have intercourse with her husband.
If this situation started right at the time when she attained puberty, and she is unaware of what her normal period is like, then she applies the normal standard that prevails in her community, which is in most cases 6 or 7 days. If her sisters have a 6-day period, then she applies the same, and if they have 8-day period, she adopts that. But she may also apply what prevails with most women.