Muslim Women Need the Rights of Islam
Not the Freedoms of Secularism

News:

On 8 March 2024 the White House official website issued a “Statement from President Joe Biden on International Women’s Day,” in which the American president stated, “The United States stands with women and girls around the world in the critical work of protecting and advancing human rights.” [whitehouse.gov]

Comment:

On 8 March, the world celebrated International Women Day. According to the United Nation’s website, “International Women's Day is celebrated in many countries around the world... The growing international women's movement, which has been strengthened by four global United Nations women's conferences, has helped make the commemoration a rallying point to build support for women’s rights and participation in the political and economic arenas.” [un.org] It is a day where the UN and Western leaders tell women around the world that the only answers to their problems are freedoms and gender parity, and they praise the ‘fight’ for equal rights.

On the ground, it is a concept being pumped into our Muslim youth from all angles. Social media is teaching our young women that showing more skin is freedom. It teaches us that the hijab isn’t a choice, it’s oppression. Schools are telling us that if we don’t do everything a boy can do, we are restricting ourselves and letting “them” win. As for younger girls, whose minds are still developing, they are receiving constant negative influence from society through their everyday interactions.

We are influenced by our friends who are telling us that we should not be ‘backing down’ and ‘letting the men win.’ We are influenced by our authority figures who are telling us that we should not be ‘shying away (from all situations) and avoiding personal growth.’ We are influenced by social media which tells us if we do not do everything that boys do, we are weaker for it. And we are receiving very little Islamic knowledge, we are receiving very little reassurance that following the commandments of Islam makes us strong, not weak. Actually the opposite, for example it is being ingrained into our minds through television shows, that Muslim women’s ‘strength’ comes from taking off their hijab.

But let’s ask ourselves this; where has this idea of Western freedom gotten women around the world? Women in sports are being harassed and assaulted by transmen in locker rooms, women are attacked on the streets, harassed in their work place, and beaten in their homes. Where has Western freedom gotten Muslim women who are currently living under a secular world order? Look at the women in Uyghur who are being forced to marry Chinese men and renounce their religion. Their jilbabs are being cut as they wear them, by Chinese officials. Our sisters in Paris are being banned from wearing the hijab. Our women in Palestine are being molested, raped, starved, injured and killed under the eyes of the international media. In Pakistan itself we have horrendous examples of women who have been attacked and killed.

Are we really better off than at the time of the Khilafah (Caliphate), when Islam flourished as the system of politics? When our rights weren’t only protected but respected. Islam gives us rights. Islam gives us safety. Islam gives us the ability to go about our daily lives with a sense of security. Despite how the West tries to depict Islam, as a religion that shuns their women and keeps them under lock and key, look to examples of the time under the Khilafah state as proof that that is not the situation.

Women-only markets, so we could go about our business undisturbed. The ability to go and question any attempts to take away the rights that Allah (swt) has given us, where a woman questioned the mehar decision of the Khaleefah himself. Thus the Khaleefah Umar al-Farooq (ra) declared, " "إِنَّ امْرَأَةً خَاصَمَتْ عُمَرَ فَخَصَمَتْهُ “Indeed, a woman has disputed with Umar and she is in the right in the dispute with him.” Armies were dispatched immediately over any violation of our honor or security. Under Islam, women are given the opportunity to live their lives with safety and protection under Islamic Shariah Law, in a way that does not lead us into sinful.

So it’s time we stop running after this flawed Western concept of freedom, which has shown us in countless examples to be detrimental to our safety, and remain steadfast in following the only true system of life, Islam. The Prophet (saw) said,

«نَعَمْ. إِنَّمَا النِّسَاءُ شَقَائِقُ الرِّجَالِ» “Yes, Indeed the women are siblings of men.” [Abu Dawood] The Prophet (saw) said in his last Hajj sermon, «اسْتَوْصُوا بِالنِّسَاءِ خَيْرًا» “Treat the women well.” [Ibn Majah]. Under the Khilafah on earth, the women will inshaaAllah be secured from the oppression of men. This is at a time when in the West, legions of single mothers must not only provide for themselves, they bear children alone and raise them alone. This is a time when in the East, women are denied basic rights that Islam established for them fourteen Hijri centuries ago regarding consent for marriage, possession of property and accounting rulers. The women’s right in Islam is guaranteed by Allah (swt), by virtue of her being a human being, a loyal servant of Allah (swt).

Allah (swt) said,

[وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتُ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍ يَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَيُقِيمُونَ الصَّلَاةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَيُطِيعُونَ اللَّه وَرَسُولَهُ أُولَئِكَ سَيَرْحَمُهُمُ اللَّهُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ]

“The true believers, both men and women, are protectors of one another. They enjoin what is just and forbid what is evil; they establish Salah, pay Zakah, and obey Allah and His Rasool. It is they on whom Allah will have His mercy; surely Allah is Mighty, Wise.” [Surah At-Tawbah 9:71].

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Nur Musab