The Claim that Islam Oppresses Women is Baseless. It is Islam that Gave the Women Rights
– Juveria Khanam
Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh
Shaikh Abdul-Azeez bin Baaz said: “Those who say that Islam oppresses the woman have erred very much and have made a great mistake. For indeed it is Islam that has been just towards her and elevated her status. She had been oppressed in the times of (pre-Islamic) ignorance among the Arabs and the Jews and Christians. It is Islam that elevated her and venerated her significance and was just towards her and gave her the rights due to her. So it made her a noble mother and a noble wife and a daughter who is shown compassion – and has benevolence granted upon her who is spent upon; and is treated with excellence until she becomes independent or can marry.”
Shaikh Muhammad bin Saalih al-Uthaimeen said: “Indeed the Islamic religion – it is the one that rendered assistance to the woman and thus gave her rights to her after she had been wronged during the times of ignorance, due to His saying:
وَلِلنِّسَاءِ نَصِيبٌ مِّمَّا تَرَكَ الْوَالِدَانِ وَالْأَقْرَبُونَ
“And for the women is a share of what is left by the parents and close relatives.” (An-Nisa: 7)
However; the Islamic religion did not give the woman more than her (rightful) due, neither did it lower her from her station. Rather it gave her the right that is appropriate for her, and it is known – and for Allah is the praise – by way of the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam).”
The religion of Islam not only gives the woman the station she deserves, but encourages fine treatment of women and for both men and women to attain enlightenment through seeking and pursuing beneficial knowledge.
Therefore, the religion of Islam should not be confused with some of the erroneous cultural practices of particular nations and societies that are distant from the teachings of Islam, as is often presumed in these times, whether in regard to the treatment of women or other than that.
The ill-treatment of women is not stipulated in Islam, and so should not be attributed to it, rather the religion of Islam encourages piety and dutifulness from both men and women, and it is on this basis and its implementation that an individual is deemed better than another – whether male or female.
