woman in human history

8/14/2019 WOMAN in human history

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/woman-in-human-history 1/5

Woman in Human History

Written by : Samr Al-Zain

Translated by : El-shenawy Mohammed El-shenawy

Revised By Magdy Abd Al-Shafy

Woman is considered the half of the society, and with her goodness all the societywill be goodness as she is the mother who nurtures , and the good wife who isbehind every great man. She has rights and duties we shouldn't ignore. Did womanget her rights through the successive eras?

Here is a cursory look to the status of women through the successive eras :

Woman in the past

The Roman civilization decreed that the woman was a slave to man, and had therights of the underage or had no rights at all. The old Indian laws consideredthat Epidemics, death, hell, poison, serpents, fire were better than woman." andher right in life ended with the end of her husband's who was her master andowner. When she saw his corpse was burning, she had to drop herself into his fireotherwise she will incur on herself the eternal curse and misfortune .

The Greek considered woman rubbish, she was sold and bought, and was thought to bethe filth of devil's deeds. In Torah, woman is described with following words: "Itoured with my heart to know, learn, search and seek for wisdom and sound mind.And to know that evil is ignorance, foolish is madness, I found out what isbitterer than death, it is woman who is a snare and her heart is a trap and herhands are chains."

In the Arabian Peninsula the status of the woman was not much better . God saysin the Holy Quran in this regard what means " And when the news of (birth of) afemale is brought to any of them, his face becomes dark, and he is filled withinward grief. He hides himself from people because of the evil of that whereof hehas been informed. Shell he keeps her with dishonor or buries her in the earth?Certainly evil is their decision. {Al Nahl: 58 – 59}.

If the newly-born Arab baby had survived burning alive, she would have mostlyfound a dark oppressing life awaiting her. She had no share in heritage and shemay be forced topractice prostitution and after her husband's death, she wouldremain inherited belongings.

Woman in the Medieval ages

In Rome , a great synod convened and discussed woman affairs then decided thatshe was a being without a soul, and she would not enjoy the spiritual life in theHereafter life for that reason.

And she is a filthy creature , she should not eat meat, laugh nor even speakand she is to pass her time in praying, worshipping and service.

At the beginning of the unwritten English law, there was an accusation , which wasnearly confined to women ,concerning impudence



At the Medieval ages, sometimes the punishment tool was shaped as " impudentbridle"; it was a tool looked like a cage made of metal to surround the woman'shead ; a bridle was put into the woman's mouth to diminish the movement of hertongue.

In spite of the bridle effectiveness, it was not considered sufficient in somecases. In 1322 A .D. a quarrel took place in a city, some workers called each

others and assembled in the market to attack grains merchants storing provisions.There were two women among the eighteen workers who were punished. "The two womenwere condemned because their voices were high in a particular way. There tongueswere cut before they were expatriated from the city for ever.

Woman at modern ages

In France , a conference was held in 1586A.D. to discuss woman's nature andwhether she was considered a human being or not. After discussion they decidedthat woman was a human being but she was created to serve man.

In February 1938 A .D. a law was issued to repeal the previous laws which bannedFrench woman from some financial acts, and allowed to her, for the first time in

the French woman history, to open a current account under her name in banks.

In England , till 1850 woman was considered non-citizen, and till 1882 A .D. womanwas still without personal rights and she had not the right of possession . It wasonly for a resolution issued in July26th ,1964 , that Oxford university began toput female students with equal footing with young men in some rights ( Studentsclubs and students union )

Woman in Islam

With the advent of Islam and the spreading of its superior doctrines, woman's lifeentered a new stage far completely from previous ones. In this stage, woman becameindependent and enjoyed all her personal, social, human rights. Islam equalized

woman like a man; a being with a complete human soul, with a will and free choice.Islam affirmed that both sexes are able to follow Islam way to reach incorporealand material completeness to achieve the good life.

"Whoever works righteousness, whether male of female while he (or she) is a truebeliever (of Islamic monotheism) verily, to him we will give a good live (in theworld with respect, contentment and lawful provision) and we shall pay themcertainly a reward in proportion to the best of what they used to do (i.e.Paradise in the Hereafter)?"

Islam considers woman a free independent human like man as ( Allah the exalted)says in the glory Koran: " Every person is a pledge for what he has earned" andwith this freedom, woman and man are equal before penalty laws too :

God says in the Holy Quran what means "The fornicatress and the fornicator, flogeach of them with a hundred stripes. Let not pity withhold you in their case, in apunishment prescribed by Allah, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day. And leta party of the believers witness their punishment. (This punishment is forunmarried persons guilty of the above crime, but if married persons commit it(illegal sex), the punishment is to stone them to death, according to Allah'slaw).

Because independence entails free will and free choice, Islam approved off theindependence regarding all economic rights and allows woman to practice all



financial acts and makes her an owner to her yield and money. Allah the Exaltedsays:

"For men there is reward for what they have earned (and likewise) for women thereis reward for what have earned."

We, the Muslims, have a Divine document that has greatly honored woman and treatedher fairly and saved her from the darkness and oppression of the ignorance. This

document is the Glory Koran.

This document showed that man and woman are equal in the origin of creation,equal in the common human characteristics, equal in duties and responsibilities,equal in reward and destiny, in that (meaning) the Glory Koran says: "O mankind!Be dutiful to your Lord Who created you from a single person (Adam), and from him(Adam) He created his wife {Hawwa (Eve)}, and from them both He created many menand women; and fear Allah through Whom you demand (your mutual rights), and (don'tcut the relation of) the wombs (kinship). Surely, Allah is Ever an All-Watcherover you."

Allah addresses both man and woman in the Glory Koran, at the same level ofhonorable addressing, and at the same level of the allusion to the human value

which they share together. For example , God says:

Whoever works righteousness, whether male of female while he (or she) is a truebeliever (of Islamic monotheism) verily, to him we will give a good live.

The Glory Koran settles the mutual responsibilities between man and woman, Itorders man to be responsible for woman and orders woman to be responsible for man.It says:

The believers, men and women, are Auliyâ (helpers, supporters, friends,protectors) of one another; they enjoin (on the people) Al-Ma rûf (i.e. Islamic ̒

Monotheism and all that Islam orders one to do), and forbid (people) from Al-Munkar (i.e. polytheism and disbelief of all kinds, and all that Islam has

forbidden). ( Al-Hograt)

The social system which draws the relationship between man and woman in theIslamic society appears in Allah's saying in the Glory Koran which settles thehuman's dignity and the equality between man and woman in the scale of thisdignity by saying :

O mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nationsand tribes, that you may know one another. Verily, the most honorable of you withAllah is that (believer) who has At-Taqw â {i.e. he is one of the Muttaqûn (thepious).(49:13)

That also appears in this Koran verse which orders man to associate woman with

respect and honor even if he dislikes her for psychological reasons:

God says in the Holy Quran what means "And live with them honorably. If youdislike them, It may be that you dislike a thing and Allah brings through it agreat deal of good."(4:19)

This is also appears in the prophet's(PBUH) Hadith " women are full sistersto men" and in the other text ( The best of you he who is the best to hishousehold, and I am the best to my household " also at the prophetic tradition "Allah advises you to trart women well ."



Islam actually comes to contribute in human liberation to move the concept from asituation to another, before Islam it was a particular thing and after Islam is(completely) another thing. Woman as a human obtained a part of her liberty andpossessed some of her value as man, and became equal to him in a lot of hiseconomic, social and cultural positions. And what comes as differences betweenthem are due to biological nature of woman and of man too, that nature makes womanrequirements more urgent in our age, also due to practical conditions which were,at that time separated man from woman and made all the society under the mercy of

man.

The Glory Koran treated fairly woman in His Exalt saying: "Indeed Allah has heardthe statement of her (Khaulah bint Thalabah) that disputes with you (O Mohammad)concerning her husband (Aus bin As-S â mit)." (58:1)

It is fair treatment that raises the equality between both sexes before Islam, andthe prophet said: No priority to an Arab upon a non-Arab or a non-Arab upon anArab, or a fair man upon a negro or a negro upon a fair man except for by pious."(Islam) equalizes between people regardless their nationalities or language orcolor as long as they fear Allah and fearing Allah i means respecting humandignity.

And the prophet's (PBUH) saying" All of you is (like) a herdsman (curator) and isresponsible for his family, a man is (like) a herdsman (curator) and responsiblefor his family, and the woman is (like) a herdsman (curator) at her husband's homeand responsible for her family.

This Hadith declares the range of responsibility dashing from the practicalconditions which control all the society and control both man and woman. That froma hand, from another hand we find the Hadith declares what is understood from thesaying of Allah the All- Exalt" The believers, men and women, are Auliyâ (helpers,supporters, friends, protectors) of one another." And some Hadiths give the womanthe preference to man as it is narrated in the Hadith "Whoever is the mostdeserving of my best companionship? He said "Your mother" he said" then whoever?"he said "Your mother" he said "then whoever?" He said "Your mother" he said" then

whoever?" "Your father"

This prophetic tradition reflects the importance which woman occupies in thesociety, and the society soundness is pledged to the woman's role in preparationof the incoming generations and that gives her an educational rank.

Thus ,the woman we need is the progressive one who enjoys all rights that shestruggles for and clinging to and who strives to make herself co-operative and whoaims to keep her dignity through keeping the dignity of all the society,consequently she contributes to the formation of the society of liberation,equality and social justice that is the dream of everyone.

The woman has a grace at social construction, we testify , but for her advance,

there won't be civilization.

She is a school for her children; she is helpful to her parents.

Her goodness is a reformation of a nation; her spoil is death and forfeiture.

For correspondence, you can write to : [email protected]

for further information , E-mail Magdy Abd Al-Shafy

[email protected]

woman in human history

Documents