Muslim Women Should be Both; Pure and Educated

The success or failure of societies depends a lot on the women. In Islam, this point is mentioned again and again. If a Muslim woman is corrupted and uneducated, the whole society will be corrupted and backward, but if the woman is pure and educated, the society will flourish materially and spiritually.

In many Muslim societies, only one of these aspects is stressed. Some Muslim men strive to make their wives, mothers, sisters and daughters so pure that they prohibit the women from going out of the house. The think by keeping women in the house, Muslim women will become pure and be good mothers, wives and daughters.

They ordered women to wear HIJAB and observe other Islamic laws without educating them the reasons behind those orders and laws. They tell the women it is their Islamic duty to follow their husband's, father's and brother's orders without ever mentioning that they should only follow orders that are consistent with Allah's orders. Moreover, women are prohibited by their husbands, fathers and brothers to talk to anybody or involve in Islamic social activities. In some countries, they are even prohibited from looking out of the window. They are not encouraged to acquire higher education in universities or in some countries, they are encouraged not to got to school at all. All these prohibitions are done in the name of Islam and keeping the women 'pure'.

If we look at the statistics, they bulk of the illiterates in the Muslim World are WOMEN.

How can we expect Muslim countries to improve their material and spiritual condition if this ignorance continues? How can we expect to produce and educate, enlightened and revolutionary generation and Muslims if they are to be raised by uneducated, unenlightened and weak spirited mothers? How can we expect to produce real Muslim men and women who can protect the interests of Muslims if they had the examples only of women surrendering to subjugation, discrimination and abuse?

When Muslim women are protected and provided with the means for them to flourish as enlightened, educated and conscious Muslim women, that will mean true SUCCESS for all Muslim men. Why?

Because that would have meant they have done what Rasulullah (SAW) had reminded them to do. In his last sermon, Rasulullah had reminded Muslims about many things and one of them was to caution Muslim men not to abuse women, rather to take care of women as he had taken care of them.

But as women we cannot depend totally on men to change us. We must help ourselves and other women. We must encourage each other to educate ourselves with true teachings of Islam so that nobody can take advantage of us be they Muslims or non-Muslims. We must make sure we know why we do the things we do and why we follow the orders we follow. We must learn to be independent in our thoughts and actions because in the end we will be responsible for ourselves before Allah.

We should know more than cooking, sewing and raising children in the traditional way. We should learn to do everything in the Islamic way. We should learn about principles of hygiene, nutrition and building an Islamic environment in our homes and in our community. We also should strive to learn knowledge in various fields that can enrich and benefit human kind such as medicine, the arts, communications, economics, etc. However, we will not be able to do all these if we do not start learning, exchanging ideas with the people around us, keeping up to date with current issues and involving ourselves in the mosques or Islamic centers in our community.

"Allah hath granted a grade higher to those who strive and fight with their goods and persons than to those who sit (at home). Unto all (in faith) hath Allah promised good. But those who strive and fight hath He distinguished above those who sit (at home) by a special reward." (Al-Quran 4:95)

All that is good comes from Allah and the bad from myself. I beg forgiveness from Allah for my mistakes.