O my Lord! Expand for me my breast [with assurance] and ease for me my task and untie the knot from my tongue that they may understand my speech.
(Ta-Ha:25-28)
INTRODUCTION
At the very outset, I would like to express my warmest gratitude to the Department of Arabic for their initiative to hold this important two-day National Seminar on “Role of Hadith in the Development of Language, Literature & Culture” and feeling honoured to be invited to present paper on this important literary occasion.
Before discussing the significance of women’s education in Islam, it is important to understand what the condition of women was before the advent of Islam. In pre-Islamic Arabia, and in the rest of the world, their condition was equal to that of slaves and chattels with no rights. Women could neither own nor inherit property. In domestic affairs, they had no rights over their children or themselves; in fact, they could be sold or abandoned by their husbands at will. If they were abused by their husbands, they had no recourse to divorce. They had no real status in the society, not being respected as wife, mother or daughter. In fact, daughters were considered worthless and were often killed at birth. Women were given little or no education, and had no say in religious matters, being regarded as limited in spirituality and intellect.
These abusive conditions existed well into the 19th century in most parts of the world, even in the United States, where some basic rights were given to women only in the beginning of the 20th century. But in Arabia, in the 6th century, with the advent of Islam the condition of women changed dramatically. Almost overnight, women were endowed with equal rights and put on the same level with men.
Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him , came at a time when the Arab society, like so many patriarchal societies at that time, was rife with abhorrent practices against girls. He preached Islam, liberating women and girls in every walk of life, education being a prime aspect. This article examines the facts about the importance of female education in Islam. It does so through referencing verses of the Quran, Islam’s holy book, and hadith, authentic traditions of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, along with offering a short glimpse of his wives’ level of education.
The Prophet of Islam, remained concerned all his life about the status and treatment of women, because at the time of the revelation of the message of Islam, women were buried alive, treated as chattels and at one point considered to be inhuman without a soul. In his last sermon, the Prophet clearly asked men to treat women with kindness because due to economic conditions, men were responsible for the well being of their women.
The Qur’an says in Chapter 2,Surah Al-Baqarah,Ayat no:228: “and they (women) have rights similar to those of men over them…treat them in a just manner.”
ROLE OF HADITH IN WOMEN’S EDUCATION
Since the beginning the Muslim Ummah has unanimously believed in Hadith as an established secondary source of the Islamic Law after Qur’an. Infact it has always been recognized only another kind of revelation i.e. it is called وحي غير متلو i.e. Revelation that is not recited.
Let us start with the first Quranic revelation:
Read in the name of your Lord who created, created man from a clinging form. Read! Your Lord is the Most Generous, who taught by means of the pen; taught man what he did not know. Chapter 96,Surah Al-Alaq,Ayat no:1-5.
These verses address humankind to seek knowledge and delve in critical thinking. The emphasis laid in the acquisition of knowledge, in the above verses, surpasses any statement or action denying girls’ the right to education. Had these verses only been for men, it would be inconceivable to imagine the extent of progression that the society made in a mere twenty-three years — the entire duration of the revelation of the Quran.
In another verse in the Quran, God says:
(This is) a Book (the Quran) which We have sent down to you, full of blessings that they may ponder over its Verses, and that men of understanding may remember. Chapter 38, Surah Sad,Ayat no:29.
It is important to mention that the word “men” in the above verse refers to humankind as it does so in several other places in the Quran when God addresses humanity. These and other verses inform the readers that engaging in critical thinking is a moral obligation on both men and women. The Quran repetitively reminds people to ponder, think, analyze, thus using their mind power to contemplate and understand, whilst making no distinction between men and women.
Let us now examine some hadith, authentic sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.
“Seeking knowledge is mandatory for every Muslim.”
“He who has a slave-girl and teaches her good manners and improves her education and then manumits and marries her, will get a double reward; and any slave who observes God’s right and his master’s right will get a double reward.” (emphasis added)
“If anyone travels on a road in search of knowledge, Allah will cause him to travel on one of the roads of Paradise. The angels will lower their wings in their great pleasure with one who seeks knowledge, the inhabitants of the heavens and the Earth and the fish in the deep waters will ask forgiveness for the learned man. The superiority of the learned man over the devout is like that of the moon, on the night when it is full, over the rest of the stars. The learned are the heirs of the Prophets, and the Prophets leave neither dinar nor dirham, leaving only knowledge, and he who takes it takes an abundant portion.” (emphasis added)
Three important themes around education are emerging in the above traditions. From the first Hadith we infer that education is not a right but a responsibility on every Muslim, male or female. In the second Hadith, emphasis is laid on the quality of education imparted to the girl slave and the latter part deals with the encouragement to free slaves (Islam denounced and later abolished slavery). The third Hadith speaks volumes about the superiority of the person who seeks knowledge over the one who does not. The reference here to superiority is to the person who seeks knowledge, man or woman.
We shall now examine information about the intellectual abilities of two wives of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him: Khadijah and Aishah.
Khadijah Binte Khuwaylid, the first wife of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), was a wealthy tradeswoman, the richest woman in Mecca at the time, who exported goods as far away as Syria. To manage her large business, she employed several males and to do so then in Arabia, necessitated that you have a high level of understanding and wisdom.
Aishah Binte Abu Bakr, the youngest wife of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), was very talented and possessed an incredible memory. As a Muslim scholar, she is credited with narrating more than two thousand Hadith and was noted for teaching eminent scholars. She had a great love for learning and became known for her intelligence and sharp sense of judgment. Her life also substantiates that a woman can be a scholar, exert influence over men and women and provide them with inspiration and leadership. The example of Aishah in promoting education, particularly education of women in the laws and teachings of Islam, is a hallmark in female education in Islam. Because of the strength of her personality, she was a leader in every field of knowledge, in society and in politics. The human are superior to the animals because of the mind. We find many sayings of the Holy Prophet (P. B. U. H.) on this subject;
“Attain knowledge from the cradle to the grave.”
Knowledge is identified in Islam as worship. The acquiring of knowledge is worship, reading the Quran and pondering upon it is worship, travelling to gain knowledge is worship. The practice of knowledge is connected with ethics and morality with promoting virtue and combating problems, enjoying lights and forbidding wrong. The main purpose of acquiring knowledge is to bring us closer to ALLAH.
A Muslim is not a Muslim simply because he is born Muslim instead a Muslim is a Muslim because he is a follower of Islam and he follows the rules which are given by ALLAH and an educated person always done his work according to Quran and Hadith. Gaining knowledge is not simply for the gratification of the mind or senses. It is not knowledge for the sake of knowledge or science for the value of sake of knowledge accordingly must be linked with values and goals. It is important to note here that the concept of knowledge in Islam covers a broad spectrum of subjects. It is not only about the education of Islamic studies, it is about the every kind of study or knowledge.
One of the purposes of acquiring knowledge is to gain the good of this world, not to destroy it through wastage, arrogance and in the reckless pursuit of higher standards of material comfort.
Allah Almighty makes the path to paradise easier for him who walks for getting knowledge. (Sahih Muslim, 4:2074)
The purpose of the above discussion is just to tell you about the importance of knowledge according to Islam. Now I would like to tell you about the equality of education for men and women in Islam.
Equality of men and women in Islam and they are complementary in nature to one another. In one sense equality between men and women is possible and reasonable because they are both human with similar souls, brains, hearts, lung, limbs etc but in another sense equality between men and women is impossible and an absurdity due to their natural differences in physical, mental, emotional and psychological qualities and abilities.
The Quran says,
O Men! Fear your Lord Who created you from a single being and out of it created its mate; and out of the two spread many men and women. (Sura An-Nisa, Sura # 4, Aya # 1)
This verse clearly expounds that men or women created from a single entity and are basically equal genders. As a gender one is not superior to the other and according to usage, women too have rights over men similar to the rights of men over women. That rights enjoyed by men are the duties of the women and the duties of men are the rights of women. This implies a similitude between both the genders. There is no light conferred on man that women may be deprived of because she is a woman. Islam entitles women to the same rights and men in terms of education. The Prophet of ALLAH (P. B. U. H.) said as reported and authenticated by the scholars; seeking knowledge is compulsory for each and every Muslim (i.e. both male and female).
Muslim scholars are collectively agreed that the word Muslim when used in revealed scriptures include both male and female as we indicated in parenthesis. Thus, Islam entitles women to the same right of education in order to understand the religious and social obligations and obligated them both to raise their children with the right Islamic guidance. Off course women have certain obligations in bringing up their children that are commensurate to their abilities.
The Quran says,
Their Lord answered the Prayer thus: “I will not suffer the work of any of you, whether male or female, to go to waste; each of you is from the other. Those who emigrated and were driven out from their homesteads and were persecuted in My cause, and who fought and were slain, indeed I shall wipe out their evil deeds from them and shall certainly admit them to the gardens beneath which rivers flow.” This is their reward with their Lord; and with Allah lies the best reward. (Surah Aal-i-Imran, Sura # 3, Aya # 195)
The religion of Islam gave women an honourable status and true dignity. Acquiring knowledge will enable Muslim men and women to get a better perception and understanding of the world around them and make them more conscious of Almighty ALLAH.
Islam regards women as spiritually and intellectually equal to men. Both have equal rights to receive an education and enter into gainful employment.
To prevent women from getting an education is contrary to the teaching of Islam. Equality can be attained by giving proper education and through awareness and by setting up rules and regulations to make sure that rights of the people are respected in Islam.
Sura Az-Zumar (39), Aya # 9 in Quran reveals,
“Are those who know equal to those who do not know?” Only those endowed with understanding take heed.”
Sura Al-Baqara (2), Aya # 269 in Quran reveals,
“He bestows wisdom upon anyone He wills, and he who is given wisdom is in fact given great wealth, but only those who have common sense learn lessons from these things.”
The study of the life of Holy Prophet (P. B. U. H.) also shows that he himself made special arrangements for the education and training of women.
Abu sa’id Al-Khudri reports that some women said to Holy Prophet (pbuh), men have gone ahead of us (in terms of acquiring of knowledge) therefore appointed a special day for our benefits as well. The Holy Prophet (pbuh) fixed one day for them. He (pbuh) would meet them on that day, advise them and educate them about commandments of Allah Almighty. (Sahih Bukhari, 1:50.)
None of these verses specify that only wise men receive admonition or that only male servants who have knowledge fear Him. ‘A’isha al-Siddiqa, mother of the faithful, was a hadith-narrator, scholar, intellectual and jurist of great standing. She is believed to have reported 2,210 traditions. She was also women and has too much knowledge so every woman should gain knowledge.
Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him) reiterated ;
“If a daughter is born to a person and he brings her up, gives her a good education and trains her in the arts of life, I shall myself stand between him and hell-fire.”
(Kanz al-Ummal, reported by Abdullah ibn Mas’ud).
Another Hadith states that, “The Father, if he educates his daughter well, will enter Paradise”.
Yet another Hadith states that, “A mother is a school. If she is educated, then a whole people are educated”.
Another misnomer is the view that suggests women are only allowed to gain knowledge from female teachers and that instructions from men are prohibited due to the demands of pardah. Although an ideal environment would dictate women teaching women, we do not live in the world where this is always possible. Since Islam is a religion for all nation and all times, it is based on practical reality. There is no stipulation that only women can teach other women or a bar regarding male teachers for women if the rules of dress are properly observed then men can teach female students under shari’a. This is also apparent from the above mentioned Hadith, when the Holy Prophet (P. B. U. H.) himself made arrangements for the education and training of women where one day was specified for women in the Prophet’s mosque.
CONCLUSION:
The conclusion is that women should be educated equally to men and it is already shown by Quran and Hadith. So women should gain knowledge for the betterment of their families and for their children. As the river has two banks, which are parallel to each other and always remain together and existence of both are very important and necessary. If any bank of river destroy than river cannot flow in proper way and spread. Like this men and women are both important and have collective importance to run their lives and also have importance to run a family in a better way. If one of them is not educated they could not understand the ups and downs of life and cannot run his/her family in better way. So there should be equality in men and women in terms of knowledge and education.
REFERENCES:
The Holy Qur’an
www.whyislam.org/The importance of Girl’s Education in Islam
www.saypeople.com / The Equality of Education for Men & Women in Islam by Qurrat-ul-Ain Shaukat