Education & Women

Education is as important for women as it is for men.  Without education, both are incomplete. Education is a need which no one can afford to ignore.  Ignoring it would mean depriving oneself of the means to attain a higher goal in life.  Unable to reach any worthwhile goal, one would then leave this world in a state of frustration.

Education is so important for both men and women that no excuse should be made in not seeking education.  There can be no excuse for not doing so, for education is not just for producing a job, but for building up a good life for oneself.  Today, education is important in every sphere of life.  Therefore, no one can afford to remain uneducated, as that stops one from living life to the fullest.

Man is like an animal.  What is it that elevates man above the level of an animal? The difference is education.  Education enables man to realize his latent potential and turn it into reality.  This is not possible without education.  Education here means higher education, not just vocational education.  Vocational education ensures one a job, while a broader education transports one to the world of knowledge and wisdom.  The acquisition of knowledge and wisdom takes the educated person to the highest pedestal of humanity.

Monogamy or Polygamy

Chapter 4 of the Qur’an allows a man to have four wives (4:3).  This does not mean that every man should have four wives.  This rule is an exception, and not to be taken in general sense.  The general rule is to have only one wife; but in a case of real necessity, a man can have more than one wife.

This need refers to a situation where, by some unfortunate incident, there is disparity between the number of man and women in society.  When there are more women than men, there is sexual anarchy.  To overcome this inequality, in dire cases, men are allowed to have more than one wife.

The truth is that a natural way of marriage is between one man and one woman.  For a man is naturally biased against the second wife in most cases.  This suffices to prove that monogamy is the natural way, while polygamy is permitted in exceptional circumstances by the law of necessity.  There are exceptional laws of this kind which cover other cases as well.  But exceptional laws are exceptional laws, and they cannot be applied in general.

Equality in Marriage

It is generally understood that, marriages are solemnized between families of equal status for practical reasons.  In such situations, it is believed that adjustments would be easier and would, thus, ensure a happy family life.  However, in reality, this is just a supposition.  If we look closely, we can find that marriages among equals suffer as much.  Equality, therefore, does not assure success in nuptial relations.  A successful marriage depends more on learning the art of management.

It is also commonly held that marriages do not work for couples who come from different educational backgrounds, and where there are regional differences, and disparity in economic status, etc.  This is also wrong assumption.  A home is similar to a full-fledged institution.  Like other institutions, a home also has many departments.  The easiest way to run this institution is to have a division of labour between men and women.  Men and women should take up different departments, in accordance with their different capabilities, and run the department independently, without interfering with one other.  Thus, in this division of labour, the problem of inequality will be solved.

Gender Equality

In a Seminar in Delhi, I met a retired Judge who asked, “Zahid Sahab, do you know what the weakest point in Islam is? Islam does not admit gender equality!”

Modern man finds such concepts unacceptable.  The modern age is one of gender equality, while Islam talks of gender inequality. This concept is shared by most people of the world today.  But this concept is not based on a deeper reflection of the term.  Gender inequality is a matter concerning gender difference, and does not concern itself with gender inequality.  The whole world is based on this difference, and the matter concerning men and women is not an exception to this rule.

There is nothing negative about this difference. Difference is a positive term.  The difference between men and women can be compared to the two wheels of a cart. One wheel is not equal to the other.  They are complimentary to one another. God had made biological and psychological differences between a man and a woman.  This difference is made so that they become good life partners of one another.  Both are complimentary to one another.

The concept of gender equality is an unnatural concept.  It creates unnecessary conflict between the two.  But the concept of gender differences produces the concept of being complimentary to each other, of supporting each other.  It enables the partners to run the cart of life like two wheels joined together.

The Important Role of a Woman

There is a maxim, which says: There is a woman at the beginning of all great things.

One example in this case is that of Nancy Alwa Edison, the mother of Thomas Alwa Edison, (d. 1931) the famous scientist whose discoveries in science number more than a 1000. It was Nancy Edison, a school teacher, who worked hard to add the name of Thomas Edison to the list of the world’s greatest scientists.

Edison’s hearing was impaired from birth.  He could not hear properly, and was thus expelled from school.  But his mother was not one to give up easily.  She took the responsibility of educating her son and home-schooled him, arranging for all his educational requirements. Edison acknowledged the role of his mother in his life: “She instilled in me the love and the purpose of learning.”

Everyone can be like Edison’s mother.  Every woman is endowed with the capacity to play this role, provided she understands the abilities God has given her, and utilizes them determinedly. However, the greatest quality required for this job is patience.  The capability is created by the Creator, but the price of patience has to be paid by the person concerned.  A woman who can pay this price can play a great role, just like Edison’s mother.