alhamdulillah, i was fortunate to spend my evening, attending a lecture on "Women's Rights in Islam." this program was hosted by Muslim Student Association in Stevens..and the speaker was a Muslim physician from New Jersey (sorry, i'm just bad in remembering people's name)..the event was attended mostly by Malaysian students..and there were few non-Muslim participants..and of course, the discussion was alive, basically because of the presence of these non-Muslim brothers and sisters..
..well, the speaker started his lecture w/ a very surprising statement, which, based on prior knowledge on Islam, was very new to me..he said clearly that there were many rights being mentioned in Holy Koran, but nothing is related to women's rights...wow, that was something that i have neglected before..his basis argument on this issue was that, in Islam, men and women are both the same...there's no such gender bias existed in Islam..and thus, there is no need to fight for men/women's rights...according to him, the story of women begins when Adam (p.b.u.h) and Eve were sent to the world...in Koran, both were responsible of the misconduct..and then the second story was during Prophet Muhammad's (p.b.u.h) first revelation...when he first got the revelation from Gabriel, he was scared..and the first person he told was his wife, Khadijah..and based on Islamic history, Khadijah was the first person who embraced Islam...in both cases, there were none that showed that Islam did discriminate between men and women..
..and then the speaker talked about the three most debatable issues, concerning the women's rights in today's world..the first one is the issue of wearing hijab..many argue the difference between women and men's dress code..why should women cover most of their bodies, while men's dress code is from their belly button to their knees..if Islam is fair, why there is a difference in term of dress code? well, according to this speaker, we need to look this issue from biological perspective since women and men are created in different ways..so do their needs..naturally, there are many possible parts on women's body, in which men could be attracted to...thus, there is a need for women to cover those parts...and vice versa..but, the ultimate goal of having such a dressing code for both men and women is that to give a signal that she/he is not available, unless through one condition - marriage..and he also spoke about the 8 qualities of women's dress code..
..and the second topic is the issue of equality..some says that Islam is denying the potential/capability of women..yet, in today's reality men are no longer better than women..but, why in Islam, even in worshiping events, women are discriminated...for example, men are encouraged to perform worshiping activities in congregational way, but women are preferred to do them privately (in their house)...but, according to the speaker, the purpose of those orders is to optimize the function of both men and women...and in Islam, men and women are completing each others..he gave one big example, in which man used to be the only working person in a family, while women stays at home, taking care of her kids...the man really needs the comfort from his wife, after having such a tough day at work..what will happen when the man comes back just to notice that no one is at home? who's gonna to console him? because the only person who could this is his wife..neither his close friends, nor his colleagues..
...and the third and the hottest topic was about polygamy in Islam..it was such a long discussion, in which i choose not to write here...and i'll let people, who are reading this blog, to comment on this issue...but, one thing i need to clarify about this issue is that, polygamy is permitted in Islam..neither it is an order nor a law that everyone should abide..and i'll say in a simpler way that it is an option for men, whom think they are capable to do so...and me honestly, i have no argument since i have no intention to marry more than one woman..for sure, i can't be fair if i have more than one wife...that is enough to discredit/disqualify me from taking this option..
..and the conclusion from this talk is that, in Islam, men and women perform orders given by God due to one and the only reason, " because God said so!" and the justifications behind them come later..indeed, if any of these orders cannot be justified, then let it be that way..
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*please excuse me if there is mistakes in discussing this issue..and please let me know if there's any
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