Women\'s Freedom and Men\'s Guardianship in Islam

Part 4

Welcome Dr. Hassan

Thank you.

Our readers admired the previous episodes very much and asked us to question you about some modern issues.

This is a big trust I appreciate and it is a great responsibility as well. I wish I can answer all the questions.

Equality between men and women is an issue extensively posed by secularists in every Muslim country. They allege that Islam doesn't put the two genders on an equal footing and that women are oppressed by Islamists. What do you think?

First, we should understand the meaning of "equality". Is it justice or identification?

For example, if I bring my daughter a doll, will I get my son a doll also?

There can be no equality unless between two identical things. Islam has a great philosophy concerning this matter. Men have different jobs from that of women. Each of them completes the other. Each of them has a special message. None of them can live without the other.

Would you give us an example?

Some day I gave a lecture in Ibn Khaldoon center. I said:

Suppose you are living in a villa and your servant is in a vacation and the door bell rings, whom of your children will you ask to open the door?

They said: the boy.

If it rings again and again?

They said: we'll ask the boy.

Then is this equality? You have tired the poor boy. You are contradicting your principles.

They replied: this is the boy's job.

I said: I want to say that males differ from females. Every one has a specific role. And this doesn't breach equality.

Can males be pregnant or breast feed their babies? Can females join the army and fight for their country?

Does dissimilarity rich our lives or harm it?

Allah is the only unique one in this universe. Diversity, not contradiction, is the core of life to achieve integration.

Islam combines the individual and social views. It balances between spirit and matter.

The modern materialistic life is the source of all evils. It depends on secularism which has no spirit. They want to make men a mirror image of women or vice versa. This is like making a permanent day or permanent night.

Can you explain more?

Yes, for example in car industrialization there is a department of manufacturing and another of marketing. Can we sell cars without making them? Can we produce cars without selling them? Of course no.

Production and marketing are two different but integrated fields. Can we say they are "not equal"? No, they are only "different".

Secularists also accuse Islam for giving men the guardianship of the whole family whereas in the West males have no such a role.

If we explain this according to management science, we'll reach the truth. First we should know that Islam has initiated the basic concepts of this science. There are three choices for family management:

1-     man is the guardian of the family

2-     woman is the guardian of the family

3-     there is no guardian at all

Now we start analyzing the three hypotheses:

It is not accepted by any ideological orientation to leave the family without supervision.

Therefore, we should select one of the two other choices. Islam puts man in charge of the family and builds a comprehensive system according to that.

Secularism doesn't choose any i.e. it doesn't offer an alternative system. They criticize Islam without giving a better solution and they know this is unfair.

Men support the family financially and women give them sexual pleasure in return. Some scholars say women are only asked to do this not, as many believe, to carry out house work etc.

Moreover, they have the right to have servants whose wages are paid by husbands, if they can afford this.

I'm not a jurist. I'm only trying to make it easy to live by and for Islam. Nevertheless, I must read the juristic background of any subject before I talk about it.

I was astonished when I heard that opinion but it is the greatness of Islam. It is our fault not to know enough about our religion. We often do wrong to our wives by misunderstanding the role of man. Guardianship is a responsibility of husbands to facilitate the family needs.

The social aspect of guardianship requires some conditions that must be met by a man to assume such a role like wisdom, strong personality, following Sharia, etc.

In case he cannot meet the conditions, leadership will be transferred to any one else including the wife.

For example, if the husband is a drunkard, crazy or doesn't meet the family's financial needs, he is not fit for guardianship.

The Quran says that "men" not "males" are in charge of women.

We say to secularists and the West Islam offers a comprehensive system for the family management that you don't like. Show us yours. They don't have any.

Isn't guardianship a responsibility not a position?

Yes, it is. The proof is that the husband will be asked for the faults of his wife and children whereas this doesn't apply on wives.

Responsibilities require competencies. This is a management rule both in Islam and in secularism.

Is it logical to put someone in charge of a store without giving him the keys?

Guardianship of men is not a target. Rather it is a means to control the family's life.

Islam doesn't know the culture of masculinity. It stems from the customs and traditions of a society.

Translated by: Fatima Suleiman

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