Shaikh ‘Abdul-‘Azeez bin Baaz (rahimahullaah) said: “Those who say that Islaam oppresses the woman have erred very much and have made a great mistake. For indeed it is Islaam that has been just towards her and elevated her status, she had been oppressed in the times of (pre-Islamic) ignorance amongst the Arabs and the Jews and Christians. It is Islaam that elevated her and venerated her significance and was just towards her and gave to her the rights due to her. So it made her a noble mother and a noble wife and a daughter who is shown compassion – and has benevolence granted upon her who is spent upon; and is treated with excellence until she becomes independent or can marry.”[4]
Shaikh Muhammad bin Saalih al-‘Uthaimeen (rahimahullaah) said: “Indeed the Islamic religion – it is the one that rendered assistance to the woman and thus gave her rights to her – after she had been wronged during the times of ignorance, due to His saying:
وَلِلنِّسَاءِ نَصِيبٌ مِّمَّا تَرَكَ الْوَالِدَانِ وَالْأَقْرَبُونَ
((And for the women is a share of what is left by the parents and close relatives.)) (An-Nisaa: 7)
However; the Islamic religion did not give the woman more than her (rightful) due, neither did it lower her from her station. Rather it gave her the right that is appropriate for her, and it is known – and for Allaah is the praise – by way of the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam).”[5]
The religion of Islaam not only gives the woman the station she deserves, but encourages fine treatment of women and for both men and women to attain enlightenment through seeking and pursuing beneficial knowledge. Therefore the religion of Islaam should not be confused with some of the erroneous cultural practices of particular nations and societies that are distant from the teachings of the religion – as is often presumed in these times, whether in regard to the treatment of women or other than that. The ill-treatment of women is not stipulated in Islaam, and so should not be attributed to it, rather the religion of Islaam encourages piety and dutifulness from both the men and the women, and it is on this basis and its implementation that an individual is deemed better than another – whether male or female.
Hence, the virtue of a person is by virtue of religion, and so whether male or female, a person is deemed better on account of Taqwa (piety and being fearful of Allaah), this is a right that the religion of Islaam has stipulated, as such, a great number of women have appeared over the course of time that were better than the men on that basis, and is something that has been witnessed over the centuries and documented, Shaikh ‘Abdul-‘Azeez bin Baaz (rahimahullaah) said: “How many a woman who is better than a man because of her knowledge and her religion and her uprightness and her insight. Whoever looks into the pages (of the books) of the female companions and the female Taabi’iyyat and the scholars of the Ummah from the women knows that there are good women, and that they are given preference over many of the men.”[6]
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