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EDUCATION OF WOMEN IN ISLAM

Some prejudiced and ignorant people claim that Islam does not encourage women to beeducated and that it prefers women to be ignorant or close to it. This is a biased,

unfounded allegation against Islam. Indeed, there is no religion or doctrine on earth thatencourages man to seek knowledge as much as Islam. Islam strongly encourages humans,both men and women, to acquire knowledge in all fields of life, as well as to research andreach the facts.

Islam defines knowledge to be the correct way to know Allaah The Almighty, have belief inHim, and surrender to His Shareeah. Were not the first verses revealed to the Prophet,sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, a strong declaration of this fact? The first verses that wererevealed to the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, are those in which Allaah TheAlmighty addressed His Messenger, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, Saying (whatmeans): {Recite in the Name of your Lord Who created. Created man from aclinging substance. Recite, and your Lord is The Most Generous. Who taught bythe pen. Taught man that which he knew not.} [Quran 96: 1-5]

This is a command to recite in the name of the Creator who created humans,

both men and women, from a clinging substance. This refers to the fact that

the creation of Allaah The Almighty is the field for humans to seek knowledge,

and that this will guide them to the way of Allaah The Almighty. Researching

what Allaah The Almighty created is the closest and best way for the seekers of

knowledge and the pursuers of the truth, wherever they may be and in

whichever scientific field they may be engaged.

The revelation began with a command to read, because reading is the most important

means of consolidating knowledge and continuing with it. Reading comes after writing,

which is why Allaah The Almighty displayed His favor upon His slaves since He taught

humans to write with pens which is the greatest tool of writing. This means that Allaah The

Almighty has taught all humans - male and female.

This call with which Allaah The Almighty invites humans to seek knowledge and establish

sciences, since the very beginning of Islam, is the greatest evidence of the full equality

between man and woman with regard to calling them to science, knowledge, pondering on

the creation of Allaah The Almighty, and using the two correlated means of knowledge;

namely, reading and writing.

Knowledge is the way to know Allaah The Almighty, have faith in Him, and know the rulings

of the religious obligations for both men and women. It is a must for every Muslim man and

woman to learn all that guides him or her to know the teachings and ordinances of their

religion that each of them has to abide by, because each man and woman will be

individually reckoned for their acts before Allaah The Almighty.

Humans, both men and women, are tried in this life. Each one is fully responsible for his

actions as long as he or she is competent, and as long as he or she possesses reason, will,

and ability.

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Since humans are responsible for their actions, they are obligated to acquire all that will

enable them to distinguish between truth and falsehood, goodness and evil, benefit and

harm, and to know the boundaries of his responsibility before Allaah The Almighty.

Islam is very keen on teaching woman all that makes her an element of goodness and

reform in a secure, happy Islamic society that develops towards perfection and advances

towards power and glory.

To do so, Islam is keen on women attending Islamic assemblies, large and small. Islam

encourages women to perform the congregational Salaahs (prayers), to attend the Friday

Salaah and sermon, and the Salaah and sermon of Eedeven if she has the excuse that

prevents her from performing the prayer. Islam also orders women to perform Hajj

(pilgrimage) and Umrah (lesser pilgrimage), and encourages her to attend sessions for

religious knowledge. Moreover, Allaah The Almighty addresses both men and women

together, except in a few cases, which shows His keenness on educating them, cultivating

them, teaching them the matters of their religion and allowing them to take part in the

issues facing Muslims.

A look at the reality of life shows us how important it is for a woman to be upright,

knowledgeable, and well-mannered, for the sake of her family and then for the good of the

entire society. The extent of a woman's uprightness or corruption within her family

determines the extent of the uprightness or corruption of her children.

In addition to this, the woman greatly influences the man whether he is a husband, a father

or a brother. The woman's uprightness is more important for the family than the man's

uprightness, because the woman can play an effective role in either guiding or corrupting

the formation of manners, principles, and habits in young children; this role is much more

important than man's role for many reasons:

1- Allaah The Almighty has endowed woman with flowing sentiment, a lenient

disposition and an ability to be involved and take part in the life of children in

accordance with their mentality and nature. This makes her acquire the children's

love and confidence, so they imitate her behavior and all that she says or does.

2- The woman accompanies her children most of the time when they are being

brought up. During this stage, a child still has a pure human nature and is like soft

dough that can be adapted to traditions and customs.

Since women have this great impact on raising children inside or outside her family, theymust be properly qualified so as to be a righteous, good example. This can only be donethrough teaching women how to become righteous educators to bring up children in agood, Islamic way and make use of their gentle sentiment to fill their hearts and souls withfaith and goodness so that these women would be able to pass them on to the generationwhich she is raising and educating.

When we see upright, well-mannered children and investigate the reason behind this, wecome to know that they have a righteous, upright, well-mannered mother, even if theirfather is not so. Similarly, when we see corrupt, deviated children and search for the

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reason behind this, we realize that they have a corrupt mother, even though their fathermay be righteous and well-mannered.

Due to these factors and examples that call for the reformation of the education of womenand refining their behavior and morals so they would be righteous caretakers, it is nowonder that Islam is keen on teaching women. The Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam,

would dedicate specific days for women to gather, in addition to the days when they wouldattend with men, so that he would be able to teach them the divine knowledge whichAllaah The Almighty taught and are related to women only, particularly due to theirphysical and psychological formation. They had the courage to request that from theProphet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam; a request that he responded positively to.

Abu Saeed Al-Khudri said,

A woman came to the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, and said, O Messenger of

Allaah, the men get all your speech, so devote to us a day on which we may come to you

so that you would teach us of what Allaah has taught you. The Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi

wa sallam, said: Gather on such-and-such a day.They gathered and the Prophet,

sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, came to them and taught them of what Allaah had taught

him. He then said: No woman of you gives three children [i.e., loses them to death]

except that they will screen her from the Fire.A woman said, O Messenger of Allaah, and

two [of her children]? The Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, replied: And two![Al-

Bukhaari and Muslim]

This was a woman from the Companions who politely and courageously went to the

Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, and confidently addressed him, saying, "Men get all

your speech, so devote to us a day on which we may come to you so that you would teachus of what Allaah The Almighty has taught you.

As men would sit at the front of the sessions of the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam,

most of the words, admonitions and statements were directed at them. Although the call of

Islam, its rulings, obligations, and admonitions concern both men and women, some issues

and rulings are specific to women, while some others are specific to men.

The men obtained their share of knowing the rulings that are specific to them because they

could easily and directly speak to the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam; they were also

bold enough to ask about every matter in their religion. They could ask the Prophet,

sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, at any time, whereas women could not always ask about the

religious rulings that were specific to women or the solutions to their problems. Even if

they could attend the sessions of the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, without

intermixing with men, they might have felt too shy to ask about their specific matters in

the presence of men. Therefore, teaching them the rulings that were specific to them and

solving their problems entailed dedicating special sessions for them to discuss their issues

and give them the rulings and provide them with the teachings in accordance with their

psychological, intellectual, moral, and social characteristics as well as in accordance with

their responsibility in their life inside and outside their families. For all these reasons, this

woman demanded that a specific time be allocated for women to be taught the matters of

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religion that were specific to them, and for the same reasons the Prophet, sallallaahu

alayhi wa sallam, accepted and answered her demand.

This is the correct way for women to be educated and driven out of the darkness of

ignorance into the light of knowledge, so that they would fulfill their responsibility in this

life in the best and most perfect way. Also, in this way, they can properly bear the

responsibility while maintaining their chastity and modesty, without being cast into an

intermixed society that quickly adopts the corruption that is typical of such societies,

causing women to suffer from the desires that trigger acts of disobedience, sins and many

other forms of immorality to spread.

Sound knowledge is the first means for reforming any society including men and women;

both the old and the young.

Muslim women, in the beginning of the first Islamic era, were enthusiastic to learn the

teachings of their religion and the rulings that addressed their specific issues. They

gathered at the special sessions which the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam,

dedicated for them. The Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, came to them at specified

times; he taught them from what Allaah The Almighty taught him and he explained matters

to them. They asked him about many issues and he answered them.

Some female Companions of theAnsaarwere bold enough to ask about the issues that

were specific to women. Aaishah praised them saying, May Allaah have mercy uponthe women of Al-Ansaar; their bashfulness did not prevent them from asking about the

matters of their religion.

At this exalted standard, Islam defined its policy for women's education. Having

manifested all these facts, would the enemies of Islam still have anything to say in order

to delude people about the issue of women's education, as part of their attempt to give a

false image about Islam? With this full equality between men and women concerning

both knowledge and deeds, would the complaints of those who try to distort the

wonderful image of Islam continue to hurt our ears with things that cause a sound

disposition to be repulsed?