80640575.

doc A Womans Place is in Allaah

by

Anis Kotia

MA Islamic Studies, ICAS Middlesex. Semester One - 2010 Submission date: 22nd January 2010.

80640575.doc

(Gurmukhi to English transliteration: Har kamyab bande de piche kisi buri da hath QuickTime and a honda)
decompressor are needed to see this picture.

Behind every successful man there is the hand (support) of a woman Nusrat Jabin Kotia (d. 19.05.99)

Dedicated to my mother, Nusrat. May Allaah rest her soul.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Table of contents.................................................................... iii Introduction .............................................................................. 4 Problems with traditions and Shariah................................... 7 Man and woman in ontology................................................ 10
Theophanic qualities of Eve................................................................................... 10 The greatest hidden treasure................................................................................ 12

The perfect (wo)man.............................................................................................. 13 The Crooked Rib.................................................................................................. 16

Closing remarks.................................................................... 18 Appendices............................................................................ 19

Appendix 1............................................................................................................. 20 Appendix 2............................................................................................................. 21

Bibliography............................................................................ 22

80640575.doc

INTRODUCTION

Muslim scholars often talk about the justice Islam affords women because, for one, it gave them rights of inheritance which were not otherwise available in pre-Islamic Arabia1 . That may be true, however, the Shariah is limited in this capacity: it will not explain how much one should love a woman or to what degree women are the equals of men. In this essay I argue that scholars need to build on the innate qualities of love and mercy that Allaah has bestowed in each human being before they even approach the Shariah. This will manifest in a natural appreciation of women and ensure a more practical and effective approach to the Shariah. There has been much written on the topic of Women in Islam and the West 2 in recent

times with the image of women in Islam often being contrasted against that of the Western woman: Islam would appear to condone honour killings3 and women are often forbidden from education4 second-class citizens. The application of sad al dhari5 within Saudi Arabia has lead to the prohibition on , thus, Muslim women appear to have been turned into

women drivers and also of women having to dress in black from head to toe; such
Women in pre-Islamic Arabia by Muslim Womens http://www.mwlusa.org/topics/history/herstory.html accessed 03.01.10
1 2

League,

September

1995:

A simple search on the internet for Women in Islam and the West will reveal a significant amount of discussion on this topic. Honour killings are occurring in the http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/honourcrimes/crimesofhonour_1.shtml accessed 20.12.09.
3 4 5

UK.

See

Referring to the Taliban.

Blocking the lawful means to an unlawful: http://maqasid.wordpress.com/2009/03/30/maqasid-shariahintroduction-to-correct-understanding-of-blocking-the-means-sadd-al-dharai-principle/ accessed 03.01.10

application is often deemed as being uninspirational and is gradually leading to reform within the Arab kingdom.6 Traditional Islam is faced with the growing challenge of

modernisation in a Western context and must be able to live up to the challenge. This is compounded by the fact that the study of women is becoming an increasingly important topic7 . Yet the Prophet Muhammad was sent as a Mercy to Mankind 8 and not as a mercy only to men. How then can his mission of mercy be reconciled with todays situation? Given that the traditional perspective does not seem to adequately offer solutions to the issues of today, this paper turns to Sufism for the answer, in particular to the teachings of Ibn Arab in which we can see a great deal of practical application. The vast topic of women in Sufism cannot possibly be fully discussed in this short essay. I therefore focus on the ontological perspective of the sexes to argue that women are equally important, thus Muslim men should not take for granted their rights over women. One hadth of the Prophet Muhammad clearly mentions that it is not just the family or husband who have a right over a woman and it puts the familys rights in third position after Allaah and the persons own soul9 :

So give every right claimant their right10

See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1576182/Saudi-Arabia-to-lift-ban-on-womendrivers.html accessed 03.01.10

6

See Ministerial Conclusions on Strengthening the Role of Women in Society: http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/euromed/women/docs/conclusions_1106.pdf accessed 03.01.10
7

See Quraan (21 : http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/quran/021.qmt.html accessed 03.01.10

8 9 10

107):

Word actually used was nafs which is translated as soul, however, it can also be translated as self.

From al-Bukhr, http://www.sonnaonline.com/Montaka/Hadith.aspx?HadithID=169 accessed 06.01.10 Full hadith given in Appendix 1.

Though He may have given men rights over their wives, these need to be looked at in conjunction with a womans aspirations and desires to worship Allaah.

PROBLEMS WITH TRADITIONS AND SHARIAH

Islamic traditions at times appear to have a harsh outlook on women. The famous nqist al-aql wa al-dn hadth is often recited every Friday from the mosque pulpits11 . This hadth also says that the majority of Hells denizens are women 12 notion of original sin13 . Christianitys

seems to have a parallel in even traditional Islam. Such

misogynistic tendencies appear to be easily kindled within the minds of Muslim men. Yet Sufi mystics have a long tradition of revering pioneering pious women and famous Sufi writers such as Ibn Arab (d. 1240) held women to be the equal of men.

Rabah al-Adawiyyah (d. 801) of Basrah, Iraq, is famous for reaching a spiritual station where she changed the relationship between women and Allaah: she often said that apart from Allaah, she was no longer capable of loving another, including the Prophet Muhammad14 .

Nana Asmau (d. 1864) was the daughter of Uthman dan Fodio (d. 1817), the founder of the Sokoto caliphate in Nigeria. Her poetry reflects her respect and yearning for the company of the past ascetic women including the Prophet Muhammads wife

Translated as intellectually and religiously incomplete, recited in the khutbah (sermons) of many mosques in Britain. Full hadith given in Appendix 2)
11

al-Bukhr Volume 1, Book 2, Number 28: http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/hadith/bukhari/002.sbt.html# 001.002.028 accessed 18.12.09

12

This is the notion that Eve is to blame for the expulsion of her and Adam from Heaven, hence all women are sinful. Islams view is not the same, see Quraan 20: 120.
13

Fareed al-Deen Attaar on Rabiah al Adawiyyah: http://rabia_al-adawiyya.totallyexplained.com/ accessed 03.01.10

14

Ayesha15 . She became famous for educating women in West Africa and she still inspires people to this day16 .

Fatimah, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad is considered to be the epitome of all ascetic and gnostic characteristics not only because of her own dhikr and awrd but also because of her descent from the Prophet17 .

Those women reached a status which even men would have been proud of. In theory, every woman is capable of reaching such a spiritual station and therefore women deserve respect as spiritual equals in Muslim society.

Ibn Arab, the Heir to the Prophets18 , himself received spiritual guidance from two women: Shams of Marchena and Fatimah bint al-Muthanna of Cordoba, Spain. He was with the latter for two years and called her his mother, accepting spiritual descent from her19 .

It would appear that traditional Islam has lost its ability to understand the equality between man and woman. The influences of ideologies that are saturated with misogynistic tradition do not help the situation. One of these influences is Wahhabism which originated in post-colonial Saudi Arabia where it emerged as a defining Islamist movement and at the time, helped to reconcile Muslims with rational ways of thinking as
15 16

Sufi Women, in Works of Nana Asmau in English, Boyd & Mack, pp. 68 82 online at

See Muslim Women in Northern Nigeria, The Example of Nana Asmau http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-478/_nr-264/i.html accessed 27.12.09
17

According to the Prophet (s), he was given celestial food while on his night journey through the seven heavens. When he returned to earth, he was commanded by Gabriel to go to Khadija, and it was from that union that Fatima was born. (Asqalaanee, Lisaan al-Mizaan, Vol. 5: 160.)

His disciples often referred to him as this: http://www.oneworldpublications.com/pdfs/Ibn_Arabi.pdf accessed 03.01.10.

18

Al-Mu'jam al-Sufi, pp. 124-5 as referenced in Ibn Arabis twofold perception of Woman online at http://www.ibnarabisociety.org/articles/women.html accessed 20.12.09. He also received spiritual guidance from Shams of Mercena (Masterton, ICAS)
19

promoted by Western education and Western colonial powers; however, with regards to interpreting the original Islamic sources, certain important Islamic perspectives are lost on modern day Wahhabism with its exoteric literalist stance. Wahhabism has always pitted itself against Sufism but its rigid nature is increasingly becoming its greatest flaw because it appears to be too inflexible to work with an evolving modern, Western life 20 . I do not predict that Wahhabism will be able indefinitely to continue to survive in its current form.

A man once marvelled at the Prophet when he saw him kissing his children at which the Prophet Muhammad said Can I put mercy in your hearts after Allaah has removed it from them?21 This hadth alludes to the fact that there are qualities with which all human beings are naturally endowed and love for ones children is one of them. Furthermore, the man would appear to have incorrectly regarded affection as being a feminine quality or a sign of weakness. Islamic tradition or law therefore should not be required to instil in someone a feeling of love and respect. In the same way that there is something wrong with the one who cannot feel and express love for their children, I would say the same for the person who cannot love and respect women without turning to Islamic law. In order to obtain this understanding and appreciate womens role in the cosmos, we need to go back to original creation.

20 21

Wahhabism appears to have been exported to the West also

See 90 under 50. Kissing Children on http://www.sunnipath.com/library/Hadith/H0003P0005.aspx accessed 20.12.09

MAN AND WOMAN IN ONTOLOGY

THEOPHANIC QUALITIES OF EVE

According to Islamic teachings, the first man to be created was Adam. Allaah says that He created mankind in the best form,22 which logically means that Adam was physically the most perfect human. From Adams rib He created Eve. This well known account is not only present in the Quraan and canons of hadth23 but also in the Bible24 . The notion of creating Eve from Adam has great symbolic meaning. Such notions expressly appear in ahdth of the Prophet Muhammad when he said that Al is from me and I am from him25 . Allaahs act of creating Eve from Adam both joined her in existence to him and signifies how one is dependent on the other: Adam on Eve for her companionship during his life and Eve on Adam for her creation.

Fazlallah Astarabad (d. 1395) believed that Eve was in a sense inferior to Adam as Adam was created first and he acted as mould for her creation. On the other hand, Astarabad viewed her as being equal to Adam and necessary for his fulfilment in that the cosmos could not progress along its predestined course without her26 .

22 23

Quraan 95 : 5

Quraan 4 : 1, although Quraan does not explicitly mention the rib being the source, the prophetic traditions do (see 273 on http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=7&ID=4079&CATE=120 accessed 20.12.09 al-Bukhr and al-Muslim hadth)
24 25

Genesis 2 : 22

Musnad Ahmad: v.5, p.356 as per http://www.imamreza.net/eng/imamreza.php?id=3224 accessed 20.12.09

26

10

Shahzad Bashir, Fazlallah Astarabadi and the Hurufis, Oneworld Publications, 2005, pp. 56 57

I argue that Eve was unique and potentially even more important from at least one perspective: the function of reproduction signifies creativity, which is an activity, reserved by Allaah; within humans, He gave this quality to Eve. Even though He will have empowered Adam with the ability to father children, without Eve Adam would not even have had an inkling of the notion of mating. It is with the arrival of Eve, that the desires for woman arose within Adam and he will have expressed this desire by having sexual relations with her. It is then within the womb that the child is formed and the womb symbolises the creative power that Allaah entrusted to women.

Astarabad believed that Adams face symbolised the cosmos or alternatively had been created to symbolise the image of Allaah Himself27 . I posit the notion that different parts of the mothers body are almost theophanies of Allaah: the spirit is transferred to the womb and this becomes the place where the child is now one with the mother and arguably symbolises wahdat al-wujud28 ; after the childs birth, this role is transferred to the bosom of the mother from where the child receives nourishment and solace. Then as the child grows older, they become more distant from their mothers and return as it were to unity with Allaah through the mystical journey of the soul as described in Sufism. Adam, therefore, cannot be said simply to be the mould for Eve because she symbolised much more than just being Adams companion. Each human being that Allaah entrusted to this life was provided with a place of love, compassion and solace in the mother: every prophet, king, nobleman, rich person and pauper; it is a reminder to mankind of how he is in need of Allaahs grace and how the mothers supervision symbolises Allaahs ever watchful eyes.
27 28

Ibid : 49

This notion cannot be explored fully here due to the limited scope of this essay. The womb is of great significance within ahadith: The word 'Ar-Rahm' (womb) derives its name from 'Ar-Rahman (alBukhr, Volume 8, Book 73, Number 18: http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/hadith/bukhari/ 073.sbt.html accessed 03.01.10)

11

THE GREATEST HIDDEN TREASURE The qualities of Allaah can be categorised into two types29 : innate, such as the Everliving and applied such as the Just. Allaah did not need the entities to exist for Him to be the Everliving, yet, there was no application of justice before the creation existed and Allaah showed His justice.

Allaahs greatest innate quality is His mercy. Not only is His mercy mentioned at the beginning of every surah of the Quraan but Allaah also says that His mercy dominates His anger30 :

Allaahs mercy falls into both categories of innate and applied: al-Rahm (the merciful) is an applied attribute, but al-Rahmn (the compassionate) is innate31 .

When we contemplate Allaahs mercy, we understand it to cover His goodness, bounty, kindness, love and solicitude towards all creation32 . He created Eve and made her the mother of Adams children and the rest of mankind, He therefore used her to portray to mankind the greatest of His qualities:

29 30

There are other categorisations that can be made, such as soft and hard qualities.

Famous hadth quds in al-Bukhar [Kitab al Tawhid, number 6969]. Discussed by Ibn Arab, p. 126 of Ibn Arabi, heir to the Prophets, by William Chittick, Oneworld publications, 2005. Compassion is integral to ones character and manifests in a general showing of mercy whereas being merciful is on a case by case basis. This notion is explored both by Mamdouh Mohammed in his lecture entitled Oh My Willing Servant: www.aswatalislam.net. It is also mentioned within Al Mufradat fi Ghareeb al Quraan by al Raghib al Isfahani, published by Dar al Marifah, Beirut, Date unknown.
31 32

12

Astarabadi (Op. Cit)

He has more mercy for His slaves than a mother for her child33

Therefore, His love, mercy and kindness are shown through women and He needed to create woman in order to show mankind this quality and fulfil the revelation of the greatest of hidden treasures. The hadth also alludes to the fact that Allaah generally bestowed His qualities to men and women in differing proportions.

Even the notion attributed to the Prophet that he was a mercy to mankind34 was one such application of Allaahs mercy and it does not contradict the fact that Allaah has endowed women with a greater degree of mercy than men:

Because the basmalah35 is recited at the beginning of every surah in the Quraan it can be said to be the greatest quality and as women have a greater degree of mercy than men it can be argued that women are the greatest of the hidden treasures of Allaah.

THE PERFECT (WO)MAN

Although men cannot give as much love as women they can experience that love as receivers of it. On the other hand, women being potential mothers can experience the greatest degree of love and mercy as both givers and receivers.

See Hadith Qudsi on Islamic Zeal website http://islamiczeal.blogspot.com/2009/08/hadith-qudsi.html last accessed 18.12.09
33

34
35

Quraan 21:10.

The reading of Bismillah al Rahman al Raheem (In the name of Allaah the Compassionate, the Merciful) which contains the two aforementioned mercy-related qualities of Allaah.

13

Ibn Arab reduces the difference between male and female to being simply contingent, saying that the two can aspire to the same roles and functions. Even though I agree with this to a great degree, empirical study shows that they are different physically, psychologically, emotionally and intellectually36 . Although there are no hard and fast characteristics that can be used to differentiate between the sexes on account of the above criteria, empirical evidence shows that there are strong tendencies in both which make them unique.

The notion of Allaah bestowing His qualities on men and women in unequal proportions does not contradict the notion of the Perfect Man being non-gender specific: contrary to the belief that the Perfect Man (PM)37 (al-insn al-kmil) is the man38 who comprises all of the qualities of Allaah in full, I would say that the term al-insn al-kmil must apply

to both women as well as men. Males can reach the status of

(al-rajul al-

kmil: the complete male) and likewise women can attain a status of

(al-

maratu al-kmilah: the complete female). If the two above notions could be weighted in terms of spiritual perfection, they would be equal: Maximum Spiritual StateMale = Maximum Spiritual StateFemale

However, the qualities that each embodies are not endowed in the same proportions:

Note: I am not saying that women are intellectually inferior; see Understanding the Difference between men and women by Michael Conner available online at http://www.oregoncounseling.org/ArticlesPapers/Documents/DifferencesMenWomen.htm accessed 20.12.09
36

The discussion over Perfect Man is very lengthy and is touched up on here. Definition: flawless figure of the insn kmil, the theomorphic Man (Chodkiewicz, in Ibn al-Arabi, 2004:33)
37
38

14

Titus Burckhardt on Ibn Arabi, 1980, 37

39

Mix of QualitiesMalePM <> Mix of QualitiesFemalePM

The term of al-insn al-kmil then denotes a title that Allaah bestows on someone who reaches this station. Thus, I agree with the notion of al-insn al-kmil being equally applicable to both men and women awliy40 potential as per Ibn Arab: He (ibn Arabi) commonly calls those who achieve the goal Perfect Man (al insan al kamil), one of his best known technical terms. The word insan has no gender connotation41 Maximum Spiritual StateMale = Maximum Spiritual StateFemale = Perfect Man who have reached their full spiritual

Likewise, al-haqqah al-muhammadiyyah also bears no connotation of gender, otherwise women would be precluded from attaining those inner states. I would go one step further to argue that as al Haqqah al Muhammadiyyah was a truth embodied by the Prophet only after a number of other prophets (male and female) had already reached this station, the true haqqah was by default transferred to him as he was the last Prophet and the one to pass this light onto his followers: Among men, many have reached perfection, and among women, Mary and Asiyah42

The awliy of the Ummah (nation) of Muhammad inherited perfection via Sufism, according to the Sufis. On the Prophet Muhammad (s) Ibn Arab said: [He] is the total theophany of the divine names, the whole of the universe in its oneness

39 40 41 42

PM means Perfect Man Singular form is wal: friend of Allaah Chittick, 2005 : 12 Chittick, 2005 : 12 13. Asiyah was the wife of Pharaoh.

15

as seen by the divine essence. Muhammad is the prototype of the universe as well as of man.43 Allaah may have planned the Prophet before Adam was created, however, the Prophet appeared much later and although predestined to be perfect before his birth, cannot be said to have reached the status of perfection before his Prophethood in at least his 40 th year. As the Prophet himself stated, among his predecessors were women who reached that (one) station of perfection44, as above, putting the perfect state of a woman on par with that of a man.

THE CROOKED RIB Now when we reconsider the crooked rib tradition of the Prophet Muhammad45 we have a level of a priori assumptions regarding women. The context of this hadth is that the Prophet was stating how the best of men were those who treated their wives in the kindest way46:

Therefore it must not be taken out of context. The Prophet himself said that he loved women and forbade Arab men from beating the bondswomen of Allaah47 firmly reminding men of the spiritual relationship they have with the Creator. One thing must be agreed: men cannot use such traditions to treat women condescendingly; the Prophets own wives described him as a gentle breeze48. As one can get a better perspective on Islam when looking at it holistically, I argue against the exoteric, traditionalist, Wahhabist approach to the above ahdth and argue
Annemarie Schimmel,. Mystical Dimensions of Islam, Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1975, p. 272
43 44 45

Chittick, 2005: 12 13 Muslim: http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?

Narrated by al-Bukhr and HD=7&ID=4079&CATE=120 accessed 04.01.10

46

Tirmidhis hadith regarded as hasan sahih: http://www.ibnothaimeen.com/all/books/article_18218.shtml accessed 03.01.10 Words used in the hadith are amaa allaah (amaa being the plural of amah): Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith number 1985: http://www.answering-islam.org/Silas/wife-beating.htm accessed 04.01.10
47 48

16

See lecture of Mamdouh Mohamed entitled Love for the Final Prophet www.aswatalislam.net

for their meanings to be revisited. Criticising the nature of women as being merely crooked ribs is in essence criticising Allaahs handiwork. The Quraan in general says of mankind that he was created from haste49 and that mankind is a transgressor and ignorant 50 but this had not discouraged Sufi mystics from wanting to love Allaah and draw closer to Him. Furthermore, it is generally believed that the Quraan is better preserved than the traditions51 and some verses appear to belie the above hadth: They (men) and their wives will be in shade on divans, gazing52 Quraan 52 : 21 says: And those who believe and whose families (children) follow them in faith, to them shall we join their families (children): nor shall we deprive them of any of their works The intention of the Prophet was not that men use the crooked rib hadth as a stick with which to beat women; rather, he was addressing men to ask them to be lenient towards women. In a society in which using such words is deemed to be emotive, it may be necessary to caveat the hadith explaining that such language may have been normal in the days of the Prophet. With regard to the majority of denizens of Hell are women53, a majority can even be by one; further, this was a specific address to women and the Prophet also gave a remedy for the situation54. Perhaps men are partly to blame for depriving women of their Godgiven freedom in Islam and thus preventing them from aspiring to the levels of Ayesha, Fatimah, Nana Asmau and Rabiah Basriyyah.

49 50 51 52 53 54

i.e. a creature of haste (Quraan 21 : 37) Quraan 33 : 72 Quraan 15:9 Quraan 36 : 56 This is a part of the nqist al-dn hadth.

The remedy was to spend more in charity. The other remedies inferred were not to curse and to respect husbands. These three things are arguably also applicable to men from other ahdth.

17

CLOSING REMARKS

Muslim women enable men to reach their full spiritual potential. Without women, mens deeds are incomplete. In the days of the Prophet, how would men have gone to jihd without their wives to help manage the affairs of the house? As such, the Prophet himself promised women equal reward for such commitment55. I would therefore argue that spiritually men need to access Allaah via women and as such they are religiously incomplete without a female counterpart. If women are called

(nqist al aql wa al din) in the hadth, then other ahdth are alluding to the fact that men are (nqisu al-amal ala

al-dn: incomplete in their actions in Islam) and thus spiritually incomplete by default. From a spiritual perspective, I agree completely and a the view of Ibn Arabs that QuickTime with
are needed to mankind is male or female by contingency. Even see this picture. the apparent gap scientifically proven decompressor

to exist between both sexes is further reduced through training and career progression afforded to both men and women. Given that women in the modern world are as educated, ambitious and driven as their male counterparts, there is very little to prevent them from holding the same roles as men in society and in Islam56. This also reconciles with the praise that Allaah has put on the Queen of Sheba for the political methods she used to engage with her advisors57. If politically women can lead a country, spiritually women can train and mentor mystics, ontologically they complete men, gnostically they can reach Allaah, mystically they contain the (greatest) qualities of Allaah and can reach the state of Perfect Man, intellectually they can outsmart men58, then I struggle to see how women are inferior to men in anyway.

Women in Islam http://www.islamicsupremecouncil.org/bin/site/wrappers/legal-women.html accessed 05.01.10

55

Visit http://www.experiencefestival.com/women_as_imams_-_women_imams_in_womenonly_congregations accessed 21.12.09

56 57 58

Quraan 27 : 31 44 The hadith of nqist al deen goes on to say that women can outwit men.

18

Muslim men need to realise that the fan (annihilation) of women, if at all, is in Allaah. This means thanking ones wife if she foregoes supererogatory prayers, dhikr and awrd for the sake of her husband. If this has not been possible in the traditional Muslim world, it is easier in the modern Western world and for this reason the twenty-first century will allow Muslims to revisit their traditions to gain a better understanding of them in the absence of cultural influences.

APPENDICES

19

APPENDIX 1

Translation:

QuickTime and a decompressor are needed to see this picture.

Narrated by Abu Juhaifah Wahb b. Abd Allaah (may Allaah be pleased with him): he said that the Prophet (Allaah send peace and blessings on him) made brothers between Salman and Abu Darda. Salman went to visit Abu Darda and he saw that Umm Darda was in a poor state and he said (asked) What is the matter? She said, Your brother Abu Darda does not have a need for the word (worldly life). Then Abu Darda came and prepared some food for him and he said, Eat, (dont worry about me) I am fasting. He (Salman) said (asked), I will not eat until you eat. Then when it was nighttime Abu Darda went to pray at which Salman said, Sleep, so he slept. He then went to pray (again) and he said to him, Sleep (and he went back to sleep). Then when it was the last portion of the night Salman said, Get up and pray. Then they both prayed. Then Salman said to him, Verily for your Lord on you there is a right, and verily for your self (or soulactual word used is nafs) on you there is a right and (verily) for your family on you there is a right, so give every claimant of a right their right. Then he went to the Prophet and mentioned that to him and the Prophet (Allaah send peace and blessings on him) said, Salman has spoken the truth (narrated by al-Bukhr: http://www.sonnaonline.com/Montaka/Hadith.aspx?HadithID=169 accessed 06.01.10)

20

APPENDIX 2

Nqist al aql wa al din hadith

QuickTime and a decompressor are needed to see this picture.

Narrated by Abu Said al Khudri, he said : The Messenger of Allaah (s) once went out in the Adha (Eid) or Fitr (Eid) to the place of prayer, and he passed by the women and said O group of women! Give to charity (sadaqah) because I have been shown you as being the largest proportion of the people of Hell. They said, And for what reason of Messenger of Allaah?. He said, You curse in abundance and are ungrateful to your husbands. I have not seen such women incomplete in sense and religion more cunning than a sensible man than one of you. They said, And what is the incompleteness (lack) of sense? He said is not the womans testimony half of the mans testimony? They said, Of course. He said, Then that is the incompleteness (lack) of her sense. Is it not the case that when she (the woman) menstruates, she does not pray and she she does not fast? They said, Of course. He said, Then that is the incompleteness (lack) of her religion. (Muttafaq alahnarrated Bukhari and Muslim). http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-ArabicAsk_Scholar/FatwaA/FatwaA&cid=1122528603690 accessed 06.01.10

21

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Schimmel, Annemarie. Mystical Dimensions of Islam (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1975) Chodkiewicz, Michel. The Meccan Revelations. (New York: Pir Press, 2004), Vol. 2Ibn al-Arabi Fakhry, Majid. A History of Islamic Philosophy. (New York: Columbia University Press, second ed., 1983) Chittick, William. Ibn Arabi, Heir to the Prophets. (Oneworld Publications, 2005) Al Asqalaanee, Allama Ibn Hajar. Lisaan al-Mizaan. (Bayrt : Dr Kutub alIlmyah, 1996) Buckhart, Titus. An Introduction to Sufi Doctrine. (Lahore: Suhail Academy, 1999). al-Bukhr, Sahih al-Bukhr. (Bayrt : Dr Ibn Kathr, 2001). Websites: www.AlJazeera.net http://www.answering-islam.org/Silas/wife-beating.htm www.aswatalislam.net http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/honourcrimes/crimesofhonour_1.shtml http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/euromed/women/docs/conclusions_110 6.pdf http://www.experiencefestival.com/women_as_imams__women_imams_in_women-only_congregations http://www.haridy.com/ib/showthread.php?t=40554 http://www.ibnarabisociety.org/articles/women.html http://www.ibnothaimeen.com/all/books/article_18218.shtml http://www.imamreza.net/eng/imamreza.php?id=3224 http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-ArabicAsk_Scholar/FatwaA/FatwaA&cid=1122528603690 http://www.islamicsupremecouncil.org/bin/site/wrappers/legal-women.html http://islamiczeal.blogspot.com/2009/08/hadith-qudsi.html http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/

22

hadith/bukhari/073.sbt.html http://maqasid.wordpress.com/2009/03/30/maqasid-shariah-introduction-tocorrect-understanding-of-blocking-the-means-sadd-al-dharai-principle/ http://www.mwlusa.org/topics/history/herstory.html http://www.oneworld-publications.com/pdfs/Ibn_Arabi.pdf http://www.oregoncounseling.org/ArticlesPapers/Documents/DifferencesMen Women.htm http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-478/_nr-264/i.html http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=7&ID=4079&CATE=120 http://rabia_al-adawiyya.totallyexplained.com/ http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/6185.htm http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1576182/Saudi-Arabia-to-lift-banon-women-drivers.html http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/ quran/021.qmt.html http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/ hadith/bukhari/002.sbt.html#001.002.028

23