THE STATUS OF WOMEN IN ISLAM A COMPARATIVE STUDY WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO EGYPT BY HODA HELMY PH. D. THESIS SUMITTED TO UNIVERSITY OF WALES 1994 In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious Most Merciful I begin my thesis by praying : "May Allah show us the truth, help us to abide by it, show us the wrong and make us avoid it". By so beseeching to Allah, the prayer of our Prophet Ibrahim flashes into my mind, as he says in the Holy Qur'an "Our Lord for : : ... show us our places celebration of (due) turn in Mercy " (Surat Al-Baqarah, rites; and unto us ... : verse 128). However what a great difference between the case of a feeble human being praying to his Allah and that of the prophets' Father praying to Allah. To confirm the truth which I pursue I sought the openion of a group of eminent scholars of Islam who say nothing but the truth as Allah says : "... if ye realise this not, ask of those who possess the Message." (Surat : Al-Nahl, verse 43), 1 seek the help and support of Allah who alone grants power and guidance. Hoda Helmy I PAGE MISSING IN ORIGINAL DEDICATION To all man kind As Islam is meant for everyone in all ages and everywhere III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My sincere thanks and respect are owed to the supervisor of this thesis, Dr. MA'SHUQ IBN ALLY, the Director of Centre for Islamic Studies, University of Wales, Lampeter. His high spirit of co-operation and guidance never deminished throughout the course of this work. To him goes my special gratitude and indebtedness for providing friendly, patient and constructive supervison. My sincere thanks and deep gratitude to the Scholars of Islamic Religion who responded to the questionnaire on which I built the field research in this thesis, despite their many preoccupations. Without their help the completion of this work would not be possible. In the course of conducting and writing research of this nature, I depended on the efforts paid by many individuals in the course of collecting data,editing, tabulatingand analysis.To all of them goesmy deepgratitude and profound appreciation. To my husband who has been so generous to me for 46 years. He gave me a great deal of his time, effort and money. He has helped me in designing the questionnaire forms, in tabulating and analysing the results. May Allah reward him as he truely deserves. To my daughter Wafa' who combines both Islamic and western culture and who has provided me with much material which was of help to me in this research. IV To my son Hany whoselove and loyalty to the University of Wales from which he graduated have prompted me to submit my researchto one of its faculties. He has spared no effort to assist me in this research. To my son Aymara whose academic exellence was and still is a source of joy to me and which encouragedme to start this researchsatisfactory, as in Allah's saying (1) : "Well pleased and well pleasing". He provided me with the scientific and medical material which is neededfor the research. May they all become those Allah describes "those among whom as'(2) who, if We establish them in the land, establish regular prayer and give regular charity, enjoin the right and forbid wrong. ". (1) Surat : Al-Fajr, verse, 28. (2) Surat : Al-Haj, verse 41. V Declaration This work has not been previously accepted in substance for any degree and is not currently submitted in candidature for any degree. Signed (candidate) .............................................................................................................. Date .................................................................................................................. STATEMENT 1 This thesis is the result of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated. Other sources are acknowledged by footnotes giving explicit references. A bibliography is appended. Signed (candidate) .................................................................................................................. Date ....................................................................................................................... STATEMENT 2 for inter- I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed (candidate) ................................................................................................................... Date .................................................................................................................... CONTENTS Opening I Declaration ii Dedication iii Acknowledgements iv Contents v Chapter One Equality between Men and Women 21 Chapter Two Guardianship, Independence,Testimony and Mixing between Men and Women 59 Chapter Three Marriage, Divorce and Poligamy 157 Chapter Four The Role of Women in Society 259 Chapter Five Conclusion 328 INTRODUCTION In the last decade serious events took place in Egypt, in which there was a bloody confrontation between the youth and the authorities. These events have given rise to so called "religious extremism" which have attracted youth from among both the learned and the less educated, and have grown in strength and influence, possibly with assistance from abroad. Their activities have gained acceptance in many spheres of Egyptian society. Although the events surrounding the Islamic resurgence have been documented through the press and other media, little has been done to assessthe impact of these events on the role and status of women in Egyptian society. Some of the more controversial demands of the 'extremists' which have a direct bearing on women's contribution to society include the call for women not to work, which is regarded as a western innovation; that woman should only receive their education and medical treatment from female teachers and doctors; the promotion of women's role as wives and mothers to the detriment of their potential as wage-earners; and the insistence on their wearing veils which entirely obscures their faces when in public. Although these calls have been made in the name of Islam, they fail to acknowledge the true status and rights of women accorded to them by that faith, and, as such, are taken out of their true context, thus reviving the long history of the subjugation and oppression of women in the name of religion. The researcher therefore, decided to investigate the rival theories and conflicting interpretations which have clouded and confused the question of the status of women in Islam, their rights and their obligations. The subject is fraught with difficulties that stem from the conflict, sometimes real and sometimes imaginary, between the modem modes of living which have been dominated by western influences on one hand and customary practice, female subordination and extremism on the other. Thus, moving away from the . spiritual practices and cultural traditions of Islam, which has a unique impact on its adherents, governing every aspect of their life: social, political, psychological and emotional. Modern Muslim women find themselves caught in a web of different, if not conflicting, demands of society, two extremes, neither of them calls for moderation which is the most outstanding feature of Islam. Thus women in the Islamic world have fallen victim to the conflict between opposing partisans to schools of thought, rival prejudices and ideas from all sides - traditional theologians ('ulema'), jurists (fugaha), modenists religious reformers (asriyin), and ultra-secular advocates of emancipation ('ilmanin'). All claim vociferously and repeatedly to be sincerely bent on the salvation of women whilst failing to recognize the potential perils associated with their aims. Their broad claims reveal unrestrained passion on all sides, religious and secular alike, and an excess of zeal - that is neither motivated by pure fellow-feeling for Muslim in women this world nor in the hereafter - is waged with blind rage and without clear, specific objectives, thereby providing a classic case of the extremism that breeds the fanatic. 2 By examining definite aspectsof the actual and assumed functions of the Muslim women in a modem society, this study tries to demarcate the areas of coincidence, differences and possible reconciliation. The researcher will try to discuss the problem with reference to the conditions prevailing in the Islamic world today and consider the teachings of Islam regarding women, not in a theoretical vacuum, but through field research relying upon questionnaire and personal interviews. On account of the recent events outlined briefly above, it seems. pertinent to make particular reference to the position and conditions of women in Egypt, in order to derive an understanding of the problem from its most modem manifestation. The Focus and Aims of the Research The primary concern of the research lies in the fact that it is necessary to achieve more precise understanding of the real status of women in Islam, i. e. to examine thoroughly problems of equality between men and women, independence, guardianship, testimony, combination between men and women, marriage, divorce, polygamy and the role of woman in the community. Apart from providing a historical overview of the position of women in Islam, and an examination of the Qur'an and the Sunnah as the basis from deriving conclusions on women's issues from an Islamic perspective, the thesis also confronts the main points of contention which affect the lives of Muslim women today. As mentioned earlier, the role of women in Egyptian society 3 will be of primary