The Spiritual Worth of Man and Woman
The holy Qur"an perceives man and woman - with regards to their presence before God and with respect to achieving spiritual ranks under similar conditions - to be equal and refuses to consider the dissimilarity in their sexes and the difference in the structure of their bodies, which consequently manifest in the difference in their social responsibilities, as being indicative of a difference in them with regards to the achievement of human perfection; rather, in this regard, it considers them to be at par with one another and hence mentions them together.
Numerous verses of the holy Qur"an were revealed at a time when a great number of the communities of the world had been reluctant to recognize the female species as a human being, regarding her as an accursed entity and a source of sin, deviation and death!
Numerous of the ancient communities even held the belief that a woman’s worship was not acceptable in the eyes of God.
Many of the Greeks considered a woman to be a defiled entity and an evil handiwork of the Satan.
The Romans and some of the Greeks believed that basically females did not possess a human soul and as such, the human soul was specifically confined to the males!
Interestingly, till recently, Christian scholars in Spain engaged themselves in discussing as to whether women, like men, possessed human souls or not, and whether or not their souls would continue to live eternally after their deaths? After their discussions they eventually concluded that since a woman’s soul is an isthmus between an animal and a human soul, it cannot be eternal, save for the soul of Maryam (peace be upon her). 1
Here it becomes apparent how far from reality is the allegation, which some ignorant individuals level against Islam when they allege Islam to be a religion of males and not females. Generally speaking, if, due to physical and sentimental differences which exist within males and females, some differences in connection with social responsibilities are observed in the Islamic Laws this, by no means, diminishes the spiritual worth of a woman. There exists no difference between a man and a woman in this regard; the doors of success and prosperity lay equally open for both of them, just as we read in the Qur"an:
بَعضُکُم مِن بَعضٍ
(All are from one species and one society) 2
Notes:
1. Refer the books An apology for Muhammad and the Koran, Huqooq-e-Zan Dar Islam and other books related to the humans beliefs and views.
2. Tafseer-e-Namunah, vol. 2, pg. 113.
other related links: The meaning of Equality according to Islam
Special edition on hijab
Liberation by the Veil
Women’s Equality in Quranic Society
