The Oppressed Section Of The Society

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Abstract

A father fails in his duty to meet out rights of his own daughters, their education is neglected or at least no so assiduously pursued as that of the brother, they also suffer in the matter of receiving parental attention care and favors in other walks of life. Under various pretexts she is kept out of the parental inheritance. The behavior pattern of the children vis-à-vis the parents changes for the worse particularly so after marriage. Proper treatment due respect and regard are denied to them their legal rights are not heeded and in case of lack of means of their own they pass their days in chill penury. A wife does not enjoy the conjugal regard and affection which is her undeniable right, she is treated like a maid servant in her husband’s house. She remains the deprived of so many rights of her and serious notice is taken of her minor fault and she is sternly death with. Trifles become excuses for divorce. And so far as the payment of the dower is concerned it has through a long period of ignorance and moral turpitude, come to be erroneously believed that it falls due only in case of divorce and without it there is no need to pay her anything.

Dedication

With profound respect and reverence, I have the privilege to dedicate these pages to my illusttous mother,

Under whose feet rests my bliss, and whose supplication and good wishes have blessed me all along in my Life

And I hope they will continue to be the greatest asset of my life, in future also

I humbly pray to Allah for her long life and her blissful patronage Ameen |

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

My unqualified gratitude goes to Allah Almighty, The Merciful and The Provider, who lavishly gave me the endurance, resilience, foresight and thoughtfulness to undertake this project and to complete it to satisfaction

I wish to specially thank DIHE and its professors for giving me this opportunity to prove myself and also for all his vital feedbacks and supports ,I will also like to appreciate my beloved friends and family, for showing me support and understanding throughout the period of my undertaking this research work.

Amina Qaderi

Kabul, Afghanistan

January, 2013.

CHAPETAR # 1

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND

During the course of history woman has long been

The oppressed section of the society. She had been exploited in Greece, Rome, Egypt, Iraq, India, China and Arabia. She was sold and purchased in market places and fair and was treated worse than animal. For a long time a debate continues on the issues whether the woman had a soul the Arabs regarded her very existence as a disgrace and some cruel and totally insensitive person used to bury their daughters alive at or soon after birth. In India the widow was consigned to flames at the funeral pyre of her dead husband. The religious faiths given to asceticism regarded her as the source of sin, the door leading to transgression and contact with her was considered an impediment in spiritual development and salvation. In most civilizations of the world she enjoyed no place in society. She was contemptible and despised in their estimate. She had no social and political rights. She could not exercise her own free will in any financial deal. She was under the tutelage of a her father, later under the oppressive rule of the tyrant of a husband and lastly under the patronizing care of the male offspring. She was not permitted by long standing conventions to challenge their authority and she had no course of justice to appeal to by way of escape from tyranny and excesses-not even a breath of complaint. Undoubtedly she has at times been in the seat of authority in some parts of world. And it is also on record in the world history that empires and governments have danced to her tune, even tantrums, and it has been a common occurrence that she has had ascendancy in familial, tribal and monarchial activities. In some uncivilized tribes she had enjoyed superiority and rule and there are remnants of it still to be seen. Yet as female of the human species, there was little change in her status and she suffered in silence through the course of history and remained deprived of her due rights as usual. Islam took her out of this whirl pool of oppression and tyranny, meted out justice to her, granting her due rights, elevating her position in honors and dignity and teaching the society to respect her. But the western nation that failed to come under the benign shade of Islam remained deprived of its blessings and healthy effect. In their societies woman’s rights and privileges remained trodden under the feet of the dominant sex and she, poor thing, did put up with all that uncomplaining. In the modern age (even long after Renaissance) the reaction and changes in the social fabric of the society and the concept of the equality of the sexes came to the fore, arguments were put forth in support of this claim and attempts were made to prove that in spite of differences between the sexes woman was not inferior to man. Both stand on an equal footing in all respects and this position does not permit of any discrimination what so ever. She can do everything that a man is capable of, and can hold any office of responsibility place under her charge. She is free from all shackles and restrictions and man’s ascendancy over her must cease, and as such she must enjoy all the right and privileges that have formerly been the monopoly of the stronger sex

It was a very pleasing and flattering concept for the woman, and she picked up this offer of the society and appeared to have regained her lost dignity. Gradually she became the partner of man on equal terms in economics, social and cultural affairs. Soon she was found striving in factories, offices and colleges. Shoulder to shoulder with her male counterpart, nay, taking part in outdoor activities in parks, clubs, picnic spots as well as in domestic circles with man .her presence was considered essential in every walk of life and without her, life appeared colorless and drab. The female sex considered it a step towards progress and exaltation and appeared impatiently eager to take one step after another on the road to success and elation. She was dazzled by its apparent luster but failed to see through its hidden evils and detriment.

The concept of woman’s lib put forth by the west was beneficial to her in some respects but harmful as adjudged from other angles. If she had been emancipated from the tyranny of man on the one side, no allowance had been made for her physical faculties, capabilities, temperament and psychological make-up in this (man’s) benevolence’ to her. this change had come as a strong reaction against man’s tyranny and injustice to the weaker sex and had. Hidden in it, all those sources of intemperance and excesses that are usually met with in such violent, uncontrolled reactions this unbridled freedom of woman has given the entire life-pattern of the west a dangerously faulty orientation and has created conditions of imbalance giving to terrible consequences .at this juncture Islam comes to our aid and guidance in the right direction. It gives assurance of the fundamental rights of woman an her all-around progress and development as well as provides safeguards against the devastating and disgraceful consequences with which the west is faced at present. Some of the social and political consequences are briefly mentioned here.

Sexual Anarchy

As a result of free mixing of sexes, whit temerity, in every sphere of life, the trend of profligacy and dissolution came into existence and developed. And adultery and fornication became disgraceful culture which ultimately left no room for morality and shocked the sense of modesty and noble-mindedness, both being strangulated and done away with. History bears testimony to the fact that whenever the woman was dragged out of here citadel. Her home, as the center of attraction in social functions and other public gatherings. It created conditions for unrestrained dissipation of excited passions, and the stink of moral turpitude, normally unbearable even behind the closed doors was now out in the open, vitiating the healthy atmosphere. Even the most sacred and inviolable and were being desecrated with impunity. Not to say of ordinary mortals, their gods and goddesses were implicated and their images tarnished, presenting them as emblems of debauchery. Such shameful and ignoble conducts was ascribed to them that it mortified their own humble devotees. Prostitutes and other women of ill-reputed attained that exalted position in their corrupt society which their chaste and modest counterparts in their homes had never contemplated. Art and culture came to the aid of degenerate sex and unrestrained passions and beautifully explained them away as the most natural phenomenon of the human nature. Female charms were brought to the public view through paintings and photographs in nude, and the sculptors fashioned stark naked statues leaving no details of the charms of the female figure in their zeal of promoting their own erotic art. Even goddesses were not spared by their degenerate sex-ridden art. Man reveled in the charms of the female form, leaving nothing for imagination, and her no less enchanting voice was exploited to attract them towards promiscuity, immodesty and sin. Fiction, drama, poetry and literature in various other forms depicted sex in all its lurid forms and shameful details and the accompanying sensations and passions. Woman had become toys in the hands of man to play with as they were pleased and as much as they liked. She finally came to mean to him an outlet for the dissipation of over-wrought passions in an atmosphere surcharge with eroticism. Culture and civilization became an ignoble record of sex activities and its manifold manifestations so that they seemed to revolve round them alone. They evil effects of unbridled sex brought the one time mighty cultures and civilization to decadence, decay and annihilation. Rome (the Byzantine Empire as called by the Arabs), Egypt, Persia and Babylonia followed the same path of decline and death, their one-time glory and pomp of power notwithstanding. Our modern civilization too, is rushing headlong at a dangerous pace to the same sad end. Probably the time is not far off when the apparently mighty and glorious edifice will collapse tottering down and crumble to dust (without any Gibbon to lament its fall). And form its ashes a more healthy culture would emerge

Breakdown of the family

The familiar order remained intact due to the presence of a woman to manage its affairs internally. But when and where her activities found fields in the world outside and her time got occupied mostly by them, the familial system broke down. Whatever she gained in the world outside, she had to pay dearly for it in the form of destruction of her home. Family is the foundation-stone of society and when it got displaced the entire edifice became Tipsy Turvy. Woman was an angle of mercy, a source of comfort and solace to man but now no more. The deep rooted conjugal relationship of love that bound them together to face the ups and down life was gone, creating a vacuum, and each one was left alone to fend for himself/herself. The relationship of the parents and the offspring became weakened gradually. The parents are the centre of affection and love for the children. It was no more their privilege, and (as useless members of society and the families) they were consigned to the nursing homes. The offspring is the sole support of the parents in their old age. Gone was this support for them to learn on, and they were compelled by the changed circumstances and estranged relationships to pass their last days in poor houses or old age asylums, forlorn and broken-hearted. And it did not end there. All other relationship that depended on the survival of the family also disappeared with it. And man became woefully deprived of peace and blessings only the family circle can provide. Breaking down of the family is no small issue. It is such a heavy loss that no society can put up with it for long. Finally this breaking down of the family ruins the society also. No edifice can exist without a foundation. Islam regards a well-knit family essential for the survival of the society, since it rests on that foundation alone. The strength and firmness of the family is the firmness of the society and vice versa. Islam provides very strong and firm foundations for the family and guards it against those factors that would weaken its fabric or be its undoing. It has established an entire system for it and furnished detailed information with certain limits and regulations as necessary safeguards. It lays great stress on keeping this system and (org) intact and that the limits prescribed by Allah be vigilantly be guarded against their violation. In this set up woman has prime important. She plays an important role in its smooth and regular functioning. She has her rights and privileges as well as her obligations in it. If she were to detach herself form this organization and fail to meet her responsibilities, not just squarely but devotedly, it will collapse before long. It can last only as long as the woman in the structure keeps striving hard for its maintenance and her attention remains centered on it alone.

Lack of equilibrium in rights and obligations

A disproportion was noticed in the rights and obligations of woman and the usual balance and moderation (guaranteeing proper functioning of a happy home) departed. Nature brings up and develops her to take upon herself the onerous burden of becoming a mother, so that the human species may be nursed and brought up in her loving lap. The passions and feelings, powers and capabilities called for in this difficult job of great care and responsibility have also been provided to her by nature. That is why she has an inborn strong motive to meet this natural demand. Becoming a mother and promoting a human generation is not a casual and momentary pastime but a long drawn and painstaking job, having its toilsome items like pregnancy, delivery, breast-feeding upbringing, and this burden shall be too much for her to bear. It can neither be taken away from her through any artifice nor can a proper substitute be found for it. On this count Islam presents a moderate and well balanced view as a solution of the problem. It confers on woman all those economic, political and social rights which are granted to man. However, she has been kept out of certain responsibilities which are alien to her temperament and her physical build, as also the additional burden with which she cannot squarely meet her natural responsibilities. An example may be helpful in the comprehension of the issue under discussion. The head of an Islamic state can only be male and the defense of the counter is the business of men only. Although she has not been burdened with these exclusively male responsibilities, she enjoys all other political rights. She can express her opinion in political or offer suggestions on political issues. She has the right of criticism and reckoning (calling to account). She can point out the mistake of any office-bearer, even the head of the Islamic state publicly. No checks or bars can be on this right of hers. Let us take another example. She has no economic responsibilities but has the right to undertake economic enterprises within the limits prescribed by Islam. Owing to the heavy responsibilities imposed by Islam on man it has also conferred on him more rights to enable him to meet them easily. But perfect justice has been kept in view here too, and it has been given due regarded that this does not spell injustice to woman. For this purpose Islam has put very stringent checks on man so that safety of woman’s rights becomes a certainty. In the family, man is the custodian and guardian. But this position does not give him a free hand to curtail woman’s rights and privileges or be guilty of excesses in any other form. Whenever he oversteps his limits of authority there is the Islamic law to hold his hand and punish him if necessary. Even the head of the state has no right to lay his hand upon her life, property, honors and dignity and her other individual and collective rights. For any breach of law in this regard, he will be called to account like any other citizen of the land.

The Rights of Muslim Woman

It is usually observed that a weak person has to strive hard and struggle against the opponents’ for obtaining his or her rights. Without fighting for them it is very difficult to get even the natural right. They are not even recognized. The modern society recognized some of the basic right after tiring debates and discussions, disputes and altercations and violent protests. This recognition and Grant of woman`s right is accepted as a boon of the modern age whereas this is a blessing of Islam conferred On to begin with Islam gave her those rights which had been denied to her and she had been silently suffering long as a result of this deprivation. They were not conferred on her in response to a demand for them by her, her protest had continued and her cause was being advocated and promoted and representations were being made on her behalf. Rather, they were given to her since they were her natural rights, and she ought to have been enjoying them, without any body granting or anyone else receiving them as charity. They have been and are free for all like light, air and rainfall. Islam was under no compulsion to confer them on her, but it granted them to her since she was the oppressed and aggrieved party and helping and supporting the aggrieved and the suffering, it regarded as binding on we mention below some of the rights that Islam has granted to woman. Islam does not rest contented with the sanction of rights in so many high-sounding legal terms but though persuasion and admonition, it also creates a congenial milieu for their fulfillment.

The Right of Being Brought up

According to the Islam law, every child is born with the natural right of being provided with the necessities. Upbringing of children and their proper care is a lengthy and tedious job and it is noticed that the extra loving care lavished on the boys is stinted or sparing in the case of girls. Islam branded this attitude as undesirable, inducing the parents particularly to her proper upkeep and loving care, declaring it as an act worthy of great reward. Aye shah R.A.A. reports the prophet S.A.W. to have said: whoever is put to test with girls as offspring, and he treats them kindly, they will become a source of protecting him from hell-fire. This tradition mentions ‘Ehsan’ in connection with the girl, which is a comprehensive word meaning their upbringing, their education and training, kind treatment and loving care, all together. Anas R.A.A. reports the prophet S.A.W. to have said: the person who brings up two daughters until they attain maturity, on the Day of Reckoning, myself and he will be like this. And saying these words he brought his fingers together. Now look at the legal aspect of the issue. According to the Islam Shari’ah the support and upkeep of the offspring devolves on the father. Off spring includes both boys and girl (without any distinction). Therefore, he cannot deny any of them, this birth right of theirs (proper upbringing). So we find in the Quran under the subject of breast feeding the following injunction: and he(father of the child) shall bear the cost of their(mothers giving suck) food and clothing. [3]

Al Quran||:233

The jurists have furnished detail of the ordainment. The erudite of the Hanafite School have opined that the responsibility of support, care education and training in case of the boys is up to the age of majority. And there it ends. However, the responsibility of upkeep of the female offspring shall remain liable even after her attaining majority, until such time as she gets married and has a home of her own. Others are the opinion that that this responsibility is to be divided between the father and the mother after the daughter’s attaining majority. Two thirds is to be born the father and one third by the mother. Similarly, the responsibility of any major girl, If she is without means of support shall be the responsibility of the closest eternally prohibited relation. However if any of them has property of her own, the expenses of her upkeep shall be met form that source. Nobody else shall be held responsible for bearing her burden

The Rights of Education

The progress of man is associated with education. If he is not equipped with knowledge, he lags behind in the struggle of life. He is neither elevated in thought nor can he make any material progress. But a sufficiently long period of history passed by leaving her uneducated, for education was not deemed necessary for her. This field used to be the exclusive domain of man. And among men too only some particular classes were benefited by it. The woman lived in the darkness of ignorance, far from the high pedestal of knowledge and learning. It was Islam that made the doors of education open on men and women alike. All the impediments of the way were removed and all sorts of facilities provided to promote its cause. It draws attention towards female education in particular, creating inducements for it, declaring it an act worthy of reward in the hereafter. Abdul seed khudri (RAA) reports the prophet (SAW) to have said (the person who brought up three daughters, embellished them with education and training married them off and remained benevolently inclined to them even after their marriage, (ALLAH WILLING) Paradise is ensured for him. Islam addresses both man and woman. It had made each one of them duty bound morally to devotional acts and observance of the laws of shar’ah. It is not possible to live up to these demands without knowledge. For the woman the relationship with man is of great importance, since the relations are very complicated and also of a delicate nature. They comprise woman’s rights as well as her as her obligations. So long as she is ignorant of them, she can neither discharge her duties nor can she protect her own rights from usurpation. The jurists are of the opinion that both man and woman basic knowledge of the faith is essential. If the woman is ignorant it is the husband’s duty to inform and educate her or make some alternative arrangement for her education. If the husband fails in this duty she would herself seek and attain that much needed knowledge, for, it is her legal right. For this purpose she can go out of her house too if necessary, but of course within the moral limits prescribed by Islam. The husband has no authority to stop her from such pursuit of knowledge. This attitude resulted in the early phase of plan in the education of men along with the female education. Among the companions of the prophet S.A.W. we come upon a fairly large number of the female companions well versed in the knowledge of the Quran and the Hadith. Deduction of religious principles and practices and pronouncing religious verdicts in the light of the Quran and Hadith is not such an easy job. But there were also women who were capable of it. Among them Aye shah, Umm Salmah, Atiyah, Fatimah bint Qais, khaula bint .R.A.A. and other are most prominent.

The Quran has specifically directed Muslims that nikaah (marriage) has to be completed with the positive agreement of a man and woman without any pressure before two Muslim witnesses, and a wakeel (a representative lawyer) and qazi (cleric) has to execute this agreement.

A nikaah agreement is a legal document and it does not contain any provision of a right of unilateral talaq to be exercised at will by the husband.

The Quran recommends a counselling process and mutual negotiation under the guidance of a qazi and four other sober persons. If no solution satisfying both husband and wife is possible, then talaqcan be uttered three times in consecutive three months, during which months the husband and wife can reconsider their stand. Thus, a Muslim husband has to go through a process and divorce is the last alternative.

Unfortunately, Muslims hardly follow Quranic procedure and most of the time, they exercise talaq three times in minutes. It is ironical that no maulvi (expert on Islamic studies) has raised any objection when a male person does not divorce his wife on the basis of Quranic laws.

As regards women's right to divorce a husband, she can dissolve the marriage by following a procedure of khula (arbitration). The arbitrator should be a highly honest Muslim, or both of them can go for arbitration to a civil court.

The government of a country can recognise the civil court as a civil arbitrator for divorce by a woman. However, it may be clarified that Islam does not speak of a civil court, but a civil court can only work as arbitrator.

The grounds for a decree of dissolution of a marriage according to the Muslim Act followed in some Muslim countries are (a) whereabouts of a husband are not known for four years, (b) husband has neglected or did not provide for her maintenance or he has been sentenced to imprisonment for seven years, (c) husband has failed to perform without reasonable cause marital obligations for a period of three years, (d) he is impotent or suffering from leprosy, (e) he is cruel and attacks his wife or compels her to adopt an immoral life, and (f) he obstructs her religious duties and he has more than one wife without her consent.

For a woman, it is not necessary to get separation from her husband only through a divorce, she can legally stay in separation from her husband if she is capable of financing her expenditures. However, there is a Hadith (the Prophet's sayings) that even if a woman does not give any reason for divorce, she can still get a divorce by presenting her case to the arbitrator.

In this case, the whole issue is that she should have a capacity to earn or have a regular income. In view of this, it becomes necessary that Muslims should provide education compulsorily to their daughters and there should not be any objection to their working outside the house.

The Right to Nikah

just as the woman was denied the right to speak and express her opinion on any important issues or problem of life, she could not give utterance to her own will or desire in the matter of being given away in marriage. Her parents or elders of the family made such decisions and married her off to whomsoever they liked. And she could not refuse or even protest. Her objection or opinion in this particular matter was considered extremely undesirable and most improper. The society interpreted it in ways reflecting on her moral character. Any remark on her part relating to her marital arrangement and rejecting the selection of the elders was considered a sign of her dissoluteness. It is usually said that giving her a free hand in the matter of matrimonial arrangements is against her own interests. She is likely to take faulty decisions due to her immaturity and lack of experience. Her parents or guardians more experienced and having better knowledge of men and matter are less likely to err in their decisions. Moreover, they are her well wishers and cannot deceive her. Undoubtedly there is truth in it that her guardians can make a better selection of the partner in life for her but it cannot be denied either that the guardians are guilty of excesses in this regard and so often they make these matches a means of serving their own selfish ends at least it is difficult to deny the fact that the parents or guardians do not keep before them norms to which their daughter attaches great importance. Therefore, it would not be in the fitness of things to leave the selection of partners for girls entirely to their guardians.

What Are the Legal Rights of Women in Divorce?

The law is set up to protect the rights of all parties in a marriage. From financial support to custody of children to how assets are divided, family courts provide very specific rights to women. Before you file for divorce, it is important to know your rights and responsibilities. It is also important to note that while state laws vary regarding such issues as adultery and the processing times for the final divorce ruling, all 50 state agree on general terms such as the right to petition for spousal and child custody and to obtain a restraining order against an abusive spouse. In a divorce case that may have incidence of fraud, the defrauded spouse and/or her legal team can legally file a motion to protect "shared assets and property." As for mediation, this is a universal option that can be obtained in any state. Review the facts of all these issues below.