The Role of Women in Karbala /part 2

The Role of Woman in History

To find the role of women in Karbala, we need to first of all to have a glance at the role of women in history and study the different approaches in that regard.

Do women have any role in history at all or should they have any? How does Islam view the matter?
No doubt, women have always had an indirect role in human history; i.e. women were making men and men were making history. In other words, women have always been behind the curtain of the historical events good and/or bad. Women had more roles in making the personality of men than men for women. (this argument is sometimes suggested in the egg and chicken way)

My argument today is not about the indirect role of women and the critics around it. What I`d like to bring to your consideration today, is about the direct role of women, as to whether they have had or could have any direct role in making history?

Three Approaches

1. Male Oriented History: The first answer to the question is negative. They hold that women do not have, cannot have and should not have any direct role in society.

They corrupt the society, otherwise. Their mere duty is to bear children, be a good mother for their children and a loyal wife for her husband inside the house. Issues such as women and education, women and politics, women and social affairs, women and social careers, etc. are meaningless in this approach.

2. Male-Female History (corrupted): Feminism. In late Nineteen and early 20th Century, a new approach began to rise under the name of liberation of women. They held that women must have a direct role in society, as they are part of it.

You cannot segregate them from society and jail them at home. Otherwise, in the long run it ruins their indirect role. In order for a mother to perfectly carry on her motherly duty she must be educated. Human education is the carrier of mothers performing that, which requires education. An uneducated mother fails to raise good children.

Women in the West became educated. Illiteracy among women is nearly eradicated. The number of professional women in different fields is increasing. So far so good. Nevertheless, the West made a big mistake of ignoring a very vital fact in female nature and hence imprisoned women in a different way. Woman in the West came out of her house carrying the culture of nakedness.

Woman by nature enjoys being precious for man. She does not like to sell herself cheap. Men exploited women in a modern way under the mask of educating women.

3. Male-Female History (Islamic): In this approach both men and women have a direct role in society but in their own orbit.

The history of religion as described in the Quran as a male-female history but not the way practiced, nowadays, in the West.

From the Islamic point of view, both man and woman have their own direct role in history. However, their role is not mixed with each other.

The story of Adam and Eve as the first humans is the starting example. Despite the Biblical narration, the Holy Quran is always addressing and blaming both Adam and Eve for what they did.

Despite the wrong teachings of the church, which for centuries introduced woman a devil, and the origin of human sin, Islam opens a new approach to the story.

Sarah, the wife of Ibrahim is praised so much in the Quran that she is addressed directly by the Angels as well as Hajar

In the history of Moses, the role of his mother is also highlighted along Moses:

وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَىٰ أُمِّ مُوسَىٰ أَنْ أَرْضِعِيهِ ۖ فَإِذَا خِفْتِ عَلَيْهِ فَأَلْقِيهِ فِي الْيَمِّ وَلَا تَخَافِي وَلَا تَحْزَنِي ۖ إِنَّا رَادُّوهُ إِلَيْكِ وَجَاعِلُوهُ مِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ

And We revealed to Musa’s mothers, saying: Give him suck, then when you fear for him, cast him into the river and do not fear nor grieve; surely We will bring him back to you and make him one of the messengers. (28:7)

This role becomes so vivid and outstanding that Maryam, the mother of Jesus, is introduced in the Quran as the one who directly communicates with the Angels:

وَإِذْ قَالَتِ الْمَلَائِكَةُ يَا مَرْيَمُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ اصْطَفَاكِ وَطَهَّرَكِ وَاصْطَفَاكِ عَلَىٰ نِسَاءِ الْعَالَمِينَ يَا مَرْيَمُ اقْنُتِي لِرَبِّكِ وَاسْجُدِي وَارْكَعِي مَعَ الرَّاكِعِينَ ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ أَنْبَاءِ الْغَيْبِ نُوحِيهِ إِلَيْكَ ۚ وَمَا كُنْتَ لَدَيْهِمْ إِذْ يُلْقُونَ أَقْلَامَهُمْ أَيُّهُمْ يَكْفُلُ مَرْيَمَ وَمَا كُنْتَ لَدَيْهِمْ إِذْ يَخْتَصِمُونَ إِذْ قَالَتِ الْمَلَائِكَةُ يَا مَرْيَمُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُبَشِّرُكِ بِكَلِمَةٍ مِنْهُ اسْمُهُ الْمَسِيحُ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ وَجِيهًا فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ وَمِنَ الْمُقَرَّبِينَ وَيُكَلِّمُ النَّاسَ فِي الْمَهْدِ وَكَهْلًا وَمِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ

And when the angels said: O Mariam! Surely Allah has chosen you and purified you and chosen you above the women of the world. O Mariam! Keep to obedience to your Lord and humble yourself, and bow down with those who bow. This is of the announcements relating to the unseen which We reveal to you; and you were not with them when they cast their pens (to decide) which of them should have Marium in his charge, and you were not with them when they contended one with another. When the angels said: O Marium, surely Allah gives you good news with a Word from Him (of one) whose name is the ‘ Messiah, Isa son of Marium, worthy of regard in this world and the hereafter and of those who are made near (to Allah). And he shall speak to the people when in the cradle and when of old age, and (he shall be) one of the good ones. (3: 42-46)

It is true that women never carried the mission of Prophet-hood because such a heavy duty does not befit their nature, yet this will never degrade their spiritual position. We do believe that Maryam, although she is not a prophet her status is higher than some prophets. For instance, the non-prophet Maryam enjoys a higher status than Prophet Zakariah.