IDEA 47
The Protected Heart of Jihad
O mankind! be careful of your Lord Who made you from a single soul, and made from it its mate, and spread abroad from those two many men and women. And beware of GOD, by Whom you make demands of one another, and [be careful of] the wombs. Indeed AL-LAH has ever been a Watcher over you. [Q4:1]
The passage above is the first verse in Suratin-Nisa, which in English might be translated as the Chapter of Women. There is no corresponding chapter for Men. Feminists might claim that this is yet another example of how men are regarded as ‘default’ or ‘normal’ humans, while the female sex is mentioned as the exception that diverges from or breaks the rule (of men).
There are good grounds for such criticism in the Qur’an. Unspecified groups of people are automatically gendered grammatically as masculine, with a few rare exceptions. The prophets and messengers are all male, and AL-LAH, Who has no gender, is nonetheless invariably treated as a masculine noun in sentences.
I suggest, however, that femininity is Islam’s best-kept secret. The wombs are not just the special property of women, but constitute the treasure of humanity, a treasure that men have been assigned by GOD to protect. Which is more valuable — the protector or the protected? We are told to be careful of GOD, Who is our Protector and Whom we worship on account of His Greater Value. This command is repeated, for we are also protectors of GOD’s reputation by the way we speak of Him with one another. The single self from which we were created is, in Arabic, feminine, and its mate could literally be translated as her mate. The wombs are the vehicles and means by which this original pair came to be spread abroad; defending them is, in effect, protecting ourselves. We have to be careful of them in two ways, one exhortatory and one cautionary. They are valuable, to be kept well and in good condition, but they are also alluring, seductive, and mysterious due to their hidden nature, and thus not to be followed or obeyed.
Our duty to protect the wombs is one laid upon both men and women. It means many things simultaneously:
- chastity, virginity, and sancity of marriage vows
- integrity of the family — father, mother, and children
- purity and respectability of the blood line
- good relations among kinfolk, and taking care of them before strangers when prioritizing resources
- care for mothers and women in general over men, who are better able to fend for themselves
- defending the vulnerable and weak, especially women and children
- establishment of justice as the best way of ensuring women’s rights
- providing for women’s maintenance out of men’s wealth so that women can maintain their own duty to protect the wombs
- honouring the gentler, more refined aspects of society whereby feminine virtues and capabilities are affirmed and enhanced
- revering the ‘feminine’ qualities of AL-LAH in our lives, Whose first names after “AL-LAH” are Ar-Rahman (The Gracious) and Ar-Rahim (The Compassionate) — both of which are based on the same triadic root as the wombs
Is it possible to appreciate spiritual and material progress simultaneously? Can we work on one while admitting the value of the other? I believe we can, and particularly so if we fashion our material progress to serve spiritual ends. We could be using modern technologies to facilitate better communication between the affluent and underprivileged parts of the community. Rather than building and expanding more mosques that are only full on Fridays, we could be funneling our wealth into social services that enable men to work fewer hours and women to stay home to raise their children, and thus increase attendance for daily ritual worship. We could use the insights of psychology and Sufism in combination to generate new models of counselling for personal and domestic issues.
Muslims need the type of progress that reduces their reliance on government programs and education systems and provides them clear intellectual alternatives to scientism and secularism. More sophistication in how we identify and measure progress — not merely through financial and material benchmarks — would help enormously to redirect Muslim awareness towards the One Whose Approval we are seeking. As Ibrahim (peace be upon him) said (Q37:99) Truly I am going to my Master; He will guide me. The beauty of Islamic progress becomes apparent in such passages; we have a manual, the Qur’an, and a goal that is actually clearer and dearer than mere material progress.
Download the PDF version for free at Ideas Inspired by the Qur’ān – Mont Redmond complete version, or purchase a hard copy at Ideas Inspired by the Qur’an: Redmond, Mont: 9781738842506: Books – Amazo
