Spirit of Islam October 2017

26 Spirit of Islam Issue 58 October 2017 TRUE PROGRESS FOR WOMEN Real Empowerment T RUE progress for women cannot be achieved by encouraging them to make their entry into every field of life. A better approach would be to increase their knowledge, skills, alertness and awareness in their own sphere of activity. The more a woman is endowed with these qualities, the more effective will be the part she plays in the activities of daily life. An intellectual woman can perform the greatest of services, whereas, if she is left ignorant and untutored, she will never—even if she is brought to the forefront of things—be able to play a role of any significance. There have been many women in history who never emerged from their homes, but who exerted a great influence upon the outside world. The allegation that women cannot perform great services when confined to the home is refuted by Islamic history. Home management is also undoubtedly great work, but the work which concerns the outside world can also certainly be performed by women, without putting themselves into uncongenial surroundings, or forcing themselves to play unfamiliar roles for which neither training nor biology has fitted them. It is a little understood fact that the role a woman plays does not depend upon her physical environment, but rather on the degree to which her intellect has been cultivated. In order to progress, it is not binding that she has to put herself into all kinds of unsafe situations in the outside world. We can understand this from the following argument. If it were put to a writer that he could serve humanity better by stepping out of his study and jumping into the boxing ring, he would surely retort that there is more to solving the problems of the world than just punching people on the nose. He would, indeed, point out that the intellectual can best operate in his own chosen sphere and that it is not physical brashness which counts in this life, but the sharpening of the intellect. Imagine a reversal of the social structure which entails a surgeon working in a butcher’s shop, a teacher selling vegetables etc. In each case, the change of workplace and role would render useless and irrelevant the innate and acquired skills, the knowledge and the moral excellence of these highly qualified and experienced professionals. Their competence and effectiveness would moreover, be eroded by the sense of frustration and discrimination engendered by surroundings which clearly were unsuitable for them.