WOMEN AND REVELATION

A Gender Revolution

Radical Changes to Womens Lives

Pre-Islamic period, the Jahiliyya (Age of Ignorance), featured harsh conditions for
women: lack of marriage and property rights, female infanticide, subservience to father
and spouse
Islam outlawed female infanticide, institutionalized marriage, making husband
responsible for support of wife and children, and inheritance, giving women the right to
own property and keep it separately after marriage, free of support responsibility
Islam viewed women as mens spiritual and intellectual equals, and worthy of special
respect and recognition as mothers

Early Muslim Womens Active Participation in Islams Formation

Women learned Quran verses and chapters by heart as they were revealed, teaching and
interpreted them for others
Women authored and originated, memorized and taught, the second most important
area of religious education
Women discussed their ideas, expressed concerns, complained, and counseled women
and men using their expertise
Womens action impacted later developments

Khawla
Khawla bint Thalaba, was an ordinary 7th-century woman, but dignity, honor, and
character, gained through gratitude and respect from long-term relationships were
commensurate with status. So when her husband insulted and divorced her, she
complained to God and consulted Muhammad, who told her that until God responded,
he could do nothing. Gods words condemned her husbands actions as unjust. Gods
ruling of Aishas experience as unjust was also revealed in the Quran.
The Quran dealt with general issues facing humanity, but also personal dilemmas of
confident, demanding women.

Early Muslim Women and Their Demand for Recognition

Verse answered complaint that the Quran spoke only to men:
For men and women devoted to God believing men and women, obedient men and women,
truthful men and women, steadfast men and women, humble men and women, charitable men
and women, fasting men and women, chaste men and women, and men and women who
remember God often God has prepared forgiveness and a rich reward. (33: 35)

 The Quran is the only scripture to speak to women directly and recognize them as
spiritual equals with economic rights.

Women in the Quran

Chapter 4, 6th longest (176 verses), gives details for men and womens relationships,
rights, and duties
Chapter 19 (98 verses) Mary, extolls Jesus mother for her piety
Chapter 27 (93 verses) tells the story of the Queen of Sheba (Bilqis), an intelligent and
just ruler, who converts to Islam
Modesty in behavior and dress code must be strictly observed by both men and women
Women as Active Participants in the Early Muslim Community
Example: Muhammads 2nd wife Aisha did not fully approve of the practices of the 3rd
Caliph Uthman and rebelled. But after he was murdered, she organized a battle to
avenge his death and to oppose the 4th Caliph Ali. She participated by giving speeches
and leading the troops from the back of her camel. She occupied an important position
in Muhammads life and was a renowned source of Hadith, using her power to oppose
ideas unfavorable to women. In her view, Islam welcomed womens roles in politics,
religion, and education as equals with men. She was an expert in Quran exegesis, law,
poetry, Arab history, and general medicine, and set up the first womens college in her
home. Men also attended her classes by sitting behind a curtain.

A Door to Heaven is Closed

The elderly Umm Aymans reaction to Muhammads death:
When (Abu Bakr and Umar) came to her, she started crying. They said to her, Why are
you crying? What is in store with God is better for His Messenger. She replied, I am
not crying because I am unaware that what is in store with God is better for His
Messenger! I am crying because the revelation from heaven has been cut off. This
moved both of them to tears and they began crying with her. Hadith Muslim 16: 9-10
Hadith-about individuals, but provided general rules and values
al-nisa Women: 4: 1
O mankind! Be wary of your Lord Who created you from a single soul, and created its mate from
it, and from the two of them spread numerous men and women. Be wary of Allah in whose Name
you adjure one another, and the ties of kinship. Indeed Allah is watchful over you.
Explanation of creation of humanity
al-nisa Women: 4: 3
And if you fear that you cannot act equitably towards orphans, then marry such women as seem
good to you, two and three and four; but if you fear that you will not do justice between them,

then only one or what your right hands possess; this is more proper, so that you may not deviate
from the right course.
Regarding polygyny in Islam: it encourages an individual to adopt orphans, if one has a
capacity to be just and equitable as one would be to one's own children.
al-nisa Women: 4: 4, 11, and 17
And give women their dowries as a free gift, but if they of themselves are pleased to give up to you
a portion of it, then eat it with enjoyment and with wholesome result.
The male shall have the equal of the portion of two females.
Repentance with God is only for those who do evil in ignorance, then turn to God soon, so these it
is to whom God turns mercifully, and God is ever Knowing and Wise.
al-nisa Women: 4: 23
Forbidden to you are your mothers, daughters, sisters, paternal aunts, maternal aunts, brothers'
daughters, sisters' daughters, women who have suckled you, your foster-sisters, mothers of your
wives, step-daughters who are in your guardianship, born of your wives (but if you have not had
intercourse them, there is no blame on you for marrying them), and the wives of your sons who
are of your own loins and that you should have two sisters together, except what has already
passed; surely God is Forgiving and Merciful. And all married women except those whom
your right hands possess.

al-nisa Women: 4: 24
And also prohibited to you are all married women except those your right hands
possess. This is the decree of God upon you. And lawful to you are all others beyond
these, provided that you seek them in marriage with gifts from your property, desiring
chastity, not unlawful sexual intercourse. So for whatever you enjoy of marriage with
them, give them their due compensation as an obligation. And there is no blame upon
you for what you mutually agree to beyond that obligation. Indeed, God is ever
Knowing and Wise.
al-nisa Women: 4: 34
Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has made one of them
to excel the other, and because they spend (to support them) from their means. Therefore
the righteous women are devoutly obedient (to Allah and to their husbands), and guard
in the husband's absence what Allah orders them to guard (such as their chastity, their
husband's property, etc.). As to those women on whose part you see ill-conduct,
admonish them (first), (next), refuse to share their beds, (and last) beat them (lightly, if
it is useful), but if they return to obedience, seek not against them means of annoyance.
Surely, Allah is Ever Most High and Most Great.

Mary (Maryam): 19: 16-22

Mention in the Scripture the story of Mary. She withdrew from her family to a place east and
secluded herself away; We sent our Spirit to appear before her in the form of a normal human. She
said: I seek the Lord of Mercys protection against you. If you have any fear of Him! I am but a
Messenger from your Lord, announcing to you the gift of a pure son." She said: "How can I have
a son when no man has touched me. I have not been unchaste." He said: That is what your Lord
said: 'That is easy for Me We shall make him a sign to all people, a blessing from Us. And so it
was ordained: she conceived him. She withdrew to a distant place and, when the pains of
childbirth drove her to (cling to) the trunk of a date tree, she said: I wish I had been dead and
long gone before all this!

Mary (Maryam): 19: 24-33

But a voice cried to her from below: "Dont worry! Your Lord has provided a stream at your feet,
and if you shake the trunk of the palm towards you, it will deliver fresh ripe dates for you, so eat,
drink, be glad, and say to anyone you may see: 'I have vowed to the Lord of Mercy to abstain from
conversation, and I will not talk to anyone today.'" She went back to her people carrying the child
and they said: "O Mary! You have done something terrible! Sister of Aaron! Your father was not
a bad man; your mother was not unchaste! She pointed at him. They said: "How can we
converse with an infant? But he said: I am a servant of God. He has granted me the Scripture;
made me a prophet; made me blessed wherever I may be. He commanded me to pray, to give alms
as long as I live, to cherish my mother. He did not make me domineering or graceless. Peace was
upon me the day I was born, and it will be upon me upon me the day I die and the day I am raised
to life again!

Other Female Biblical Figures

Wives of Noah and Lot (66: 10)
Daughters of Lot (Chapters 11 and 15; 11: 79)
Sarah, wife of Abraham (11: 71-74)
Mother and sister of Moses (Chapters 11 and 15; 28: 7-10)
Wife of Moses (28: 23-27)
Asiyah, Wife of the Pharaoh (66: 11)
The Queen of Sheba (27: 20-45)
Eve

God created Adam and Eve and bestowed them a place to live in namely Paradise. The
first human mistake was by Adam and Eve who both ate a fruit forbidden by God:
But Satan whispered evil to him: O Adam! Shall I indicate to you the Tree of Eternity
and kingship that grows not old? So they ate from it, and their shame became visible to
them, and they went to sewing leaves of the Garden upon themselves. And Adam
disobeyed his Lord, and went astray (20: 120-21)

al-naml Ants: 27: 23-26

[A Hoopoe bird says to Solomon]: I have come to you from Sheba with certain news. I
found there a woman ruling over them; and she has been given [abundance] of all
[good] things, and hers is a mighty throne. And I found her and her people adoring the
sun instead of God; and Satan has made these doings of theirs seem goodly to them, and
[thus] has barred them from Gods path, so that they cannot find the right way: [for they

believe] that they ought not to adore God who brings forth all that is hidden in the
heavens and on earth, and knows all that you would conceal and all that you reveal:
God, who is the sole deity - Sustainer, in awesome almightiness enthroned!
al-naml Ants: 27: 27-33
[Solomon] said: We shall see whether you have told the truth or are one of the liars! Go
with this my letter and convey it to them; and thereafter withdraw from them and see
what [answer] they return. [When the Queen had read Solomons letter,] she said: O
eminent ones, to me has been delivered a noble letter. Behold, it is from Solomon and it
says, In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Dispenser of Grace: Exalt not
yourselves against Me, but come unto Me in willing surrender! She added: O you
nobles! Advise me in this affair; I would never make a decision unless you advise me.
They said, We are men of power and great military might, but the command is yours, so
we await your command.
al-naml Ants: 27: 34-38
She said, Indeed kings - when they enter a city, they ruin it and render the honored of
its people humbled. And thus do they do. But indeed, I will send to them a gift and see
with what [reply] the messengers will return. So when they came to Solomon, he said,
Do you provide me with wealth? But what Allah has given me is better than what He
has given you. Rather, it is you who rejoice in your gift. Return to them, for we will come
to them with soldiers that they will be powerless to encounter, and we will expel them
therefrom in humiliation, and they will be debased. [Solomon] said, O assembly [of
spirits], which of you will bring me her throne before they come to me in submission?
al-naml Ants: 27: 39-41
A powerful one from among the spirits said, I will bring it to you before you rise from
your place, and indeed, I am for this [task] strong and trustworthy. Said one who had
knowledge from the Scripture, I will bring it to you before your glance returns to you."
And when [Solomon] saw it placed before him, he said, This is from the favor of my
Lord to test me whether I will be grateful or ungrateful. And whoever is grateful - his
gratitude is only for [the benefit of] himself. And whoever is ungrateful my Lord is
Free of need and Generous. He said, Disguise for her her throne; we will see whether
she will be guided [to truth] or will be of those who is not guided.
al-naml Ants: 27: 42-44
So when she arrived, it was said [to her], Is your throne like this? She said, [It is] as
though it was it. [Solomon said], And we were given knowledge before her, and we
have been Muslims [in submission to God]. And that which she was worshipping other
than God had averted her [from submission to Him]. Indeed, she was from a
disbelieving people. She was told, Enter the palace. But when she saw it, she thought it
was a body of water and uncovered her shins [to wade through]. He said, Indeed, it is a

palace [whose floor is] made smooth with glass. She said, My Lord, indeed I have
wronged myself, and I submit with Solomon to God, Lord of the worlds

Womens Right to Political Leadership

Although not stated directly, the verses in the chapter al-Naml recognize womens right
to hold political leadership positions and their ability to rule in a just manner
Bilqis consults with her council of nobles to make important decisions-not a despot who
imposes her perspective without input from representatives of her subjects of her
kingdom
Bilqis, the queen of Sheba, has the wisdom to understand the superiority of Solomons
religious values and converts to Islam
Hadith on Women Leader
Muhammad is reported to have said that rule by women leads to disaster. Scholars
emphasize that he was referring to the unsuccessful leadership of a woman empress of
Persia during his lifetime.
Conclusion
The Quran is the only religious scripture that addresses women directly
The Quran greatly improved womens life conditions
Women insisted on their inclusion and contributed to the formulation of its gender
equality and gender justice message
Women memorized and transmitted Quran to others
Mary-a chapter honoring as an example for all women to follow to learn to be obedient,
chaste and pious
Bilqis-the Quran supports womens political leadership
The Quran respects and honors women