Page 218 - Bigotry: The Dark Danger

Bigotry:
The Dark Danger

to men in terms of solicitude and worth, taking great care of
them. Some verses which various fanatics and enemies of Islam
always seek to portray as evidence against women are actually vers-
es that reveal the superiority of women and the importance and
value that our Lord attaches to them. We shall be looking at these
verses in detail in due course.

One comparison that our Lord makes regarding women in the

Qur'an shows how much He values them; He compares woman to a
delicate plant, or a flower. This description of Mary (pbuh) is an
explicit corroboration of the importance and value attached to
women:

Her Lord accepted her with approval and made her grow in
health and beauty [like a beautiful plant] .... (Qur'an, 3:37)

Caring for a lovely flower calls for the very greatest sensitivity.
A lovely plant is delicate and valuable and requires great care and
attention. That beauty of a flower, its delicacy, the care it needs and
its value and importance neatly describe the place of women in the
Qur'an. It is a fact that God has created all the plants and flowers in
the world as elements of beauty, as delightful blessings, as symbols

of cleanliness and beauty and as marvels of creation. The use of such
an expression of beauty to refer to women, the way that God com-
pares women with a symbol of cleanliness and beauty, is an excellent
representation of the value attached to women.

Women in the Qur'an

A magnificent value is attached to women in those
verses of the Qur'an that speak of her, and women
are placed under special protection under all cir-
cumstances. In terms of responsibility, however,

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