Page 244 - Bigotry: The Dark Danger

Bigotry:
The Dark Danger

Yet the idea of women being left backward by God, may
He forbid, appears in not one single verse of the Qur'an. On the
contrary, God reveals in the Qur'an, through words such as "believ-
ers, those who believe, anyone who acts rightly, male or female,

being a believer..." that all believers, male and female, have the same
responsibilities, with no allowances made for gender. In verse 95 of
Surat an-Nisa', God says;

Those believers who stay behind – other than those forced to by
necessity – are not the same as those who struggle in the Way of
God, sacrificing their wealth and themselves. God has given
those who struggle with their wealth and themselves a higher
rank than those who stay behind. God has promised the Best to
both, but God has preferred those who struggle over those who
stay behind by an immense reward. (Qur'an, 4:95)

As we have seen, the verse speaks of believers having a respon-
sibility to wage an intellectual struggle on God's path throughout the
course of their lives. However, that responsibility is imposed equally
on men and women. By addressing all "believers," God holds all

Muslims, men and women, responsible for discharging that religious
obligation. If a Muslim woman performs that obligation better than
men, then that woman will be superior to all men in the Sight of God.
If a Muslim man does it, then he will be superior in the Sight of God
because of his piety; there is no differentiation between the genders
here. On the contrary, superiority lies in conscience, intelligence and

sincerity.

Therefore, just like all the others, these false hadiths too are at
total variance with the pronouncements found in the Qur'an and the
value attached to women in the Qur'an. First of all, Muslims pros-
trate themselves to none but God. The only powers to which a Mus-
lim will bow his head and obey are God and His Prophet.

242