A Theoretical Criticism on Feminism from the Islamic Point of View In explaining the theoretical aspects of feminism and criticizing

it from the perspective of Islam, it is important that one of the central ideals of feminism is the principle of complete equality without seeing any difference between mens and womens rights. According to feminists, not only are women and men in different positions, but this difference is worsened by inequality. Moreover, though women are different from men in characteristics and natural features, this natural difference is not important enough to be a basis for the difference between men and women. Feminists belive that, before the 20 th century, all the worlds laws and regulations have been based on the view that male is superior and female are inferior. The pioneers of this movement see the emancipation of women and establishment of their equal rights as the complementary and supplementary component of the human right; they believe without this equality and emancipation, freedom and human right is nonsensical. They see all the familial problems as resulting from the lack of the womans liberty and her unequal right. Criticizing this theory, it can be said that though feminism resolved some the womans problems and gave her some rights, it created other problems for human being, particularly for women. The western woman lacked the least right until the early 20th century and at that time the west came to realize that they should solve the problem. They saw the only solution to be liberty and equality. They were ignorant of the fact that liberty and equality has to do with relations between peoples because they are human beings. In other words, liberty and equality is humans right because s/he is human. As the woman is a human, she has been created free and possesses a right equal to the mans, as does any other human being. However, women and men have specific features. They are equal in humanity but different in features and psychology. These differences are not due to historical, social or geographical factors; but rather they have roots in the Creation. The Creation had purposes in creating these differences, so any move against these differences will cause undesired consequences. The woman and the man are two stars orbiting two different paths. The main precondition for women and mens prosperity is that they must orbit in their specific path. Liberty and equality are important only when they dont leave their natural and intrinsic orbits. The problems in the western societies are that they are moving against the natures command.
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Feminism has ignored the point that there are other factors which are more important than liberty and equality. Equality and liberty are necessary conditions but not sufficient ones. Equality in rights is one thing and similarity in rights is something else. Equal rights of men and women in terms of material and spritual values are different from similarity. According to this movement, equality and similarity are the same and the humanity of the woman has caused her femininity to be ignored. As we know, in Islam women and men are different in some rights, tasks and retributions. The reason behind this may be feminists disgracing view over women. For example, they regards the Islamic rules, such as Mehrieh, Nafagheh(alimony), polygamy, etc., as abasement and disgrace on woman. They believe that Islam is a religion biased towards men which has not established full human rights for women; otherwise, this religion wouldnt have permitted polygamy; given the right of divorce to men; appointed the man as the head of the family; seen two female witnesses equal to one male witness; seen the female inheritance as half of the male inheritance; deprived her of social and economic dependence; seen her as the mans Vajebulnafagheh; considered some money as the womans Mehrieh. Therefore, from their point of view, Islam has disgracing views on women and gives many advantages to men. As Shahid Motahhari puts it: This argument draws on a principal, which is the necessity of equality between men and women in terms of human honor and their similar and identical rights. It must be noted that the precondition for equality between men and women and their equal humanity is their equal human rights not their similar rights (1996, p. 111). It must be noted that similarity is different from equality; the former means equation and the latter means identity. Islam has not established similar and identical rights for women and men, neither has it considered any superiority for men. Islam has observed the principal of equality between men and women. Islam is not opposed to equality between them, rather it is opposed to the similarity between them. There are many verses saying that women and men were created of the same substance: Oh men! Fear your Lord who created you of the same substance and created a spouse for him (Nesa, sign 1). Of His signs is that He created from you a spouse for you (Rum, sign 21).
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In Islam, there is no disgracing perspective on the woman in terms of her nature; such views are rejected by Islam. The Holly Quran regards the spiritual award and approaching to God as being determined by belief and action not by gender. Whenever Quran names a great and faithful man, a great and faithful woman is also named. This book honors Adams, Ibrahims and Ferros wives along with Jesus and Moses mothers. Therefore, Quran honors them equally not exclusively. Before the 20th century, the woman lacked a human right in Europe. With the emergence of feminism, the woman gained a right similar to the mans; however, given the natural and intrinsic differences between them and the mental and physical needs they have, she didnt gained a right equal to mans. Based on the differences between men and women, we must note that such differences are by no means a sign of mans superiority or vice versa. The Creation had a different purpose in creating these differences. The purpose was to consolidate the familial unity between the man and woman and build a stronger foundation for the unity between them, assigning the domestic tasks to each equally. Ignoring the supplementary and complimentary role played by either, feminists projects an aggressive and terminating image of men, attempting to regain the lost right. On the other hand, men have begun reciprocal movements. Statistics show that violence in the western families has increased tremendously since 1970s. The emergence of the anti-feminist movements fighting for the mens lost rights is another consequence of this conflict (the Taha cultural institute, 1998, p. 39). From the Islamic point of view and all other religions, the formative features can lead to the legal differences which are in accordance with wisdom and intends to establish close social relations and achieving the exalted goals. For example, the differences between mens and womens inheritance mentioned in the holly Quran is completely in harmony with the correct system of a family, since it is the man who is in charge of his wife and familys sustenance. Right demarcates the borders and permits the relations between human beings to a given extent and restricts it beyond a certain limit. Right cannot make correlation and agreement between human beings in itself. As feminism regards the relation between the man and woman from a legal point of view and has no comprehensive perspective on that, it is basically a defective viewpoint which is against the Islamic basics and ideals.
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Reviewing the Educational Objectives of Feminism As mentioned earlier, feminists believe that science has been man-dominated through history, so we must be in search of a knowledge to substitute the manly knowledge. We must use the experiences of women who have been marginalized and ignored; we should reveal the presuppositions and distortions caused by the manly knowledge. The existing sciences have solved only the material problems rather than the intellectual ones. There may be sciences attributed to women, such as art, esthetics and literature, which are related to humane, social and ethical aspects and can bring about a world that is the harbinger of peace, security and tranquility. Therefore, such sciences must be taken into account so that women and girls would have a better self-image and wouldnt feel humiliated. From the Islamic perspective, the knowledge which is free of values and is indifferent to the worlds Creator is unable to lead the human being towards prosperity and happy life. Since feminism is indifferent to the Creator and based on secularism, its proposed science cannot bring about prosperity and a happy life for the human being. Even if this school provides equal access to knowledge, women wouldnt grasp this opportunity equally because they have specific traits and characteristics and they prefer some fields to others. Therefore, if women can recreate the world of science on the basis of the above-mentioned perspective, it is so constructive and it is obvious that relying on the Gods religions this thought can gain sovereignty. However, since feminism has root in secularism, they would not necessarily succeed in accomplishing this goal. As the public domain restricted to the outside of the home and the private domain related to domestic affairs and family, Islam doesnt restrict either to a specific gender. Rather, while it admits the differences between the two genders due to the physical, psychological and mental characteristics of each gender, it doesnt assign the domestic affairs and education only to women, though their physical and psychological features are suitable for this task. Though childbearing and breastfeeding are restricted to women, they are not forced to breastfeed their child; they can demand their remuneration from their husbands for breastfeeding their children.

As for the housekeeping, if the man can afford, the woman can have a servant, which is part of the womans Nafagheh (alimony). Therfore, we see that Islam permits the womans engagement in the social affairs provided that she observes the ethical rules. However, Islam opposes the mixing and free relationships between women and men. For this reason, it encourages the man and woman to have chastity and requires them to observe hijab. Removing the sexist clichs is another issue that is crucial for achieving social equality. According to feminists, removing these clichs from child literature and textbooks can make changes in peoples worldviews. Islam believes that roles are determined by the natural characteristics peculiar to each gender. The organs for childbearing as a means of procreation is specific to a woman and

benevolence and mildness is observed in female psychology and mind more than mens, so the role of the mothering and nursing children and also providing a safe and calm environment in the house is expected from the woman. This is not inconsistent with the womans active engagement in the social domain, just as the women in the early Islam attended the ceremony of allegiance with the Prophet Muhammad and later with Ali (peace be upon him), verifying their values and their equal engagement in the political domain. From the Islamic point of view, the woman is equal to the man in terms of humane honor; she is conscious of her time and is responsible for her own people. According to the principle of the most important thing is the most important women play the role of a mother and by understanding the high status of a woman, she is active as an effective component of her society. To prevent the illegal relation between men and women, Islam requires women to observe their hijab. That the sign of hijab was sent down to the prophet in the fifth year AH is significant and it intended to preserve the health of the society while permitting women to take part in the social affairs. Therefore, Islam has programs to prevent the objectification and inhumanity of women. It recommends the believing men turn their eyes from the obscenity and recommends the believing women observe their hijab and recognize their status. Islam requires women to preserve the gem of their existence by covering it in the shell of chastity. A womans hijab, not only preserves her personality and chastity, but it also makes her and others aware of the depth of the values God has put in her existence. She is

expected to actualize and realize these values. Islam sees dress and make up as necessary for both men and women only in front of their spouse not for the purpose of attracting and seducing others. According to feminists, removing the occupational discriminations can bring about social equality. For Islam, no job is forbidden for women. However, the wise and Muslim woman must choose her job according to Gods expectations and on the basis of the principal of the most important thing is the most important as well as her physical and mental characteristics. Maybe the western woman sees the occupational similarity of men and women as a step taken for their equality (though they have mistaken similarity for equality), but the fact is that some of the hard and dangerous jobs which are inconsistent with the exalted role of mothering and requires long period of being away from home, has no benefit for the woman and her family. Therfore, Islam rejects discrimination in any domain and, at the same time, by preserving the conventions and ethical principles and preventing the mixing of men and women, expects women to attend to the importance and values of family and choose a job which is aligned with their mothering role and doesnt endanger them. Given the role played by men in managing and providing sustenance for the family, Islam assigns those jobs which are away from home to the men, because doing such jobs hurts women mentally and damage their mental health. According to feminism, economic equality is other instrumental objectives needed for achieving complete equality. To accomplish the equality in occupation, promotion, employment and remuneration, feminists have made enormous efforts. On the basis of competency model and the mens responsibilities in providing sustenance for their family, this is probable that men and women with similar education, skills and experiences, wouldnt gain equal advantages (e.g. marriage and child benefit), but if both of them are the heads of family, they will probably gain equal advantages. In Islam, women have economic independence just like men and receive equal wage for equal labor, which is justice in strict sense of the word. Another instrumental objective which is an important step towards achieving complete equality between men and women is the political equality between men and women. The accomplishment of this goal requires some preconditions such as their equal political engagement in the society and behaving them equally (in
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particular their equal voting rights and other options like the right of selection). Feminists regard the establishment of child centers in institutes and departments (by spending the least cost possible and having the possibility of using the right of leave during the day) as the precondition for conducting the above-mentioned procedures. Before the emergence of Islam the ignorant Arab community had a disgracing view on women. When a girl was born she used to be buried alive. The rights established for women by Islam were so distant from the realities of that time. The Quranic verses and the prophets statements (peace be upon him) about women as well as his amazing behavior towards his wives and girls created a great revolution in the society. The holy prophet kissed two persons hand during his life, one of whom was Zahra (peace be upon her). This was a sign of the great revolution in the worldviews. Here, the importance of education is much more than the importance of law-making. It is suggested that if a desired space is not opened up for admitting the equality, the written laws are nothing but manuscripts on a paper without any executive guarantee. Conclusion According to some feminists the reason why women are wronged is that there is not an equal opportunity for their education. Therefore, they insist on reforming the existing condition and creating a desirable one along with a revolution in education. The complete equality between men and women in all domains is an important objective for feminists. Therefore, for them, the aim of education is achieving equality in social, economic and political domains. To achieve the goals mentioned above, feminists have proposed curricula different from what we have had in schools so far. These curricula are: teaching girls and boys equally at school; attending to the girls favorite subjects in science; expanding the girls activities in the laboratory; attaching importance to the girls experiences; removing the sexist clichs in the textbooks; recognizing women in the history, etc. To accomplish these educational goals they propose methods, such as: introducing the successful women and girls to the women and girls at the school as their role models; employing the electrical methods instead of competitive ones (because girls learn better by the electrical methods); cooperation, engagement and distributing the works among the school boys and girls equally, etc.
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On the other hand, Islam doesnt see the complete similarity of rights as the precondition for equality in humane honor. Women and men are equal in general human rights but this equality is not the same as similarity. Equality is equation and similarity is identity. Islam never establishes superiority for the mans rights and values. Ignoring the different and complementary roles of these two genders has caused feminists to projects an aggressive and domineering image of men and attempts to regain their lost rights. Islam, while seeing men and women as equal in honor and perfections, stresses the differences in their social roles and never disgraces women. Reviewing feminists educational plans from the Islamic point of view, it should be noted that Islam sees an equal identity for both women and men and at the same time emphasizes their natural differences. The solution proposed by Islam is the prevention of mixing the two genders, particularly before puberty and their teens, so that many of the ethical problems and disorders would be prevented. Therefore, it is possible to present the materials and contents of education in accordance with their natural differences and preserve an equal teaching at the same time. We must introduce the womans values and specific advantages and remove all the binary borders, demarcations and criteria. According to Islam, because of the natural differences between women and men and in order to bring security and safety to the family and society, some kinds of education is better to be specific to men (e.g. military training) and some others be specific to women(nursery training). The joint work between girls and boys is not prohibited provided that the ethical retractions and Islamic limitations are followed. Giving useful role models to boys and girls is accepted by Islam. For example, Fatemeh Zahra (peace be upon her) is a model of Muslim woman who must be followed by all the girls and women and make a model of her behaviors. Islam pays attention to the minor aspects of education and has specific methods. From the Islamic point of view, education should be conducted step by step. The first step is taken by family. In Islam family is the main society in charge of education.