Three arenas of women's activities described by Islam
In Islam, three arenas are defined for the women's activities. The first arena represents the spiritual growth and perfection of the woman herself. There is no difference between men and women in the arena of individual spiritual growth. That is, a man can reach the highest levels of spirituality; a woman can also reach the highest levels of spirituality… The second arena is the arena of social activities, including economic, political and social activities in the especial meaning of term, academic activity, pursuing studies, teaching, endeavoring in the path of God, striving and all aspects of life, at the level of society. In this arena also there is no difference between men and women: they are both allowed to be engaged in different social activities. If someone says men can study, women cannot: or, men can teach, women cannot; or, men can have economic activities, women cannot; they are not talking about the logic of Islam: rather, they contradict Islam. Based on Islam, in all the activities related to the human society and life undertakings, men and women have the same permissions. Meanwhile, some activities are not suitable for women, because those activities do not match their physical features. Similarly, some activities are not suitable for men, because they don’t match their physical or behavioral features. This has nothing to do with the fact that a woman can be socially active or not. Work division happens based on capacities, interests and conditions. If a woman wants to, she can do any social activity she likes… The third arena, which is also very important, is the arena of family.
We referred to the role of the woman in spiritual achievements as well as the Islamic law on any type of social activity; but in this part, we will discuss the role of the woman in the family; that is, the woman as a wife or a mother. Here, the Islamic laws are so excellent and interesting that when would take pride in them. The woman as a wife receives particular attention in Islam in different stages. The first stage is choosing a spouse. According to Islam, the woman should be free to choose her spouse herself, and no one can impose on her anything in this matter. So a woman’s brothers or father—let alone other relatives—can never force the woman to marry a certain person and they do not have the right to do so. This is the opinion of Islam… these are all apt for the nature of men and women Men and women have naturally different characteristics. Within the family women should not be expected to work or have masculine features; similarly, men should not be expected to act like women, and have feminine features. Every gender has its own natural and innate characteristics, and the wellbeing of humanity, the wellbeing of the society, the wellbeing of the social system for men and women lies in respecting men’s and women’s features within the family.
If they are respected, both men and women will have a happy life. However, no one has the right to oppress the other, coerce the other, or force the other to work. Some men think that the woman has to do all the chores. Of course, in the family environment, the man and the woman who love each other will do the work of the other with pleasure and satisfaction. But doing them by satisfaction is different from when a person thinks or acts as if it is the duty of the woman to serve the man like a servant. This is by no means accepted by Islam.
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