Text Box: In the Name of Allah, The Gracious, The Merciful SPEECH OF HAZRAT UMMOULMOMEENEEN SADR SAHEBA FAZLI AMENA Interfaith Conference Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam After glorying Allah and taking refuge in Allah against Satan the Acccursed, Hazrat Ummoul Momeneen Sadr Saheba International said: My dear sisters of all communities, who have taken lots of pain, and have sacrificed their precious time, especially in these times of New Year whereby you are you very preoccupied, but you have found time to spare to come here in the North so that we can all share our problems which we are all facing in the society. I wish all of you “Assalamo Alaikum wa Rahmatoullah wa Baraqaatouhou” (May the Peace of Allah, His Grace and Blessings be upon) The subject which we have chosen to talk about today is “Liberty, Equality & Pride of the Woman of Today”. Usually, people think that women are sensitive, frail and are the inferior sex. But God, did not consider us women, be it in Hindu, Christian or Muslim inferior in such a way that we as toys and people do what they want with us! God has upheld our prestige and honour! The woman has her liberty and equality in her everyday life. She has a role in her house whereby it is her who upholds the name, prestige of her family, respect of the environment for her country and around the world. The woman plays the greatest role. Is it that today we are seeing that women are fighting to obtain her liberty and equality. But no!! Long back, with the arrival of all the prophets who had come to their respective people to preach the unicity of Allah and at the same time they had come to give women their rightful status, to honour them. But, unfortunately with the erosion of time, these teachings have been twisted by the hand of so-called scholars of religion. At last, God sent the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as a Giver of Glad Tidings and at the same time as a Warner and he came among such a people, whereby there Allah gave the religion he brought as ISLAM. I must precise that the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) had come as a universal prophet, for the whole of humanity, whatever the people’s religion, and not solely for the Arabs or Muslims! When he came, it was his duty to assemble all teachings of past prophets (peace be upon them), so as to revive the true teachings of God which the so-called scholars of religion had twisted in their hands. And God revealed all these pure teachings which He revealed in past sacred books in the Holy Quran. Thus, for us Muslims, it is obligatory for us to believe in all prophets who came before (the Holy Prophet), like Adam, Abraham, Noah, Moses, Jesus, Ram, Krishna, Buddha and others. and it happens that a Muslim does not believe in any one of these prophets who came in these religions, then he is not a Muslim! And he is not a Muslim if he does not believe in the sacred books which came before the Holy Quran, like the Torah, the Gospels, the Psalms of David, the sayings of Krishna etc. The Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) came as the perfect Liberator of women, because the women had no status, no rights, whereby they did not even had the rights to inherit the properties of their parents, or even those of their husbands after their death. They were as if slaves, and whereby they were exploited and sold for money before the coming of the Holy Prophet (pbuh). And with his coming, he gave all the ladies and girls their dignity, liberty, spirituality – and in all aspects of their lives! I will cite from the Vedas, the writings of the Hindus, there are 7 virtues mentioned for women: 1. Satya (truth) 2. Prema (love) 3. Dharma (righteousness) 4. Shanti (peace) 5. Sahana (tolerance) 6. Aranda (bliss) 7. Svanubhuti (spirituality) Again in the Vedas, women have been honoured whereby they are considered as ‘Grihalakshmi’ (The Light and Prosperity of the House). When a bride enters the new home, it is as if Laskmi is entering – isn’t it? Now, how does this bride becomes the light and prosperity of her house? Does this light and prosperity means that she leads a pop and extravagant life, attached with mundane things, spying on others and create disorder, backbite others, playing in Casinos and racing, or even taking drugs? do all these represents light and prosperity in the house? No!!! Light and prosperity means when you are a person with a clean heart, filled with virtue, and where there is no hatred and jealousy towards anyone, and you turn towards only one God, the Creator, through thick and thin. And whatever the difficulties which overcomes you, you turn solely to the Creator who has created you, and you place your confidence in Him only and you teach your children the same good values so that tomorrow when you will leave this world, your soul won’t reproach you; you would be leaving a good, respectable, and spiritual generation who is attached to its Creator – with Him and His teachings. Also, we women, we must demonstrate this living example of the model woman, whereby when our husbands are facing great problems, it must be the wife herself who supports him in his responsibilities, where she puts her intelligence to shine and where she is ready to suffer along with him, by making sacrifices for the betterment of their home. Sita was the example of such type of ladies in the past. Thus, we must be proud that God has created us to educate the future generations. We must not feel discouraged or our faces must not be darkened when we hear that we have got a baby-girl. We must not become like barbarous people who existed in the times of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), whereby they (the Arabs) used to bury alive their daughters alive. When people have gone to the extreme limit in the degradation of women, and are trampling to dust the teachings of the sacred books of the Hindus, Christians, and others, it is then that Allah has seen the necessity to revive these teachings and thus He sent His commands through the Holy Prophet (pbuh), where woman has gain back her rightful and true status, nowadays and thus till Judgment Day. Only the Holy Quran will stay alive because God Himself has already promised that He will be Himself the Guardian of this Book. And now, nobody will be able to falsify it or add to it, or hide the truth which emanates from it. Woman has got all her rights, her liberty and her equality in this world and the other – we do not have to straighten banderols and banderols on the street to claim our liberty, our equality and our pride! Why are there such things today? This is so because of our sole fault; whereby little by little we are losing our dignity by ourselves. We are letting ourselves be wrongly used and degrade. We are letting ourselves to be manipulated by the evil minds of man, who are using women to obtain money and honour for such and such company. In other words, we are the ones who are letting go of our morality and spirituality, and we have begun to do this in our own homes! Women are leaving the Shivala, and worst there are Muslim women who do not go at all to Mosques. We don’t know where they have seen that women must not go to prostrate before their Creator in congregation like the men! But as for going to the market where men and women are freely mixed, and going to other mixed places such as festivals etc., this they have the right; but for going to the Mosque, they don’t have the right?!!! Haram?!!! Allah Himself has given us this right that we can make our Namaz in congregation – Do we not go to Hajj (in Mecca) together? Millions are being spent in construction of Mosques, but can’t a hall in Pardah be adjoined for women, so that they may go and prostrate before their Creator, whereby she may get the 27 times blessings which Allah gives to a believer? O my God! In which direction is the world taking today! Do you not see that women themselves are putting to shame the teachings of God and they are abiding to the innovations which Allah does not approve of? It is the woman (of Today) who is cutting off the root of her liberty, equality, pride and dignity, because she is taking that sacred meaning of liberty in another way – she is thinking nowadays that she must: 1) Command, discuss and shout more than her husband in the house, a dispute which is without basis, and it is then that her husband becomes angry, as he is seeing the mother of his children in a new way, as a barbarian. But this does not apply for the woman who has a lazy husband in her house, who is not only lazy but possess all sorts of vices, whereby she is forced to take up the complete responsibilities of her house, so that she may bring food in the house and pay off bills and loans. 2) Change her way of dressing, and expose herself more to others. 3) Go out frequently so as to mix with other people of the opposite sex, to show that she is a free lady. 4) Also drink alcoholic drinks, smoke, dance, play for money, enjoy nightlife in pubs and otherwise, and thus showing her so-called equality and pride – Men themselves don’t have such rights! God had never ordained these practices for any of the human species, in any religion! Jesus (on him be peace) had never taught this way of life. The mother of Jesus (Mary) – on her be peace – was a perfect model of womanhood. It is unfortunate to note nowadays that only women are facing great difficulties that she is going to light a candle or go to see her to intercede for her. But these women do not consider the hardships which the Virgin Mary had gone through to lead a pure and pious life in obedience to her Creator, where she used to prostrate solely before her Creator. We know Virgin Mary only when we are in problems! It is most unfortunate to say that today, but it is good that we are all reunited today in the North to be aware of our true liberty, equality and our spiritual dignity. This is indeed our true liberty, equality, and dignity which we received from our Creator, and not from men! In brief: woman has all her rights. But it is she who must know how to use them, and not to let herself be manipulated. If we really know our worth, we all women would be such a light which shine in all fields; in our home, in our environment, in our country, and all around the world. We would shine to such extent that even men would have to be amazed and would take our example, such as to sacrifice, and thus they would respect women like they should have done so a long time back. Definitely, it is then that the world would make great progress, and we would not hear bombs blasting here and there; and there would be no crime, no violence, no sexual abuse, and all sorts of disgusting happenings which we read regularly on newspapers. The pages of these newspapers have increased due to the regular catastrophes which are occurring daily. Wherever you look today, you see women being involved in these frauds and crimes today! Is it not a shame for us? What account will we bring forward to our Creator one day? This is why that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) said that he saw in a vision that the majority of the inhabitants of hell were women; it is a fact that everyday itself with our daily problems we are burning, now imagine how terrible would it be to burn eternally in the fires of Hell. Thus let us take in to account our liberty, equality, dignity and pride in the way that God has made for us. On the exhibition board, you will see some verses of the Holy Quran, verses of the Bible, and other saying from different persons who have advised us women how to lead a good life, a sane and respectable life in society, especially towards our children. Islam has given the woman all her rights, like the men, and nobody can remove these rights from her because these rights come directly from her Lord, the Creator of the Universe – They are not governemental laws, whereby today they can be made, and tomorrow, they may be write off. 1) She has her human rights – she also can glorify her Lord and pray – there is no limit to her moral and spiritual progress. In Ch.4 of the Holy Quran V.1, Allah says that He has created man and woman from a single being, and from them spread many men and women… Thus, both men and women have been similarly created and they are equal in humanity. Women cannot be a BLOT on society (like certain religions like to believe) and they are not Satan. If so, therefore men also would be satanic. Thus, this proves the fact that male and female – nobody is superior to each other in this respect. 2) The woman has her civil rights; she also can vote and chose her religion. The Holy Quran says in Ch. 2 V. 256: “No compulsion in religion.” A Muslim woman has the right to choose her husband and can keep her maiden name after marriage. And she also has the right to defend herself legally in case of problems. 3) Her social rights; both men and women have the rights to education – to go in search of knowledge in all fields – which pleases him or her and which pleases God. The Holy Prophet (pbuh) has said: “Paradise is under the feet of the mother.” This indeed is a great saying! Thus what type of mother must we be to deserve that special distinction?!!! Let us do our own analyse! 4) Political Rights; This is a right which the Muslim woman had obtained 1400 years back. She can participate in politics – but according to the divine teachings, politics must be fundamentally based on the commandments of God. Women are free to chose their leader and make their pact valid. Islam has never forbidden a woman to take position in the government, but on the condition that the woman act according to the divine commandments and that she does not take electoral bribes, does not lie, does not trick the people to obtain power, does not practice corruption, provided that she is impartial, and does not look after only her type of people. She must not also speak communal words to create hatred in the hearts of other people. When she becomes a Leader, she becomes a Leader for all communities, for all people, without distinction of race, colour, creed etc. If so, if she trampled these divine teachings, she will be severely humiliated by Allah (twa) around the world, so that everyone may witness this humiliation, and more grievous punishment awaits her which are eternal in the other world. If a Muslim know really the true teachings of God concerning politics, then he would never have wished to do politics, because its responsibility before God is immense. And if that Muslim has gone against the divine teachings for his or her benefit, only to obtain power and authority and also to bring down the dignity of the people, so that he or she may increase her riches so that his or her children may live the life of luxury generation after generation, then the consequences of this type of person would be really grievous in the eyes of God. That person would start paying for his or her misdeeds on earth itself, and he or she will have the malediction of the people also upon him or her. This is so because that person made the people suffer. 5) Her economic rights; The Holy Quran in Ch. 92 V. 3-4 describes how Allah has created man and woman different in the sense that each has a unique role to play ; each has their sets of functions and responsibilities. The woman has her role to play as a wife, as a mother for her children, and to fulfill her daily household chores if she does not work, and at the same time she accomplishes her responsibilities at work or business. Thus, she is also free to bring money into the house, even though the husband has the complete responsibility to take complete care of her and their children financially and otherwise. And when she earns money, nobody, - that is, her husband, - has the right to force her to give him that money to have complete control. A woman is also the inheritor of the properties of her parents and husband, be it little or in great quantity. (6) Her rights as a Wife; there are so much but I will cite some Chapters and verses which is found in the Holy Quran:- Ch. 30 :22 – “Among His proofs is that He created for you spouses from among yourselves, in order to have tranquillity and contentment with each other, and He placed in your hearts love and care towards your spouses. In this, there are sufficient proofs for people who think.” Ch. 2:187 – “Permitted for you is sexual intercourse with your wives during the nights of fasting. They are the keepers of your secrets, and you are the keepers of their secrets.” Like clothes hide the beauty of our body, likewise, a husband must cover the faults of his wife and the later must hide the faults of her husband. God created both man and woman from the same matter, and put in them love, grace and tranquility. Both must be a friend to each other and both have sexual desire and this is put into practice only when their marriage is pronounced, and not through adultery or fornication. CONCLUSION To conclude this speech, the ‘Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam’ has establish the Siraj Makin (Firm & Influent Torch), its female branch, who are responsible for the propagation of the unicity of God – it is our duty to meet other ladies and girls and to share our knowledge and at the same time to acquire the knowledge of other religions and to hear our our other sisters from all the different religions (of the earth). The reform of woman must be done among women themselves. Our mission is to successfully reunite all women together to inculcate in them morality, and spirituality which very often we lose easily. We all, as one body can take counsel of how to raise our children and to prepare them to grow up into a good citizen of tomorrow and so that they may be able to obtain a good place in the other world, if ever your child leave this world! All these can happen in our life. In any way must we be perturb by this, or tremble over it or turn our backs to our Creator whenever we are facing such trials. Before I end my speech, let me express from the bottom of my heart the great pleasure to have had you here, and I thank you for your attention, and I congratulate you all for the good speeches and advises which you gave us in a little time frame. May Allah give us the opportunity to meet again in other functions like this, whereby he descends upon us His light and where His angels come to bless us and hear those good words. May Allah illumine our hearts and make us live a good life, in obedience to His Divine Commandments. AMEEN !