Text Box: In the Name of Allah, The Gracious, The Merciful SPEECH OF HAZRAT UMMOUL MOMENEEN SAYYIDA NASIRA AZIM SAHEBA ON THE DIFFERENTS WRITINGS OF THREE MAJOR RELIGIONS IN HINDUISM When irreligion is prominent in the family, O Krisna, the women of the family become polluted, and from the degradation of womanhood, O descendant of Vrsni, comes unwanted progeny. (Bhagavad Gita: Ch.1, V.40) A good population in the human society is the principle basis of peace, prosperity and spiritual progress of life. The principles in the Vedic religion have been designed to enable a good population to reign in society in a spiritual state which would last in the community of humans. This type of population depends on chastity and fidelity of women. As children are prone to be misled easily, women also are liable to be deviated from the right path, and thus they stumble into degradation. Therefore, both children and women must be protected from the elders of their respective families (that is, they must be looked after according to the Hindi teachings). Thus, with different religious rites, women are protected, and thus are not liable to tread on the path of adultery. According to Pandita Canakya, the women in general let themselves be easily influenced and thus, they cannot be trusted. Therefore, in the different family tradition, women must engage themselves in the religious activities, and its results would be that their chastity and devotion would give rise to a good population and they would be eligible to participate in the system of Varnas Rama. If there is no firm control on women, there would be the failing of the system “Varnas rama dharma”, therefore naturally women would be too free and they would want to mix with men and thus, what would happen? Adultery would take place and therefore as a result an undesirable population would take birth! IN CHRISTIANISM Let us take a look, in brief, at the instructions of Jesus (on him be peace) which he got from God, to reform the savage behaviour which people had towards the women of their time. Jesus had broken all false laws and tradition which the people had adopted towards women, where he brought back the right of women of his time that they also had rights, and can be equal to men. There are three religious groups among the Hebrew: Essenes, Pharisees & Sadducees. He made a great revolution with these teachings in his time. Some examples: 1) With lots of prayers, God manifested Himself through Jesus to cure a woman who was continuously bleeding for 12 years without stopping. (Mark 5 : 25-34) 2) In (John Ch.4:V.7) has described how Jesus conversed with a female stranger from Samaria. The people considered her as impure because she was a stranger and that she was a woman above all things. In these times, men had not the right to talk to a female stranger, except for their wives and daughters. 3) In Matthew 15: (22-28), Jesus had helped a lady from Canaan and talked with her (without wretched thoughts), and he prayed a lot for her and her daughter. By the Grace of the Almighty God, God manifested Himself through Jesus, and thus the woman’s daughter was cured, to prove the veracity of His Messenger. The daughter was possessed by Satanic forces (that is, sorcery was practiced on her). There are too many such examples to put forward, that I will tell you a last one, due to limited time, but you can read more of these teachings on the exhibition boards to increase your knowledge. 4) Concerning Education, it was forbidden in these times to educate girls and to make them read the Torah (the Sacred Book which Moses had brought). The people said that they preferred burning the Torah than letting a woman read it. According to them, the one who teach women and girls the Torah; it is as if they are teaching them absurd things, as if when they are reading the Torah, they are doing something indecent. IN ISLAM HADITHS – THE SAYINGS OF THE HOLY PROPHET OF ISLAM (PBUH) There is a lot to talk on this subject, according to the Holy Quran, the teachings of Islam and what the Holy Prophet of Islam (pbuh) has said. Now, I will cite some sayings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh): 1) The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) has said: “The best among you is the one who is good and gentle with the ladies.” (Reported by: Hakim & Albany)   2) The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) has said: “Always do good for women”. (Reported by: Bukhari & Muslim) 3) The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) has said: “Do not beat women” (Reported by: Abu Dawood & Nassaï). The Holy Prophet (pbuh) has said that the one who has a daughter and the parent does not insult her, or prefers the son over her, this person will obtain paradise.” (Bukhari) In the Holy Quran itself, God (Allah) has addressed the Holy Prophet (pbuh) in Chapter 33 on the behaviour of his wives, whereby Allah told him to say to his wives: “If you are seeking this life and its vanities, then let me compensate you and allow you to go amicably.” Afterwards, God (Allah) addresses the wives of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) as such: “… if any of you commits a gross sin, the retribution will be doubled for her.” And then Allah continues to address them, whereby He says to them: “O wives of the prophet, you are not the same as any other women, if you observe righteousness. (You have a greater responsibility.) Therefore, you shall not speak too softly, lest those with disease in their hearts may get the wrong ideas; you shall speak only righteousness. You shall settle down in your homes, and do not mingle with the people excessively, like you used to do in the old days of ignorance… Allah wishes to remove all unholiness from you, O you who live around the Sacred Shrine, and to purify you completely.” Why had God addressed the wives of the Prophet (pbuh) like this? This is because they were to become models for the women of their time, and also for all women till the Day of Judgement, so that they may remain a perfect example for all women, for all religions, so that these women may take the right path, to avoid Divine punishment and to produce a pure and spiritual generation (of children). There is a saying which says: “To educate a man, is to educate only one person. To educate a woman, is to educate a family and a nation as a whole.” Thus, I end here where I have given you an insight of the writings and teachings of three major religions concerning women. Thank You for your attention. (On the 1st Ijtema Inter-faith Conference “Siraj Makîn” on the 20th December 2008)