Men and women are the two pillars on which stand the prospects of human race and continuity of life on earth. While Islam entrusts the man with the task of earning sufficient livelihood to support the family, it is the woman who is supposed to make house a home. The balance thus is sustained through cooperation and coordination.
The tricky part comes when an imbalance is reported resulting out of situations such as inadequate earnings or inability to shoulder the responsibilities of the household. In such a case, there might be a need to alter or partake the roles of one another. Islam, having established the due balance, doesn’t let out unaddressed such a situation. It furnishes mankind with all the possible and feasible solutions which may be needed from time to time.
Often do we hear that Islam is a religion of extremism and is biased on gender grounds, favouring the man. It is portrayed as if the religion of perfection seeks to establish a patriarchal society, subjugating women to nothing worthwhile. The idea, however, lacks sound base. Islam is the most progressive of all religions ever followed by any human race. It gives equal rights to men and women, in a manner which appeals to open minds. Islam does not guarantee women rights more than those of men; neither does it compare the two in some black and white fashion. While it allows man to have a certain set of privileges over woman, it does the exact same to woman too but this is purposely overlooked most of the time.
As far as the right to earning a halal income is concerned, Islam never discourages women to do so. In fact, the lady, who was the closest to our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him), Khadijah, was a successful businesswoman, without whom the journey of prophethood would have been difficult a thousand times over. If it were not for Khadijah and her outstanding business, the history of Islam wouldn’t have been as inspiring.
Today, a lot of emphasis is laid on having women work for the qualifications they have gained. The Muslim community, on the other hand, lags, having most of its talent- and capacity-laden women sitting in some corner of the house, spending days and nights in the same routine of looking after the children, the husband and the home. While some Muslim women are outshining everyone, creating a perfect balance between work and home, there still exists a large section of society which holds the view that creating such a balance is not an easy task and hence, should not be aimed at.
This belief, though common with the Muslims, has no place in Islam. Muslim women, on the other hand, are encouraged to emulate the Ummahaat-ul-Momineen, particularly Khadijah and Aisha. While our eldest mother, the great businesswoman, assisted the Prophet in carrying out the message of Islam, it was the youngest who became the most profound scholar of Islam and reported the maximum number of ahadīth. If there would have been anything wrong with the ladies earning for themselves and utilising their inherent talents to the best of their abilities, it must have been highlighted by the most farsighted and visionary person to have walked on earth – Our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him). He only laid down the basic principles to be followed by the working women – a move sure to further their interests by harmonising the responsibilities of home and work.
It is often reported how a working woman is better off than a non-working one in terms of the overall satisfaction she possesses. A working woman not only manages to channelize her abilities in the productive direction but also feels content that she is actually contributing as much as or may be more than her partner. This boosts up her self-confidence and encourages her to work on building her career. Not only this, it is also observed that a working woman has a healthier relationship with her husband. This is due to the fact that she sustains withering away with time, as is the case with most of the stay-at-home mothers. Also, the husband has something material right before his eyes to acknowledge as against the countless unpaid services performed on a daily basis by a wife and a mother. This acknowledgement causes the husband to value the wife more and deep down he knows that it is not the material support which counts for the wife but the spiritual one. A marriage based on the realisation that spiritual companionship outweighs everything is sound enough to sustain the trials of time.
Islam acknowledges women as the fragile self they are. It is due to this that the religion seeks to restrain the women from crossing the set boundaries. Though there are no hard and fast rules regarding the type of profession a Muslim woman may take up, Islam seeks to make clear what should be resisted as much as possible. Free mixing with the opposite gender and not having enough time to spend with the family are the basic things which are discouraged. In today’s world, it is not a tough job for a well-qualified Muslim woman to utilise her capabilities without crossing the limits. Not only the outside jobs but there are numerous opportunities of working from the comforts of our home. How awesome it is to be one’s own boss, do the work whenever we have the time to without having to leave the kids at the mercy of the maids! Having such opportunities at hand, we replete with necessary skills and also knowing the positive effects of earning a surplus, it is nothing but a loss not to pay heed to. If the skills are there, they should come out. If not, they should be developed. The Muslim community has this immediate responsibility of encouraging women to make use of their talents. We shall be accountable for the skills we were bestowed with but didn’t utilise to their maximum potential. Women are the powerhouse of talents, skills, expertise and will power. All they need is a gentle push and the world shall thrive with millions of millionaire Muslimahs.