Re-Examining the Concept of Womens Rights Dr.

Hanaan Balala

It is assumed, if not hoped, that womens rights in all its varieties, trends, and organizations aims for one outcome; the empowerment of women. look like What, however, does the empowerment of women mean?; what does it when embodied in a woman or in women?; Is there a standard empowered woman? and can one empower another who is not psychologically empowered through external measures?; Just as Light is not born of darkness, so is empowerment not born of disempowerment. A state, any state, only replicate itself. By establishing a long-standing movement of empowering women, we are affirming the disempowered status of not only those women experiencing a lack of self-autonomy, but all women in general. This perhaps explains why is it that throughout recent history there has been a movement to empower women with little fundamental effect on women in general. We are, after all, one human body. No part of a body or entity can ail without affecting the whole accordingly just as an aching tooth or throbbing toe destroys the peace of a physical body. Consider, why is it that there has never been a mens rights movement though men too have been enslaved and suffered disempowerment in the past? In fact, some men today experience as disempowered a status as their

female counterparts. Empowerment, like Love, Joy or Freedom, is not gender selective. Empowerment is a state of being; not a set of action or a prescribed way of life. In the absence of a state of empowerment, one experiences disempowerment just as darkness is simply the absence of Light. Disempowerment is not actually a real state but the absence of a human beings natural state of being; the absence of Freedom and wholeness (whol-e-ness/holiness). All humans are created equal and empowered. Thus, women are innately empowered and are entitled to all the attending rights due to a Free human being. To lament the disempowered state of women is akin to lamenting the inferiority of women to men. Women are not inferior to men nor disempowered in state, though they may be subjected to customs and circumstances that rob them of their equality and God-given rights just as slaves were once robbed of their equality and God-given rights by those who assumed power over others in various parts of the world. Both disempowerment and inferiority/superiority are illusory and false conditions resulting from a denial of the inherent state of the human being/s in question. The Creator, whatever the name chosen to address All that Is, abides beyond the duality of the fragmented mind of 3 dimension. It is for this reason that the Quran addresses women in the same terms as men and where male references are used, this is understood to include the

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Muhammad directly regarding the male phraseology of the Quran that deliberate adjustments were made in the language of revelation to indicate that no gender bias is intended. To illustrate using contextual examples from the 6th/7th Century, the Quran prohibits the prevalent practice of female infanticide simply by questioning the sin for which the female infant was killed for? This established a girlchilds right to Life equal to the male child. Likewise, Muhammad established elaborate laws of inheritance, marriage, divorce, spousal maintenance and individual autonomy of women in all aspects of life with equal status and deservability before God though their cultural roles may vary. The rights of women enforced by Muhammad through the Quran and his exemplary life catered for the welfare of its focus group in exactly the same way that rights of orphans did or rights of marriage partners provided for the welfare of those it addressed. Just as the rights of orphans and marriage spouses do not dictate details of dress code and specificity of conduct beyond what is contextually honourable and kind (maruf and maslah), so do the rights of women indicate accordingly. What is emphasized beyond the contextual specificity is the inherently wholesome (whole-sum) and deserving state of the group or individuals in question. Their welfare is underpinned by the principles that govern human existence on Earth:

Dignity, Equality, Freedom, Fraternity and Justice. The principles of Life do not distinguish between religious affiliation, male and female, orphans and parented children, married and unmarried, felon or free; young or old and is in every way blind. What these group specific set of rights do is simply apply the overarching principle of Oneness to the specific segment within humanity so as to maintain balance at all times between the different segments of society. On this basis does the Quran illustrate the lives and examples of women in the history of Humanity so as to give indication of the worthiness and equality of women in the sight of the Creator. It indicates specifically that all Humanity is created from a female consciousness for whom a partner was created and from their union many males and females were birthed (AlNisaa: 1). Likewise does the life of Muhammad indicate the empowered state of women through the example of his relationships with his wives, daughters and women generally as well as the individual autonomy and freedom they enjoyed with him much to the consternation of his male companions. In this light, I ask, did Muhammad intend the creation of distinction between man and woman for purposes of denigration and discrimination that they have come to be used for? I think not, but Ill leave each reader to ponder the issue for ones self.