The Education of Women

After knowing the Hadith, "Seeking of knowledge is compulsory on every Muslim male and female", and other texts which make the acquisition of knowledge compulsory on both males and females, there remains no need to write a special article on this subject. Moreso because this subject was touched on in the journal "al-Qasim" volumes one and two. But because of a few incidents and peculiarities (which are connected more to the condition of Indian women) and which are witnessed quite often, it is necessary to write a special and detailed article on this subject, and is therefore being repeated.

It should be known in this introduction that as far as has been pursued, there are people who think in three different ways: (1) there are those who do not oppose nor support the education of women. At the same time they do not place any importance on it, (2) those who are completely opposed to it, and (3) those who support it totally. All three groups have different shortcomings. The fault of the first group, which is the greatest and severest fault, is that it does not regard any need whatsoever to educate women. This total disregard is both in their men and women. The proof of these people which has actually put them into confusion is the question whether women have to seek employment, because of which arrangements have to be made for their education? From this we can deduce that these people have not understood the object of education, they have not pondered over those verses and Ahaadith which have made the acquisition of knowledge compulsory on both male and female, nor have they understood the type of education which is fardh. So it should be understood that the object of knowledge is not to get employment because knowledge which is compulsory to acquire is not knowledge for a livelihood but knowledge of the Deen, knowledge with which man's beliefs, actions, dealings, society, and character are put in order, and the fruit of which in this world is that he is blessed with the wealth of "they are the ones who are on guidance from their Lord", and in the hereafter he gets the glad tidings of "they are the one's who are successful". So the necessity of acquiring Deeni knowledge is obvious, both textually and logically. The textual proofs are as follows:

1) "The acquiring of knowledge is wajib on every Muslim." (Bayhaqi on the authority of Anas)

2) "The acquiring of knowledge is a faridah (compulsory duty) on every Muslim." (Daylami on the authority of Ali)

3) "The acquisition of fiqh (understanding of Deen) is wajib on every Muslim." (Hakim in his Tarikh on the authority of Anas)

4) "Acquire knowledge and pass it on to the people." (Darqutni on the authority of Abu Saeed, and Bayhaqi on the authority of Abu Bakr)

5) "Acquire knowledge before it is raised." (Daylami on the authority of Ibne Mas'ud on the authority of Abu Hurayrah)

6) "O people! hold on to knowledge before it is raised." (Tabrani and Khateeb on the authority of Abu Umamah)

7) "O people! seek knowledge before it is raised." (Ahmad and Daarmi, Tib and Abu al-Shaykh in his tafseer, and Ibne Mardawiyya on the authority of Abu Umamah)

8) "Destruction for the one who has no knowledge." (on the authority of Hudhayfah)
Apart from this, there are other proofs which refer to the acquisition of knowledge for both males and females.

As for a logical proof: for reformation, beliefs and good deeds are compulsory. And beliefs and good deeds are dependent on acquiring knowledge of them. This is something that is obvious. And that thing upon which a compulsory thing is dependent, is also compulsory. So to acquire knowledge is also compulsory. Nevertheless, that deeds are dependent on knowledge is something that is very obvious. But if we go a little further, then it even becomes seen or observed. Consequently, the state in which uneducated women are, can be seen by all: that they cannot distinguish between kufr and shirk, nor do they have any love for Iman and Islam. They blurt out whatever they want with regards to Allah Ta'ala. They talk against the laws of Islam with arrogance. In order to bear children or to subdue the husband to their whims, they will try anything that they are shown, whether it be witchcraft, charms, magic or special incantations irrespective of whether these things are permissible or not. If this is the state of their beliefs, then what can be said of their salaat and fasting? So much so that apart from discarding these duties, some of them even mock at them, and go even further by taking ill-omens from them. In other words, some of them do not perform their salaat despite knowing that it is fardh. Others do not respect it and do not regard it as compulsory, while others take ill omens from it and regard it as a cause of harm. The latter two reach the stage of absolute kufr, while the first is regarded as fisq and a major sin. If this is the condition of their salaat and fasting, wherein no money is spent, then what will the condition of their zakaat and hajj be? One should not even bother to ask about these things. And if this is the condition of their beliefs and Ibaadaat, then there is no possibility of putting right their business and social dealings (mu'aamalaat). This is so because salaat, fasting, etc. are regarded as Deeni activities. As for business dealings, the majority of people regard them as worldly activities. It is for this reason that it is only the very pious ones who try to set right their mu'aamalaat. What improvements can uneducated women make?

If this is the condition of their mu'aamalaat, then when will their minds ever go towards reforming society (mu'aasharat)? This is so because mu'aamalaat are regarded as huquq al-ibad (the rights of fellow beings), as opposed to mu'aasharat because this aspect of huquq al-ibad is not apparent in it. Therefore, giving importance to this is extremely minimal. If there is so much of complacency with regard to mu'aamalaat and mu'aasharat, when will any efforts be directed towards internal character, such as humility, sincerity, fear, love, patience, gratitude, etc.? We know that to a large extent the effects of mu'aamalaat, and to a less degree, the effects of mu'aasharat reach other people. Hence, at times they are even regarded as pious or disgraced, depending on their mu'aamalaat and mu'aasharat. But when it comes to one's internal character or condition, then even its overwhelming effect is restricted to ones self. As a result of it being concealed, others do not even come to know of it whereby a person could be addressed as a religious or irreligious person. It is for this reason that giving importance to it is very rare, so much so that this is even the case among the pious. Then what can be expected of the masses?

Be that as it may, the real cause and reason for this complacency in all religious matters is a paucity of knowledge of the Deen. So where there is no knowledge at all, and added to this where the intellect is naturally deficient (because women are naturally deficient intellectually, meaning that where there is no intellect and no knowledge) then there will be no limit to the shortcomings mentioned in the above matters. Both intellect and experiences bear testimony to the fact that without knowledge, actions cannot be put right. And to set right one's actions is wajib and fardh. Consequently, the acquisition of Deeni knowledge being compulsory, as had been claimed above, has now also been proven logically. And prior to this, it was also proven textually (i.e. through Ahaadith). It has now been established both ways that to acquire knowledge of the Deen is compulsory.

Those who feel that there is no need for women to acquire knowledge because they do not have to seek employment, have been proven to be wrong. This is the answer to their assumption. However, there could be some doubt that by establishing that acquiring Deeni knowledge is compulsory, it does not necessarily mean that it becomes compulsory to acquire education in the normal way: that books should also be taught to women. Instead, it could be acquired by asking and questioning the ulama. The answer to this doubt is that this is correct, and we do not even say that education in the normal way is compulsory. However, at this point, three principles are worthy of noting:

(1) If something is compulsory, everything that will aid in fulfilling it will also be compulsory. For example, a person is unable to go for Hajj on foot. But in his time, trains and ships have been set aside to undertake that journey and he also has the money and ability to undertake that journey. It will therefore be compulsory on him to intend to undertake the journey, purchase the ticket and board the train or ship. To purchase the train or ship ticket and to board it in itself is not compulsory on him according to the Shariah, but because it is a means to fulfilling a fardh act (i.e. hajj), it will also become compulsory on him. This is called fardh
bil-ghayr (i.e. compulsory because of another factor).

(2) Experience has shown that for knowledge to be well preserved in the minds, the study of books is nesessary. This happens to be the normal way of education. And to preserve Deeni knowledge is compulsory. So based on the first principle, it will also be compulsory to impart Deeni knowledge in the normal way. However, this is wajib alal-kifayah, i.e. in every place, there should be a few persons who have studied the Deen and who can answer the questions of those who need to know.

(3) It has also been established that to have ulama among the males is not sufficient to fulfil the Deeni requirements of women. There are two reasons for this: (1) Because of purdah (this is one of the most important of obligatory acts). It is almost impossible for all women to be able to go to the ulama. If the menfolk were to be used as a means, then some women do not even have anyone whom they could use. In some places, even the men give no importance to matters of Deen, so where will they take the responsibility of finding out for others? For such women it becomes extremely difficult to find out matters of the Deen. If by chance, access to someone is possible, or she has a father, son, brother, etc. in the house who is an aalim, then there are certain matters which women cannot ask them about. There may be such informality with the husband, but for all of them to have such husbands is generally impossible. In order to fulfil the general needs of women, there is no alternative but to have such women who are educated and from whom other women could get answers to all their questions. Based on this, it is established that to impart Deeni knowledge to women in the normal way, is wajib. So now, this doubt has also been cleared and it has been established that it is a necessity to have a system of education for women similar to that of men. This wrong notion that there is no need to educate women has been totally uprooted.

We will now deal with the second group which is opposed to the education of women and which regards it as extremely harmful. It is their claim that most educated women are liberal, fearless, shameless, cunning and immoral. Especially if she knows how to write, she becomes even more daring. She writes to whoever she wants and sends messages and greetings to whoever she wishes. Similarly, others also get the urge to express their desires by sending letters to her. When these messages reach her, she gets affected by them and also sends compassionate replies. This bond grows until whatever was bound to happen, happens. At times she does not reply, but keeps silent. Those who are ill at heart take this as a sign of acceptance and try to fill this void in the future by sending messages, greetings and letters. It is a general principle that, that which is written affects the ears. Furthermore, the ways of expression of some people are very enchanting and women are soft-hearted by nature. So for the web of shaytaan to spread is not surprising. If a woman to whom a letter was written was displeased, and she even expressed her displeasure, but fearing the consequences of what her husband or family members would say or do, she did not inform them about this. In this way, those who wrote the letter will be safe from any harm. They will get more bold and at the next opportunity, they will write again. All this happened because the women were educated. If they were uneducated, they would not have been able to write anything, nor would anyone come to know of them, and this whole chapter would have been closed.