پژوهش نامه اسلامی زنان و خانواده
سال سوم شماره 5 (بهار 1389)

One of the most fundamental discussions in the society of which women are a part is “women’s rights and personality”. Given the fact that women have always remained deprived of their due rights and at times their very human status has been put to question, the position and personality accorded to women in the culture of every society are indicative of her position and status in that society.Different religious and political schools have expressed different views about woman’s personality, status and rights. Amongst them is the religion of Islam which is a human-constructing and comprehensive school having a broad and just attitude towards women. It has illustrated man and woman’s rights in the best possible manner. Islam does not consider creational and legal differences to be a sign of the difference of identity. Evaluating human beings through the yardstick of piety and attaching importance to the pious acts of a believer regardless of gender differences signify that these differences carry no momentum in the eye of this sacred religion.Verse 34 of Chapter al-Nisa is one of the most important verses dealing with woman and her rights. Unfortunately, some crook-minded people have endeavored to tarnish Islam’s perspective towards women by presenting an unjust and unfair interpretation of the verse. Hence, a correct perception of this verse will have a substantial effect on exploring the holy Quran’s view concerning woman’s rights and personality. In this study, efforts have been made to present the most important views held by Shiite and Sunni tafasir (commentaries) about the first part of verse 34, albeit with the help of the views of the researchers of both sects in the area of commentary, hadith and etymology and also through studying the chronological development of “guardianship” and the impacts of social development on it.

Nowadays, the unhealthy relationship between girls and boys is one of the problems facing today’s human society. Without doubt, in the present age which is the age of communication and amalgamation of cultures, this issue has turned into a problem or a challenge influenced by the dominant cultures of the world because making friends with someone from the opposite sex is not seen as abnormal in the Western society. Given that the youngsters always tend to get excited, this culture can easily influence them and gradually make evil things look good to them, irrespective of where and in which society they are. Therefore, the factors which give rise to unhealthy relationships or strengthen such relationships and also the negative consequences which this group of people may suffer on account of such relationships need to be studied and investigated seriously. The present writing seeks to delve into these factors and examine them.

The question concerning “woman’s guardianship” is one of the important discussions of today’s Islamic society. Guardianship discussed in this article is meant for management and authority over a group. The principal question is: Is maleness a necessary trait for authority over a group (be it authority over an entire society or a small group of individuals)? Many Muslim scholars have dealt with this issue in their discussions concerning general judgment and most of them have considered masculinity to be a necessary condition in this regard except for Abu Hanifa who allows woman to have judicial authority in matters other than punishments and penalties. In fact, the basic problem originates in women’s being deprived of the right of guardianship and obedience in areas where there is not any valid proof. The proponents of permissibility of women’s guardianship resort to the biography (seera) of the wise-men and the generalness of some traditions. As for the opponents, they avail themselves of four Quranic verses including “men are the protectors and maintainers of women” and also of several narrations like those dealing with women’s judgment or narrations such as “the woman is a sweet basil and she is not a champion” or narrations that consider woman’s government to be a sign of corruption of time or the narration which says that a society which is ruled by its women is doomed to failure and destruction (Hemran bin A’ayun’s authentic tradition in this regard is one of the most important proofs reproaching and reproofing women’s rulership and domination over the society). One of the arguments put forth by the opponents of women’s guardianship is what is known as “shari’ah taste” according to which there are orders and instructions about women such as the emphasis laid on women’s segregation from men, women’s staying indoors or the narrations which say that women are deficient in intelligence and their opinions are flawed or the narrations which discourage obeying women and seeking their advice. In this article, efforts have been made to give answers to the arguments presented by the opponents of guardianship and authority of women. However, women’s guardianship has been considered as less preferable. When it comes to occupying the key posts of the society, the article tends to consider it as impermissible for women.

The culture of modest dress which has an origin in the human nature and which arises from modesty and chastity of the heart and mind is a religious and national symbol of Islamic and Eastern societies. Wearing modest dress not only ensures spiritual and physical protection but it also strengthens the family institution. It is a kind of respecting the woman’s position and adjusting the instinct of showing off and being ostentatious. This genuine culture which has its roots in man’s God-gifted nature has in recent years become shaky and been disturbed in some cases with the challenge posed by “nudity culture”, the West’s symbol of sovereignty, causing some girls and women of Muslim communities to distance themselves from the culture of modesty and chastity. This change in perspective is rooted in some factors and motives which are explained in this writing. The cultural, social, family, personality and attitude factors dealt with in this article are some of the most important factors causing women to wear immodest dresses.

Issues like men’s authority over women, management and protection of women by men, the creational deficiencies of women, the superiority of men, the necessity of women obeying men, the impermissibility of going out of home for women, women’s disobedience, corporeal punishment of women by their husbands, occupation of posts by women and the general guardianship of women are the intellectual concerns of many religious scholars, managers and divine politicians. A brief look into verse 34 of Chapter al-Nisa and the related traditions about it can, to some extent, wipe out ambiguity from our mind and give us a clear picture about the opinion of the Quran and that of the Ahl al-Bayt (a.s.) in regards to men’s authority over women.It seems that if we examine the literary and explanatory points and purports of the verse in a question and answer manner as is done in sequential interpretation of the Quran, drawing a conclusion and availing ourselves of a more appropriate meaning of the verse concerning the foregoing issues will take place sooner. For this reason, we have followed the discussions in two parts: “the literary and explanatory points” and “messages and purports” followed by a conclusion.

This article aims to study woman’s position in the poems of some Arab poets in the wake of the movement. Rapid progress and social developments of the west in the 19th century led to a change in the attitude of intellectuals and the literary men as well as poets towards women. In this study, first a brief explanation has been given on the various periods of Arab literature and the exclusive features of each period. Thereupon woman’s image in the poem of the past eras has been described. These eras include, the ignorance period, the Amawid period, the Abbasid period and the era of declination. Then the factors involved in the change of the living conditions followed by the change of the attitude of the Arabs during the movement period have been meticulously explained. It can be concluded through examining and studying the poems composed by some of the renowned contemporary poets that although sometimes some sensory images are seen or even images of the sort of the literature of the ignorance period are observed, the contemporary Arabic poem lays great emphasis on the spiritual issues of women such as education, moral training, freedom (irrespective of the differences existing concerning its concept). The emphasis stems from the distinction and differences existing in the contemporary Arab view towards woman as compared to the previous periods. The impacts are visible on most of the spiritual, human and social issues.

Main question: What is meant by “degree” in the above verse? This article aims to explain the meaning of the word “degree” (darajah) in the Quranic verse in which God, the Exalted, says, “and the men are a degree above them”. The explanations are given with a view towards the sayings of the exegetes and commentators of the Quran and the literal meaning of the word. The article finds a correlation between this verse of Chapter al-Baqarah and another verse from Chapter al-Nisa in which God, the Exalted, says, “men are the protectors and maintainers of women” because many commentators are of the view that these verses are interpreting each other. It has been clarified in this article that the verse is not meant to assume a higher position for men as being closer and dearer to God. Rather it points out that there are differences between men and women considering their roles and duties towards each other. It emphasizes on the fact that the criterion for proximity to God is piety and good deeds. This is something which is coherent and compliant with divine justice and the true nature of Islam.