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"Heaven is at the feet of mothers", is a basic Islamic teaching.
 

Islam and Dignity of Women 

Women take part in politics in most of the Islamic countries. Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Turkey have had women as Head of State. Muslim women are free to take part in sports and engage in any profession they like. . 

Shirin Ebadi, the first Iranian and the first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Her work to give full rights to women in orthodox Islamic communities has been appreciated worldwide. 

Benazir Bhutto, in her paper on Civil Society and Women�s Participation in the Political Process, Rome, Italy - July 18, 2003 wrote: �To me, women are not just the building blocs of the family; They are the building blocs of society.  They are responsible for the family�s household budget. They bear most of the responsibility of child raising.  
They are more sensitive to social issues like education and health. 

The sex differences responsible for the imbalance in earning power and employment status between men and women are best explained by biological, and not sociological, analyses. 
Biology at Work: Rethinking Sexual Equality
by Kingsley R. Browne

. They -- far more than their husbands and brothers -- are cautious about committing the lives of their children to war.  

Women are the principal educators, not just of literacy but also of morality.  

And once mobilized, once organized, once unleashed, the power of women to change their societies can never again be contained.  

Another scholar wrote; �When it comes to Islamic duties, the Muslim woman is just like a man: she has a mission in life, and so she is required to be as effective, active and social as her particular circumstances and capabilities allow, mixing with other women as much as she can and dealing with them in accordance with the worthy Islamic attitudes and behavior that distinguish her from other women. 

The plight of women in the families of common people remains the same and more effective measures are needed to educate not only women but also the heads of the families. briefing you on the true Islamic teachings regarding women laid down by the Quran and prophet Mohammad over 14 centuries ago.

What needs to be questioned is the notion that either sex is a victim. Once one accepts that men and women have, on average, different predispositions, desires, and definitions of success, it is axiomatic that comparisons between the two groups will yield qualitatively different outcomes for the two groups, at least in a society that permits people freely to pursue their own desires rather than requiring them to satisfy someone else's."-from Biology at Work: Rethinking Sexual Equality

Kingsley R. Browne

An Excerpt from handout of Islamic Center of Southern California

To Separate Fact From Fiction...

Originally published by Islamic Center of Southern California 

Contrary to widespread erroneous belief,
Contrary to widespread negative stereotyping,
and
Contrary to regrettable practices in some Islamic societies where anti-Islamic culture traditions have won over Islamic teachings and where women are subdued (and men even more so).

This information has been written with the objective of briefing you on the true Islamic teachings regarding women laid down by the Quran and prophet Mohammad over 14 centuries ago.

Islam declared women and men equal.

Islam condemned pre-Islamic practices degrading and oppressing women.

The same injunctions and prohibitions of Islam equally apply to both sexes.

Islam gave woman the right of inheritance and the right of individual independent ownership unhampered by father,
husband, brother, son or anyone else.

Islam gave women the right to accept or reject a marriage proposal free from pressure, and by mutual agreement to specify in the marriage contract that she has the right to divorce (if she misses that option she has the right to seek court divorce if she deems the marriage to have failed beyond repair).

Islam does not require woman to change her name at marriage.

Islam protects the family and condemns the betrayal of marital fidelity. It recognizes only one type of family: husband and wife united by authentic marriage contract.

"Heaven is at the feet of mothers", is a basic Islamic teaching.

"The best of you are the kindest to their wives and I am your best to mine", is a teaching by prophet Mohammad.

Islam enjoins sounds morality in thinking, behavior and appearance. Dress fashions and social patterns that reduce woman to a sex object and exploit her as such are not acceptable to Islam.

The observance of chastity and moral standards is equally demanded by Islam from both men and women. "Women are the siblings of men", is a saying of prophet Mohammad.

For more information please contact:

Islamic Center of Southern California
434 S. Vermont Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90020
(213) 382 - 9200 

Fanatics are found in every religion who misuse Holy scripture by quoting it out of context to distort its meaning.If Islam wanted to shut women behind Burqa than Pakistan would not have had a woman Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and now in Indonesia Megawati was the President in spite of the fact that Indonesia has majority of conservative Muslims. Anyway modesty is something else and not hiding behind burqa.

Benazir Bhutto, Former Prime Minister of Pakistan wrote:

To me, women are not just the building blocs of the family;

They are the building blocs of society.

They are responsible for the family’s household budget.

They bear most of the responsibility of child raising.

They are more sensitive to social issues like education and health.

They -- far more than their husbands and brothers -- are cautious about committing the lives of their children to war.

Women are the principal educators, not just of literacy but also of morality.

And once mobilized, once organized, once unleashed, the power of women to change their societies can never again be contained.

Benazir Bhutto, in her paper on Civil Society and Women’s Participation
in the Political Process, Rome, Italy - July 18, 2003 .

Burqa is not mandatory

Wearing the Burqa is not mandatory. Burqa is supported by the tradition
based on wrong interpretation of verses of Holy Quran and Hadiths.

Modesty in dressing is prescribed and when going out wearing over garment in way
that face is not hidden to make recognition impossible. Bohra community is
conservative but their interpretation about Hijab is correct as they don Hijab when going out but do not hide face