Why is there no Women’s Day in the Islamic Calendar? – Masjidur Rahman, Durban North

Jumuah  |  09-08-2024  |  Masjidur Rahman, Durban North

Islam has placed so much of emphasis on rights, not just of women but of all groups in society and these rights have to be upheld every day of the year rather than just on one specific day. Before the advent of Islam, women endured the worst treatment, some groupings debating whether they have a human soul or not. They were offered as live sacrifices. Femicide was rife. The amazing incidents of ‘Amr ibn al-‘As (RA) ending the annual pagan sacrifice of a virgin to the River Nile, and Abu al-Barakat al-Barbari (R) ending a similar practice in the Maldives causing the conversion of the entire Island to Islam, and the incident of a Sahabi (‎RA) who committed femicide before Islam displays how Islam came to preserve the life and rights of women. Much like the pagans of the past, the sacrifice of the rights and status of women for economic prosperity is ongoing in today’s world. Islam has conferred high status upon women as mothers who are the ‘factory’ that produce and raise in their laps leaders and those men who benefit humanity. She has been granted economic rights entitling her to be the queen of the home and protecting her from exploitation. The rights of women is mentioned before that of men in the Qur’an – in this is a deep message for Believers.