As I have mentioned above, men and women have many qualities which are common to both of them, for example intellect and insight. Those aspects of life in which both have common qualities would work side by side. By virtue of the division of labour, mentioned before, a woman has been biologically endowed with the capability of giving birth and raising a child. This a man lacks. This female capability fulfils a basic need of the society, and thus compensates for man's great drawback. In this respect a woman is far superior to a man. A mother's lap is the first training ground of a child. The child would be what his mother makes him; and the entire nation would be influenced by this upbringing. That is why in the Arabic language (and in the Quran itself) the nation is named as 'Ummah'. The root of this word is 'Um', which means mother. Therefore, according to the Quran, a mother is responsible for building and moulding a nation. This is the one quality of woman, which man is deprived of. Just think of how colossal a burden of responsibility a woman carries, and how exalted her status is! A woman spends most of her life dealing with these responsibilities, and during that time she may be unable to participate in those activities which require effort and hard physical work. This role in society is fulfilled by man. He spends and uses all his time to exploit and develop the sources of nourishment. (This is what is known as earning the daily bread). It is, however, obvious that this cannot give man an upper hand over a woman. A woman supplements one of his deficiencies and he covers for one of hers. In other words the woman is productive or procures in one way, and man in another. One is superior in one aspect; the other is superior in another. God has made you superior to one another (due to having different qualities) (2:34).
The Quran reveals that it is because of your self-made standards that you believe that since man earns and spends his earnings on the woman, he is better being. (If one accepts the principle that the earners are better than the spenders, then the farmers should be considered better than the thinkers, philosophers and inventors; and the soldiers fighting in a war should be much lower than the labourers, because thinkers, philosophers and soldiers do not till the land and produce food). You have stretched this self-made criterion to such an extent, that a woman has started questioning as to why she was made a female, and not a man. The society that the Quran envisages can never raise such questions in a woman's mind. That is why God has said: On the basis of whatever qualities you have been endowed with by God, you cannot discriminate against the other sex in such a manner, that the other one yearns for the same (4:32).
Men and women have different qualities depending upon their individual fields of work. The question remains whether both do their duties in the most conscientious and dedicated manner. Those who work diligently and wholeheartedly in their respective sphere of activities will reap the benefits in the society. You should only wish for being able to do your best in your respective fields (4:32).
Common Capabilities
Aside from this division of labour, the remaining human capabilities belong to both men and women. Surah Al-Ahzab mentions all these capabilities, which can be attributed to both men and women:
If men have the potentiality to develop their personality by harmonizing themselves with the Laws of Allah, then women also have a similar potentiality; if men can be members of a movement that aims at world peace according to the inviolable Laws of Allah, then women also can participate in it by becoming its members; if men can restrain their capabilities so as to develop them within the laws of Allah, so can women; if men can vindicate the truth of their conviction through its practical implementation in life, so can women vindicate it; if men can remain steadfast on the path they have chosen, so can women; if men have the inexhaustible capacity to be more and more in harmony with the Laws of Allah Almighty once they are set on this path, so have women this inexhaustible capacity; if men can sacrifice lower values for higher values, so can women; if men can exercise control and do not violate the limitations set on them, so can women; if men can keep their sexual urge within the desired limits, so can women; if men can understand the Laws of Allah Almighty and focus their activities in life on them, so can women. Now if both men and women have equal capacities and potentialities, their results should also be the same for both of them. Hence both will enjoy protection and security, and all other such benefits and joy that will come out of their deeds (33:35).
Look at all these Quranic details and think! Is there any aspect of life for which it has said that man has a particular quality which the woman does not; that man can do this and a woman cannot; or that man can become this, and a woman cannot? That is why the Quran tells us, in clear terms:
The positive actions of both men and women would bring them satisfying results; both would experience heaven side by side; it will be the heaven of their home, of this world and in continuity of this life, the heaven of the hereafter (4:124). Nobody's toils would be wasted. (3:195).
According to the Quran:
(i) Both men and women have been endowed with all the human qualities. The objective of life is to develop all these qualities, and to use them most appropriately. Therefore on this account, there is no distinction between men or women. Both are entitled to 'enter paradise'. As such, there is no reason why one sex should be distinguished from the other.
(ii) However, due to the universal law of division of labour, there are certain duties that only a woman can fulfil. In this respect a woman compensates for one of man's great deficiency in society. But as a woman has to spend a great deal of her life fulfilling the call of these duties, she cannot earn her living. A man is thus called upon to fulfil this deficiency of the society. However, just as a woman cannot have an upper hand because she is fulfilling those duties which are impossible for a man to perform, in the same manner a man, too, cannot subjugate a woman by claiming that throughout most of her life she is incapable of earning her living.
(iii) Society's balance can be maintained only if all people perform their respective duties to the best of their abilities.
(iv) In this respect the life gets divided into two spheres. One encircles the duties of a woman only, and the other encompasses duties in which both men and women can participate together.
(v) Just as it would be wrong for a woman not to perform the duties exclusively assigned to her, in the same manner it would also be wrong to confine to her particular circle and to prohibit her from entering the mutual enclosure. Both such actions can cause the disruption of the society.
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