(Dr. Javed Jamil)
SOCIAL SYSTEM OF ISLAM
* The first important feature of Islamic social system is a harmonious equilibrium between individual, family and society. Society cannot trample upon one’s rights and duties as a member of family which are as important as one’s rights and duties as a member of society.
Rights of women in Islam
* There can be no greater duty than to become an essential and indispensable part of the birth and care of mankind.
* The uniformity of all rights would mean total negligence of the natural manliness of men and natural womanliness of the women.
* Islam grants equal status to men and women, granting to them privileges in different areas. Man is duty-bound to earn and maintain his wife, children and dependent parents; woman has the right to earn if she so wishes but is also free to receive her maintenance from her husband in return of her duties as wife.
* Islam is not affected by emotional considerations; but judges on the basis of the respective needs of men and women. Unlike several other religions, a Muslim woman enjoys the same status in religious affairs as man. If she obeys God in the prescribed way, she is as much entitled to Paradise as her father, husband, brother or son. As mother, she commands respect several times greater than man does as father. She has right to choose her spouse, has reproductive rights, has rights to marry as a widow or as a divorcee, has right to seek divorce, and in case of any defamation, she can demand punishment to the offender. She is as much exhorted to earn knowledge as man. If there are places where man seems to be a little more privileged, there are equal number of places where woman seems to be more privileged.
* The modern world can boast of giving rights to women; but it has hardly cared for their safety and security. The result is that the “freedom” of women has opened ways for their exploitation.
* A woman in a true Islamic system cannot become a victim of the sex market; she runs minimum risk of assault on her modesty (for Islam severely, and in an exemplary manner, punishes such crimes); and has an added satisfaction that her husband cannot drink, gamble or have sex outside marriage. All these are big security concerns for women, and Islam attends all of them with perfection.
* Whereas polygyny is self-limiting and medically minimally hazardous; promiscuity is all-enveloping and medically enormously dangerous. This is practically impossible for a significant minority to become polygamous, as the demography does not allow it, but it is a distinct possibility that the majority of the population becomes promiscuous.
* Obviously, the incidence of polygyny depends on the ratio of marriage-seeking females and marriage-seeking males in society.
* The rate of the growth of population depends only on the number of fertile women in that population. Polygyny does not change this number and has therefore nothing to do with the growth of population.
* Islam allows polygyny but prefers monogamy.
* Another important role of Iddah is to prevent the sexually transmitted diseases. The provision of Iddah means that no woman can ever have sexual relations with two men without a gap of at least three months. This is greatly helpful in minimising the risks of HIV and other STDs. It is interesting to note that the incubation period of all STDs is less than 90 days, and the window period of HIV/AIDS is also about 90 days.
POLITICAL SYSTEM OF ISLAM
* The grand objective of Islamic political system is to ensure peace at all levels. And peace cannot be achieved without taking three basic steps: first, enjoin the righteousness and forbid evil; second, ensure justice; and third, foster unity and brotherhood. It is this trio that forms the foundation of the Islamic political setup.
* Democracy has miserably failed to guard itself against the damaging intrigues of the vested interests, particularly the industrialists.
* Democracy literally means ‘a government by the people, of the people and for the people’. In truth it is a government of the corporate, by the corporate and for the corporate.
* Islam promotes the real democracy, which means Government of God, by the best servants of God and for the people (theomeritodemocracy). In Islam the state belongs to God, and what belongs to God does in truth belong to the people. God alone can be the selfless Master whose only interest is mercy on all its creatures.
* Islam basically advocates universal love, not nationalism; the ‘One Nation’ of Islam cannot be achieved by force but by continuous propagation of the faith and pro-welfare social principles of Islam.
* It is the duty of Islamic government to protect all the people irrespective of their religion.
* Dr Javed Jamil is India based thinker and writer with over a dozen books including his latest, “Muslim Vision of Secular India: Destination & Road-map”, “Qur’anic Paradigms of Sciences & Society” (First Vol: Health), “Muslims Most Civilised, Yet Not Enough” and Other works include “The Devil of Economic Fundamentalism”, “The Essence of the Divine Verses”, “The Killer Sex”, “Islam means Peace” and “Rediscovering the Universe”. Read more about him at http://www.worldmuslimpedia.com/dr-javed-jamil. Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/javedjamil2015/, also http://javedjamil.blogspot.in/. He can be contacted at doctorforu123@yahoo.com.