Woman in Islamic Shari‘ah
5. Muslim women
~ 106 ~
behest, long before there was any such city as
Mecca. (God’s aim in leading Abraham and his wife
and child to this barren, inhospitable land was to
bring into being a live community which, free of all
superstitions and all other corruptions of
civilization, would play a revolutionary role led by
the last Prophet.) The performance of this rite is a
lesson in struggling for the cause of God. It is of the
utmost significance that, this was an act first
performed by a woman. Perhaps there could be no
better demonstration of a woman’s greatness than
God’s command to men, literally to follow in her
footsteps.
IN THE LIGHT OF EXPERIENCE
The position of women in Islam, as expounded so
far in the pages of this book, is a matter neither of
conjecture, abstract theory nor of ancient history.
Nor is it purely a concept gleaned from readings of
the Qur’an, the Hadith and the history of Islam. It is
a matter of actual fact, to which I myself am a
witness.
I give the example of the women of my own family
who, in times of dire distress, were totally Islamic in
