Woman Between Islam and Western Society
5. Position of Woman in the Islamic Shari‘ah
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bestowed upon us. In giving us this awareness of
the virtues of Islam, she fulfilled the duties of both
father and mother.
I can still recall that after my father’s death, a
maternal uncle, Shaikh Abdul Ghafur, used to pay
us frequent visits. A great expert in legal matters, he
insisted that my mother should file a suit to recover
the land which had been willed to her by her father,
but which relatives by marriage were unwilling to
relinquish. He assured her that all she had to do
was to append her signature to the legal documents
relevant to her claim on the land and that he would
do whatever else was required. He promised her
that she would soon have control of all the land of
which she was the rightful owner. He continued to
pay her visits over a long period of time and went
on in the same vein each time, but my mother
refused to allow herself to be persuaded by him.
Being deprived of the property from our father’s
side, to which we were legally entitled, did, of
course become a source of great provocation, and
we increasingly felt the urge to fight for our rights.
Ultimately, it was through the intervention of
