Woman Between Islam and Western Society
5. Position of Woman in the Islamic Shari‘ah
~ 343 ~
first Islamic movement in modem times which has
attempted to steer Muslims resolutely away from
negative activities, and set their feet on the path of
positivism.
I thank all those who have been good enough to
encourage me; but the real credit for my
achievements must go by rights to that devoted
Muslim woman called Zaibun Nisa. In this
material world of ours, if there is anyone who
may be fittingly called the initial founder of this
modern, constructive movement, it is certainly
my mother. She had never heard of “Women’s
Lib,” being very far removed in space, time and
culture from such activities, but it is worthy of
note that she needed none of the philosophizing
of the women’s liberationists to be able to
perform what she regarded as her bounden duty
in the eyes of God. Whereas my brothers and I set
about our tasks in life in a reasoned, conscious
manner, for her it was all a matter of instinct,
prayer and faith.
I know more than one of my own relatives who,
having lost his mother at an early age, became
