Human’s Value Unrelated to Gender
By value, we mean the status of a human being from the personal, social and divine points of view. In recent years, there has been a mistake among some in identifying values and rights as they say the more rights one has, the more value he or she will have.
In the Holy Quran, which is the book of guidance, many of the addresses are not gender-based. There are special addresses made about special rulings, but when it comes to general issues like monotheism, prophethood and resurrection, there is no talk of gender.
From Islam’s viewpoint, a human being, be it a man or a woman, can reach the highest point of perfection and become God’s representative on earth. The issue of gender is not at play here.
In Islam, what is important is humanity’s true interests, and this is something that some people may not like. In such a religion, creation is purposeful and has a plan. All the differences in the world are also purposeful, based on wisdom, and aimed at paving the way for humans to reach their final destination.
The criteria for determining a human’s value are faith, Taqwa (God-fearing), and good deeds and there is no difference between men and women in this regard. Both men and women can reach the highest level of faith, Taqwa and good deeds.
According to a Hadith, Imam Zaman (may God hasten his glad advent) describes Hazrat Zahra (SA) as a perfect role model for himself. Also, the Holy Quran refers to the wife of pharaoh as a role model for all believers. These examples show the lofty position of women in Islam.
In feminism, however, the basis is humanism which does not take into account the spiritual aspect of human beings. As a result, hedonism is given priority.
Other bases of feminism include secularism which eliminates religion from society, relativism, which is the outcome of liberalism, and individualism.
In feminism, the belief is that there equality and similarity in the rights of men and women in all personal, social, political, cultural and other areas. But in Islam there is proportionality in the rights and responsibilities of men and women.
