This article attempts to clear a few misconceptions with regards to divorce, inheritance, polygamy and the leadership role of women.

It is generally believed that the only way to annul a marriage is through the unilateral decision of the husband. Thus a woman is bound to her husband and may languish in misery, even if her husband refuses to maintain her, becomes violent or simply deserts her. This is a gross misrepresentation of the true facts. A marriage in Islām can be terminated in four different ways :

1. Talāq - unilaterally by the husband
2. Tafwīz - Unilaterally by the wife i.e. the husband delegates the right of talaaq to his wife as part  of the nuptial contract.
3. Faskh - Annulment through the judicial process. The Judge or a Mufti of a bona fide Islāmic Judicial Body may annul the marriage for one of the following reasons:

• Inability to maintain the wife

• Wife battering and abuse

• Impotence

• Insanity or incurable disease

• Desertion   

• Imprisonment for life

4. Khula - self redemption:   where the wife is unhappy, but cannot fault the husband in the legal sense. She may negotiate to give back the Mahr or any gifts she received from her husband in lieu of her freedom.

Inheritance

The protagonist of "reform" claim that Islām denies women their fair share of inheritance. She generally inherits much less than her male counterparts and is thus denied equitable and fair treatment. The call for "abstract" equality may seem justified if the laws of inheritance are not studied within the broader context of social values in Islām and if viewed in isolation from the organic whole of Shari'at.

Firstly it must be remembered that the shares of inheritance are not authorised by man, but by Allāh - who is "Al Hakeem" (The Most Wise). Therefore no law of Allāh is bereft of Divine Wisdom. A woman retains total ownership of her property after marriage. Any income derived from her assets or property remains exclusively hers. Even if she is wealthy, she is not responsible to maintain herself or her family. In contrast to these privileges, a male has to maintain :

1. Himself
2. His parents
3. His wife and children
4. His poor relatives

Based on the social responsibility of a male, a female infact inherits more than a male. For example a R100.00 that a male inherits has to be spent on five different members of the extended family, whilst the fifty rands a woman receives is over and above the share she receives from her male guardian.

The Qur'ānic verse regarding polygamy was revealed after the battle of Uhud, wherein many orphans and widows were left destitute. Muslims were allowed to marry them, provided that they could safeguard their interests, their property and treat them with perfect justice. The Glorious Qur'ān states: "If you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, marry the women of your choice, two, three or four. But if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with them, then marry only one."

The jurist therefore deduce that one who does not have the capacity to support more than one wife cannot marry more than one. Some scholars stipulate the following conditions for the validity of taking more than one wife:

• If the wife is paralysed or suffers from epilepsy or a contagious disease.
• If she is sterile.
• If she is mentally ill.
• She cannot  sufficiently care for the husband and the household due to old age.
• She has a fiery character.
• She leaves the house of the husband and is blatantly disobedient.
• She is unable to fulfil the sexual needs of the husband.
• When women and children are left without anyone to care for them, because of war.

Hence the permission to marry moe than one wife is an exception rather than the rule.

Leadership in Islām is not confined to bureaucratic or formal organisation. A woman plays a pivotal role in the social development of society. Motherhood represents the most challeging and responsible leadership role in any society. The ability to foster moral and spiritual development in the family, to be a teacher, a friend, a nurse , a secretary, a cook at one and the same time is perhaps beyond the ability of her male counterpart. Nor could any price tag be attached to her services. She is on call twenty-four hours a day. Her services in terms of monetary value would exceed the husband's entire salary.

However the limitation of leadership does apply to :

• Imamatul Kubra - major leadership i.e. leading the country , presiding as a judge etc.
• Imamatus Sughra - minor leadership i.e. leading the congregation in salaat.

This limitation is based on the fact that Imamatul Kubra and Sughra would compramise her purdah. It would entail intermingling, excessive travelling and public appearance.

The Glorious Qur'ān states:

"O you who believe! When you deal with each other in transactions involving debts (payable) at a fixed period of time, reduce it to writing ... and get two witnesses from your men and if there are not two men, then one man and two women, such as you choose for witnesses so that if one of them errs the other can remind her..." (Surah 2 - verse 282)

The Qur'ān stipulates that in the instance of civil contracts, two men or one man and two women are required to bear testimony. The rational used for this is "if one of them errs, the other can remind her". The possibility of women erring is greater because they are not exposed to the dubious dealings in the financial world nor the harsh realities of criminal law. In the like manner there are certain instances where the testimony of a male is not accepted. Issues relating to feminine problems, which are exclusively the domain of women, cannot be verified by the testimony of a male.

Furthermore, bearing witness is not a privilege but a sacred duty, a matter of conscience and a religious duty. If the women's share of this duty is lightened by one half, it can hardly be called denial of her rights.

It must be emphasised that the moral and legal status of both men and women are determined by Allāh Ta'āla and not authored by men.

The Glorious Qur'ān states"

"It does not befit a believer, man or woman, when a matter has been decided by Allāh and His Messenger - to exercise an option in their affairs (which is contrary to the law of Allāh), he who disobeys Allāh and His Rasūl is indeed obviously and evidently astray. (Surah 23 - verse 36)

We must not subject the law of Allāh to our own limited wisdom and intelligence. Allama Iqbal says: "In freedom of thought lies their destruction - who do not possess discipline of thought. If the mind is immature, then freedom is an instrument for making a beast a man".

May Allāh grant us the taefeeq to be proud of our moral value system and grant us the true understanding of His Deen, Āmīn.