Celebrating the International Day for
the Elimination of Violence against
Women,
Sayyed Fadlullah:
The women have the right to defend
themselves against Men's violence.
The Religious
Authority, Sayyed Muhammad Hussein
Fadlullah, issued a jurisprudential
communiqué on the occasion of the
International Day for the Elimination of
Violence against Women, in which he
said:
Despite all the
progress that the human view towards
women has witnessed, and despite all the
honouring that women have gained in
comparison with their previous states in
most eastern and western countries, and
although women have climbed the social
and political ladder reaching the
highest governmental posts, and taking
part in the struggle movements side by
side with men and even outdoing them,
women still suffer from the violence
against them that takes several forms.
Moreover, violence
against women is not restricted to the
east alone, but it is rather universal,
although its forms and degrees may vary
between one place and another.
Women,
whether sisters, daughters
or wives, are still
subjected to men's
domination whether brothers,
fathers or husbands, whose
violence takes several
forms:
We have
firstly the physical
violence in which women are
beaten.
This form
represents the most
degrading human practice,
since it shows that men are
incapable of resorting to
reason and logic to prove
their viewpoint. It also
does not prove that men are
strong. On the contrary, it
proves that they are weak,
for only the weak are in
need of unjust violence.
This violence could reach
its most severe and harsh
form when women are
subjected to rape which
sometimes might lead to
death. |
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Physical
violence in which women are
beaten, proves that men are
weak, for only the weak are
in need of unjust violence.
It also shows that they are
incapable of restoring to
reason and logic power to
prove their viewpoint.
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Then we have the
social violence or the so-called "crimes
of honor", whereby the community relies
on circumstantial appearances to issue a
sentence of death or exile. In addition
to this, the society does not have the
right to issue such sentences or
executing them, except through the
proper judicially institutions and
through the legitimate mechanisms.
Another form of social violence would be
to impose on women husbands they do not
want.
Another kind of
violence is the psychological violence
which occurs when husbands threaten
their wives with divorce, or when they
do not treat their wives as such, or
when the divorce is used as an element
of intimidation and extortion, which
makes women live a state of instability
in their marriages and hurt their
psychological and even physical
wellbeing.
Then there is the
economic violence, which occurs when
fathers or husbands do not shoulder
their economic responsibilities towards
their husbands and children, or when
they pressurize their wives to forgo
their dowry which represents – according
to Islam a symbolic gift and a token of
love and not a commercial exchange.
The
educational violence is also
another form of violence
against women. This form
takes place when women are
deprived of their right of
education reaching to post
graduate levels, thus,
depriving them of raising
their cultural and
scientific levels and
keeping them in the circle
of backwardness and
ignorance. To add insult to
injury, they would then be
responsible for the mistakes
they commit as a result of
the inexperience that is
imposed by violence.
We also
have the violence in work,
which is represented by not
giving women equal pay for
equal work. This kind of
discriminating violence is
practised by the entire
society when the laws it
sets do not take into
consideration maternity or
similar rights. Then there
are the various kinds of
exploitation of the
employers to their
employees. |
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The
violence against women in
work, is represented by not
giving women equal pay for
equal work. There are also
the various kinds of
exploitation of the
employers to their
employees. |
Faced by all these
forms of violence, we would like to
highlight and stress on the following
points.
Firstly:
In Islam, lenience is the
norm that takes priority
over violence which should
only be resorted to in
exceptional cases, as in
self-defence or the need for
educational punishment. The
Messenger of Allah has said:
Whenever leniency has been
put on something it would
improve it, while it would
discredit anything it is
removed form.
This rule
is universal and includes
all human relations, with no
difference between men and
women, old or young.
Secondly:
The fact that men maintain
women does not mean that
they have the authority over
them. It merely means that
they run their families but
not in a tyrannical way,
they have to confer with
their wives in all the
things they both have in
common.
Thirdly:
The fact that women perform
the household work which
Islam did not commission
them to, but even proposed a
salary for such a work,
should lead men to
appreciate the sacrifices
women offer in taking care
of their families, and
refrain from any act of
violence against them. |
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The
fact that men maintain women
does not mean that they have
the authority over them |
Fourthly: Islam has
laid a fixed rule for the relations
between husbands and wives, as well as
the families in general; the rule of
equity and kindness. He says in the
Glorious Quran and
treat them kindly,
and then
keep (them) in good fellowship or let
(them) go with kindness. This
rule could well serve as a guide for the
religious authorities to end marriages
if they violate the rule of kindness.
Fifthly:
Islam considers that married
women are lawfully
independent financial
entities. Husbands are not
allowed to control their
wives’ wealth, or to
interfere in their private
business and financial
interests that are not
related to them as husbands
or the families they run.
Sixthly:
Islam did not allow men to
practice any violence
against women, whether
regarding their lawful
rights attained through the
marriage contract, kicking
them out of the house or
even using harsh words or
cursing, which is sin that
Allah will hold men
responsible for and the
Islamic law defined certain
punishments for such
actions. |
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Islam
considers that married women
are lawfully independent
financial entities. Husbands
are not allowed to control
their wives’ wealth, or to
interfere in their private
business and financial
interests that are not
related to them as husbands
or the families they run |
Seventhly: If men
practice physical violence against
women, and the latter have no means to
defend themselves except through
exchanging violence. This would be
permissible as an act of self-defense.
It is also permissible for women who are
denied of their legal rights such as
providing for them or fulfilling their
sexual needs, to deny their husbands the
rights that the marriage contract
stipulates for them.
Eighthly:
Islam emphasizes that there
is no guardianship over
physically and mentally
mature women who are
independent in running their
own affairs.
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If men
practice physical violence
against women, and the
latter have no means to
defend themselves except
through exchanging violence.
This would be permissible as
an act of self-defence. It
is also permissible for
women who are denied of
their legal rights such as
providing for them or
fulfilling their sexual
needs, to deny their
husbands the rights that the
marriage contract stipulates
for them. |
No one can impose on
these women any husbands they do not
want. And any contract convened without
their consent is considered null and
void.
Ninthly:
In the framework of our
concern to preserve the
family, we maintain that the
law that governs women's
work should coordinate
between women's jobs and the
family needs. Any neglect of
such a responsibility could
destabilize the family,
which means that the society
would be practicing multiple
violence against its own
social structures and
values.
Tenthly:
Islam has emphasized that
the women's position goes
side by side to men, whether
in being human or being
rational or in holding
responsibility. It
instituted familial life on
the basis of love and mercy,
giving the family a humane
dimension in which its
members interact away from
the legal terms that are
emotionally and spiritually
dry. |
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No one
can impose on these women
any husbands they do not
want. And any contract
convened without their
consent is considered null
and void |
Thus giving man as a
whole spiritual richness, psychological
stability and intellectual progress, be
he a man or a woman, an individual or a
community.