A Muslim Woman - Founder of the oldest University in the World by sister Shahina Islam Fatima Al-Fihri was the daughter of Mohammed Al-Fihri, a wealthy merchant from Karaouine, Tunisia who migrated to Fes, Morocco with his family in the 9th century. Fatima and her sister Mariam were both very well educated; both sisters promised to use the money inherited from their father to benefit the community. Fatima started off by planning to build a masjid called Al-Karaouine, which was to be the largest in North Africa; it was in this construction that the University of Al-Karaouine was founded. This University was one of the leading educational and spiritual focal point in the Muslim world; it has been recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records to be the oldest and continuous operating place of higher education in the world. The University influenced and produced great thinkers, theorists, philosophers, travellers and writers. Many subjects were taught alongside the Qur’an and Islamic Jurisprudence such as grammar, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, history, geography and music. Other subjects such as natural sciences, physics and foreign languages were also introduced. We must understand the inheritance given to Fatima by her father was her right under Islamic Law, we must also understand that Muslim women were encouraged and supported to participate and be beneficial towards society, whether it is in the form of a homemaker or a public educator. We must also understand it is not an easy task to plan, construct and build a masjid with a university without the permission and support of the Islamic Leader (Caliph). This highlights a bigger picture, Fatima achieved and fulfilled her noble goals and it was Islam and the implementation of Islamic Laws and rights for Muslim women that made this beautiful goal possible. Today in the Arab world, a different kind of idea for women’s liberation has been formed; in Tunisia, protests have been organised where women carried out topless protests; this movement is called ‘Femen.’ The movement was founded in 2008 by a Ukrainian feminist protest group. Femen has feminist members all over the world, their topless protests have caused havoc and women have been arrested and trialed for “public indecency” and an “attack on public morals,” which could both lead to six months imprisonment in Tunisia. Tunisian filmmaker Nadia el-Fani, director of the controversial film ‘Neither God nor Master,’ is also a member of Femen. She posted a picture of herself on her Facebook page with “freedom.” She bares one breast painted with an Arabic word meaning “dignity.” In a press release, the Ministry of Religious Affairs condemned the Femen protests, considering them “provocative” and “contradictory to the morals and values of Tunisian Muslims.” So, what are Tunisian women and the women in the Arab world asking for? What rights are they demanding for and what is it that they seek? The Muslim world is currently being ruled by dictators echoing freedom for the people in the name of democracy. They are not ruling by Islam, therefore lacking many rights which are for the people; one of the many rights changed or taken away are the rights of the Muslim woman. This makes females rebel against the state and rise movements such as Femen, who use their emotions and anger to protest for ‘liberation,’ little do they know that the Ideology they are against IS what brought women freedom from society’s unfair and oppressive rules. Little do they know that Islam gave women rights like no other civilisation and it is due to ‘complete Islam’ missing that results in anger against Muslim leaders with confused emotions and havoc in society; this will only be removed when the Islamic State is re-established in the Muslim lands with the complete Laws of Allah SWT. The women in the west have been fighting for years for rights to vote, the rights to have equal pay as working men, the rights to be recognised and appreciated as homemakers and public educators in the community; these demands have been cleared and gifted to Muslim women 1400 years ago. The Qur’an and the Hadith (teachings of the Prophet) inspires every man and woman to seek knowledge and be beneficial and useful to society. Fatima Al-Fihri is one of the many Muslim women who used her resources, knowledge, inheritance and wealth to gain education for and within the Muslim lands. The result of success of this University shows us that even in the early centuries; women who are shrouded with the Islamic veil are just as willful and intelligent as those of us today, infact more. Islam has given us women many rights, infact too many to name Subhan’allah but without an Islamic State, we too, are oppressed and thirsty for the rights which Allah SWT gave us. It is not possible to receive and enjoy our rights until Khilafah returns in the Muslim lands – only then, can every woman; both Muslim and non-Muslims enjoy the fruits of Islam.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Jun 2013 13:50:20 +0000
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