When we study the religious rulings, which are related to the woman's movement in the public reality and the femininity aspect of her personality, we notice that Islam did not prevent the woman from enjoying her femininity. It encouraged her to live her emotional and physical elements inside her matrimonial life without any reservations. Similarly, it also encourages man to enjoy his manhood in his matrimonial life. Islam did not permit the woman to use her femininity as an element of her movement in the public or private relationships in the society.
We also notice that Islam in its jurisprudence structure has imposed obligations on the woman such as the Hijab, which represents a set of rules concerning her social interactions, such as:
- Her look when she goes out, whether in her way of dressing or her way of adorning herself.
- The limits of her movements in mixed societies, in addition to many other similar rules, which make us understand that Islam forbids the woman to act in a society according to her feminine nature in order to show her internal feeling of femininity and to stir up the feelings of others.
When we study the obligatory rules concerning the woman's movement in society and what is related to the femininity aspect of her personality, we notice that she is warned of being the prey of exploitation.
Therefore, the weakness that characterizes her, even if it is due to the nature of her movement in history and society, may expose her to many seductive or oppressive pressures. These pressures may be imposed by arising her tendencies or by intimidating her. The man may exploit her weakness, or she may be affected to some elements that may push her to deviate. In other words, we may say that: "She is the exploited party"; therefore, we have to warn her in order to protect herself.
We also realize that in the state of confusion which exists in society, warnings are addressed to all persons even those who are rich or who live in specific circumstances. Such warnings say: "Close your doors… try to have steel doors. To go out, you have to be armed with so and so… ". Usually, warnings aim at preserving the safety of the warned person, since he is threatened by many dangers. When man considers the woman as a weak element and the society deals with her as the main responsible element for deviation, we have to warn her that: "There is a monster who wants to rape her being a powerless creature, and she has to protect herself. This warning does not aim at frightening her, but to inspire her with strength. So, when we tell her: "You have to revolt against seduction, be inflexible in front of man's pressure by respecting yourself, and do not let anybody exploit you", we will be inspiring her not to give up in the battle of conflict, but to stand up in order to face strongly the source of danger.
Anyhow, this does not mean that she is a weak person.
When we study this issue beyond its simple aspects, we find that all political or social systems in the world include many prohibitions, which are addressed to people in emergency cases as well as in ordinary cases, in order to provide for them a possible system of public discipline and facing corruption.
Such discipline helps man to become balanced in order not to give up when things become rough and to prove his strong ability to face these circumstances.
Moreover, we confirm that Islam does prohibit woman from feeling her beauty, but it wants her not to show it in a way that attracts others' feelings. Hence, attracting others' feelings means stirring up their instincts. This may not be a general rule. We may find many women and men who maintain their chastity and morals in order to prevent themselves from being exposed to others' seductions or pressures. We believe that when society deals with the woman as an object of beauty and not as a human being, this may stir up others’ instincts in a way that it will be difficult for both the man and the woman to have control over their instincts.
Organizing freedom and the Islamic line
We have to understand that when Islam wants to establish its moral and social codes in society, it acts on providing for this aim a realistic background that makes the movement of morals in people's life applicable in their behavior. In order to reach this end, we ought to create suitable circumstances and avoid inconvenient ones.
This matter, which we want to raise in this respect, is that every religion or message has its moral code and social code that determine the relations between people.
Normally, each moral or social code is subjected to a structure of boundaries, reservations, and circumstances that may make this code a realistic matter. Consequently, we cannot deal with matters from an external emotional aspect and separate them from all meanings, which constitute all moral or social structure.
Some people may think that in this way the woman will be deprived, because normally, everyone likes to live his own potentials and feelings. The scientist likes people to feel the results of his science, the brave likes to show people his bravery, and the beautiful person likes people to see his beauty... Maybe, because those people feel these elements in their personalities, they try to develop them. Perhaps, when we study anthropology (man's behavior), we notice that man tries to develop the elements, which represent the profoundness of his personality, according to people's admiration to these elements.
Thus, whenever we feel that people admire our abilities, we keep on strengthening and developing them. So, the woman who has a beautiful body, or some femininity or attractive methods that excite others, may feel herself deprived from her right of being admired by others if she does not show her femininity in the society. The feeling of deprivation may drive her to disregard her emotion and kill it.
Some people talk about this issue in a dramatic way. They show that the Muslim woman, who is prohibited from living her femininity, is inhibited, oppressed and psychologically confused because of the suppression and deprivation, which are caused by religious constraints that turn into social constraints. Therefore, we want to raise a general issue: “Does the essence of man, in all its dimensions, starts from the personal emotions which he feels in all his tendencies in such a way that will lead us refuse any kind of human deprivation? Do we understand man's value according to his interaction with his tendencies or according to the objective reality in which they positively affect him?”
If we want to speak generally about this issue and consider that the meaning of happiness and sadness is defined by the satisfaction of the personal tendencies, normally, this will not be limited to the woman's feminine appearances which show her physical attraction, her femininity or seduction methods, but it will be extended to the private sexual feelings. Normally, every man or woman, without regarding traditions and legislations, has this sexual tendency. Thus, every person works on satisfying his physical hunger exactly like satisfying his nutritional hunger. Thus, he can feel the meaning of freedom in satisfying his sexual hunger as well as in satisfying his nutritional hunger.
In this respect, many people consider that sexual freedom is an individual value to man exactly like political or economic freedoms. But we cannot accept this. We have to impose restrictions on man's liberty, to ensure that his interests are best served. However, every person will be desperate when he is deprived of any of his freedoms. But if he enjoys these freedoms without any limitations they might clash with others' freedoms and he will end up in losing many of his freedoms in a chaotic manner.
Therefore, one should not seek only to satisfy his tendencies, and certain restraints should be imposed on them.
When we study the religious rulings, which are related to the woman's movement in the public reality and the femininity aspect of her personality, we notice that Islam did not prevent the woman from enjoying her femininity. It encouraged her to live her emotional and physical elements inside her matrimonial life without any reservations. Similarly, it also encourages man to enjoy his manhood in his matrimonial life. Islam did not permit the woman to use her femininity as an element of her movement in the public or private relationships in the society.
We also notice that Islam in its jurisprudence structure has imposed obligations on the woman such as the Hijab, which represents a set of rules concerning her social interactions, such as:
- Her look when she goes out, whether in her way of dressing or her way of adorning herself.
- The limits of her movements in mixed societies, in addition to many other similar rules, which make us understand that Islam forbids the woman to act in a society according to her feminine nature in order to show her internal feeling of femininity and to stir up the feelings of others.
When we study the obligatory rules concerning the woman's movement in society and what is related to the femininity aspect of her personality, we notice that she is warned of being the prey of exploitation.
Therefore, the weakness that characterizes her, even if it is due to the nature of her movement in history and society, may expose her to many seductive or oppressive pressures. These pressures may be imposed by arising her tendencies or by intimidating her. The man may exploit her weakness, or she may be affected to some elements that may push her to deviate. In other words, we may say that: "She is the exploited party"; therefore, we have to warn her in order to protect herself.
We also realize that in the state of confusion which exists in society, warnings are addressed to all persons even those who are rich or who live in specific circumstances. Such warnings say: "Close your doors… try to have steel doors. To go out, you have to be armed with so and so… ". Usually, warnings aim at preserving the safety of the warned person, since he is threatened by many dangers. When man considers the woman as a weak element and the society deals with her as the main responsible element for deviation, we have to warn her that: "There is a monster who wants to rape her being a powerless creature, and she has to protect herself. This warning does not aim at frightening her, but to inspire her with strength. So, when we tell her: "You have to revolt against seduction, be inflexible in front of man's pressure by respecting yourself, and do not let anybody exploit you", we will be inspiring her not to give up in the battle of conflict, but to stand up in order to face strongly the source of danger.
Anyhow, this does not mean that she is a weak person.
When we study this issue beyond its simple aspects, we find that all political or social systems in the world include many prohibitions, which are addressed to people in emergency cases as well as in ordinary cases, in order to provide for them a possible system of public discipline and facing corruption.
Such discipline helps man to become balanced in order not to give up when things become rough and to prove his strong ability to face these circumstances.
Moreover, we confirm that Islam does prohibit woman from feeling her beauty, but it wants her not to show it in a way that attracts others' feelings. Hence, attracting others' feelings means stirring up their instincts. This may not be a general rule. We may find many women and men who maintain their chastity and morals in order to prevent themselves from being exposed to others' seductions or pressures. We believe that when society deals with the woman as an object of beauty and not as a human being, this may stir up others’ instincts in a way that it will be difficult for both the man and the woman to have control over their instincts.
Organizing freedom and the Islamic line
We have to understand that when Islam wants to establish its moral and social codes in society, it acts on providing for this aim a realistic background that makes the movement of morals in people's life applicable in their behavior. In order to reach this end, we ought to create suitable circumstances and avoid inconvenient ones.
This matter, which we want to raise in this respect, is that every religion or message has its moral code and social code that determine the relations between people.
Normally, each moral or social code is subjected to a structure of boundaries, reservations, and circumstances that may make this code a realistic matter. Consequently, we cannot deal with matters from an external emotional aspect and separate them from all meanings, which constitute all moral or social structure.
Some people may think that in this way the woman will be deprived, because normally, everyone likes to live his own potentials and feelings. The scientist likes people to feel the results of his science, the brave likes to show people his bravery, and the beautiful person likes people to see his beauty... Maybe, because those people feel these elements in their personalities, they try to develop them. Perhaps, when we study anthropology (man's behavior), we notice that man tries to develop the elements, which represent the profoundness of his personality, according to people's admiration to these elements.
Thus, whenever we feel that people admire our abilities, we keep on strengthening and developing them. So, the woman who has a beautiful body, or some femininity or attractive methods that excite others, may feel herself deprived from her right of being admired by others if she does not show her femininity in the society. The feeling of deprivation may drive her to disregard her emotion and kill it.
Some people talk about this issue in a dramatic way. They show that the Muslim woman, who is prohibited from living her femininity, is inhibited, oppressed and psychologically confused because of the suppression and deprivation, which are caused by religious constraints that turn into social constraints. Therefore, we want to raise a general issue: “Does the essence of man, in all its dimensions, starts from the personal emotions which he feels in all his tendencies in such a way that will lead us refuse any kind of human deprivation? Do we understand man's value according to his interaction with his tendencies or according to the objective reality in which they positively affect him?”
If we want to speak generally about this issue and consider that the meaning of happiness and sadness is defined by the satisfaction of the personal tendencies, normally, this will not be limited to the woman's feminine appearances which show her physical attraction, her femininity or seduction methods, but it will be extended to the private sexual feelings. Normally, every man or woman, without regarding traditions and legislations, has this sexual tendency. Thus, every person works on satisfying his physical hunger exactly like satisfying his nutritional hunger. Thus, he can feel the meaning of freedom in satisfying his sexual hunger as well as in satisfying his nutritional hunger.
In this respect, many people consider that sexual freedom is an individual value to man exactly like political or economic freedoms. But we cannot accept this. We have to impose restrictions on man's liberty, to ensure that his interests are best served. However, every person will be desperate when he is deprived of any of his freedoms. But if he enjoys these freedoms without any limitations they might clash with others' freedoms and he will end up in losing many of his freedoms in a chaotic manner.
Therefore, one should not seek only to satisfy his tendencies, and certain restraints should be imposed on them.