The Grand Imam: “Absolute Equality between Men and Women in Rights and Duties is Against Nature”.
- "The Islamic concepts about the family are immortal ones that have not changed with the change of time and place."
In the fifteenth episode of his Ramadan program on the Egyptian television, His Eminence the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Prof Ahmed Aṭ-Ṭayyeb, has said that there is a difference between the concept of equality in the contemporary Western culture and its counterpart in Islam. He has showed that the previous Western culture used to be largely in accord with the principles of Islam. He has added that the Islamic concepts about the family are immortal that have not changed with the change of time and place in the same way as the other constant principles of Islam. He has explained that it is not fair to claim equality between two different things. So, if you believe that two persons are different, absolute equality between them is considered a contradiction.
He has cited the position of ‛Abbās Al-‛Aqqād, the famous writer, towards demanding absolute equality between men and women in rights and duties. Al-‛Aqqād calls it mere false argumentation. The Grand Imam has pointed out that this means continuing in false argument and not accepting the reasonable opinion of the others, the case which is against reason. The Grand Imam has also pointed out that what Al-‛Aqqād called false argumentation has unfortunately become a fact in the Western culture of today. Now, there have been international conferences and conventions calling for absolute prevention of discrimination between men and women in any form, even in contradiction with religion.
He has explained that social and religious duties are not equally assigned to men and women, because there is a difference between a commissioned person and another in power and ability to perform due assignments. Therefore, equality in Islam is conditional on justice. Islam considers equality as a supreme value and approves it in the same way it is approved by the religions before Islam. Moreover, intuition allows it and judges by it, but without clashing with the value of justice. If you review the religious rulings and speculate on their philosophy, you’ll finally see them well linked to the moral aspect.
The Grand Imam has concluded his talk stating that when values seem to be in conflict, Islam opts for the more beneficial value and neglects the less. If equality leads to injustice, then it is justice that must be implemented. When you deem two different things as equal, this means that one of them will be subjected to injustice. Equality in this case would not represent a moral value but this would lead to mere injustice. So, such unfair equality has to be discarded.
The Grand Imam's program is broadcast at 6:15 p.m. daily, throughout the Holy Month of Ramadan. It discusses a number of Muslim family issues, the rights established in Islam for the husband and the wife, and how to preserve the family as a basis for a solid human community.