Sayed Mahmoud Al-Mosawi
The wager on woman as a (subject matter) and as an (agent), in the contrived controversy surrounding woman and Islam’s view of her, cannot reinforce the convictions in it and win the race except through woman herself. However much men try to take her to the position in which they see her, that will be of no avail unless she herself takes the initiative, carries the banner and achieves victory in the arena of convictions and wills.
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Woman as (subject matter) is the intellectual system concerning woman that Islam brought—of directives, rulings, limits and rights—and how Islam viewed her in the domain of rights and duties, and the extent to which that is connected to justice, fairness and securing her dignity.
And woman as (agent) is that will, ability, resolve and the achievements that she realizes in life, relying on the system of thought that religion has bestowed; that is, her agency is the practical side that relies on the theoretical subject matter, so that through it she proves how true and worthwhile the system of Islamic thought concerning woman is.
It is clear that the experiences that realized this process in history, if they are found, cover the entire distance except for a little; for their realization means that we possess the example that interacted with reality and proved all that is theoretical, so only a little remains to arrive, through the factor of emulation.
In Karbala—the event that had preludes before it, and effects and consequences after it—we find that it formed a vital model in highlighting the vitality of woman’s role, the breadth of her field of action, and the effectiveness and importance of her impact. This is through studying the life of the heroine of Karbala, the great and blessed lady, Lady Zaynab (a), who took part in the effort and the jihad, and preserved the efforts through diligent striving.
Therefore, reading the life of Zaynab in the course of Karbala brings out for us the position of woman in the movement of life and the extent of the harmony of the Islamic vision with reality. We must, then, wager on that great life and draw from it insights that contribute to woman’s setting forth in realizing herself in life as one of the factors of building, progress and advancement.
The most important thing that achieves this is that woman herself draws inspiration and benefit from the insights of Karbala, then works to carry the banner of Karbala in giving and in conveying the message, so that she then becomes the bearer of a torch with which she lights the paths of others, so that she becomes a Zaynab in her reality and her society, and embodies:
Zaynab the learned.. and Zaynab the chaste.. and Zaynab the educator.. and Zaynab who knows her times.. and Zaynab the guide.. and Zaynab the courageous.. and Zaynab the striver in jihad.. and Zaynab the patient.
In a word: woman must write the message of life in the letters of Zaynab.
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Published in the Qanadil Karbala bulletin (Saudi Arabia – al-ʿAwamiyya).
