A STUDY OF WOMEN EDUCATION IN ISLAM: Barriers and Recommendations

According to the Muslims’ belief, Islam is not circumscribed to certain beliefs, customs and rituals. Rather, it encompasses every dimension of human behavior. This makes Islam a unique religion among all living religions of the world. Being comprehensive in nature, a system of life and a vibrant civilization, Islam claims the ability to transform the lives of people and guides them to lead a decent life irrespective of the gender discriminations both at individual and collective levels. This motivation of adopting an excellent and ideal character is deeply rooted in the Islamic emphasis on education or acquisition of knowledge. The first revelation (96:1-5) and the famous prophetic saying that “The gaining of knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim” (Ibn Majah) are best illustrations regarding Islamic approach to education. Similarly there are several examples whereby every male and female—without any gender bias—have been equally recommended and encouraged to acquire knowledge. Not only the divine text but Islamic history also witnessed that during the period of the Messenger, in addition to men, women were not only encouraged to gain knowledge but many women companions of the Messenger excelled in different disciplines of the time including sciences of Quran, Hadith, Fiqh, Medicine, and Poetry. Notwithstanding this, in the contemporary times there is a glaring and a growing misconception that Islam by promoting gender bias stops the women from the knowledge acquisition opportunities. In this context, the current paper is a humble effort to understand the position of the Messenger vis-à-vis the education of the women. With the help of historical facts, the paper will also highlight the splendid achievements of the women in the field of education in the days of the Messenger and subsequent period. Further, the study will examine the barriers and reasons responsible for discouraging women education; followed by certain recommendations.


A. Introduction
The Islamic concept of first man i.e. Adam is that he was created out of clay 1 in the complete civilized form and best of stature. 2 He was endowed with knowledge 3 and owing to this knowledge he was in a certain respect superior to angels, who were ordered to prostrate before him. 4 This concept of man is in quite contrast to Darwin's Theory of Man's Evolution which reduced man to the lowest of the low. Therefore, man did not start his journey of life with ignorance and darkness, but with knowledge and light to fulfill his purpose of creation i.e. to worship Allah. 5 In this light of this Islamic concept, it is clear firstly that man, though made of lowly material, became civilized and superior to angles by the virtue of knowledge.
Secondly, the gnosis of Allah and to worship Him alone is not possible without sound knowledge. That is why one of the distinctive features of Islam is its emphasis on seeking knowledge, and makes its acquisition obligatory for every man and woman. There exist a profuse literature that clarifies how the Quran and Prophetic traditions invite and exhort Muslim men and women to seek and acquire knowledge, wisdom and understanding of religion and to hold the possessor of knowledge in high esteem because "those who know are not equal to those who do not know." 6 In fact, the very first Quranic revelation" Read in the name of thy Sustainer, who has created; created man out of a germ-cell! Read, for thy Sustainer is the Most Bountiful One; who has taught (man) the use of the pen; taught man what he did not know!", 7 as Dr. Zafar Alam says, is such a forceful exhortation for the acquisition of knowledge and that knowledge is regarded as one of the great bounties of Allah on a human being. This shows the relationship http://ijiis.or.id | e-ISSN: 2615-5184 p-ISSN: 2597-9698 between Islam and knowledge and a turning point in the intellectual history of mankind. 8 Thus Islam revolutionized the intellectual history of humanity and still it affects other ideologies of the world in one way or the other.
The rest of the Quran is replete with the verses that exhort both men and women the significance of acquiring knowledge. Some of the verses are mentioned below: Oh, my Lord! Increase me in knowledge 9 , Allah will exalt in degree those of you who believe and those who have been granted knowledge 10 Apart from the Quranic revelation, the Prophetic Traditions are also replete with the evidences whereby the importance of knowledge and education has been extremely emphasized and the Prophet remained a teacher all through his twentythree years of Prophetic life. The Quran presents the prophetic mission thus: Indeed, God bestowed a favor upon the believers when he raised up in their midst an apostle from among themselves, to convey His messages unto them, and to cause them to grow in purity, and to impart unto them the divine writ as well as wisdom -whereas before that they were indeed, most obviously, lost in error. 11 It was his duty to teach people, irrespective of gender, Islam and all that they needed for the betterment of this life and the life Hereafter. As a result of his teaching that a community of almost illiterate and ignorant persons turned into torch bearers of knowledge, culture and civilization. 12 However, two sayings out of the most famous Traditions of the Prophet on the subject are mentioned as follows: The seeking of knowledge is obligatory for every

B. Purpose of the Current Study
The above discussion, thus, sets forth the purposes of the paper which are: 1. to understand the position and attitude of the Prophet towards women education; 2. to highlight the educational achievements of women throughout the Muslim history; to deal with barriers that are detrimental to woman education in the current scenario; 3. to suggest some recommendations in this backdrop.

Education
The significance of female education has been recognized almost in all civilized societies and thus making the overall development and progress of a society possible. Islam also believes in the betterment of the society and is, in fact, among the first heralds of women education and of their other rights without any protest.
The position of the Prophet ‫)ﷺ(‬ on the education of women is derived from both the Quranic injunctions and that of the Traditions of the Prophet. As per the first revelation to the Prophet ‫,)ﷺ(‬ as quoted above, 21 Allah presented education as a primary and the best tool to lead the humanity from darkness to the light.
Interestingly, the first person who got informed about these verses by the Prophet ‫)ﷺ(‬ and embraced them was none other than a woman namely Khadijah bin Khuwalid. 22 This is the first evidence that proves that women were motivated and encouraged to acquire knowledge. The role of the Prophet is explicated in the Quran as to rehearse the Revelation, purify, and instruct the Book and Wisdom to the people and enlighten them in new knowledge; 23 so that they will be able to fulfill their religious obligations. After learning and following these instructions, Muslim The superiority of the learned man over the devout is like that of the moon, on the night when it is full, over the rest of the stars, the learned are the heirs of the prophets and the prophets leave neither dinar nor dirham, leaving only knowledge and one who takes it, takes an abundant portion. 27 It has been also reported that the Prophet ‫)ﷺ(‬ imparted this precious heritage to women of his times. There was a special arrangement for women education. gender based outlook of the Islamic system of education. This assumption will be also against those historical facts, which clearly shows that how Muslim women have achieved splendidly in the field of education which is discussed in the subsequent pages.

D. Achievements of Women in the Field of Education
There is a profuse literature that highlights the role and achievements of women in the field of education during the Prophetic and subsequent periods. The women who embraced Islam were highly motivated by the Islamic teachings and their curiosity to learn more and more resulted in their tremendous achievements in education and accordingly their influence is found in every sphere of the early Islamic period. During the early years of Islam, the wives of the Prophet ‫)ﷺ(‬ and other female believers played a commendable role in the field of education. It would be pertinent to mention that in other parts of the world a restricted and limited education, as stated in the Encyclopedia of Education, was given only to princesses so that after their father's death they would be able to look after their property and it also mentioned that after a long debate it was concluded that it is better not to educate the daughters of physicians, judges, and elites. Moreover, the education of 32  In short, the above evidences clearly prove that the Muslim women in earlier and later periods of the Islamic history were not only encouraged to acquire knowledge in religious disciplines but also excelled in professional and technical fields.

E. Barriers to Women Education
As earlier quoted, in the Quran and the Hadith the women education is highly 46  The modern and Western approach to education may be inclusive but fails to be so for Muslims as their faith identity is not recognized because of Islamophobia or a strict secular approach to education. Therefore, it is observed that the curriculum, uniforms, and marginalization of spirituality discourages Muslim girls and women from education in various countries. 58

F. Conclusion
The whole study reveals that Islam forcefully encourages the acquisition of knowledge by the women and the barriers that have been created thus far have no connection with Islamic tenets. The following recommendations may be considered helpful to redress the problems of women education: 1. The government should increase the budgetary allocations and actual expenditure to the women education sector, without worrying their political interest in going by the will of the people. tenets. Thereby, they will be able to know the acts violating the Shariah in these matters and, thus, will be no more exploitation in the name of religion.
6. Government should take every measure to uplift these Banat Madrasas and update them with the prevalent curriculum of education as well. As parents feel secure and comfortable to enroll their girls in them, government should avail the opportunity by making them launching pads for uplifting women and social reform.