Peace be upon all! Some of the agnostic friends of mine have been asking this question to me –
“If the Quran is so respectful towards women, why does it compare the women with tilths?”
“If the Quran is so respectful towards women, why does it compare the women with tilths?”
I found it very necessary to answer this question, and so, here it is; the verse accused is as follows:
"Your wives are a place of sowing of seed for you, so come to your place of cultivation however you wish and put forth [righteousness] for yourselves. And fear Allah and know that you will meet Him. And give good tidings to the believers."
(Surah Baqara: 223)
(Surah Baqara: 223)
Now this verse says that the Women (this is the main mistake, it is WIVES) are like the place of sowing seed for men (husband, indeed). Let us go deep inside:
Popular misinterpretation:
People like David wood try to put forth logic that the Quran actually has done discrimination to women and has made it very clear that in Islam, women are only a commodity to use as men want. They say that how it can permit coming to the wives even however the husband wishes. Well, it isn’t that simple as they say.
Why?
Background of Revelation:
When the prophet (Sm.) migrated to Medina and the sahabis too, they married the Ansar women of Medina. Now the people of Makkah, the Muhajir males had the habit of having sex from behind (in the path of the vagina of course, not in the back passage). But the women of Medina refused to do so, (as they were all Jew once and the Jews had this superstition that if someone has sex with her wife from back, then the child will be born with defects) and almost all of them had a mild fight with their husbands over this. As a result, it reached to Rasulullah (Sm.) that so and so is happening and then this ayah of Al – Quran was revealed that “…and approach to your wives as you want…”
So what did we understand? The particular verse of the Quran does not indicate that the people can have sex with their wives anytime, anyplace, anyway, rather it indicates a particular ruling over how to approach to the women only at the time of sex (that ONLY when you are intimate with your wives, you can approach to them as you want, e.g. from front side, or from back side, not that you can use them any time you want).
Refutations to the claims that it is an unjustified and humiliating example for women:
Allah Says, “And We have certainly diversified for the people in this Qur'an from every [kind] of example, but most of the people refused [anything] except disbelief.”
Allah Says, “And We have certainly diversified for the people in this Qur'an from every [kind] of example, but most of the people refused [anything] except disbelief.”
(Surah Bani Israel: 89)
1. The Quran tells us that the women are like tilth for men, but it is indeed justified. In this ayah, actually Allah (SWT) has made all of the men farmers and instructs them that they can sow seeds as they want. There is no problem if they sow seed diagonally, vertically, or horizontally. That means that by comparing women as tilth, Allah has made it clear that the women are like the lands of a farmer. How does a farmer behave with his land? Firstly, he makes his land ready for the whole year, provides it with necessary fertilizers and pesticides, looks after it, and provides it with love and affection because for a farmer, his land is the most important thing! This is how Allah wants us men to behave with our women, my brothers and sisters. Quran did not humiliate, rather it has uplifted women by giving such parables. In the same way of a farmer, women should be made ready, given enough love, provided with their rights and only then, you can expect Good crops from the cultivation. So, this is crystal clear that the Quranic Verse does not refer to usage of women as the men want.
2. This Quranic verse was indeed only to remove a superstition from among the people over way of intimacy between husband and wife. If it wasn’t like that, Allah the Most High wouldn’t say, “and put forth [righteousness] for yourselves. And fear Allah and know that you will meet Him. And give good tidings to the believers.”
What is told here is that the men should fear Allah as they will surely meet Him. This indicates the severity of punishment if the males do any sort of injustice to their women folks, and implies that than Allah (SWT) will punish them hardly.
3. If comparing to the land of a farmer making the men farmers was wrong, then look at this my brothers and sisters:
“They are clothing for you and you are clothing for them.”
(Surah Al-Baqara: 187)
In this verse of the same Surah then, did Allah humiliate the men comparing them to the wives’ clothing? Not at all. Rather it makes it clear that the husbands and wives are so close to each other and thus, they are like clothing which remains attached to our body so closely.
4. In the Hadiths we see, the Prophet (Sm.) says,
“The best among you are those who are best to their wives (in behavior)”
Again,
Al-Aswad asked A’ishah about what the Prophet used to do at home. She replied. “He used to serve his household but when it was time for the prayer, he would get up for prayer.” (Al-Bukhari)
5. In Islam, there is no place for (i) superstition and (ii) compulsion. To make it clear, Allah revealed this verse so that the people get to know, that when they are intimate with their wives, they can put forth as they want (Only in the vaginal passage, in Islam it is haram to have sex from the back passage).
End Quote:
These verses of the Quran are indeed of high quality in wisdom. To understand such verses, one needs to know the background of revelations of such verses at first. Otherwise, it is impossible to understand this particular if you look from the perspective of a normal person instead of looking at it as a farmer. Only then it becomes clear that how much important it is to behave modestly with your wives, because verily to a farmer, his land is all that matters to him, and he loves and admires it the most. So, before judging any verse, look at its characteristic, is it a parable? Or a mere line? And look at it’s background.
In Sha Allah the next post will also make you a step closer to Islam. Share this content to any one out there having confusions on Islam. May Allah Guide us all!
