Educating Daughters, Protecting Their Dignity

Every parent cherishes the hope of bestowing upon their children an education superior to that which circumstance once permitted them, believing that knowledge alone can lift a family from the constraints of limited means and open doors long closed. Islam itself places the highest value upon learning, for the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) declared that the seeking of knowledge is obligatory upon every Muslim, male and female alike. The first revealed word of the Holy Qur’an was “Iqra”—Read—and this divine command admits of no distinction of gender. In the early days of Islam, women of learning stood among the foremost transmitters of knowledge; the Mother of the Believers, Hazrat Aisha (May Allah be pleased with her), was a scholar of profound insight whose counsel was sought by the Companions themselves. Yet in later centuries, among many communities, greater store was set by the schooling of sons, while the instruction of daughters was frequently held contrary to local custom and tradition. Many households regarded a girl’s place as confined to the domestic sphere, deeming formal learning unnecessary or even undesirable for her.

The present age, however, has witnessed a heartening and steady advance in the education of girls, in keeping with the true spirit of the faith. Female literacy among those aged ten and above has risen to fifty-four per cent according to the latest figures of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, while the long-standing gender gap has narrowed from nearly twenty-three percentage points a quarter-century ago to some fifteen points. School attendance among females now stands at fifty-seven per cent. In examinations at every level, girls frequently secure higher places than their male counterparts. Professional studies, too—medicine, law, teaching, and the sciences—attract them without hesitation. This progress is not merely a statistical triumph; it is the gradual fulfilment of an Islamic ideal long obscured by custom.

Having completed their studies, most young women desire to put their learning to practical use, whether as physicians, teachers, or in other fields of employment. Islam does not forbid a woman from earning an honest livelihood when necessity or the service of society requires it, provided her dignity remains intact. The greater number enter paid work to meet household needs or to ease financial strain; some pursue lighter occupations that allow them to balance duty and domestic life. Working women command genuine admiration for the manner in which they discharge the duties of office or profession and, at the same time, the responsibilities of the household. Female labour-force participation remains modest at roughly twenty-eight per cent, yet those who do enter employment often shoulder this double burden with quiet resolve and remarkable fortitude. Their contribution strengthens families and enriches the wider community, provided the moral safeguards prescribed by faith are observed.

The most trying passage of their professional lives is frequently the conduct they encounter while working alongside men. Not all five fingers are equal. The majority of men treat their female colleagues with proper respect, and their behaviour is worthy of praise. Yet there is no scarcity of those who regard working women with disdain or who allow their eyes and words to stray beyond the bounds of honour. The Holy Qur’an commands both believing men and believing women to lower their gaze and guard their modesty, for in this lies purity of heart. Almighty Allah has placed within women a particular sensibility—a kind of inner radar—by which they discern when a man’s gaze is not honest. Those compelled by necessity to earn a livelihood face the sternest trial in this regard, for the faith teaches that a woman’s honour is sacred and must never be violated. The Prophet (peace be upon him) warned against even the lustful glance, describing it as one of the poisoned arrows of Satan.

There can be no doubt that the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act has been placed upon the statute book and is in force. A regular Ombudsperson has been appointed to hear complaints. In the year just past the Federal Ombudsperson Secretariat received nearly thirteen hundred cases and resolved more than eleven hundred of them. Still, as the proverb truly observes, habits are not easily relinquished. Observations persist of older men who will not forgo improper glances, even though sisters and daughters of like age reside under their own roofs. Such conduct stands in clear opposition to Islamic teaching, which forbids lustful looks and requires every believer to protect the honour of others as he would protect his own. Such dispositions ought to be firmly discouraged through both moral instruction and the steady application of the law.

At the same time, women who labour in offices and workplaces should themselves observe the values of haya—that refined sense of modesty and self-respect which is the ornament of faith—together with the rules of etiquette and the modest bearing that our religion, our traditions, and the example of the righteous prescribe. Restraint in speech, dignity in manner, and an outward conduct that neither invites nor tolerates impropriety form the necessary counterpart to the duty of men. Only when both men and women uphold these shared Islamic principles of mutual respect, lowered gazes, and guarded honour can the advance in female education yield its full and proper fruit, allowing the talents of an entire generation to serve their families and society without the shadow of unnecessary trial. In this balanced observance lies the true flourishing of a community guided by faith rather than by the fleeting customs of the age.