Translation:
Your wives are sources for reproduction (tilth),111 and you may engage (in sexual intercourse) whenever based on (mutual consent) and seek (goodness) before (such engagement) for yourselves. Keep your duty to God and know that (each one of ) you will meet Him and that there will be good news for the believers (who follow God’s guidance in these and other matters).
Do not swear by God to stop from doing good and from discharging your responsibil- ities (to your wife) and making peace between people (couple). (Keep in mind that) God is (always) Hearing, Knowing.112
Interpretation:
111 Women, as wives, are the reproductive sources of mankind, and the Qur’an brings attention to this in the analogy of the earth, which is the source of all sustenance and creation as we see them. In this sense, women are considered an extension of the earth (hence the use of the word “tilth” in reference to wives), and God encourages husbands and wives to engage in sexual contact based on mutual desire, prepar- edness, and loving care. This level of thoughtfulness and mutual respect for sexual contact is indicative of the power of the Qur’an in guiding all aspects of our lives, and we need to continue to move forward as we advance in our knowledge and understanding of male-female relationships. Qur’anic instructions were also given in a measured way to ensure that the society at the time could comprehend and implement such instructions while leaving room for future generations to continue to advance and adjust their mutual conduct to get the best out of every man and woman. To do otherwise would be contrary to our human spirit and God’s continued favor in terms of our increased knowledge, understanding, and capacity for advancement.
In pre-Islamic Arab cultures and in other cultures or religious beliefs, women were considered purely as the source of reproduction and as sources of evil and, hence, were not given proper respect or rights. In many Muslim communities, people are reverting back to those pre-Islamic modes of thinking and norms, which should be analyzed and corrected. Not giving women proper respect, roles, rights, and opportunities is absolutely contrary to Islamic teaching and counterproductive and will continue to undermine our progress.
112 God warns us that any false excuse, superstition, or deliberate oath, especially in the name of God, to justify negligence or the abuse of women, which was prevalent in early times, is simply unacceptable, and, hence, those customs are no longer valid in a legal and moral sense. Some people object to the language or the analogy used here with regard to women. Sometimes, it is a matter of the translation, interpre- tation, and sophistication of the person translating and interpreting. Also, in current industrial culture, where farming is looked down upon and the earth is considered more of a source of raw material to be exploited, the analogy of women and the earth may be less desirable on a superficial level. This verse is also the beginning of a lengthy discussion on the issues related to divorce, which has important social and moral implications. At the time of the Prophet and earlier, the Arabs had a custom called “ila,” whereby the husband could take an oath and temporarily deny his wife her rights as a wife. The Qur’an declares here that such practices are unacceptable and immoral and have no legal basis. Women’s rights to consensual marriage, mutually satisfying sexual interactions, education, gaining inheritance, and freedom in social responsibilities are not available in many Muslim societies even though Islam was the defining religion for such rights and opportunities when none existed.
Reflection:
Understanding male–female relationships at the fundamental level as well as the nature of interactions between males and females is of paramount importance. Islam provides a basic framework based on mutual respect and mutual dependence and calls for goodness in the way these mutual interactions should be carried out. Coercing females into the practice of wearing a veil, prohibiting their personal freedom, and forcing certain roles on women without regard to their personal choices are unIslamic and counterproductive.
Action:
It is our responsibility and a sign of our commitment to God and to others that we define the basic parameters of social, moral, spiritual, and legal terms and have them established in all of our societies, especially in Muslim countries. Women in many Muslim societies are still subjected to conditions that are contrary to Islamic teachings, such as not having basic freedom and access to education. At a time when religious practices were full of superstition and the female population had very little voice and at a time and in a society where having a female child itself was considered a source of shame, Islam came to remove those superstitions and bring back reason and thoughtfulness in discourses about religion and life, and it boldly asked the question, “ . . . For what crime was she (a female child) killed (buried alive)?” (81:8–9). Accepting the status quo and not questioning prevailing norms and customs are paralyzing Muslim societies, whereas the Qur’an asks for invigorating and insightful discourse and bold steps to remove sources of evil and bad practices from society in all its spheres of activity and existence.