At the kind invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, H.E. Prof. Dr. Koutoub Moustapha Sano, Secretary General of the Academy, delivered a speech at the international conference entitled “Women in Islam: Status and Empowerment”, on Tuesday, 23 Rabi II 1445 AH corresponding to 7 November 2023 in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

His Excellency began his speech at the first scientific session by saying: At the outset, I would like to express my thanks and appreciation to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented by its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and to our organization, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, for organizing this conference at this moment that our Islamic Ummah is going through. “It is a sensitive moment where day after day there is humiliation, contempt, and regression of the rights recognized by Islam for Muslim women, and for women in general.”

His Excellency then spoke about the status of women between texts and application, saying: “It is no secret to anyone that Islam is fair to both by giving them equal rights. However, despite the fact that Islam defines women’s rights and duties in a detailed, and clear manner, the reader of our Islamic heritage, especially those books that talk about the rights and duties of women in Islam, finds that these books focus their talk about those rights and duties with great emphasis on a specific type of woman, it is that woman who cares about the home, and married and is the mother, and rarely talks about that woman who is not a mother, nor a wife, nor a nanny of children, which makes her view to rights and duties that are questionable and problematic. His Excellency then spoke about the importance of dealing with women’s issues, especially their rights and duties, which Islam has decided and defined through four methodological foundations, the first: the comprehensiveness of the assignment for men and women, the second: taking into account the purposes of Sharia from the legal texts contained in regard to rights and duties in Islam, and the third basis is the balance between interests and evils when determining rights and duties. The fourth basis is to consider the consequences of the acts that result from rights and duties. His Excellency then explained what is meant by these four methodological foundations, focusing on the first two of them. With regard to the first basis, His Excellency said: “The principle in the text of assignment is general and comprehensive, except what is allocated by Sharia with special evidence, and this letter requires that all the inalienable rights of men are also fixed for women, and it is not permissible to differentiate between these rights except by a correct, explicit and clear text directly from the Qur’an and Sunnah, as well as the duties imposed by Sharia on men, they are also obligatory for women except what has been excluded.

As for the second basis, His Excellency explained that “… It is the necessity of taking into account the purposes of Sharia in the texts in which rights and duties are determined, and the most important of those purposes are three purposes, namely” the purpose of functional integration and is intended to integrate men and women to carry out together the task of succession to God on earth by building the universe, and achieving happiness in the two homes, and a report for this, many verses were mentioned in the Holy Qur’an to refer and alert to this functional integration, the Almighty said: (And the night if it clouds * and the day if it manifests * and what is the creation of the male and the female * your endeavour is different﴾

The purpose of the diversity of endeavour and services is integration, cooperation and solidarity, just as night and day, sun and moon, sky and earth, and other couples of animals and inanimate objects are integrated..”.

His Excellency then spoke about the second purpose that must be invoked when considering the legal texts that define rights and duties, namely: “The purpose of justice and equality in reward and punishment, according to which equal rights and duties between men and women are equal, as they bear the consequences of acts of reward or punishment, for example: The penalties prescribed by Islam for the crime of theft do not differentiate between male and female.

﴿And the male thief and the female thief, cut off their hands as a reward for what they have earned from God and God is dear and wise﴾ And the Almighty said in adultery ﴿ The adulteress and the adulterer, so flog each of them a hundred lashes, and do not take them with mercy in the religion of God﴾, and He also said: ﴿Whoever does a good deed, male or female, and he is a believer, let us give him a good life, and let us reward them with the best of what they were doing﴾,

Accordingly, the principle is equality in rights and duties, except rarely, and this purpose should be invoked when talking about women’s rights and their duties, stating that they are the same as the inalienable rights of men and the same duties of men, and there is no difference between men and women in that. As for the third purpose that must be noted when considering the legal texts contained in rights and duties, it is the comprehensiveness of slavery and submission to God Almighty for both men and women, both of which are charged with the same costs imposed by the street in the field of faith, worship, transactions, marriage , and agreements. His Excellency then spoke about a number of important educational, cultural, social, economic and political rights recognized by Islam for women, such as the right to education, the right to work, the right to acquire and earn, the right to own property, the right to pledge allegiance, the right to run and be nominated, like inalienable rights of men, stressing that the aforementioned rights are proven by the same texts that prove the same rights as men. In the meantime, His Excellency explained the importance of resorting to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), as the eternal and binding sources to which reference must be made to ensure that a right or a duty has been reserved for men or women, if we do not find a text and there is no evidence, the original remains as it is, and the original remains as it was until evidence comes to prove otherwise.”

At the end of his speech, His Excellency pointed out the importance of referencing the texts of the Glorious Book and the Prophet’s Sunnah in “customs “, which prevent women from being empowered by their legitimate rights, and prevent them from carrying out their duties in the fields of thought, work, economy, society, politics and others. He added: “If we find a practice, custom, or behaviour that contradicts the rights established by the Sharia, and set of duties, then our noble initiation is clear on how to deal with those customs, practices and traditions based on the Almighty says: “It was not for a believing man or a believing woman, if Allah and His Messenger decreed an order that they should have a different choice, and whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has gone astray in a clear way.”

His Excellency concluded his speech by emphasizing the characteristics of Islamic law represented in flexibility, capacity, and validity for every time and place, saying: “Our Sharia is the conclusion of the laws, and it is the conclusion of the messages and prophecies, and therefore, its provisions and teachings are comprehensive and complete, and valid for every time and place, and it would not have been comprehensive, complete and valid for every time and place if its provisions were not fair, flexible, broad, comprehensive..”.