Living The Quran
From Issue: 1044 [Read full issue]
Women in the Quran
Al-Ahzab (The Confederates) Sura 33: Verse35
"For submitting men and submitting women, believing men and believing women, devout men and devout women, truthful men and truthful women, patient men and patient women, humble men and humble women, charitable men and charitable women, men who fast and women who fast, men who guard their private parts and women who guard [their private parts], men who remember God often and women who remember [God often], God has prepared forgiveness and a great reward."
Regarding the revelation of this verse, it is reported that when Asma bint Umays returned with her husband, Jafar ibn Abi Talib, from Abyssinia, she went to the wives of the Prophet and asked, "Has anything from the Quran been revealed about us [women]?" When they answered that nothing had been revealed about them, she went to the Prophet and said, "O Messenger of God, women are disappointed and at a loss!" He asked, "How is that?" She replied, "They are not mentioned [in the Quran] in goodness as are the men," after which this verse was revealed. Others say that it was revealed after Umm Umarah al-Ansariyyah came to the Prophet and said, "I do not see but that everything is about men, and I do not find the women mentioned with regard to anything." According to another account, Umm Salamah said to the Prophet, "Why is it that we are not mentioned in the Quran as are the men?" Then later that day she heard him reciting this verse in the mosque.
This verse may also be related to 4: 32 and 3:195, both of which explicitly confirm an otherworldly reward— without differentiation— for both men and women who uphold the moral requirements of Islam. Regarding men and women who remember God often, al-Tustari writes, "One who observes true remembrance is one who is aware that God witnesses him. He perceives Him with his heart as being close to him, and therefore feels shame before Him. Then he gives Him priority over himself and over everything else in every situation."
Compiled From:
"The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary" - Seyyed Hossein Nasr