IT is indeed appalling to note how certain groups claiming to be the champions of gender equality are busy in malicious propaganda regarding the status of women in Islam. An unbiased reading of the Holy Quran and the sayings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) will reveal that women enjoy a special status in Islam. They are not only treated equitably with men but there are special instructions to men for protection of their rights, honour and sanctity.

The common Arabic word for ‘woman’ is ‘hurmah’, which itself means respect and sanctity. The honour, respect and sanctity granted to women in Islam is unprecedented. According to a well known and agreed upon hadith, the Prophet was asked: “Who is the most respectable person on earth?”. He replied: “Your mother”.

He was asked who was next, to which he again replied: “Your mother”. He was asked for the third time and yet again he gave the same answer. The fourth time he was asked he said “your father”. This teaches us that the worthiest personalities on earth for a person are his parents, but the mother deserves three times more respect than the father. It would also be prudent to quote here the famous saying of our Holy Prophet which says that paradise lies beneath the feet of one’s mother.

Ayat 187 of Surah Al Baqara states: “Your wives are your garments and you are their garments”. This ayat has two connotations. The first is that the relationship of husband and wife is a very close one. They are as close to one another as the body and the garment one wears. There should be no distance or obstacle whatsoever between their mutual relationship. The second connotation as explained by Abullah Yusuf Ali is that man and woman are each other’s garment, i.e., they are there for each other to mutually support, comfort and protect each other.

The Holy Quran directs man to always behave well with his wife, ensuring kindness, respect and equity. Ayat 19 of Surah Al-Nisa says: “You who believe! You are forbidden to inherit women against their will. Nor should you treat them with harshness, that you may take away part of the dower you have given them, except where they have been guilty of open lewdness. On the contrary, live with them on a footing of kindness and equity. If you take a dislike to them, it may be that you dislike a thing and Allah brings about through it a great deal of good”.

The above ayat encourages man to continue a respectable married life even if he dislikes his wife. Allah promises a great deal of goodness and reward for such a man. Ayat 20 of the same surah says: “But if you decide to take one wife in place of another, even if you had given the latter a whole treasure of dower, take not the least bit of it back. Would you take it by slander and a manifest wrong?”

The following traditions of the Prophet about daughters are self-explanatory. “One who is tested by Allah through birth of daughters, and if he treats them well, these daughters will become the source of saving him from the fire of hell”. And again: “If a daughter is born to a person, and he doesn’t bury her alive, nor does he ridicule her, nor does he give preference to a son over the daughters, Allah will bless him with an abode in paradise.”

It may be noted that the obligation of showing good behaviour and kindness to daughters is not only limited to their pre-adolescent stage. Muslims have been directed to help their daughters if in need even after adolescence. Suraqa Bin Juasham has narrated that the Prophet once said to him: “Should I tell you what is the greatest (or one of the greatest) acts of charity?” Suraqa said: “Please do tell us O Prophet of Allah. The Prophet said: “To help that daughter of yours who returns to you after divorce and when there is no one else to support her”.

Any person who creates a misunderstanding between a husband and wife has been termed by the Prophet as the favourite agent of Satan. Maulana Abul Ala Maudoodi has quoted the following hadith in his Tafheem ul Quran: “Satan embraces that agent of his with pleasure who creates a misunderstanding between a husband and wife”. The Prophet also said: “Verily the best among you is the one who is best in manners and kindest to his wife”.

Although divorce has been permitted in Islam, yet this option is to be exercised only if absolutely essential. The following sayings of the Prophet amply explain how vehemently Islam discourages divorce:

“Out of all the things that have been declared halal (permissible), there is nothing more disliked by Allah than divorce”.

“Get married but do not give divorce because Allah does not like men and women who wander from flower to flower like a honey bee”.

Almighty Allah has termed men and women as friends and protectors of one another. Ayat 71 and 72 of Surah Tauba says: “The believers, men and women, are protectors of one another. Allah has promised to the believers, men and women, gardens under which rivers flow, to dwell therein and mansions in gardens of everlasting bliss.”

Ayat 97 of Surah Al Nakhl again promises reward to both, righteous men and women. “Whoever works righteousness, man or woman and has faith, verily to him will we give a new life, a life that is good and pure and we will bestow their reward according to the best of their actions”.

Allah Almighty has clearly said in the Holy Quran that it is He Who chooses to give daughters and sons to people. Ayat 50 of Surah Shuaraa says: “He (Allah) bestows both males and females and He (Allah) leaves barren whom he will: for He is full of knowledge and power”.

We must remember that each individual human soul is precious in the plan of Allah, and all these variations and their reactions on parents and society have a purpose to fulfil in the larger plan of Allah. Muslims have been directed by Allah and His Prophet to understand that birth of a daughter is a great blessing and a gift from Allah. Those who acknowledge this blessing and use their resources in proper upbringing of their daughters have been promised great reward. Islam is perhaps the only deen (divine code of life) which tells people that educating their daughters properly and bringing them up to become useful members of the society is a religious obligation and a noble deed. The sayings of Prophet Muhammad are enough to understand the importance that Islam attaches to women and their right to a good education and upbringing, to make them honourable members of the human society.

THE first and tax-free budget announced by Karachi City Government last Tuesday was received pretty well initially. The passionate speech of Nazim-i-Aala and the big numbers fascinated most of the audience. The City Government not only announced over six billion rupees for development of areas under its own responsibility but also promised commendable hefty grants to the DHA and the government of Sindh. However that happiness was pretty short-lived, as the detailed analysis clearly showed based on the past performance of what now forms the City Government as well as the demeanour of the federal and provincial governments there is hardly any justification for those gargantuan numbers.

A balanced budget usually means a statement of planned expenditure that is not going to exceed projected revenue. But someone may not need a lot of brains to make out that the receipts projected the City Government Karachi budget 2002-2003 has been highly exaggerated. The system of local governance may have changed yet the revenue heads for the city remains the same. If the collections during the past few years were considered then the numbers indicated for 2002-2003 were not just difficult, in fact they were impossible.

For example the grants/releases from the government during 2001-2002 totalled less than three billion rupees as compared to the budgeted amount then of rupees four billion. The short receipt was more than twenty five per cent! Yet in the budget 2002-2003 the city government expects the releases and grants to exceed Rs5.5 billion. The revenue from property and betterment tax was expected to cross a billion mark for 2001-2002 yet the actual sum received was well below half of that amount. Yet for the coming year the city government expects property and betterment tax to contribute the major portion of receipts amounting to Rs2.483 billion under the head “Revenue”.

The long list of misplaced optimism or deception (whichever way one may like to look at them) includes projections for income from conservancy tax budgeted at Rs347 million for the next year as against the current year’s receipt of less then Rs90 million or the income from fire tax or charged parking that is projected at Rs200 million as against the actual receipts of less then Rs80 million. The list of such illogical and deceptive figures is long and painful. The short receipts will ultimately eat into the city’s development plan for the year 2002-2003.

On one hand there seems to be no new sources of income yet the provincial government has conveniently offloaded its liabilities in the garb of devolution. To believe that KDA, MDA, LDA or Karachi Building Control Authority will be a source of income for the city government may be one big folly. Until last year the provincial government was responsible for supporting their establishment cost. But now these bodies, after so many years of exploitation, are dry to the bones and the city will feel the financial liability. Where does the city government that until August 14 last year was merely the Karachi Metropolitan and District Corporations suppose it will be able to plug this hole?

For the next year the Government of Sindh has budgeted Rs5.587 billion for salaries etc of the employees of the departments that have been devolved from GOS to the KCG. Additionally Rs494 million is indicated out of GOS annual development programme and public sector development programme for transfer to the city government. One seriously wonders the utility of this establishment costing over Rs5.5 billion if these departments and their work force is not going to have a role in the city’s development (because there is no provision for funding for any such activity).

No doubt this was the first budget for the largest metropolis of this country since devolution and therefore there may have been a certain requirement for glorification. Yet the irrational numbers have eroded any hope for development during the coming fiscal year. It seems to be an open secret that the city infrastructure is falling apart. Road after road and street after street is infested with potholes and leaking water or sewage lines. All the 18 towns are equally devoid of streetlights. On an average almost 50 per cent of the refuse vans in each of the towns are either awaiting repairs or are simply irreparable. Public transport in the city seems to be in shambles yet the financially fragile city government desires to reconstruct that portion of the road that lies between Hino Chowk on one side of DHA to Kala Pul on the other, at a cost of 30 million rupees as indicated in its budget. That road is an integral part of DHA, which also enjoys a right to lease hoardings and billboards on this stretch. The Sindh Government could afford to pay the bill for reconstruction of Sunset Boulevard that lies solely in DHA jurisdiction. The City government also desires as per the budget book 2002-2003 to pay half the cost of reconstruction of the stretch of Rashid Minhas Road from Sharea Faisal to Drive-in cinema that used to be the sole responsibility of GOS. One really wonders the reason for such spent thrift overtures by a cash-strapped entity.

Meanwhile the NRB has indicated that the KWSB will also be devolved to the City Government in Karachi by July 1. There is nothing wrong with integration of utilities and agencies providing civic services in the city yet transferring responsibility without transfer of resources will ultimately result in the complete destruction of whatever infrastructure was built during the so-called “lost decade of 1990”. Mere promises for empowerment of the people may not be enough after almost two and a half years of governance. It may be a high time that some concrete steps were taken or at least concrete proposals were made regarding financial autonomy of the only mega city in the country.