Equality between genders: FRIDAY FEATURE

IT is a general belief in the West that in the eyes of Islam woman is inferior to man. This is due to their lack of access to the Quran and the Sunnah. In fact, Islam is the only system which contains provisions that ensure absolute equality between man and woman. However, the distinction between equality and similarity must be kept in mind.

Man and woman have been created equal, not identical. In Islam, the rights and responsibilities of a woman are equal to those of a man, but they are not necessarily the same. Since they happen to be physically different from each other, their roles in household chores and society are also different. But dissimilarity in their functions does not imply that one is inferior to the other.

Let us have a brief look at the various aspects of the equality of sexes in Islam:

1. Equal spiritual status: The highest favour which God has bestowed upon man is the gift of Divine revelation. In the Quran we find women mentioned along with man. “And when the angels said: O’Mary, Allah has chosen thee and purified thee and chosen thee above the women of the world.” (3:41) “When We revealed to thy mother what was revealed.” (20:38). “And We revealed to Moses’ mother...” (28:7)

The Quran speaks of the great prophets of God, saying: “And mention Abraham in the Book.” (19:41) “And mention Moses in the Book,” (19:51) A woman is spoken of in exactly the same manner: “And mention Mary in the Book.” (19:16)

2. Equal bestowal of reward: The Quran makes no difference between man and woman regarding the bestowal of reward for the good deed performed by him or her.

“Whoever does good, whether male or female, and is a believer, We will certainly make him live a happy life, and We will certainly give them their reward for the best of what they did.” (16:97)

“Surely the men who submit and the women who submit; and the believing men and the believing women; and the obeying men and the obeying women; and the truthful men and the truthful women; and the patient men and the patient women; and the humble men and the humble women; and the charitable men and the charitable women; and the fasting men and the fasting women; and the men who guard their chastity and the women who guard their chastity; and the men who remember Allah and the women who remember — Allah has prepared for them forgiveness and a mighty reward.” (33:35)

3. Equal right to education: Woman is equal to man in the pursuit of education and knowledge. When Islam enjoins the seeking of knowledge upon Muslims, it makes no distinction between man and woman. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) declared that the pursuit of knowledge is incumbent on every Muslim male and female.

4. Equal right to inherit: Man and woman have been given equal right to inherit from the parents and the near-relatives. “Men shall have a portion of what the parents and the near relatives leave, and women shall have a portion of what the parents and the near-relatives...” (4:7)

A woman’s right to inherit is as much protected by law as that of a man. If the deceased wishes to deprive her by making a will to other relations or in favour of any other cause, the law will not allow it. However, it must be remembered that whereas the right to inherit of both man and woman is equal, their share in the inheritance may differ. In certain cases, a woman gets half of what a man in her position would get. The cause of this variation is the financial responsibilities and liabilities with which only man has been burdened, not woman.

As compared to man, woman is financially secure and provided for. If she is a wife, her husband is the provider; if she is a mother, it is the son; if she is a daughter, it is the father; if she is a sister, it is the brother; and so on. If she has no relations, then it is the responsibility of the Islamic state to maintain her. In no case she will be left helpless. Whereas a man, except in one or two exceptional cases, is supposed to not only look after his family and other needy relations, but also to make financial contributions to good causes in the society. Thus, a larger share in inheritance does not depict the supremacy of man over woman, but it is rather a concession granted to him in lieu of his financial burden.

5. Equal right to earn: Islam has granted man and woman equal rights to contract, to enterprise, and to earn and possess independently. “...For men is the benefit of what they earn. And for women is the benefit of what they earn. And ask Allah of His grace...” (4:32)

6. Equal freedom of expression: Man and woman are equally entitled to freedom of expression. Women not only expressed their opinion freely but also argued and participated in serious discussions with the Prophet and other Muslim leaders. There were occasions when women expressed their views on legislative matters of public interest, and stood in opposition to the Caliphs, who then accepted the sound arguments of these women.

7. Equal civil and criminal liability: In the eyes of Islam, a woman’s life, property, and honour are as sacred as those of man. If she commits an offence, her penalty is no less or more than a man’s in a similar case. If she is wronged or harmed, she gets due compensation equal to what a man in her position would get.

“O’ you who believe, retaliation is prescribed for you in the matter of the slain: the free for the free, and the slave for the slave, and the female for the female....” (2:178)

Equality in civil and criminal liability can also be explained by the example of theft liable to Had. If the charge is proved, then the person, regardless of being man or woman, is punished with amputation of limb.

“And (as for) the man and the woman addicted to theft, cut off their hands as a punishment for what they have earned, an exemplary punishment from Allah....” (5:38)

Similarly, the punishment for adultery is also the same for man and woman.

“The adulteress and the adulterer, flog each of them (with) a hundred stripes, and let not pity for them detain you from obedience to Allah, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day, and let a party of believers witness their chastisement.” (24:2)

Conclusion: The verdict of Islam, on the status of man and woman, is the only complete, logical, and practical declaration pertaining to the matter. The approach of Islam towards defining the positions of man and woman is unique, as it always handles the issue by making a distinction between equality and sameness.

Treating garbage with contempt!: CITYSCAPES

APPRECIATING the importance of solid waste management and scientific disposal of hazardous hospital waste in the city, on 6th October the Sindh Ombudsman’s secretariat organized a seminar in a local hotel.

The federal minister of science and technology was to grace the occasion, but unfortunately the gentleman could not find time due to other pressing engagements. The Ombudsman’s secretariat invited the City Nazim to fill in for the minister who too had to rush to another seminar at Nipa.

The City Nazim, yet little known to many liberals, came out pretty warm and forthright. Before leaving he narrated some facts about the problem as he saw them. What did however worried some, including a few journalists, were some of those very facts. Even some past city managers have been churning out the same so-called facts for last ten years.

According to Naimatullah Khan, the city generates 6,000 tons of garbage everyday. He acknowledged that a proper system for waste disposal did not exist and the inefficient system was riddled with corruption. He admitted that a large number of garbage vehicles were out of order, but insisted that the city could still lift about 60-65 per cent of that garbage. He pointed out an endemic shortage of funds aggravated by a shortfall of more than Rs1.2 billion of the matching grant promised by the federal and provincial governments at the time of abolition of octroi.

A megacity like Karachi with a population of over 12 million, spread over an area of more than 3,550 square kilometres, consumes more than 400 million gallons of water generating more than 210 million gallons of sewage everyday. Though the city remains the uncontested capital of finance, insurance, banking, commerce and manufacturing in the country and expected to become the fourth largest in the world crossing 20 million mark by 2015, it is probably the worst managed in its community today.

There could be several reasons for this poor management, but the most compelling ones had to include a lack of comprehensive database and administrative fragmentation. The city managers may only speculate about the tonnage of garbage generated on the basis of figures available for other urban centres of similar socio-economic matrix. A daily garbage generation potential of half a kg a person was estimated by a study for Afro-Asian cities of more than five million conducted during 1985. Sixteen years later the tonnage of garbage Karachi, with three major industrial areas and two seaports, is generating may be anyone’s guess.

During 1994-95 the city had some 386 refuse vans on its muster roll. A year later 42 Volvo trucks with 10 tons compactors were added through an Asian Development Bank loan. It has since been struggling to keep tidy with fewer than 428 garbage trucks while many of these vehicles are perhaps 25-30 years old. They range from three-tonners to the above-mentioned 10-tonne compactors. Godhra and Mehran Town dumping grounds have been lost to commercial and residential activity leaving landfills at Surjani, Gondpass and Dhabeji between 35 to 50 kilometres from the city centre.

Once a loaded garbage truck leaves District Central, East or South and sets off to one of the dumping sites it is not even expected to return for another load the same day. Sadly, the garbage may end up being disposed in the Lyari river or some open plot saving time and diesel pocketed by the crew.

Even at the ideal 100 per cent vehicle serviceability the city may have a total lifting capacity exceeding not more than 1,200 tons of garbage a day. These garbage vehicles are primary refuse collection vehicles, in simple English, they were designed to collect garbage from the neighbourhood dustbin to a garbage transfer stations located within a radius of few kilometres of the pickup points. There should be other means of transporting this garbage preferably after compaction, enabling multiple trips by primary collection vehicles.

Approximately 350 costly prime movers may be required to transport 50 per cent of containerized garbage generated in the city. But this number may steadily grow with increase in population. Another disadvantage of using prime movers may be additional congestion on our municipal roads.

Karachi is lucky to have a circular railway corridor that may be ideal for use at night to transport garbage containers on flat bed freight train. At least two locations for construction of garbage transfer stations are available very close to the circular railway track. The erstwhile KMC experimented with freight trains during 1995-1996 with the Pakistan Railways charging Rs1,415 a carriage or Rs 96,220 for 68 wagon-train (their minimum charge) transporting more than 1,500 tons of garbage to the landfill near Dhabeji.

The city government proposes an annual budget of more than 90 crore for sanitation. The annual cost for three trains transporting 4,500 tons of garbage every night or 1.5 million tons of garbage during the year may be a mere 10 per cent of the annual budgetary allocation for the city’s sanitation, or nine crore only.

Another problem that the city faces is that for the last ten years there has been a total ban on fresh recruitments that has further aggravated the sanitation problem. Municipal employees performing the thankless job of keeping this city clean are getting older. Today the city needs an additional 15,000- 20,000 sweepers and refuse vans crew to meet the growing requirement of the vast metropolis.

Some urgently needed actions for improvement of the city’s environment might include emphasis over mechanization, manpower training and generation of an extensive database for the city. Small tractor-like skid steer loaders, each costing a few hundred thousand rupees, could be extensively used. Cleaning and sweeping main bazaars or roads may not be possible during daytime anymore. But for nighttime mechanized activity the city needs to fix streetlights and asphalt street surfaces. A major effort may be needed to clean the city’s environment, which can be done by intelligent use of resources and a little more than lukewarm and callous attitude shown by some on the 6th of October.