TEHRAN – Observing the Islamic rules is the best way to prevent violence against women as no other religion or culture defends the personality and rights of women as much as Islam.

The opponents of Islam, which themselves have a shameful and black history of violence against women, and today they have increased this violence under different titles, accuse Islam of discriminating against women.

In seemingly civilized and advanced countries, violence against women is increasing day by day. With advertising and changing people's culture, women have been demoted from their high position and have been introduced as a sexual commodity in society.

As the last and most perfect divine religion, Islam has offered comprehensive and beautiful teachings to human society, which, if followed, will easily bring humans to his/her true position. At a time when women did not have even the lowest social status and were bought and sold as sexual commodities all over the world, Islam made the position of women so great that they gave her the title of "God's Trust".

During the Age of Ignorance (Jahiliyyah) [It is an Islamic concept referring to the period of time and state of affairs in Arabia before the advent of Islam in 610 CE], women were caught in the most disgraceful misfortunes and suffered the most difficult calamities.

In a land where having a daughter was considered a humiliation and girls were buried alive, Islam appeared, whose prophet kisses the hands of his daughter and says that having a daughter is due to the auspiciousness and goodness of the mother.

“And when one of them is informed of [the birth of] a female, his face becomes dark, and he suppresses grief. He hides himself from the people because of the evil of which he has been informed. Should he keep it in humiliation or bury it in the ground? Unquestionably evil is what they decide.” [Qur’an 16: 59]

In today's world, violence and misbehavior against women has become normal issue; However, Islam has made love to women the criterion of faith. In order to prevent violence against women, Islamic teachings say that if a woman is wronged, God Almighty will punish the wrongdoer seventy times on the Day of Resurrection.

The current ideology of recent decades in non-Islamic societies has so negatively affected women’s role as mothers that the respect for the dignity of mothers has declined in their culture.

Islam highly appreciates the mother’s position and considers it holy, saying that eternal Paradise, which many people hope and desire to gain is under the mother's feet. According to Islamic teachings, the position of a mother is so high that no other position can be compared with it, while in non-Islamic societies, respect for the mother has been marginalized and disobedience to the mother has become a habit.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in one of his speeches stated, “If we want our outlook towards the issue of women to be healthy, reasonable and precise, the first condition is that we should completely clear our minds of the statements that westerners make about women - about their employment, management and sexual equality… There is no difference between men and women on many issues. Islam looks at men and women as human beings. There is no difference between men and women on the issue of humanity, spiritual positions and the many intellectual and scientific talents that they have. But they have two different molds. Each of these molds is shaped for a particular task.” (April 19, 2014)

In no other religion, school of thought, or culture there is a command to respect the rights of the wife as much as Islam. In a world where women are subjected to violence and misbehavior by their husbands, Islam forbids even a slap on a wife’s face as a punishment by her husband and vows 70 times more severe punishment for her husband on the Day of Resurrection.

“O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single person (Adam), and from him [Adam] He created his wife [Eve], and from them both He created many men and women and fear Allah through Whom you demand your mutual [rights], and (do not cut the relations of) the wombs (kinship). Surely, Allah is Ever and All-Watcher over you.” [Qur’an 4:1]

Islamic teachings show that a man should express his love for his wife and say God considers meeting of wife's needs by her husband as a Jihad for him. 

No other religion or culture has defended the personality and rights of women as much as Islam. Paying attention to Islamic rules is the best way to prevent violence against women.

“If we adopt a comprehensive outlook, we see that there is no difference between men and women. Certain privileges have been granted to women and certain other privileges have been granted to men and this is based on their natural characteristics which Allah the Exalted has bestowed on them. Allah the Exalted has given each gender certain characteristics. Each gender benefits from certain outstanding qualities.

Therefore, they have no differences in terms of human qualities. They have no differences in terms of the privileges which Allah the Exalted has bestowed on humanity such as human rights, social rights, spiritual values and spiritual perfection. That is to say, a man can become Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s.) and a woman can become Fatima Zahra (s.a.). A man can become Jesus (a.s.) and a woman can become Mary (s.a.). They are not different from each other,” Ayatollah Khamenei said. (May 11, 2013)