(So their Lord accepted their prayer...

(So their Lord accepted their prayer: That I will not waste the work of a worker among you, whether male or female, the one of you being from the other). 1 (And whoever does good deeds whether male or female and he (or she) is a believer; these shall enter the paradise and they shall not be dealt with a jot unjustly). 2 In this verse, the unity of man and woman is justified, that an attempter should get reward as much as his/her attempt.

Allah is beyond differentiating between the efforts of man and woman. (And whoever does good deeds whether male or female while he (or she) is a believer; We will most certainly make him live a happy life, and We will most certainly give them their reward for the best of what they did.) 3 This verse mentions the sameness of worldly rewards for good deeds of man and woman. In other words, good deeds of any servant receive equal rewards in this world and the Hereafter.

It should be pointed out that other Qur'anic verses about human perfection include both man and woman, though they are stated with masculine pronouns. Statements such as (0 You who believe!) 4 means '0 People!' and refer to both men and women. ________________________ 1 Qur'an, 3: 195. 2 Qur'an, 4: 124. 3 Qur'an, 16: 97. 4 In Arabic, it recites as masculine.

Chapter Three : Woman's Reason The Holy Qur'an knows woman as a human, possessing all human qualities and all necessary capabilities of a human being. Nothing about deficiency in woman's mind has been mentioned in the Qur'an at all. Rather, as pointed out earlier, man and woman are equal to Qur'an in terms of reaching perfection, which is only possible through deep understanding. However, some traditions introduce woman as less intelligent than man. Some points worth mentioning in this regard. a.

Low intelligence and inadequate cognition is attributed to many people and social classes by Islam, either men or women, for instance: Pride and arrogance is an indication of stupidity. Imam Ali (a.s.) says, "One's self conceit is the sign of his lack of reason." 1 One, who accompanies the stupid, would lose his own reason. 2 Not listening to the wise kills reason. 3 Wastefulness wipes out reason.4 ________________________ 1 Al-Hayat, 1/180; Persian translation 1/304.

2 Imam Ali's tradition, Bihar Al-Anwar, 1/160. 3 Ibid. 4 Imam Ali's tradition, Mizan Al-Hikma, 6/431. Pride and self-deceit decreases reason. 1 One who loves something excessively would suffer from folly. 2 Lustfulness destroys brain.