A woman’s chastity...

A woman’s chastity, no matter what position she holds, is vulnerable to such exploitation. In the wake of this regression, the nuclear family, which is the very backbone of society, is crumbling. It is for these reasons that the world is once again in dire need of a movement like the revolution of the (ص) to restore humanity to all people—but especially women, and to show mankind the way to true perfection.

The Shi’a—from the time of the Prophet himself—have taken the promised appearance of the Mahdi (ع) to heart, and have been in a constant state of anticipation. His shall be a revolution to overturn the world. In particular, the regression in the status of women will be reversed. In the pre-Islamic “Age of Ignorance,” women were not considered human.

It followed that they were offered no rights, and in some cases, their very existence was considered such a source of embarrassment, that newborn girls were buried alive. The (ص) injected new life into that society. He granted women rights and responsibilities that corresponded to the rights and responsibilities of men.

The same women, who before the rise of Islam, were property in the hands of man to be gifted at his will and to be bequeathed to his sons, were themselves granted the right to hold property and to inherit property from men. Islam raised the station of women to such an extent that the (ص) accepted their pledges of allegiance. They were allowed to accompany the Muslim armies to the battlefield as teachers and nurses and moral support for the troops.

The Muslim woman could be a teacher and defender of the law, and by fulfilling these roles could rise above the station of the angels. From one perspective the importance of her role exceeds man’s role, for she “creates” other human beings and rears them.

In the words of Ayatullah Khumayni, “It is because of the upbringing of the mother that a man ascends to his perfection.” However, with the passing of time, the status of women in both non-Islamic and Islamic societies has once again sunk to pre-Islamic levels. Imam al-Mahdi’s (ع) revolution will overturn the world order and unify the entire world under the banner of true Islam. The status of women will be no exception from this new order, for women will be returned to their rightful station.