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THE IMAGE OF THE WOMAN IN ARABIC LITERATURE Dr. Mohammad Ahmad Mousa Assistant Professor Princess Alia University College Al-Balqa Applied University Abstract
This paper focuses on the image of the woman in arabic literature. It includes Literature review from different studies. It includes Quran's role in Arabic literature, women in the PreIslam Era and the Islamic View of Women. Keywords: Image ; Woman ; Arabic Literature

Introduction
The Quran, the primary document of the Islamic faith, is the first Arabic book. Its style, at once vigorous, allusive, and concise, deeply influenced later compositions in Arabic, as it continues to color the mode of expression of native speakers of Arabic, Christian as well as Muslim, both in writing and in conversation. The Quran also largely determined the course of Arabic literature. the earliest Arabic prose came into being not from literary motives, but to serve religious and practical needs, above all the need to fully understand the Islamic revelation and the circumstances of the first Muslim community in the Hijaz. The sayings and actions of the Prophet and his Companions were collected and preserved, at first by memory and then by writing, to be finally collected and arranged by such men as al-Bukhari and Muslim in the ninth century. This material, the hadith, not only provided the basic texts from which Islamic law was elaborated, but also formed the raw material for historians of the early Muslim community. During Umayyad times, a number of historians wrote monographs on specific historical, legal, and religious questions and in each case these authors seem to have adhered to the hadith method of composition. Although few of the works of these writers have survived in their entirety, enough has been =reserved by later incorporation in such vast works as the Annals of al-Tabari to give us an idea not only of their method of composition, but also of their wide-ranging interests.
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The Quran's role in Arabic literature

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It has often been argued that the Qur'an is not only the first book, and the highest linguistic achievement, of the Arabic language, but that it is also Muhammad's strongest argument against those who doubted his Message. The question that needs to be addressed here concerns the reason why a holy book, a composition of language, should be hailed as islam's (and Muhammad's) strongest argument. The point has sometimes been made that other prophets had more tangible miracles. In the case of Muhammad, however, the miracle was not comparable to Moses' staff or Christ's healing powers, but was simply the expression in language of the Qur'an.(Elsayed, M., 1988) The Qur'an also gave women the right to own her own mahr. The mahr is a payment that the husband makes to the wife, and is an important part of the marriage contract. It provides a woman with some kind of economic means in case of divorce and it also gives the woman the means of controlling the man's power of divorce (Esposito 1982). Islam also recognizes the rights of women concerning divorce. Women have the same rights as those of men. However, due to the importance placed on the family in Islam, for its protection and maintenance, both men and women must follow certain procedures. For examp le, after the divorce both a man and a woman must wait a period of three months, called iddah . During this period of time the husband is responsible for the wife's maintenance. This waiting period has two functions: (1) To clarify whether the woman is pregnant or not. If she is pregnant, the husband is responsible for the wife's maintenance until the child is born. Furthermore, if the woman who is divorced has a young child, she can nurse the child for up two years and the father must maintain both the woman and her child. (2) Iddah also function as a cooling-off period during which the relatives and the community will try to help reconcile the couple ( Lemu 1978).

Women in the Pre-Islam Era Women before Islam suffered great injustice, unfair treatment and were exposed to humiliation of all kinds. Women were not entitled to inherit from their parents, husband or other relatives because Arabs believed inheritance should only be granted to those who could ride a horse, fight, gain war booties and help protect the tribe and territory. In fact, more humiliation was even applied to women, in that she herself could be Women were treated like

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material items of this world. If a woman's deceased husband had adult sons from other marriages, the oldest son amongst them had the right to add the wife of his deceased father to his household; exactly as such a son inherits the wealth of his deceased father. This widow, the wife of the deceased, was unable to leave the house of her stepson unless she paid a ransom for her life and liberation. (A-Hali, T., and Khan, M. 1993). Women also were forbidden to remarry if a husband divorced them. Women had no right then to choose, or even consent, to their marriage. Man, on the other hand, had the freedom to acquire as many wives as so desired, with no set limit. Moreover, there was no justice system that may forbid a man from practicing anything unjust or unfair to his wives. Arabs, during the pre-Islamic era, never liked or welcomed the birth of a female baby into their family. They hated such a birth, and considered it an evil and bad omen. A father who received the news of the birth of a female baby was usually extremely sad, disappointed and depressed. Allah the Almighty described the father's situation when receiving the news about the birth of a daughter in the family in the pre-Islamic era: "When the news of (the birth of) a female (baby) is brought to any of them, his face becomes dark, and he is filled with inward grief! He hides himself from the people because of the evil of that whereof he has been informed. Shall he keep her with dishonor or bury her in the Earth? Certainly, evil is the decision" (Allen, E., 1998) Women even were not able to practice some natural rights, such as eating certain types of foods for instance. Some specific types of food were allowed only for males. The only thing women could be proud of during the pre-Islamic era was the protection of the man and his revenge against others who humiliate or dishonor her in an attempt to maintain her dignity and honor in the tribe. The Islamic View of Women The status of woman in Islam is something unique, something novel, and something that has no similarity in any other system. If we look to the Eastern Communist world or to the democratic nations, we find that woman is not really in a happy position. Her status is not enviable. She has to work so hard to live, and sometimes she may be doing the same job that a man does but her wage is less than his. She enjoys a kind of liberty which in some cases

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amounts to libertinism. To get to where she is nowadays, woman struggled hard for decades and centuries. To gain the right of learning and the freedom of work and earning, she had to offer painful sacrifices and give up many of her natural rights. To establish her status as a human being possessing a soul, she paid heavily. Yet in spite of all these costly sacrificeqs and painful struggles, she has not acquired what Islam has established by a Divine decree for the Muslim woman. (Ninji, A. (1993) The rights of woman of modern times were not granted voluntarily or out of kindness to the female. Modern woman reached her present position by force, and not through natural processes or mutual consent or Divine teachings. She had to force her way, and various circumstances came to her aid. Shortage of manpower during wars, pressure of economic needs and requirements of industrial developments forced woman to get out of her home - to work, to learn, to struggle for her livelihood, to appear as an equal to man, to run her race in the course of life side by side with him. She was forced by circumstances and in turn she forced herself through and acquired her new status. Whether all women were pleased with these circumstances being on their side, and whether they are happy and satisfied with the results of this course is a different matter. But the fact remains that whatever rights modern woman enjoys fall short of those of her Muslim counterpart. What Islam has established for woman is that which suits her nature, gives her full security and protects her against disgraceful circumstances and uncertain channels of life. We do not need here to elaborate on the status of modern woman and the risks she runs to make her living or establish herself. We do not even need to explore the miseries and setbacks that encircle her as a result of the socalled rights of woman. Nor do we intend to manipulate the situation of many unhappy homes which break because of the very "freedom" and "rights" of which modern woman is proud. Most women today exercise the right of freedom to go out independently, to work and earn, and to pretend to be equal to man, but this, sadly enough, is at the expense of their families.(al-Hammi, 2005)

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References

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A-Hali, T., and Khan, M. (1993). Interpretation of the Meanings of the Noble Quar'an in the English Language. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Maktaba Dar-us-Salam.

Al-Hammi, Abd al-l. Hkadh takalama Najb Mahfz. Cairo: al-Hayah al-mmah li-Qur al-Thaqfah, 2005. Allen, E. (1998)., History of Civilization, General Publishing House, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1998, Vol. 3. Elsayed M.H Omran (1988), Islam, the Qur'an and the Arabic =iterature Vol XIV No. 1 Ninji, A. A. (1993). "The Muslim Family in North America:Continuity and Change." In Ethnic Families: Strength in Diversity, ed. H. P. McAdoo. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/ihame/Ref6.htm

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