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The electronic version of this document has been prepared at the Fourth
World Conference on Women by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
in collaboration with the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women
Secretariat.
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AS WRITTEN


STATEMENT OF HIS EXCELLENCY DR. HAMID ALGABID
OIC SECRETARY GENERAL

AT THE WORLD CONFERENCE ON WOMEN
BEIJING 4-15 SEPTEMBER, 1995


In the Name of God, the Most compassionate, the Most Merciful


His Excellency the Chairman of the Conference,
Excellencies,
Heads and Members of Delegations,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Allow me, on behalf of His Excellency Dr. Hamid Algabid, Secretary
General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, to express our
sincere greetings and wishes for the full success of your important
conference. I have also the honour to convey thanks of His Excellency
to the leadership and people of the People’s Republic of China for
hosting and patronising this huge world gathering, as well as his
full appreciation to the UN General Secretariat for the successful
efforts exerted by its diligent staff to ensure excellent
preparations for our work, aimed at serving human society in one of
its most vital sectors - woman.

I do not think that I need to recall that the territory of great
China, which is playing host to the World Conference on Women,
represents, in fact, one of the most ancient human civilisations. No
wonder that Islam urges its adherents to go “even to China” in search
of knowledge. However, I seek your indulgence to remind you of an
ancient Chinese wise adage that says “it may take twenty men to build
a house but it takes only one woman to establish a family”.

The 52-Member State-OIC, with a population of about one billion and
200 million, was keen on coming to Beijing in implementation of the
resolution of its Seventh Islamic Summit Conference, held in
Casablanca, Kingdom of Morocco, in December 1994, in appreciation of
the utmost importance attached to the issues to be discussed by the
World Conference on Women, and in recognition of the great impact
which the expected recommendations may have on the effective
contribution towards shaping the wider human society, irrespective of
the diversity of its cultures and variety of its civilisations. This
may be done by holding a positive dialogue among these cultures and
civilisations; a dialogue that may lead to wisdom in areas relating
to women. Therefore, a concerted effort be made in continuation of
former efforts made by the conferences on environment, human rights,
children, population, social have one objective, i.e. Man: to raise
human values over material ones and utilise the latter to serve the
former, and not vice versa.

It is not by coincidence that divine religions Islam in particular,
inculcate human values and moral principles in their respective
believers. These values and moral principles call on them to set
right their materialist leanings by subjecting themselves to good
manners. They made this difficult formula as a criterion for human
advancement. This is indeed an important focal meeting point of our
current mature human endeavours and divine teachings revealed to
humanity while it was still in its cradle.

Indeed, divine teachings preceded over centuries our contemporary
efforts, aimed at organising human society. Today, some societies
suffer, with varying degrees, from social problems. This may be
attributed to the abandonment, whether because of laxity or
extravagance, of these teachings which were revealed by the Creator
of Man and the Universe, and He is the Best one to know His creation.

In view of the interest shown by the Islamic States Members of the
Organisation of the Islamic Conference, in the International
Conference, studies on Women were conducted on this subject at the
governmental as well as on non-governmental levels. They determined
principles and values with which constitute the general framework of
the status of women in the Islamic society. These were the principles
and values which the OIC states sought to inspire this enlarged
dialogue to be held with their partners, at this important
international conference.

At the outset, these States would like to reiterate their confidence
in the revealed religions especially Islam. They consider them to be
bases for the development and promotion of the human societies: men
and women alike. While expressing their determination to work
positively and jointly at this conference, the Islamic States
underlined the need to respect the revealed teachings and the Islamic
values in the resolutions to be adopted by it. In this, they would be
fully consistent with the principle of respect for the cultural
identity, sovereignty of the States and the non-interference in their
internal affairs. The OIC states are of the view that the richness of
human civilisation lies in its diversified resources and numerous
ideas and not in an attempt to impose one social model on it which is
not suited to its intellectual heritage and religious values.

Therefore, the Islamic civilisation which constituted, and still
constitutes patterns, and inspires the social legislation within the
Member States of this Organisation, calls for the need to recognise
the fact that “the family” is the first unit of the society’s
structure and that securing all elements of stability for the family,
is an indispensable guarantee for the safety of the society was a
whole: the physical and psychological health of its individuals and
the maturity of their creative aptitudes and contributions to the
upbringing of the future generation, as well as the moral, material,
political, social and cultural development of the society. Therefore,
this civilisation provides the family with all its pure and lofty
existence free from dubiousness. It secures for it, elements of its
continuity, stability and protection against the reasons which may
lead to its: man, woman and children, it made a perfect fabric for
the breakdown. From the emotions of love and respect between its
three main elements unity of the family. It organises, in a balanced
and accurate manner, the role entrusted to each one of these three
elements of the family, not only by explaining to them as their legal
rights and obligations, but also their legal values. All this was
linked to the soundness of the faith and piety. They were categorised
under the principle of responsibility.

Hence, the woman who has, in the Islamic civilisation, a fundamental
role in the entity of the family and who constitutes half of the
human race - indeed the tender and sensitive one - enjoys rights and
has obligations to perform. It may not be appropriate for us to stop
at describing these rights and obligations as equal to those of man.
Indeed, we should also recognise that the woman complements, and
interacts with these common rights and obligations. Women are “full
sisters” of men. Both were created from a single spirit. This is the
principle of equality between men and women. “And women shall have
rights similar to the rights against them according to what is
equitable”. This is the principle of complementarity in rights and
obligations.

As for the legal status of the woman, her motherhood is higher, by
some degrees, than the man’s fatherhood. She is protected with a
strong shield of respect for her femininity, dignity and her
sensitive emotions. We are also urged to treat her in the best of
manners. In addition, the good treatment of women is considered as a
yardstick with which men’s behaviour is measured.

In the Muslim family, the woman does not lose her lineage nor her
family name. She does not perish in the husband’s family. She also
preserves her independent legal personality, financial obligations
and her full civil rights, independent of the husband. The latter has
no right to take anything from her property without her approval.
Neither can he ask her to bear the expenses of the family or even her
own expenses, even if she possesses more money than him.

However, we cannot but admit that women’s natural disposition made it
possible for them to enjoy the honour of upbringing the future
generations. Therefore, it becomes incumbent upon men to help them
carry out their lofty task. Consequently, men have to bear their
expenses as well as those of their children. This binding obligation
is not limited to the husband, but goes on to cover the father, the
son and the first male related to the father’s line. This obligation,
imposed on men, does not confiscate women’s right to work. However,
work remains to be her right only. It may not be transformed into an
“obligation”. She is free to take it or leave it. Hence man is
responsible for the family expenses in both cases. It follows from it
that man is assisted to play his role namely bearing the financial
burden of the family, and for that he is given a double share from
the heritage as compared to that of his sister. This is an accurately
balanced calculation which transcends the value of pure calculation
based on equality” to the horizons of “functional complementarity”
and to the value of social interdependence, as a general order for
the society. This general order is binding to the individuals of the
society who enjoy as much rights as they need to carry out their
obligations.

If we proceed to know the truth of life, we find it a holy one,
stemming from an overall principle that he who kills one person is
similar to the one who kills all people; and if any one saves a life,
it would be as if he saves the life of all people. Hence, the
prohibition and total incrimination of the aggression committed
against the fetus’s right to life, through abortion, or against the
right of the new born to life through the crime of burying her alive.
Indeed, the mere feeling of discontent for giving birth to a girl, or
preferring a male to a female, in their treatment or care, is
forbidden.

Education in Islamic civilisation is not a mere right. It is also an
obligation on both man and women. The educational process is not
separated from the principles of morales. “There is no good in the
knowledge of a person who does not benefit from it”. Knowledge is
linked to action. Action itself is governed by responsibility.
Responsibility in turn, has its rules and regulations which strike a
balance between the interests of the individual and the general
welfare of the society. It is a responsibility before the people and
before Allah, at the same time.

One branch of knowledge in Islam is the interest which we show in
what is known today as “preventive medicine, starting from physical
cleanliness known as “purity”, passing by medical health called
“treatment, and attaining the high level of psychological health
known as “high-mindedness”.

The branches of knowledge in Islam also include what is termed now
“reproductive health” which starts from the invitation to the husband
and the wife to select a legal partner who is healthy and of moral
standard. This benign branch also includes the detailed standards of
the biological functions of the male and the female. It sublimates
the sexual impulse while limiting its practice to one context, namely
that of the announced legal marriage. Any other extra-marital
relations is prohibited in order to preserve the individual’s
psychological health, the family’s entity and the children ancestral
lineage. This necessitates the existence of moral values to be
adopted as a code for conduct of the individuals and, a general
basis, for a balanced society. High on the list of these values are
those of bashfulness, virtue, purity of lineage, renunciation of
abominable acts and utterances, as well as the strong shield of
protection for the woman, respect for her honour and dignity,
preservation of her femininity against degradation, licentiousness,
prostitution and her exploitation as means of seduction or
trafficking.

If we take a practical example, such as the AIDS epidemic which is,
unfortunately, rampant in many human societies, we will instantly
observe that this grave epidemic does not constitute a problem to the
Islamic societies. It is true not because these societies have
discovered a medical treatment for it, but because they were inspired
by their religious principles in their sexual conducts. These values
protected them from this epidemic confirming the truth of the
proverb: “Prevention is better than Cure”.

The society, in its totality - its individuals, institutions and
governments - is invited to realise moral elevation which is backed
by sound principles. These principles should not be based on
adulation of individuals nor on response to their instincts and
sexual desire. Neither should they be based on the
institutionalisation of deviation, on the pretext of liberty and
realism. Indeed, they should be based, all together, on the theory of
individual and collective responsibility for the actions and
utterances leading to the welfare of the society in all fields of
life. Individual liberty should be practised only within the context
of this general responsibility. Otherwise, life would be transformed
on to various forms of anarchisms and disturbances in which various
physical and psychological diseases; like violence, crime, drugs and
licentiousness prevail to such a high degree that it becomes
impossible for the law to redress the breakdown. Such is the
situation obtaining in many societies. Some of which may not be in
need of means of education, organisation or finance.

Within the framework of these lofty values, this Conference is
invited to adopt the resolutions which would ensure the protection of
the dignity of women and their elevated status in all fields of
social, economic, cultural and political life. We shall also have to
underline the recognition of the fact that sustained development
requires full and equal participation on the part of women and men,
as both development agents and beneficiaries. Member States are also
invited to take all the necessary measures for the elimination of
every form of discrimination against girls and women and for removal
of all obstacles hindering their progress. Also, all appropriate
measures should be taken with the aim of preventing and combatting
every form of violence against women including sexual exploitation,
trafficking, pornography and portrayal of women as sexual objects in
the mass-media. Such measures should be taken in order to guarantee
respect for women’s elevated status in the society. Women’s economic,
social and political equitable rights should also be guaranteed
within the context of the socio-economic development programmes, in
all countries and international organisations.

To conclude, I can only express the hope that this important
Conference would be crowned with success in order that women of the
world be provided with the opportunity of participating effectively
in the realisation of peace, security and welfare for the entire
community through the virtuous work of both men and women, hand in
hand without usurping each other’s rights. Allah the Almighty says:

“Whoever works righteousnessly, a man or woman, and has faith,
verily, to him We give a life that is good and pure, and We will
bestow on such their reward according to the best of their actions.”