The scarcity of female symbols across history

فقر الرموز النسائية عبر التاريخ

The 'Al-Wasatiyya' episode on the scarcity of female symbols across history — not to weaken woman but to ask those who broke the barrier how they broke it ¹ ². The youth voted: 50% see female symbols existing today but more faintly than in the past ³; from the episode's figures, women in political work in that era numbered about 3%, and panelists cited historical names — Khadija, Fatima bint Abd al-Malik (may God be pleased with her), Zubayda — and a Western book, 'The Promotable Woman', studying the phenomenon ⁴ ⁵ ⁶.

Depth

At a glance

Era: The Contemporary Era
Region: Arab world · Global / Diaspora
Review: Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it

Women

A hard questionTradition and modernity

The tension:

Other

تسلّط الذكور أحد التفسيرات المعروضة لشحّ الرموز النسائية، في الغرب والشرق معاً {cite:assabile-tareq-al-suwaidan al-wassitiya/ep16 00:02:00} {cite:assabile-tareq-al-suwaidan al-wassitiya/ep16 00:02:30}.

Other

تفسيران آخران متنازعان: تكوين المرأة النفسي والجسدي، وضغط المجتمع؛ وأكد المتحاورون أن الانتقال لن يكون قفزة من صفر إلى مئة {cite:assabile-tareq-al-suwaidan al-wassitiya/ep16 00:04:30} {cite:assabile-tareq-al-suwaidan al-wassitiya/ep16 00:22:00}.

The museum does not resolve this tension.

The episode and the question

The 'Al-Wasatiyya' episode debated the scarcity of female symbols across history — not to weaken woman but to ask those who broke the barrier how they broke it ¹ ². The question of causes offered three options: male domination, the woman's psychological and physical constitution, or social pressure — in East and West alike ⁷ ⁸ ⁹.

The vote and the figures

Fifty percent voted that female symbols exist today but more faintly than in the past ³. From the episode's figures: women in political work in that era numbered about 3% — and the umma, over a billion, needs some ten million female leaders ⁵ ¹⁰.

The symbols in history

Panelists cited prominent female symbols: Khadija, the mothers of the believers, Fatima bint Abd al-Malik and Zubayda — noting woman stood beside man as a symbol of giving ⁴ ¹⁰. They stressed the transition will not be a leap from zero to a hundred ¹¹.

A Western study

One panelist drew on the Western book 'The Promotable Woman' — 'purely Western studies, a hundred percent; no Muslim wrote it about the West' — to study the phenomenon ⁶.

People and things also explored

Obstructing a marriage (adl): the guardian and the husband· Fleshy growth in the wife's womb and the right to annul (afal)· The Arab woman and the international conventions· Family businesses· The woman left unmarried (anus) and the rules on her consent and maintenance· Maleness (dhukura) as a condition in the rulings· Dyeing the hair (ikhtidab)· Imra' (woman: her rights, duties and status in fiqh)

Sources

Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 16, at 00:03:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 16, at 00:03:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 16, at 00:08:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 16, at 00:01:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 16, at 00:16:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 16, at 00:31:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 16, at 00:02:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 16, at 00:02:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 16, at 00:04:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 16, at 00:16:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 16, at 00:22:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)

Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The scarcity of female symbols across history”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/faqr-al-rumuz-al-nisaiyya/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-26.

Improve this page on GitHub · Report an error · JSON

Wing

Ideas

Beliefs, concepts, sciences and schools, explained in plain words. Related

Obstructing a marriage (adl): the guardian and the husband

In the lexicon, adl means to prevent, and the jurists use it of a guardian who prevents his ward's marriage, and in the case of divorce for ransom of a husband who harms his wife so that she will pay him back. In principle it is forbidden for a guardian to prevent a ward's marriage to a suitable husband, and for a husband to harm his wife to force her to ransom herself; a guardian may be permitted to refuse for the woman's own benefit. A guardian is an obstructer when a woman asks for a suitable husband, or a suitable man proposes, and he refuses without a valid reason, whether or not she asks for her proper dower; the Hanafis do not count refusing a dower below the usual amount as obstruction, and the Malikis do not count a compelling father's rejection of suitors as obstruction unless harm is intended. Once obstruction is proven before the judge, he orders the marriage; if the guardian still refuses, guardianship passes to the ruler according to the Hanafis, Shafi'is, most Malikis and one Hanbali narration, or to the next guardian according to the main Hanbali view; if all guardians obstruct, the judge contracts the marriage.