Is in Islam a woman perceived only as a sexual organ?

That’s why she cannot go freely out of her home     

THE WOMAN IS 'AWRAH

Apart from the deficiencies of the woman, she also has ten 'awrat. The Encyclopedia of Islam defines 'awrah as pudendum, that is " the external genitals, especially of the female. [Latin pudendum (literally) a thing to be ashamed of]"[The World Book Dictionary]

"Ali reported the Prophet saying: 'Women have ten ('awrat). When she gets married, the husband covers one, and when she dies the grave covers the ten."[Kanz-el-'Ummal, Vol. 22, Hadith No. 858. See also Ihy'a 'Uloum ed-Din by Ghazali, Dar al-Kotob al-'Elmeyah, Beirut, Vol II, Kitab Adab al-Nikah, p. 65]

And according to the following Hadith, women not only have ten 'awrat, but the woman herself is perceived as 'awrah :

" The woman is 'awrah. When she goes outside (the house), the devil welcomes her."[ Ihy'a 'Uloum ed-Din by Ghazali, Dar al-Kotob al-'Elmeyah, Beirut, Vol II, Kitab Adab al-Nikah, p. 65. Reported by Tirmizi as a true and good Ahadith]
 
 (This Hadith is classed as 'Sahih' that is sound or faultless.) So going outside the house is a form of exposure of the 'awrah; a thing that delights the devil.

This is why women are discouraged from going outside the house, even to pray in the mosque, as the following Hadith indicates.

"A woman is closest to God's face, if she is found in the core of her house. And the prayer of the woman in the house is better than her prayer in the mosque."[Ibid., p. 65.] (This Hadith is classed as 'Hassan', that is approved.)

Dr. Buti a modern scholar said, " Muslim teachers unanimously agreed in every generation that the woman should cover all her body except her hands and face, that is without any make up, from strangers."[Dr. Mohammad Sa'id Ramadan al-Buti, Ela kul Fataten Tu'min be-Allah, Mu'asasat ar_Risalah, Beirut, 1987, Eighth edition, p. 41,42] While the followers of Hanbal and some followers of Shafi'i consider even the hand and the face to be 'awrah, and therefore should be covered.[ Ibid., p. 43]

" And those who allow the woman to show her hand and face -the Malikiyah and Hanafiyah- do so with the provision that make up will not be used, but if the woman's face is naturally beautiful, then she must cover her face for fear of being a temptation to men."[Ibid., p. 47,48]

Dr. Buti gives the reason behind the wearing of the Hijab. " Allah, the most high, decreed that the woman should be veiled. He did so in protecting the chastity of the men who might see her, and not in protection of the chastity of the woman from the eyes of those who look at her." [ Ibid., p. 98]

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT

" The marriage contract is designed by the legislator so that the husband may benefit from the sexual organ of the woman and the rest of her body for the purpose of pleasure. As such the husband owns by the marriage contract, this exclusive benefit."[ 'Abd ar-Rahman al-Gaziri, al-Fiqh 'ala al-Mazahib al-Arba'a, Dar al-Kutub al- 'Elmeyah, 1990, vol. 4, p. 7]

" The accepted understanding in the different schools of jurisprudence, is that what has been contracted in marriage is for the benefit of the man from the woman, not the opposite. The followers of Imam Malik declared the marriage contract is a contract of ownership of benefit of the sexual organ of the woman and the rest of her body.

The followers of Imam Shafi'i said, "The most accepted view is that what is been contracted upon is the woman, that is the benefit derived from her sexual organ." Others said, "What has been contracted is both the man and the woman. So according to the first opinion the wife can not demand sex from her husband because it is his right [not hers], and according to the second opinion she can demand to have sex with him."

The followers of Imam Abu Hanifa said, " The right of the sexual pleasure belongs to the man, not the woman, by that it is meant that the man has the right to force the woman to gratify himself sexually. She on the other hand does not have the right to force him to have sex with her except once [in a lifetime]. But he must, from a religious point of view, have sex with her to protect her from being morally corrupt."[ Ibid., p. 9]

IHS