The Quran

195

Preface

فَاستَجابَ لَهُم رَبُّهُم أَنّي لا أُضيعُ عَمَلَ عامِلٍ مِنكُم مِن ذَكَرٍ أَو أُنثىٰ ۖ بَعضُكُم مِن بَعضٍ ۖ فَالَّذينَ هاجَروا وَأُخرِجوا مِن دِيارِهِم وَأوذوا في سَبيلي وَقاتَلوا وَقُتِلوا لَأُكَفِّرَنَّ عَنهُم سَيِّئَاتِهِم وَلَأُدخِلَنَّهُم جَنّاتٍ تَجري مِن تَحتِهَا الأَنهارُ ثَوابًا مِن عِندِ اللَّهِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ عِندَهُ حُسنُ الثَّوابِ

Yusuf Ali

And their Lord hath accepted of them, and answered them: “Never will I suffer to be lost the work of any of you, be he male or female: Ye are members, one of another:¹ Those who have left their homes, or been driven out therefrom, or suffered harm in My Cause, or fought or been slain,- verily, I will blot out from them their iniquities, and admit them into Gardens with rivers flowing beneath;- A reward from the Presence² of God, and from His presence is the best of rewards.”

In Islam the equal status of the sexes is not only recognised but insisted on. If sex distinction, which is a distinction in nature, does not count in spiritual matters, still less of course would count artificial distinctions, such as rank, wealth, position, race, colour, birth, etc.
Here, and in 3:198, 4:175, and in many places elsewhere, stress is laid on the fact that whatever gift, or reward, or bliss will come to the righteous, its chief merit will be that it proceeds from the Presence of God Himself. “Nearness to God” expresses it better than any other symbol.