Sunday 3-5-2023 Written by: Yasser Badri On the eighth of March of each year, the world celebrates International Women’s Day in recognition of her prominent role in the advancement of societies. International Women’s Day is not just a day to congratulate women, but it is a day in which we appreciate her position in the world, the multiple roles she has played and the efforts she has made to build herself, her family, her community and her country. It is a day in which we return to remember her achievements in all fields and forums, and the imprints she left at all levels. The celebration of International Women's Day is symbolized by a female figure accompanied by the colors purple, green, and white. Purple indicates dignity and justice, green represents hope, and white indicates purity. These colors originated from the Women's Social and Political Union in the United Kingdom in 1908. The reason for choosing March 8 as International Women’s Day goes back to the events of 1907. In light of the population increase, the industrial revolution, and the negatives and domination that accompanied it, a protest movement emerged among women in New York City. The movement began roaming the streets of New York in large numbers, expressing their rejection of injustice and inequality and their need to participate positively in their societies, and to demand their right to work within a better environment, and improve their wages, in addition to their right to vote in favor of any decision that serves their interest. They hold pieces of dry bread in their hands to express their right to economic security, and roses to symbolize their desire for a better quality of life. As a result of these protests, the American Socialist Party designated the last Sunday of February to celebrate National American Women’s Day. The party adopted women’s rights as part of its campaign, and highlighted it during the mass meetings it held throughout the United States. Then the day of celebration was changed to February 28 in 1909, and the celebration remained in effect on this day until 1913. There was a push by America for European countries to designate a day for European women similar to America’s, and even to make it an international women’s day in various countries of the world, as the Second International Conference for Working Women was held in 1910 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The German socialist Clara Zetkin presented her proposal to have an international day to mark the strike of American workers in the textile factory and to express the demands of women in general. This proposal was met with unanimous approval by more than 100 women participating in the conference from 17 countries, including three women who were elected and won seats in the Finnish parliament, but no specific day was specified for the celebration. The countries of Austria, Denmark, and Germany celebrated Women's Day on March 19, 1911 AD, where more than a million people participated in the marches organized on the occasion of this day, while this day was celebrated in many other countries years later, but these celebrations were different in their dates, In 1917, women in Russia began a strike called “Bread and Peace” in response to the death of more than 2 million Russian soldiers in the war. Despite the opposition of the political parties to their demands and mobilization, they continued to strike for four consecutive days until the ruler of Russia at the time, Tsar Nicholas II, surrendered - and the transitional government granted women the right to vote. The day the women began the strike was March 8, and since then, there has been a global agreement that March 8 of each year will be International Women’s Day to celebrate the progress made in achieving gender equality. In 1945, the United Nations Charter was issued, making it the first international agreement to affirm the principle of equality between women and men. This is what the United Nations contributed to creating a historical legacy of internationally agreed upon strategies, standards, and goals for the advancement of the status of women throughout the world. In 1975, the United Nations celebrated the first official International Women’s Day on March 8. International Women's Day is an occasion to celebrate the progress made in the field of gender equality and the pursuit of this in all parts of the world, in addition to the empowerment of women and the recognition of women's work and achievements in societies. For this reason, global organizations, including the United Nations and UNESCO, work to strengthen all their fields to achieve gender equality, and a group of events are held on this day as a kind of celebration. Conferences and seminars are held, interspersed with meals, in the presence of an elite group of political leaders and social activists, in addition to a number of men. Business, and an audience of women. In these events, issues pertaining to women are addressed, such as the necessity of granting them the right to education and work. Presentations are also given in educational institutions, which aim to emphasize women’s developmental role and their prestigious social status. It is worth noting that the heavenly religions for thousands of years have urged the rights of women and ensuring their care and equality with men. God Almighty said in His wise book: “O mankind, We created you from a male and a female and made you into peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most honorable of you in the sight of God is the most pious. Indeed, God is All-Knowing, All-Aware.” From this verse it becomes clear that the standard of excellence in Islam is based on piety and not a specific gender, color, or other criteria that extremists resort to to divide people and evaluate them according to an external framework that does not reflect the goodness and integrity that souls carry. It is sufficient that our Noble Messenger, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, mentioned women in more than one place and said (Women are the sisters of men. No one honors them but a generous one and no one insults them but a mean one). This hadith is considered as a prophetic command from our Noble Messenger to respect the role of women in society. They all memorize the hadith (your mother, then your mother, then your mother, then your father) to indicate the role of the mother, and as the poet Hafez Ibrahim said (the mother is a teacher, if you prepare her, you prepare a people of good ethnicity). Happy new year to every woman and mother.