The eminence Islam attaches to women

God's commandments about the status of women and the relations
between men and women, which havebeen revealed to us through the
Qur'an, consist of full justice. In this regard, Islam suggests
equality of rights, responsibilities and duties between the two
genders. Islam is based on sympathy, tolerance and respect for human
beings, and does not discriminate against women in this matter. On the
contrary, Islam gives women greatsocial value, freedom and comfort.
In the Qur'an God tells usthat the tasks and responsibilities of women
are the same as those of men. While performing these tasks and
responsibilities men and women must help and support each other:
The men and women of the believers are friends of one another. They
command what is right and forbid what is wrong, and establish prayer
and pay alms, and obey Allah and His Messenger. They are the people on
whom Allah will have mercy. Allah is Almighty, All Wise. (Qur'an,
9:71)
God emphasizes that believers will be rewarded in the same manner
according to their deeds, regardless of their gender:
Their Lord responds to them: 'I will not let the deeds of any doer
among you go to waste, male or female - you are both the same in that
respect... (Qur'an, 3:195)
Anyone who acts rightly,male or female, being a believer, We will give
them a good life and Wewill recompense them according to the best of
what they did. (Qur'an, 16:97)
In another verse, Muslimmen and women are considered together, and it
is stressed that both have the same responsibility and status in God's
sight:
Men and women who are Muslims, men and women who are believers, men
and women who are obedient, men and women who are truthful, men and
women who are steadfast, men and women who are humble, men and women
who give alms, men and women who fast, men and women who guard their
private parts, men and women who remember Allah much: Allah has
prepared forgiveness forthem and an immense reward. (Qur'an, 33:35)
In the Qur'an there are many more verses stating that men and women
are exactly equalin terms of their tasks and responsibilities and
their rewards or punishments in return. There are a few differences in
social issues, but these are for the comfort and protection of women.
The commands of the Qur'an regard the congenital differences between
the two genders resulting from their creation, and suggest a system
maintaining equal justice for men and women in this light.
Many rules and commandments exist in the Qur'an regarding
theprotection of women's rights on marriage. Marriage is based on
thefree will of both parties; the husband has to provide economic
support for his wife (4:4); the husband has tolook after his ex-wife
after divorce (65:6).
The Islamic Emancipation of Women
In fact, Islam brought with it a great emancipation for women, who
were severely persecuted in the pagan era. Prof. Bernard Lewis, known
asone of the greatest Western experts on the history of Islam and the
Middle East, makes the following comment:
In general, the advent ofIslam brought an enormous improvement in the
position of women in ancient Arabia, endowing them with property and
some other rights , and giving them a measure of protection against
ill treatment by their husbands or owners. Thekilling of female
infants, sanctioned by custom in Pagan Arabia, was outlawed by Islam.
But the position of women remained poor, and worsened when, in this as
in so many other respects, the original message of Islam lost its
impetus and was modified under the influence of pre-existingattitudes
and customs. [i]
Karen Armstrong, another Western expert on Islam, makes the following comment:
We must remember what life had been like for women in the pre-Islamic
period when female infanticide was the norm and when women had no
rights at all. Like slaves, women were treated as an inferior species,
who had no legal existence. In such a primitive world, what Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) achieved for women was extraordinary . The very idea
that a woman could be witness or could inherit anything atall in her
own right was astonishing. [ii]
In fact, during the manycenturies that followed Prophet Muhammad
(pbuh), women of the Islamic societies had a much higher social
position than the women of Christendom. Karen Armstrong emphasizes
that, during the Middle Ages;
... the Muslims were horrified to see the way Western Christians
treated their women in the Crusader states, and Christian scholars
denounced Islam for giving too much power to menials like slaves and
women. [iii]
Anna King, a modern Muslim woman and a convert - or, better to say, a
revert - to Islam, explains the Islamic emancipation of womenas
follows:
Islam gave women the right to buy and sell on their own, own
businesses and express her views politically, alsoencouraged women to
study and learn Islamic knowledge, breaking a ban which several
beliefs had stipulated, which forbid women to acquire any religious
knowledge or touch religious texts... It also abolished the practice
ofmarrying a woman without her consent.
The tendencies to see women as "an inferior species" who has no right
for education and that must be totally secluded from the society arose
much later in the Islamic world, as aresult of deviations fromthe
right Qur'anic path.
Thus, the mentality that despises women, excludes them from society
and regards them as second class citizens has no place in Islam.
In fact, devout women are depicted as good examples for mankind inthe
Qur'an. One is Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. Another is the wife
of the Egyptian Pharaoh who, despite her husband's wickedness, is also
described as an ideal Muslim. (see, 66:11-12) The Qur'an also
describes very gentle conversations between the Prophet Solomon and
the Queen of Sheba (27:42-44), and between Moses and two young ladies
(28:23-26), which symbolize the civilized social relationship between
the two genders.
Therefore, it is impossible for a Muslim to have a bigoted approach
to women. In a society where true Islamic morals are practiced,
immense respect and sympathy will be shown to women, and it will be
ensured that they can live in comfort.
The fundamental rule inQur'anic exegesis is ensuring that the derived
meaning is in conformity with the integrity of the Qur'an. When this
is considered, it is seen that all the rules mentioned to us byAllah
regarding women form a social structure allowing them to live in the
most comfortable and happiest way. In a society where all the moral
values mentioned by Islam are practiced comprehensively, the social
position of women becomes even more exalted than in societies that we
today regard as modern.