Atrocities such as honor killings, genital mutilation, forced marriage, punishment of rape victims, denial of women to an education, and confining women to their homes cross religious and cultural boundaries. Such oppression of women cannot be attributed to the Qur'an, early Islamic traditions, or early Islamic law.
Rights of Muslim Women
The confusion and debate over Muslim women arises primarily because of:
- Widespread misunderstanding of Islamic dress for women (hijab).
- Failure to recognize oppression of Muslim women as a cultural influence or deviation from the original teachings of Islam and Shariah (Islamic law).
Under Islam, most Muslim women have enjoyed the following rights for more than 1400 years:
- The right to inherit, earn, own and manage money and property
- The right to financial support from a husband, father, brother or other male relative
- The right not to spend her money on family expenses, even if she does work
- The right to an education
- The right to participate in public life
- The right to marry only with her approval
- The right to a mahr, or bridal gift
- The right to specify prenuptial agreements in her marriage contract
- The right to sexual satisfaction within marriage
- The right to initiate divorce, even on grounds she dislikes her husband and feels unable to fulfill his rights
- The right to child custody in case of divorce
Status of Muslim Women
A Muslim woman may pursue a career, but greater value is given to her role as wife and mother. Islam especially elevates the status of a mother due to her sacrifices during pregnancy, childbirth and childrearing:
“A man came to the Prophet and said, ‘O Messenger of God! Who among the people is the most worthy of my good companionship?' The Prophet said: 'Your mother.' The man said, ‘Then who?' The Prophet said: 'Then your mother.' The man further asked, ‘Then who?' The Prophet said: 'Then your mother.' The man asked again, ‘Then who?' The Prophet said: 'Then your father.'” (Bukhari, Muslim)
"We have enjoined on man kindness to his parents; in pain did his mother bear him, and in pain did she give him birth." (Qur'an 46:15).
Early Muslim Women
Despite the high status given to traditional women's roles, many early Muslim women chose to participate in business, philanthropy, social work, politics, military work, writing, teaching and other public endeavors while observing modest Islamic dress and behavior. In his article "In Recognition of Women," Khaled Abou El Fadl notes that more than 2,500 women scholars, jurists, and poets alone can be found in Islam's history, including some who issued religious licenses to men.
Notable early Muslim women include:
- Khadija, the first wife of the Prophet Muhammad, was a respected businesswoman who employed the Prophet before she proposed to him.
- Shaffa bint Abdullah was inspector of the Medina market under the second caliph, Omar ibn Al-Kattab.
- Aishah bint Abu Bakr, the youngest wife of the Prophet, narrated more than two thousand religious traditions (hadith); she also led military expeditions after the Prophet's death and tutored many scholars.
- Arwa bint Ahmad served as governor of Yemen in the late 5th and early 6th centuries.
- Zubaidah bint Ja'fr al-Mansur, a wealthy benefactress, funded the construction of Mecca's water supply system and the establishment of a pilgrimage route from Baghdad to Mecca in the late 8th and early 9th centuries.
Their example shows that cultural restrictions experienced today by some women do not have basis in the original teachings and practice of Islam. Under Islam, women are entitled to intellectual, physical and emotional fulfillment, and they have the right to participate actively in society.
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