IDSA Islam & Dialogue Student Association

Women In Islam

What would you say about the equality of men and women?

Question: In recent years a lot of things have been said concerning the equality of men and women. What can we say about the subject from an Islamic point of view?

Answer: Before discussing the equality of men and women, we should first look more closely at the meaning of “equal” and “equality”.

“Equal” means that there is no difference between things, that they have the same nature, quality, value and dimension. On the other hand, “equality” means that there is no discrimination between people in terms of rights.

Women Confined and Mistreated

Question: Some people claim that in Muslim societies, women are confined to their home and they are oppressed. Is there any truth in this claim? What is the position of women in family life and in society according to Islamic disciplines?

Answer: Islam saved women who were exploited, enslaved, and regarded as second class in the darkness of the pre-Islamic Age of Ignorance from the position of a poor creature and elevated them to a new status as a blessed being. Islam freed women from being treated as a tool of pleasure and laid Paradise under their feet. If the essential sources of religion and the exemplary lives of the first two generations of Muslims who lived after God's Messenger are carefully studied, it will be seen that Muslim women were absolutely not confined to their home and they were never oppressed. If those who come up with such claims are not prejudiced and are not making deliberate assertions, then these ideas stem from being ignorant of the essential principles the religion set on this matter and from attributing misconceptions and misapplicationsâ€”which originate from interference of local customs throughout history to Islam.

Islam is the only religion which has given women such extensive rights; when we look at the Qur'an, practices of the Prophet, and the history of Islam, except for some abuses caused by individuals' mistakes, it will be seen that women gained the most exalted status in Muslim societies. Yes, women have a unique position in Islam, which can never be found in other systems. Even the societies considered as the most developed in our time are backward on this issue and they cannot be compared with Islam.