Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was one of the first people in human history who stood up for women’s rights, he said:
“The rights of women are sacred. See that women are maintained in the rights assigned to them.” (Hadith)
“God enjoins you to treat women well, for they are your mothers, daughters, aunts.” (Hadith)
“Paradise lies under the feet of your mother.” (Hadith)
These Hadiths emphasize the immense respect, honor, and gratitude owed to women, suggesting that treating them with kindness and care is a path to spiritual reward and divine blessings.
Women’s Struggle Through History:
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) came in the 7th century and established women’s rights when they had absolutely none! For the Arab Bedouins and tribes of the time, it was a huge shock when they heard a man among them telling them that a revelation had come to him from God, ordering them to worship only one God and to treat women with respect, granting them rights, such as the right to inheritance, the right to be educated, the right to earn a wage, the right to own property, the right to say “Yes” or “No” to a marriage proposal, the right to divorce, and the right to participate in social and economic life.
Can you imagine how the Arab Bedouins of the time, who used to worship idols, bought and sold gods in the biggest market of the time (Makkah) would react? It was their main business and livelihood. Caravans used to come from all over as far as Syria, Iran, Iraq to buy gods from Makkah. Then, all of a sudden, came this man named Muhammad telling them to stop worshipping things they made with their own hands and to stop financially profiting from them? They were also told that there is only one God who cannot be bought or sold. But most of their shock came from being told that they were not treating their women right, whether it was their wives, mothers, or daughters and that God was granting them rights.
Not only did they try to kill Muhammad (pbuh), but they also tried to kill his message and what God sent him for: “Mercy to mankind,” and they tried as hard as they could to stop the message of Islam from spreading. How dare they be told how to treat their women and how could women have rights just like men? But this is the truth and by the time of his death, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) made sure women had rights and he said his famous hadiths: “The rights of women are sacred. See that women are maintained in the rights assigned to them.” and “The best of you are those who are the best to their women.”
Critics of Muslims often highlight the same issues, beginning with the treatment of women, but their knowledge and education is often based on a few clips they’ve seen on the news from poor countries like Afghanistan under the Taliban.
However, what they often don’t know is their own history, and how, while Muslim women enjoyed the right to ownership as early as 562 AD, women in the West had no such rights until the 19th century (England passed the Married Women’s Property Act in 1882, the USA in 1848, and France in 1907). For the longest time in history, women in the West were often regarded as spiritually inferior to men and were denied basic rights.
There are many ways to demonstrate how non-Muslim women struggled in the West starting from the early time of the crusades to the early 19th century. One of the most striking pieces of evidence comes from the 15th century when Pope Innocent VIII issued a papal bull called Summis Desiderantes Affectibus (1484), which authorized the Inquisition to investigate and prosecute witchcraft. This led to the publication of the infamous Malleus Maleficarum (Hammer of Witches) in 1487, a guide for identifying, prosecuting, and punishing woman considered witches.
For a period of 300 years, between the 15th and 18th centuries, the Witch Hunts took place, fuelled by superstition, and religious persecution. Women were wrongly blamed for causing problems like sickness or bad harvests, and events like plagues or crop failures often led to witch hunts. An estimated 60,000 women were burned alive in Europe for witchcraft, though some argue the number could be higher. Other women were hanged or drowned.
In many Western societies, women had no legal right to own property, inherit wealth, earn a living, or even vote. It was not until the 19th and early 20th centuries that women finally gained these rights, such as the right to vote, the right to work and earn a wage, through movements like women’s suffrage and feminist activism.
In contrast, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) granted women these rights 15 centuries earlier, rights that are now being taken away again by the so-called developed nations of Europe. Muslim women born and raised their entire lives in countries like France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Austria, and other European nations, are not allowed to work or hold government positions, such as being teachers, working in the public sector, becoming police officers, working in the judiciary sectors (judges, prosecutors), or participating in the political or parliamentary system unless they renounce their faith and remove their hijab (a piece of cloth worn on their head). What these governments still fail to understand (or simply choose to ignore) is that once a Muslim woman chooses to put on the hijab, it is a lifelong commitment (similar to a tattoo); it’s not a baseball hat that can be put on and taken off at will. It is a commitment to God! Removing it is nearly impossible.
I would understand and totally agree if it were the niqab (face covering) that was not allowed, which would make sense for so many reasons. But a cloth covering their heads?
In my opinion, these countries (mostly men) choose to oppress women in a manner similar to how the backward Taliban in Afghanistan oppress women by refusing them the right to work or gain an education (which has absolutely nothing to do with Islam). These Western government chose to oppress women by not letting them have the right to choose what they want to wear, or who they want to be!
Many highly educated Muslim women living in these countries have no choice but to rely mainly on their husband’s income. Unfortunately, if they get divorced or if their spouse passes away, they often have no option but to ask for welfare assistance, even though they could easily contribute to society.
Below are other FAQs about women in Islam:
1. What is the status of women in Islam?
Answer: In Islam, women are regarded as equal in dignity and humanity to men. Both men and women are equally accountable to God, with identical rewards and punishments based on their actions.
2. What rights do women have in Islam?
Answer: Islam granted women a wide range of rights at a time when no other society did, including the right to education, the right to work, the right to participate in social, economic, and political life, the right to own property, those rights were granted to her 1400 years ago.
3. Can women seek education in Islam?
Answer: Yes, Islam encourages both men and women to seek knowledge. Matter of fact Muslim’s women were highly educated. The first university in human history ever built is generally considered to be the University of al-Qarawiyyin (also spelled Al-Karaouine), located in Fez, Morocco. It was founded in 859 AD by a Muslim women Fatima al-Fihri, she was born into a wealthy family and was highly intelligent.
Throughout early Islamic history, particularly during the “Islamic Golden Age” (from the 8th to the 15th century, when science, mathematics, philosophy, physics, chemistry, and medicine flourished mainly in the Islamic world, Europeans would come to study and learn from Muslims) and during those centuries Muslims women played active roles in all aspects of the society. Female religious scholars, for instance, were not uncommon. Scholars such as Mohammad Akram Nadwi have documented the lives of over 8,000 female jurists during the 8th to 15th century, who were legal scholars deeply knowledgeable in the field of Sharia law, while Ignaz Goldziher estimated that around 15% of medieval Hadith scholars were women.
4. What does Islam say about a woman’s role in the family?
Answer: Islam places great importance on the role of women in the family, particularly as mothers. The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) emphasized the high status of mothers, saying, “Paradise lies under the feet of your mother.“
5. Are women allowed to work outside the home in Islam?
Answer: Yes, Islam permits women to work, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) made sure of that and it is recorded that in less than 80 years after his passing, in 710AD a very smart women by the name of Umm Warqa, who was appointed by Caliph Omar to lead the market committees in both Medina and Mecca, becoming the first woman to hold such a position, the equivalent of the CEO of a major corporation today.
6. What is the Islamic perspective on women’s modesty?
Answer: Islam encourages modesty for both men and women. Women are instructed to dress modestly, with the option of wearing the hijab.
7. What does Islam say about women’s involvement in politics?
Answer: Islam does not prohibit women from participating in politics. Women have historically held high leadership roles in Islamic societies, such as the first female governor in Islamic history, Shifa bint Abdullah, who was appointed by the Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab.
8. Are women allowed to divorce in Islam?
Answer: Yes, women have the right to seek divorce (called khula) in Islam if the marriage is causing harm or is no longer viable. They can also initiate divorce through the courts.
Few more facts to know about Women in Islam:
Regrettably, the progress made during the Islamic Golden Age diminished over time due to internal political instability. Also, Western colonization played a major role by disrupting these societies, exploiting their natural resources, and dismantling their educational systems. For example, my father, who was from a small rural town in Algeria, was not allowed to go to school under French colonial rule (France stayed and ruled Algeria for 132 years from 1830 to 1962. Like most colonizing forces, they ruled with an iron fist and killed over 1.5 million Algerian Muslims). My dad was a very smart man, and he could have accomplished a lot if only he had been given the right to an education. The same happened in many other Muslim-majority countries, where European powers, with their Western ideologies, prevented further education for most of the locals, stunting the development of those countries for centuries.
In some regions, where education lagged after the Western invaders were kicked out, a distorted and ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam took place, often influenced by traditional cultural or ancient tribal practices. This has led to women being treated as second-class citizens in those countries. In a few places, women are denied the right to vote, drive, or receive an education (mostly Afghanistan under the Taliban), which goes against the true teachings of Islam, as you have read so far on these pages.