The experiences of Muslim women (, singular ) vary widely between and within different societies, both present and historically, due to cultures and values that were often predating Islam's introduction to the respective regions of the world. At the same time, their adherence to Islam is a shared factor that affects their lives to a varying degree and gives them a common identity that may serve to bridge the wide cultural, social, and economic differences between Muslim women.
Among the influences which have played an important role in defining the social, legal, spiritual, and cosmological status of women in the course of Islamic history are the sacred scriptures of Islam: the Quran; the ḥadīth, which are traditions relating to the deeds and aphorisms attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his companions; ijmā', which is a scholarly consensus, expressed or tacit, on a question of law; qiyās, the principle by which the laws of the Quran and the sunnah or prophetic custom are applied to situations not explicitly covered by these two sources of legislation; and fatwā, non-binding published opinions or decisions regarding religious doctrine or points of law. In the Islamic understanding, children are not held responsible; gender roles, obligations or restrictions become clear when a person reaches the age of maturity.
Islam considers men and women to be inherently different (although equal on a spiritual level), and thus have different responsibilities; the fulfillment of these responsibilities is a major part of the Islamic concept of justice."The West considered the political, social and economic rights as the meticulous standard that would determine the comprehensive equality between men and women as human beings. On the contrary Islam declares that all human beings are equal considering the status, preferment and dignity but determine the different responsibilities of male and female. Because the responsibilities must take into consideration of varying natural inclinations and affinity of individuals, so that Islam determine and prefer the concept of ‘justice’ rather than ‘equality’." Women are required to complete all the duties of a Muslim worshiper, including the completion of religious traditions, specifically the pilgrimage to Mecca except for some religious duties such as Friday prayers. Islamic culture marked a movement towards liberation and equality for women, since prior Arab cultures did not enable women to have such freedoms. Muhammad asked women for advice and took their thoughts into account, specifically with regard to the Quran. Women were allowed to pray with men, take part in commercial interactions, and played a role in education.
Some legal provisions in the Quran also differentiate by gender. For example, a verse on financial testimony notes that two women may be called as witnesses alongside one man "lest one of them errs, the other can remind her" (Quran 2:282), a passage scholars have read both as reflecting the social context of 7th-century Arabia and as a broader statement on women's reliability as witnesses.Quran 2:282.
A widely cited hadith frames a husband's treatment of his wife as a marker of faith. The Prophet Muhammad is reported to have said, "The believers who show the most perfect faith are those who have the best behaviour, and the best of you are those who are best to their wives" (Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1162).Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1162.
Additional influences include pre-Islamic cultural traditions; secular laws, which are fully accepted in Islam so long as they do not directly contradict Islamic precepts; religious authorities, including government-controlled agencies such as the Indonesian Ulema Council and Turkey's Diyanet; and spiritual teachers, which are particularly prominent in Islamic mysticism or Sufism. Many of the latter, including the medieval Muslim philosopher Ibn Arabi, have themselves produced texts that have elucidated the metaphysical symbolism of the feminine principle in Islam.
Interactions and sources of law
In pre-Islamic Arabian culture, marriage was generally contracted in accordance with the larger needs of the tribe and was based on the need to form alliances within the tribe and with other tribes. Virginity at the time of marriage was emphasized as a tribal honor.Amira Sonbol, Rise of Islam: 6th to 9th century, Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures Historian William Montgomery Watt states that all of Muhammad's marriages had the political aspect of strengthening friendly relationships and were based on the pre-Islamic Arabian custom.Watt (1956), .
Primary Women (Arabic: Sūrat an-Nisāʼ) is the fourth chapter of the Quran. The title of the surah derives from the numerous references to women throughout the chapter,Haleem, M. A. S. Abdel. The Qur'an. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. Print. including verses 4:34 and 4:127—4:130. Maryam also takes its name from Mary. The Quran contains some verses that are presented by Islamic modernism as emphasizing the equality of men and women; that men and women have moral agency and that both will receive their rewards in the afterlife.
Surely 'for' Muslim men and women, believing men and women, devout men and women, truthful men and women, patient men and women, humble men and women, charitable men and women, fasting men and women, men and women who guard their chastity, and men and women who remember Allah often, for 'all of' them Allah has prepared forgiveness and a great reward. (Qur'an 33:35).
Within Sunni Islam, women are provided a number of guidelines prescribed by the Quran and ḥadīth literature, as understood by fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), as well as under the interpretations derived from the ḥadīth that were agreed upon by the majority of Sunni Muslim scholars as authentic beyond doubt based on ḥadīth studies.Haddad and Esposito, (1998), Islam, Gender, and Social Change, Oxford University Press, .Stowasser, B. F. (1994). Women in the Qur'an, Traditions, and Interpretation. Oxford University Press Qur'anic interpretations and their application were shaped by the historical context of the Muslim world at the time they were written.
Secondary The above primary sources of influence on women of Islam may not deal with every single conceivable situation over time. This led to the development of jurisprudence and religious schools with Islamic scholars that referred to resources such as identifying authentic documents, internal discussions, and establishing a consensus to find the correct religiously approved course of action for Muslims.Motahhari, Morteza (1983). Jurisprudence and Its Principles, translator:Salman Tawhidi, .Kamali, Mohammad Hashim. Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, Cambridge: Islamic Text Society, 1991. These formed the secondary sources of influence for women. Among them are ijmā', qiyās, ijtihad, and others, depending on the sect and the corresponding schools of Islamic law. Included in secondary sources are the fatwā, which are often widely distributed, orally or in writing by Muslim clerics, to the masses in the local language and describe behavior, roles, and rights of women that conform to religious requirements. Fatwa are theoretically non-binding, but seriously considered and have often been practiced by most Muslims. The secondary sources classify the lawful and unlawful behaviors of Muslim men and women, which typically fall into the five categories (al-ahkam al-khamsa): wajib/fard (obligatory), mustahabb/mandub (recommended), mubah (neutral), makruh (disapproved), and haram (forbidden). There is considerable controversy, change over time, and conflict between the secondary sources.Agrama, H. A. (2010). "Ethics, tradition, authority: Toward an anthropology of the fatwa". American Ethnologist, 37(1), .
Gender roles and the position of women in Islamic community
Islam's basic view of women and men postulates a complementarity of functions: like everything else in the universe, humanity has been created in a pair (Sūrat al-Dhāriyāt, 51:49)neither can be complete without the other. "In Islamic cosmological thinking, the universe is perceived as an equilibrium built on harmonious polar relationships between the pairs that make up all things. Moreover, all outward phenomena are reflections of inward noumena and ultimately of God."
The emphasis that Islam places upon the feminine/masculine polarity (and therefore complementarity) results in a separation of social functions. In general, a woman's sphere of operation is the home in which she is the dominant figureand a man's corresponding sphere is the outside world. Women are highly respected in many aspects of domestic life such as being praised for their knowledge as ritual specialists, healers, caretakers, and those who arrange marriages in their community. However, this separation is not, in practice, as rigid as it appears. There are many examplesboth in the early history of Islam and in the contemporary worldof Muslim women who have played prominent roles in public life, including being sultanas, queens, elected heads of state, and wealthy businesswomen. Moreover, it is important to recognize that in Islam, home and family are firmly situated at the centre of life in this world and of society: a man's work cannot take precedence over the private realm.
Contrary to main Islamic gender role concepts; some concubines, mothers, sisters and grandmothers of the sultans of the Ottoman Empire exerted extraordinary political influence in a period called 'Sultanate of Women'. Their power was not challenged by the ulema clergy. In some Turkish Sufi interpretations of Islam, such as Alevism, prevalent gender roles and gender segregation does not exist in any aspects including religious rituals and clergy. Historically, a marriage constituted a form of ownership or dominion: a husband wielded exclusive control over his wife's sexual (and when she was free, reproductive) capacity; controlled her mobility; paid her dower, as if he were paying a purchase price; and gained the unilateral right to dissolve the marriage, a right similar to a slaveholder's power of manumission.
Modern debate on the status of women in Islam Within the Muslim community, conservatives and Islamic feminists have used Islamic doctrine as the basis for discussion of women's rights, drawing on the Quran, the hadith, and the lives of prominent women in the early period of Muslim history as evidence. Where conservatives have seen evidence that existing gender asymmetries are divinely ordained, feminists have seen more egalitarian ideals in early Islam. Still, others have argued that this discourse is essentialist and ahistorical, and have urged that Islamic doctrine not be the only framework within which discussion occurs.Deniz Kandiyoti, "Women, Islam and the State", Middle East Report, No. 173, Gender and Politics. (November–December 1991), pp. 9–14.
Conservatives and the Islamic movement
Conservatives reject the assertion that different laws prescribed for men and women imply that men are more valuable than women. Ali ibn Musa Al-reza reasoned that at the time of marriage a man has to pay something to his prospective bride, and that men are responsible for both their wives' and their own expenses but women have no such responsibility.Quoted in Grand Ayatollah Makarim Shirazi, Tafsir Nemoneh, on verse 4:12.
Dr. Mustafa Khattab in his book The Clear Quran writes: The Quran makes it clear that men and women are equal before God and the Law (16:97 and 33:35). Abuses against some Muslim women (e.g. honour killing and forced marriages) are cultural practices in some Muslim countries that contradict Islamic teachings.