Women in Islam

The study of women in Islam investigates the role status of women within the religion of Islam . The complex relationship between women and Islam is defined by both Islamic texts and the history and culture of the Muslim world . Sharia (Islamic law) provides for differences between women's and men's roles , rights, and obligations. Majority Muslim countries give women varying degrees of rights with regards to marriage , divorce , civil rights , legal status, dress code , and education based on different interpretations. Scholars and other commentators vary as to whether they are just and whether they are a correct interpretation of religious imperatives. Conservatives argue that differences between men and women are due to different status and responsibilities assigned in the Quran , while liberal Muslims , Muslim feminists , and others argue in favor of other interpretations. Some women have achieved high political office in Muslim majority states.

Women in Islam are guided by primary Islamic sources of personal law, namely the Quran and hadiths , as well as secondary sources such as the ijma , qiyas , ijtihad in form such as fatwas ; the secondary sources vary with various sects of Islam and schools of jurisprudence ( madhhab ). In certain regions, in addition to religious guidelines, pre-Islamic cultural traditions play a role. Islamic laws and cultural customs impact various stages of a Muslim women's life, including her education, employment opportunities, rights to inheritance, dress, age of marriage, freedom to consent to marriage, marriage contract, mahr , permissibility of birth control, divorce, sex outside or before marriage, her ability to receive justice in case of sex crimes, property rights independent of her husband, and when salat (prayers) are mandatory for her. Polygyny is allowed to men under Islam, but not widespread; in some Islamic countries, such as Iran, a woman's husband may enter into temporary marriages in addition to permanent marriage. Islam forbids Muslim women from marrying a non-Muslim. There is debate and controversy on gender roles according to Islam. Sharia provides for complementarianism , differences between women's and men's roles , rights, and obligations. Being a Muslim is more than a religious identity ; Islam outlines and structures ways in which Muslim women should live their lives on a day-to-day basis. In majority Muslim countries women exercise varying degrees of their religious rights with regards to marriage, divorce, legal status, dress code , and education based on different interpretations. Scholars and other commentators vary as to whether they are just and whether they are a correct interpretation of religious imperatives. University of Texas Press . Secular feminists in Muslim societies demanded full equality in the public sphere, calling for access to education, work, and political participation as part of women's self-development and the empowering of the society in the decolonizing process. Within this feminist framework women accepted the notion of complementarity in the private sphere, upholding the notion of male predominance, regarded as benevolent predominance in the family. University of Texas Press . Becoming a Muslim is not just about taking a religious identity. It affects who you are as a person and how you live your life on an hour-to-hour and day-to-day basis. (My) day is divided by prayer, I know what to eat and what to avoid, how to wash, how to dress, and how to act towards my children and husband.

Women's role in Islamic culture Girl Reciting the Qurān ( Kuran Okuyan Kız ), an 1880 painting by the Ottoman polymath Osman Hamdi Bey , whose works often showed women engaged in educational activities. The experiences of Muslim women ( Muslimāt , singular مسلمة Muslimah ) vary widely between and within different societies. 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 them. 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. 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. How To Talk About Art History . A Journal of Feminist Geography . 18 (6). A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam . Sexuality in Islam (1st ed.). The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam . The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam . The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam . The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity .

Women's role in Islamic culture Girl Reciting the Qurān ( Kuran Okuyan Kız ), an 1880 painting by the Ottoman polymath Osman Hamdi Bey , whose works often showed women engaged in educational activities The experiences of Muslim women ( Arabic : مسلمات Muslimāt , singular مسلمة Muslimah ) vary widely between and within different societies due to culture 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. 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. How To Talk About Art History . A Journal of Feminist Geography . 18 (6). A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam . Sexuality in Islam (1st ed.). The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam . The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam . The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam . The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity .