Rights of Women in Islam Protected or Subjugated

Women and their status in the society is an issue that has been of great importance, and has greatly been discussed throughout history. It is a fact that, although women were occasionally given a modicum of respect, they were often oppressed, subjugated, suppressed and abused. They were often deprived of their basic rights civil, political, social, economic, legal and natural. In most of the cultures, women were not considered human beings - they were denied humanity. They were largely marginalized, suppressed and treated as mere objects of pity, pleasure and desire. Almost in all ancient civilizations women were denied humanity and were equated with children, animals and, in some cases, to other inanimate insignificant objects. They were denied the right to a social life and the right to express their opinion and the right to have a self-identity and self- worth. Their condition was so pathetic that instead of being given the right of inheritance, they themselves were inherited and thus made mere objects of sexual desire and pleasure. Even marrying someone was not enough to end or lighten their misery - they were just transferred from one patriarch/master to the other. Right from the very outset, women were deprived of decision-making powers and of other civil, financial and basic rights. On the contrary, the teachings of Islam demonstrate the divine origin of the Quran and the truthfulness of the message of Islam, which established such human principles which have neither become obsolete with the passage of time, nor can become obsolete in the future. After all, this is the message of the All-Wise and All-Knowing God whose wisdom and knowledge are far beyond the ultimate in human thought and progress.This book is a response to the unjust criticism of the Islamic position as regards to women's status vis-a-vis men. Most of the people claim that women are oppressed, suppressed, subjugated in Islam. And they claim that men and women are equal but they, by and large, ignore the physiological, psychological and biological differences between them. Islam, on the other hand, propounds that men and women are equal, but that equality and sameness are two different ideas. A scholar, Abdalati, states that: "e;Man and women are not identical but they are created equal."e; (Abdalati, 184)He further argues that the Quran has not given men a dominant status over women, nor was it Islam that introduced the question of whether or not woman has any soul in her. Never in the history of Islam has any Muslim doubted the human status of women, or her possession of soul and fine spiritual qualities. Abdalati posits that Quran does not have pejorative description, or stereotype for woman and that in Islam women is not the product of the devil, or the seed of evil. Unlike other popular beliefs, Islam does not blame eve alone for the first sin for the Original Sin. The Quran makes it very clear that both Adam and Eve were tempted, that they both sinned; that God's pardon was granted to both after their repentance, and that God addresses them jointly."e; (Quran 2:35-36, 7:19, 27:20,) (Abdalati, 184-185).