Title: The rights of women in Islam.

POPLINE Document Number: 120706

Author(s):

Engineer AA

Source citation:

New Delhi, India, Sterling Publishers, 1992. vi, 188 p.

Abstract:

This review of women's rights related to marriage, divorce, property, inheritance, child custody, evidence, and rewards and punishments as set forth in both the Quran and Islamic Law indicates that Islam fundamentalists have seriously misrepresented the spirit of these texts. Current claims of male superiority in Indian society are sociological rather than theological in origin. The Quran makes it clear that women are not to be treated as adjuncts to their fathers, husbands, or brothers. Although the Quran concedes a degree of superiority to men in their social context, it awards equal status to both sexes in the normative sense. It states that a man should maintain his wife and, in return, the wife must look after the children; there is no prohibition of a woman's right to work. The Quran never intended to place restrictions on women's movements or to require them to completely hide their faces while out of the home. Many current interpretations were formulated in the first century of Islam, when women were viewed strictly for their procreative function. Changed socioeconomic circumstances call for adoption of a common civil code to eliminate religious discrimination in laws related to women's status. An appendix contrasts marriage and divorce laws among Muslims, Christians, and Parsis.

Keywords:

India
Historical Review
Critique
Islam
Women's Status
Inequalities
Gender Issues
Female Role
Sex Discrimination
Marriage
Divorce
Inheritance
Women
Asia, Southern
Asia
Developing Countries
Religion
Socioeconomic Factors
Economic Factors
Social Behavior
Behavior
Social Discrimination
Social Problems
Nuptiality
Ownership
Demographic Factors
Population