THE STATUS OF WOMEN IN ISLAM Dr. Mohammad Elmasry is the President of the K-W Islamic Association. He is also a professor of computer and electrical engineering and Director of the VSLI Project at the University of Waterloo. This article is excerpted by permission of the author, from his essay in Al-Islam (Summer 1991) The status of women still seems to be an important issue in the public conscience in the 1990's. Issues of equality, role of motherhood, women's rights, lack of women in the field of sciences and engineering are constantly discussed. The subject was an important one for thousands of years and it appears that it will stay with us as long as men and women constitute the two basic building blocks of any society.

As a Muslim Canadian, I would like to put to rest the stereotyping by presenting how Islam deals with the status of women, it is an integral part of the Islamic world view, value system and the rights and duties of men and women.

Over 1400 years ago, Islam established spiritual equality by categorically stating that men and women will receive equal reward for their efforts. Islam also teaches that men and women are born free from sin. Adam committed the first sin, his wife is not blamed for his sin. Intellectual equality comes next. "The search for knowledge is a duty for every Muslim, male or female". Knowledge is not divided into sacred and secular, it is comprehensive; making a living is a byproduct not an objective. Man and woman should pursue his or her education as far and as long as it is possible "from the cradle to the grave". As a result of this teaching, throughout history, many Muslim women became famous religious scholars, writers, poets, doctors and teachers. Today, in many Muslim countries women are half of the university student population in most areas of study, including medicine, sciences, engineering and law. Women can take any career they choose, as long as it is moral. This also applies to men; no double standard. Thus women were given the independence to learn and to work. Women's relationship with men in Islam is one of interdependence. Both men and women have rights and duties; his or her obligation to be kind, to love, to cherish: is first, second and thirdly towards the mother, fourthly to the father, and then to the wife/husband, and so on. As a result, a Muslim mother has a great feeling of fulfilment and considers that being a full-time mother is a great blessing. She feels secure about the care she can expect from her children when she reaches old age. The relationship between women (as wives) and men (as husbands) within marriage is one of mutual care, consideration, respect and affection. It is one of co-operation, not of confrontation. The rights and duties of the husband and wife is aimed at preserving the family unit in such a way that the atmosphere of tranquillity, love and mercy can develop to the benefit of husband and wife, their children and society at large. A Muslim woman keeps her legal identity and maintains her surname after marriage. Anything a wife earns is her own, either to use it herself or to contribute it to the family budget in all or in part, if she wishes. The man has full responsibility for the maintenance of the family. Meanwhile, the wife is responsible for the welfare of the family and management of the household. The husband is the head of the family unit and should consult his wife in all matters to reach a consensus; If consensus cannot be reached, he is responsible for making a decision, and his wife has an obligation to follow that decision for the harmony of the marriage relationship. More than 1400 years ago, Islam advanced the rights of women, giving them political rights: to vote, to nominate and to run for public office. Women were also given full rights to refute the legitimacy and constitutionality of the laws, to own property, to be full partners in trade and commerce, to sell and buy and to sign legal documents .. all without referring to any man. Women in Islam are entitled to inherit, without a will, half of the share given to a male counterpart. This may appear to be unfair, if taken in isolation. However, it must be remembered that men in Islam have moral and legal responsibilities towards the maintenance of all the women in their families. The half share that a woman inherits is her own without any financial obligation at all, moral or legal. Now what is the relationship between women and men, other than their husbands and close relatives? Islam teaches men to look upon women as sisters, and sex outside marriage is not only a sin but a crime against society; both men and women held accountable. Dissolution of marriages through divorce is allowed only when all methods of reconciliation have been exhausted. Some types of divorce are husband-instigated, others wife-instigated, still others are the result of mutual agreement or judicial process. Islam allows man to have more than one wife, up to four, requiring full equal treatment between wives and their knowledge and consent as necessary conditions for the marriage to continue, allowing the marriage to end in divorce if equality is not fulfilled. Thus monogamy is the norm and polygamy is the exception. (Polygamy, or more precisely polygyny or plurality of wives was practised long before Islam but without limits or assurances). Although the practice has been abused, it may be considered as the lesser of two evils. If Muslim women's status has been compromised in any Islamic society, for any period of time, it is because that society has not followed the Islamic teachings.

This article was originally published in Cross Cultures Magazine in Volume 1 - Issue 2 - 1992. Unauthorized copying, distribution or other usage without express written permission of the publisher is prohibited.