STATUS OF WOMEN IN ISLAM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

STATUS OF WOMEN IN ISLAM - Essay Example Some primitive traditional practices that we see in Islamic societies today is more a cultural norm than a religious one. A few extreme examples are female genital mutilation and forced marriages. More mundane practices include the prohibition of women from driving cars, etc. These rules cannot be traced to Islamic literature. The edicts in Koran are equally applicable to both men and women. According to Islam, on the moral scale, both men and women are deemed equal. Islam does not discriminate between the status of men or women. The dynamic of a marital relationship requires that man has authority in certain matters. It is incorrect to assume that this implies a lower status for women. It says, â€Å"Man and Woman were created of a single soul and are moral equals in the sight of God. The rights and responsibilities of a woman are equal to those of a man but they are not necessarily identical with them. Equality and sameness are two quite different things. This difference is understandable because man and woman are not identical but they are created equals. This is especially true as it is almost impossible to find even two identical men or women.† (Jafar) According to the Koran, men and women are units of a pair. When both are taken independent of each other, there are certain obvious vacuums in the emotional, physical and psychological personalities of each. The Koran further goes on to say that God has created the two in such a way that they are complementary to each other in different ways, so that these vacuums are generally removed to a great extent. For this very purpose, God gave different mental, physical and emotional qualities to the male and the female of the species. These different mental, physical and psychological qualities, on the one hand complement man and woman, and on the other establishes for them different facets of activity in their