Woman in Islamic Shari‘ah
2. The qualities of a believing woman
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the extent that it is both natural and practical — has
adopted the division of labor in respect of the sexes,
the man’s field of activity being basically external to
the home, while the woman’s is domestic. This
division, however, has never been intended as a
form of discriminatory treatment. Its main purpose
has always been to preserve the distinctive
characteristics of both sexes, while deploying their
respective talents and skills in the most socially
useful manner. This enables both sexes to make the
best use of their innate capabilities without causing
any undue disruption in the family or in society. In
Modern parlance, this is a form of managerial
optimization rather than sexual discrimination. For
this principle to be effective, the spheres of activity
of men and women have had to be quite different
and, of course, separate from each other. That is to
say that the man’s field of activity is in the outside
world, while the woman’s is in the home. This
traditional distinction has been so often cited by
feminists as an inhibiting factor in women’s lives
that the true meaning of equality has been lost sight
of. After all, it will be the very same virtues in
thought, word and deed which will be prerequisites
for both sexes to enter Paradise. If the qualities of
