Woman in Islamic Shari‘ah
3. Womanhood in Islam
~ 45 ~
to drive the animal on faster, forgetting that this
would cause undue discomfort to his passengers. So
the Prophet said to the camel driver: “You have
glass cases there. Be gentle with them.”
39
39.
Al-Bukhari,
Sahih, Kitab al-Adab,
(
Fath al-Bari,
10/454).
MODERN RESEARCH
In recent times, it has been accepted as fact, on a
purely academic level, that fundamental, inborn
differences do exist between men and women. A
detailed article on the status of women in the
Encyclopaedia Britannica
includes a section on
“Scientific Studies of Male-Female Differences.”
Here the author points out physical differences in
the respective constitutions of the male and female
of the human species. “With respect to personality
traits,” he writes, “men are characterized by greater
aggressiveness, dominance and achievement
motivation, women by greater dependency, a
stronger social orientation, and the tendency to be
more easily discouraged by failure than men.”
40
40.
Encyclopaedia Britannica
(1984), 19/907.
